Bible Strands
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,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the reaction of worldly traders to the sudden collapse of Babylon. They stand apart from the city's destruction while witnessing its imminent judgment.
The words — ἔμποροι (emporoi) denotes professional traders, and πλουτὴσαντες (ploutēsantes) describes the active process of becoming wealthy. The text states their wealth came directly from the city's commerce before her fall.
The thread — This pattern of commercial grief at divine judgment echoes Ezekiel 27:31, where traders mourn a fallen trading hub. The economic collapse of idolatrous systems also appears in Acts 19:24, where lost profit triggers religious and social upheaval.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that material prosperity built on compromised systems is temporary and ultimately self-destructive. Readers must evaluate their own economic dependencies against lasting spiritual accountability.
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
The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Cross-references
- 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 of her luxury.”
- Acts 19:24 It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.
- Ezekiel 27:31 They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
- 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.”
- Hosea 12:7 A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
- 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.
- Zechariah 11:5 whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.
- Mark 11:17 Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
- Acts 16:19 When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.
- Judges 18:23 When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”