Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Former allies and merchants stand at a distance and cry out to the great city of Babylon at the exact moment her sudden judgment arrives.
The words — μακρὸθεν (makrothen) means afar, describing their physical separation, while βασανισμοῦ (basanismou) denotes torment, the direct cause of their fear.
The thread — The posture of standing at a distance in fear of torment appears in Revelation 18:15, and the refrain “Woe, woe” resurfaces in Revelation 18:19.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment operates with sudden finality, leaving even those who profited from the city only with distant lament and terror.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 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 wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.”
- 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.”
- Revelation 18:15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn,
- 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.”
- Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Amos 5:16 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.
- Jeremiah 30:7 How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
- Jeremiah 51:8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
- Revelation 17:12 The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings along with the beast.
- Numbers 16:34 At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!”