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15 The merchants who sold[a] these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep[b] and mourn, 16 saying,

“Woe, woe, O great city—
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing,[c]
and adorned with gold,[d] precious stones, and pearls—
17 because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!”[e]

And every ship’s captain,[f] and all who sail along the coast[g]—seamen, and all who[h] make their living from the sea, stood a long way off

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:15 tn Grk “the merchants [sellers] of these things.”
  2. Revelation 18:15 tn Grk “her torment, weeping.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “They will” here.
  3. Revelation 18:16 tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.
  4. Revelation 18:16 tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).
  5. Revelation 18:17 tn On ἠρημώθη (ērēmōthē) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned—‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”
  6. Revelation 18:17 tn On κυβερνήτης (kubernētēs) BDAG 574 s.v. 1 states, “one who is responsible for the management of a ship, shipmaster, lit. Rv 18:17.”
  7. Revelation 18:17 tn Or perhaps, “everyone who sails as a passenger.” On πλέων (pleōn) BDAG 825 s.v. πλέω states, “πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων everyone who sails to a place = seafarer, sea traveler…Rv 18:17. The vv.ll.…have led to various interpretations. Some render: everyone who sails along the coast…See EbNestle, Einführung in das Griech. NT 1909, 182; AFridrichsen, K. Hum. Vetensk.-Samf. i Upps. Årsb. ’43, 31 note ὁ ἐπίτοπον πλέων=one who sails occasionally, a passenger.—S. also IHeikel, StKr 106, ’34/’35, 317).”
  8. Revelation 18:17 tn Grk “and as many as.”