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Revelation 18:16

in Revelation 18

saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!

KJV

And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

This verse in Revelation 18

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

Which was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet. Is a city clothed in fine linen or purple, and not people? Thus, they mourn themselves, as they are stripped of the above-mentioned things.

This site's exposition

which were made rich by her

on Revelation 18:15-17

The merchants echo the kings' own posture, standing afar off, and their lament repeats the woman's own description from 17:4, clothed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold and pearls, the beauty that drew their trade now only remembered. In one hour so great riches is come to nought states again the sudden collapse that governs the whole chapter, wealth measured in an hour after being built over a lifetime. The third company enters here, shipmasters and sailors, whose trade by sea depended on the very luxury just destroyed.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:15-17, HOMILY 16 · Written before 542.

Whenever the Spirit says that they were made rich from her, he is indicating the abundance of their sins.… Can a city be dressed in fine linen and purple, rather than people? They lament for themselves, since they are despoiled of those riches mentioned here.… …

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:15-19, 22 · Written before 614.

proposed

He leads before our eyes the sufferings of this Babylon, and through the laments made over her he depicts the greatness of her misfortune that she, who previously boasted of her royal majesty, will suffer.… He speaks figuratively of the present life as a "sea," …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And saying, alas, alas! that great city,..... Using the same words the kings of the earth do, Rev 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 Rev 18:12, Rev 17:4, see also Eze 27:32.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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."
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

And saying, Alas, alas ... - notes on Rev 18:10. That was clothed in fine linen - In the previous description Rev 18:12-13, these are mentioned as articles of traffic; here the city, under the image of a female, is represented as clothed in the most rich and frivolous of these articles. And purple, and scarlet - See the notes on Rev 17:3-4. Compare Rev 18:12 of this chapter. And decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls - notes on Rev 17:4.

The words behind it

23 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 17:4

    The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 51:7

      Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

    • Revelation 19:2

      For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…

    • Revelation 18:12

      cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

  • Through

    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…

    it leads to

    • 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.”

    • Joshua 7:6

      Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.

    • Ezekiel 27:30

      They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.

    • Revelation 18:3

      All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance…

    • Job 2:12

      When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Transfiguration, Gustave Doré. Public domain.
The Transfiguration, Gustave Doré. Public domain.

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 18:15-19, 22; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:15-17, HOMILY 16; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748).