RSV ~ Revelation 18 Notes

Rev 18:1-24 | ISB Notes

A dirge over the death of the harlot city Babylon.

• Several images and expressions in this chapter are taken from the judgment oracles of the Prophets, especially Jeremiah’s condemnation of ancient Babylon in Jer 50-51. The cry that Babylon is fallen (18:2) recalls Jer 51:8; the charge that nations have drunk her wine (18:3) recalls Jer 51:7; the call to come out of her (18:4) recalls Jer 50:8 and 51:45; the vision of her sins heaped high as heaven (18:5) recalls Jer 51:9; the judgment by fire (18:8) recalls Jer 50:32 and 51:30; the rejoicing of heaven (18:20) recalls Jer 51:48; the image of a stone hurled into the sea (18:21) recalls Jer 51:63-64; and scenes of the slain (18:24) filling the city recalls Jer 51:49.

• Babylon and the harlot, whose smoke goes up forever, are none other than the lustful, the adulterous, and the arrogant. If you wish to escape such punishments, have no desire to commit such grave sins. For in the present age, Babylon is always going to destruction and burning up in part (St. Caesarius of Arles, Exposition of the Apocalypse, homily 18).

Rev 18:3 | ISB Notes

drunk the wine: The maddening wine mixed in the cup of the harlot (17:4; 18:6).

Rev 18:4 | ISB Notes

Come out of her: A call to escape the harlot city before its demise (cf. Gen 19:12-14; Tob 14:4, 8). Some read this as an echo of Jesus’ warning to flee Jerusalem when the time of its judgment draws near (Lk 21:20-21). Others, identifying the city as Rome, read this as a call to escape the godless corruption of the capital, much as Paul emphasizes the moral imperative in a similar prophetic passage (2 Cor 6:17, quoting Is 52:11).

her plagues: The divine curses of the seven seals (6:1-8:5), the seven trumpets (8:6-11:19), and the seven bowls (15:1-16:21).

Rev 18:9-19 | ISB Notes

The clients of the harlot, represented by kings (18:9), merchants (18:11), and sailors (18:17), look on in tears as the wicked city melts down in flames. They are saddened, not for her, but for themselves, being pained at the loss of their illicit pleasures and wealth.

• This subsection of the chapter draws mainly from the lamentation over Tyre in Ezek 27. More than a dozen commodities listed in 18:12-13 are taken from Ezek 27:12-22.

Rev 18:21 | ISB Notes

a great millstone: Recalls the words of Jeremiah about Babylon (Jer 51:63), as well as the teaching of Jesus about one who leads others to sin (Mt 18:6; Mk 9:42; Lk 17:2).

Rev 18:22-23 | ISB Notes

The millstone falling silent, the lighted lamp going dark, and the bridegroom and bride no longer heard singing are scenarios drawn from Jeremiah’s oracles prophesying the desolation of Jerusalem (Jer 7:34; 16:9; 25:10).

Rev 18:24 | ISB Notes

blood of prophets … saints: The harlot city is a murderous city, stained with the blood of the Lord’s faithful ones (17:6). all …

slain on earth: A prophetic hyperbole, stressing that the city’s bloodguilt has reached an extreme level.

• The wording is borrowed from Jer 51:49, where “the slain of all the earth” were said to have fallen in Babylon.