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Revelation 18:21

in Revelation 18

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 to be seen again.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.

KJV

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

This verse in Revelation 18

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
And a mighty angel - See the notes on Rev 18:1. This seems, however, to have been a different angel from the one mentioned in Rev 18:1, though, like that, he is described as having great power. Took up a stone like a great millstone - On the structure of mills among the ancients see the notes on Mat 24:41. And cast it into the sea - As an emblem of the utter ruin of the city; an indication that the city would be as completely destroyed as that stone was covered by the waters.

This site's exposition

the size of a great millstone

The mighty angel's act recalls Jeremiah 51:63-64, where a stone tied to a scroll was sunk in the Euphrates against the first Babylon. The great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again, and the Lord used a millstone's weight in Matthew 18:6.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:21-24, HOMILY 17 · Written before 542.

proposed

Babylon is likened to a great millstone which is thrown down, for the revolving of times, as though it were a millstone, grinds down those who love the world, and it sends them in circles. Of these the Scriptures say, "The wicked walk in a …

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:21-24 · Written before 614.

proposed

Just as a millstone sinks with force into the sea, so also the destruction of this Babylon will be sudden, so that afterward no trace of her will be found. The absence of harpers, minstrels and the rest is an indication of this.

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying: With this violence shall Babylon be thrown down. Or (as another edition says): Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be cast down. The city …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

proposed

The voice of harpers - Music was the entertainment of the rich and great; trade, the business of men of middle rank; preparing bread and the necessaries of life, the employment of the lowest people: marriages, in which lamps and songs were known ceremonies, are the means of peopling cities, as new births supply the place of those that die.
And a mighty angel,....
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

a--Greek, "one." millstone--Compare the judgment on the Egyptian hosts at the Red Sea, Ex 15:5, 10; Ne 9:11, and the foretold doom of Babylon, the world power, Jer 51:63, 64. with violence--Greek, "with impetus." This verse shows that this prophecy is regarded as still to be fulfilled.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down - This action is finely and forcibly expressed by the original words: Οὑτως ὁρμηματι βληθησεται Βαβυλων ἡ μεγαλη πολις. The millstone will in falling have not only an accelerated force from the law of gravitation, but that force will be greatly increased by the projectile force impressed upon it by the power of the destroying angel. Shall be found no more at all - In her government, consequence, or influence. This is true of ancient Babylon; we are not certain even of the place where it stood. It is also true of Jerusalem; her government, consequence, and influence are gone. It is not true of Rome pagan; nor, as yet, of Rome papal: the latter still exists, and the former is most intimately blended with it; for in her religions service Rome papal has retained her language, and many of her heathen temples has she dedicated to saints real or reputed, and incorporated many of her superstitions and absurdities in a professedly Christian service. It is true also that many idols are now restored under the names of Christian saints!

Modern Voices1 voice

A commentator

GK Chesterton

Tremendous Trifles, XX. The Giant (1909) (1909)

proposed

It was the Babylon Hotel. It was the perfect symbol of everything that I should like to pull down with my hands if I could. Reared by a detected robber, it is framed to be the fashionable and luxurious home of undetected robbers. In the …

The words behind it

27 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 18:22

    And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 26:13

      So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.

    • Jeremiah 25:10

      Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.

    • Jeremiah 7:34

      I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”

  • Through

    Revelation 12:8

    But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 37:10

      Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.

    • Revelation 12:11

      They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.

  • Through

    Revelation 5:2

    And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”

    it leads to

    • Revelation 5:5

      Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

    • Isaiah 29:11–12

      And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”

  • Through

    Ezekiel 26:21

    I will make you an object of horror, and you will be no more. You will be sought, but will never be found,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 27:36

      Those who trade among the nations hiss at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

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 18:21-24; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 18:21-24, HOMILY 17; GK Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles, XX. The Giant (1909); 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.