Revelation 18:10

10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “ ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’

Revelation 18:10 in Other Translations

10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come."

10 They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out, “How terrible, how terrible for you, O Babylon, you great city! In a single moment God’s judgment came on you.”

10 They'll keep their distance for fear they'll get burned, and they'll cry their lament: Doom, doom, the great city doomed! City of Babylon, strong city! In one hour it's over, your judgment come!

10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

10 Frightened by her torture, they will stand far away and say, 'How horrible, how horrible it is for that important city, the powerful city Babylon! In one moment judgment has come to it!'

10 They stand far off in fear of her torment, saying: Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come.

10 They will be terrified by her suffering. Standing far away, they will exclaim, " 'How terrible! How terrible it is for you, great city! How terrible for you, Babylon, city of power! In just one hour you have been destroyed!'

Revelation 18:10 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 18:10

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment
Lest they themselves should share in it, who have partook of her sins; either they will not be in a capacity to help her, or they will be dispirited, and will be in awe and dread of God's righteous judgments:

saying, alas! alas! that great city Babylon! that mighty city!
it will aggravate their sorrow, when they reflect upon the former grandeur, magnificence, power, and authority, of the city and see of Rome, so often called in this book the great city; and so it is by other writers; the Jews call it so: they say ^F3, when the Messiah comes,

``the kings of the world shall be gathered to (atbr atrq) , "the great city" of Rome; and the holy blessed God will cast upon them fire and hail, and great hail stones, (with which compare ( Revelation 16:21 ) ), and they shall perish from the world, except those kings that do not come there.''

It is common with the Jewish writers to call the Roman empire Edom; and Magdiel, one of the dukes of Edom, ( Genesis 36:43 ) who has his name from "greatness", is interpreted by one of their commentators ^F4 of Rome; the reason of which, another of them says ^F5, is because Rome is become great above all kingdoms: the mount of Esau in ( Obadiah 1:21 ) is interpreted (abr akrk ty) , "that great city" of Esau, which is Rome {f}, and the same epithet it has in the Talmud ^F7; and Porphyry calls it (thn megalhn polin) , "that great city", without making mention of its name, as here; so among the Latins ^F8, "Magnoe spes altera" Romae:

for in one hour is thy judgment come:
the Ethiopic version reads, "the hour of her judgment"; the time of her punishment fixed by God; but the sense is, that her vengeance was suddenly come upon her; this is the judgment of the great whore, which the angel proposed to show to John, ( Revelation 17:1 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Zohar in Gen. fol. 74. 3.
F4 Jarchi in Gen. xxxvi. 43.
F5 Abarbinel in Dan. fol. 42. 3.
F6 Jarchi in Obadiah, ver. 21.
F7 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 21. 2.
F8 Servius in Virgil, Eclog. 6. p. 67.

Revelation 18:10 In-Context

8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.

9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.

10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “ ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’

11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore—

12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;

Cross References

• 1. ver 15,17
• 2. ver 16,19
• 3. ver 17; Revelation 17:12