REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE - Chapter 18 - Verse 17

Verse 17. For in one hour. In a very brief period—so short that it seemed to them to be but one hour. In the prediction (Re 18:8) it is said that it would be "in one day," (see Barnes on "Re 18:8") here it is said, that to the lookers-on it seemed to be but an hour. There is no inconsistency, therefore, between the two statements.

So great riches is come to nought. All the accumulated wealth of so great and rich a city. This should have been united with Re 18:16, as it is a part of the lamentation of the merchants, and as the lamentation of the mariners commences in the other part of the verse. It is so divided in the Greek Testaments.

And every ship-master. This introduces the lamentation of the mariners, who would, of course, be deeply interested in the destruction of a city with which they had been accustomed to trade, and by carrying merchandise to which they had been enriched. The word ship-master— kubernhthv—means, properly, a governor; then a governor of a ship—the steersman, or pilot, Ac 27:11.

And all the company in ships. Prof. Stuart renders this coasters. There is here, however, an important difference in the reading in the text. The commonly received text is, pav epi twn ploiwn o omilov —"the whole company in ships," as in our common version; the reading which is now commonly adopted, and which is found in Griesbach, Hahn, and Tittman, is o eti topon plewn "he who sails to a place;" that is, he who sails from one place to another along the coast, or who does not venture out far to sea; and thus the phrase would denote a secondary class of sea-captains or officers—those less venturesome, or experienced, or bold than others. There can be little doubt that this is the correct reading, (comp. Wetstein, in loc.,) and hence the class of seamen here referred to is coasters. Such seamen would naturally be employed where there was a great and luxurious maritime city, and would have a deep interest in its fall.

And sailors. Common seamen.

And as many as trade by sea. In any kind of craft, whether employed in a near or a remote trade.

Stood afar off. Barnes on "Re 18:10".

{b} "ships" Isa 23:14