Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Revelation 18:1

in Revelation 18

After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

KJV

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

This verse in Revelation 18

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, etc. This strong angel illuminating the earth can also be understood as the Lord incarnate and the doctors of the Church; who, endowed with heavenly light, proclaim the fall of the …

This site's exposition

illuminated by his glory

on Revelation 18:1-3

The angel cries Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, doubling the word as Isaiah 21:9 did over the first Babylon. Her crime is named three ways: the nations drank her wine, the kings were immoral with her, and the merchants grew wealthy from her luxury.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Primasius of Hadrumetum

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:1 · Written before 560.

proposed

This angel possesses great power. For it is speaking of the destruction of the world's wisdom, which is also signified by the destruction of Jericho, and of the ruin of the earthly kingdom. By indicating that a stronger one has come against the strong one …

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

He says that this one is the illuminated and enlightens the earth by his glory.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:1 · Written before 614.

proposed

This passage reveals the brilliance and brightness of the holy powers, which greatly surpasses the light of the stars and the heavenly bodies.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Here seems to be an allusion to the prediction of the fall of pagan Babylon ( Isa. xxi. 9 ), where the word is repeated as it is here: has fallen, has fallen. Some have thought a double fall is hereby intended, first her apostasy, and then her ruin; and they think the words immediately following favour their opinion;

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

proposed

And the earth was enlightened with his glory - To make his coming more conspicuous. If such be the lustre of the servant, what images can display the majesty of the Lord, who has "thousand thousands" of those glorious attendants "ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him?"
4 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And after these things,....

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

And after these things - After the vision referred to in the previous chapter. I saw another angel come down from heaven - Different from the one that had last appeared, and therefore coming to make a new communication to him. It is not unusual in this book that different communications should be entrusted to different angels. Compare Rev 14:6, Rev 14:8-9, Rev 14:15, Rev 14:17-18. Having great power - That is, he was one of the higher rank or order of angels. And the earth was lightened with his glory - The usual representation respecting the heavenly beings.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

And--so Vulgate and ANDREAS. But A, B, Syriac, and Coptic omit "And." power--Greek, "authority." lightened--"illumined." with--Greek, "owing to."

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The earth was lightened with his glory - This may refer to some extraordinary messenger of the everlasting Gospel, who, by his preaching and writings, should be the means of diffusing the light of truth and true religion over the earth.

The words behind it

20 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

    2 Thessalonians 2:8

    And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 19:20–21

      But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and…

    • 2 Thessalonians 2:3

      Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.

    • Isaiah 11:4

      but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the…

    • Revelation 20:10

      And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day…

  • Through

    Revelation 10:1

    Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 1:28

      The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the…

    • Matthew 17:2

      There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

    • Revelation 1:15–16

      His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.

  • Through

    Luke 17:24

    For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 24:27

      For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 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 18:1; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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 18:1.