Matthew Henry on Revelation 18:9–end
Here we have,
I. A doleful lamentation made by Babylon's friends for her fall; and here observe,
1. Who are the mourners, namely, those who had been bewitched by her fornication, those who had been sharers in her sensual pleasures, and those who had been gainers by her wealth and trade - the kings and the merchants of the earth: the kings of the earth, whom she had flattered into idolatry by allowing them to be arbitrary and tyrannical over their subjects, while they were obsequious to her; and the merchants, that is, those who trafficked with her for indulgences, pardons, dispensations, and preferments; these will mourn, because by this craft they got their wealth.
2. What was the manner of…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 18:16
And--so Vulgate and ANDREAS. But A, B, and C omit.
decked--literally, "glided."
stones . . . pearls--Greek, "stone . . . pearl." B and ANDREAS read "pearls." But A and C, "pearl."
Adam Clarke on Revelation 18:16
Clothed in fine linen, and purple, etc. - The verb περιβαλλεσθαι, which we here translate clothed, signifies often to abound, be enriched, laden with, and is so used by the best Greek writers; see many examples in Kypke. These articles are not to be considered here as personal ornaments, but as articles of trade or merchandise, in which this city trafficked.
John Gill on Revelation 18:16
And saying, alas, alas! that great city,..... Using the same words the kings of the earth do, Revelation 18:10 only adding, suitable to their characters as merchants, and the things they traded in with her,
that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls; See Gill on Revelation 18:12, Revelation 17:4, see also Ezekiel 27:32.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Revelation 18:14-17
The merchants would lament the fall of Rome (see study note on 18:1-3) because it would forever end their accustomed luxuries. Material goods can be swept aside in a single moment.
