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Revelation 16:19

in Revelation 16

The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

KJV

And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

This verse in Revelation 16

Commentary

15 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

And the great city was divided into three parts. The impious city inflicts a threefold war upon the Church of Christ. Which the Gentiles and Jews openly with combat, heretics with deceitful defection, false brethren with corrupt examples assail. Which was also figured above in …

This site's exposition

God remembered Babylon the great

on Revelation 16:19-21

God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury, returning the cup she gave the nations at 14:8. The hail recalls Egypt's seventh plague at Exodus 9:22-25, and men cursed God for the plague of hail.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:19, HOMILY 13 · Written before 542.

proposed

This great city is to be understood as in general every people that is under heaven and that is seen to be in three parts when the church is divided [into three parts]. And so, the Gentiles are considered to be one part, the heretics …

A commentator

Primasius of Hadrumetum

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:19 · Written before 560.

proposed

The city that was great because of the size of its population and that was haughty and arrogant because of its immodest enterprises shall fall into three parts. One part will be of the Gentiles, another of the heretics and the Jews, and the third …

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

And he says the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Concerning Jerusalem he says the great city, and it is clear from what he contrasts with it the cities of the nations; for in the divine Scripture, …

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:19 · Written before 614.

proposed

We understand Jerusalem to be a "great city" not because of the number and size of its buildings but as that which is the most ancient and greatest in regard to godliness, in as much as it was made great by the sufferings of Christ …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

And the cities of the nations fell. That is, all the strength and confidence of the nations. For the joy of the wicked is a great ruin, and the joy of the unrighteous is destruction.
8 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

And great Babylon came into remembrance before God, etc. Then Babylon falls, or drinks the wrath of God, when it receives power against Jerusalem, especially in the final days. Therefore he said that it fell by the earthquake that affects the Church. But if you …

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

proposed

This is the most weighty phial of all, and seems to take up more time than any of the preceding. It is done - What was commanded, verse 1. chap. xvi, 1 The phials are poured out. A great earthquake, such as had not been since men were upon the earth - It was therefore a literal, not figurative, earthquake.

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And the great city was divided into three parts,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The greatest calamities that can befal men will not bring them to repentance without the grace of God working with them. Those that are not made better by the judgments of God are always the worse for them. To be hardened in sin and enmity against God by his righteous judgments is a certain token of utter destruction.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

And in the valley of Megiddo Josiah was slain. This place had been famous for two events of a very different nature, the former very happy for the church of God, the latter very unhappy; but it shall now be the field of the last battle in which the church shall be engaged, and she shall be victorious.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

And the great city was divided into three parts - The city of Babylon; or the mighty power that was represented by Babylon. See the notes on Rev 14:8. The division mentioned here in three parts was manifestly with reference to its destruction - either that one part was smitten and the others remained for a time, or that one form of destruction came on one part, and another on the others.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

In Re 11:13 only a tenth of Jerusalem falls whereas here the city (Babylon) "became (Greek) into three parts" by the earthquake. cities of the nations--other great cities in league with spiritual Babylon. great . . . came in remembrance--Greek, "Babylon the great was remembered" (Re 18:5).

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The great city - Some say Jerusalem, others Rome pagan, others Rome papal. The cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath - Alluding to the mode of putting certain criminals to death, by making them drink a cup of poison. See on Heb 2:9 (note).

The words behind it

34 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Revelation 18:2

    And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…

    it leads to

    • Revelation 14:8

      Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 51:8

      Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.

  • Through

    Revelation 18:10

    In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

    it leads to

    • Revelation 18:19

      Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her…

    • Revelation 18:8

      Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

  • Through

    Revelation 18:5

    For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

    it leads to

    • Ezra 9:6

      and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.

    • Genesis 18:20–21

      Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,

    • Jeremiah 51:9

      “We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”

  • Through

    Revelation 18:21

    Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 51:63–64

      When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates.

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:19; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:19, HOMILY 13; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation and Primasius of Hadrumetum, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:19.