启示录 18:12

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

就是金、銀、寶石、珍珠；細麻布、紫色布、絲綢、朱紅色布；各樣香木，各樣象牙製品，各樣極貴重的木器、銅器、鐵器、大理石製品；

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
这 货 物 就 是 金 、 银 、 宝 石 、 珍 珠 、 细 麻 布 、 紫 色 料 、 绸 子 、 朱 红 色 料 、 各 样 香 木 、 各 样 象 牙 的 器 皿 、 各 样 极 宝 贵 的 木 头 ， 和 铜 、 铁 、 汉 白 玉 的 器 皿 ，

Contextual Overview

⁹ The kings of the earth who sinned sexually with her and shared her wealth will see the smoke from her burning. Then they will cry and be sad because of her death. ¹⁰ They will be afraid of her suffering and stand far away and say: "Terrible! How terrible for you, great city, powerful city of Babylon, because your punishment has come in one hour!" ¹¹ And the merchants of the earth will cry and be sad about her, because now there is no one to buy their cargoes— ¹² cargoes of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, red cloth; all kinds of citron wood and all kinds of things made from ivory, expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³ cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives. ¹⁴ The merchants will say, "Babylon, the good things you wanted are gone from you. All your rich and fancy things have disappeared. You will never have them again." ¹⁵ The merchants who became rich from selling to her will be afraid of her suffering and will stand far away. They will cry and be sad ¹⁶ and say: "Terrible! How terrible for the great city! She was dressed in fine linen, purple and red cloth, and she was shining with gold, precious jewels, and pearls! ¹⁷ All these riches have been destroyed in one hour!" Every sea captain, every passenger, the sailors, and all those who earn their living from the sea stood far away from Babylon. ¹⁸ As they saw the smoke from her burning, they cried out loudly, "There was never a city like this great city!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

merchandise: Revelation 17:4, 1 Kings 10:11, 1 Kings 10:12, Proverbs 8:10, Proverbs 8:11, Ezekiel 27:5-25

thyine: or, sweet, 1 Kings 10:11, 2 Chronicles 2:8

Reciprocal: Exodus 21:16 - stealeth Judges 8:26 - purple 1 Kings 10:18 - ivory Job 28:18 - pearls Ezekiel 16:10 - covered Ezekiel 27:15 - of ivory Ezekiel 27:33 - thy wares Daniel 11:38 - a god Micah 1:7 - for 1 Thessalonians 2:5 - a cloak 2 Timothy 3:2 - covetous 1 Peter 5:2 - not for

Cross-References

Genesis 17:17
Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is ninety?"

Genesis 18:6
Abraham hurried to the tent where Sarah was and said to her, "Hurry, prepare twenty quarts of fine flour, and make it into loaves of bread."

Genesis 18:7
Then Abraham ran to his herd and took one of his best calves. He gave it to a servant, who hurried to kill it and to prepare it for food.

Genesis 18:11
Abraham and Sarah were very old. Since Sarah was past the age when women normally have children,

Genesis 18:12
she laughed to herself, "My husband and I are too old to have a baby."

Genesis 18:13
Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘I am too old to have a baby'?

Genesis 18:18
Abraham's children will certainly become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

Genesis 18:20
Then the Lord said, "I have heard many complaints against the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They are very evil.

Psalms 126:2
Then we were filled with laughter, and we sang happy songs. Then the other nations said, "The Lord has done great things for them."

Ephesians 5:33
But each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and a wife must respect her husband.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls,.... Things for treasure and ornament, and with which the great whore is said to be decked, Revelation 17:4 and, literally understood, may denote the vast riches which these spiritual merchants, or factors for Rome, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, monks, and friars, bring into their own coffers and the pope's, by the trade they drive in her wares with the souls of men; and may have also a regard to what their images, chalices, crowns, mitres, c. are made of, and what some of them are adorned with and as Tyre, to whom the reference is in the several particulars of this account, had her merchants for these things, Ezekiel 27:12 so Mr. Brightman thinks that in these, and in some following ones, Spain is Rome's merchant, which fetches them from the Indies for her: but these things, mystically taken, sometimes design the doctrines of the Gospel, 1 Corinthians 3:12 and which are to be preferred to, and more to be esteemed than thousands of gold and silver; and these Rome's merchants pretended to deliver out; but instead of them, they put off wood, hay, and stubble, yea, doctrines of devils, and lies in hypocrisy; and sometimes the grace of God is meant, Revelation 3:18 which is more precious than gold that perisheth; and this they pretend to convey to men "ex opere operato", in the ordinances, as baptism, c. and to communicate the Spirit, with his gifts and graces, for money, which is direct simony yea, they pretend to sell eternal life, nay, Christ, and God himself:

and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet: things which belong to apparel and dress; and, literally taken, the "fine linen" is for their copes, wore by bishops and by chanters, and sub-chanters, and for surplices wore by their priests, in imitation of the Jewish priests, and for Mass clothes, c. the "purple, silk", and "scarlet", were for the popes, cardinals, archbishops, and bishops so the woman on the scarlet coloured beast is said to be arrayed in purple and scarlet, Revelation 17:4, Tyre had its merchants for these, Ezekiel 27:7 the fine linen and silk may mystically denote the holy lives, good works, and merits of the saints, those of them called works of supererogation, which become the church's stock, and they sell out for others that want; which is a monstrous kind of ware, and a dreadful imposition upon men, since men cannot be saved and justified by works; and the best of men are so far from having a redundancy of works, that in everything they sin and offend, and are greatly deficient: and they are so far from helping others, that they are unprofitable servants themselves: the purple and scarlet may signify the blood of Christ, which they pretend to sell in the Mass; nay, they have pretended to have had the very liquid blood of Christ, which they have carried in a crystal glass, thick on one side, and transparent on the other; and so could not be seen by persons in a mortal sin, until they had given a good deal of money, and then the clear side was by sleight of hand turned to them; and which was no other than the blood of a duck, renewed weekly by the priest; which trick for a long time brought in vast sums of money, and was detected at Hales in Gloucestershire, in Henry the Eighth's time; or these may intend the sufferings of the saints, which likewise come into the treasure of the church, and are at its dispose for money, the virtue of which being very great for the salvation of men's souls:

and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble: things for utensils and furniture, not so much for their houses, as for their churches; Tyre had its merchants for these,

Ezekiel 27:5. "Thyine wood", Pliny says i, was very durable, and of it the rafters of ancient temples were made; and may design such like lasting and odoriferous wood as cypress, cedar, c. used in the Popish churches, for the embellishing of them, and for images in them it may be the same with the wood of the Almug, or Algum trees, since these are rendered thyine wood in the Vulgate Latin version in 1 Kings 10:11 vessels of ivory may be boxes made thereof, in which the host is put, and the relics of saints are preserved: and "vessels of most precious wood", or "stone", as the Alexandrian copy, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions read,

and of brass, iron, and marble, may intend various vessels used in their churches; as vessels for holy water, fonts of marble, and other valuable stones, for baptism, censers of iron and brass to burn incense in. Cocceius thinks that by these vessels of different materials are meant good men; who are like sweet smelling wood for the fragrancy of their doctrines and lives; and like iron, brass, and marble, for their courage, constancy, and patience; and who have been canonized for saints, which has brought in much money into the pope's coffers: this is a practice in imitation of the Heathens, who deified men, and set them over particular days and affairs; and the privileges of such canonization among the Papists are, that such a saint has his name set in the calendar in red letters, may have churches and altars dedicated to him, and his image set up in them, and a holiday be kept for him, and may be prayed to, and worshipped; a practice dreadfully derogatory to the glory of Christ's person and office, but is that in which these merchants have found their account; for through references, commissions, and reports, for proof of the saint's character and miracles, his friends are at very great expense before the affair is issued, especially if rich; our King Henry the Seventh was very desirous of having his kinsman Henry the Sixth canonized, and solicited the pope for it, but he would not do it under fifteen hundred ducats of gold, which the king thought was too much, and so declined it.

i Nat. Hist. l. 13. c. 16.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The merchandise of gold, and silver - Of course, these constitute an important article of commerce in a great city.

And precious stones - Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, etc. These have always been important articles of traffic in the world, and, of course, most of the traffic in them would find its way to great commercial cities.

And pearls - See the notes on Matthew 7:6; Matthew 13:46. These, too, have been always, and were, particularly in early times, valuable articles of commerce. Mr. Gibbon mentions them as among the articles that contributed to the luxury of Rome in the age of the Antonines: “precious stones, among which the pearl claimed the first rank after the diamond,” vol. i. p. 34.

And fine linen - This was also a valuable article of commerce. It was obtained chiefly from Egypt. See the notes on Isaiah 19:9. Linen, among the ancients, was an article of luxury, for it was worn chiefly by the rich, Exodus 28:42; Leviticus 6:10; Luke 16:19. The original word here is βύσσος bussos, “byssus,” and it is found in the New Testament only in this place, and in Luke 16:19. It was a “species of fine cotton, highly prized by the ancients.” Various kinds are mentioned - as that of Egypt, the cloth which is still found wrapped around mummies; that of Syria, and that of India, which grew on a tree similar to the poplar; and that of Achaia, which grew in the vicinity of Elis. See Robinson, Lexicon.

And purple - See the notes on Luke 16:19. Cloth of this color was a valuable article of commerce, as it was worn by rich men and princes.

And silk - Silk was a very valuable article of commerce, as it was costly, and could be worn only by the rich. It is mentioned by Mr. Gibbon as such an article in Rome in the age of the Antonines: “Silk, a pound of which was esteemed not inferior in value to a pound of gold,” vol. i. p. 34. On the cultivation and manufacture of silk by the ancients, see the work entitled, “The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, and Wool, etc.,” published by Harper Brothers, New York, 1845, pp. 1-21.

And scarlet - See the notes on Revelation 17:3.

And all thyine wood - The word used here - θύΐνον thuinon - occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It denotes an evergreen African tree, from which statues and costly vessels were made. It is not agreed, however, whether it was a species of cedar, savin, or lignum-vitae, which latter constitutes the modern genus Thuja, or Thyia. See Rees’ Cyclo., art. “Thuja.”

And all manner vessels of ivory - Everything that is made of ivory. Ivory, or the tusk of the elephant, has always been among the precious articles of commerce.

And all manner vessels of most precious wood - Furniture of costly wood - cedar, the citron tree, lignum-vitae, etc.

And of brass, and iron, and marble - Brass or copper would, of course, be a valuable article of commerce. The same would be the case with iron; and so marble, for building, for statuary, etc., would likewise be.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Revelation 18:12. The merchandise of gold, and silver, c.] The same author, Bishop Bale, who was once a priest of the Romish Church, goes on to apply all these things to that Church and whether the text have this meaning or not, they will show us something of the religious usages of his time, and the real mockery of this intolerant and superstitious Church. Speaking in reference to the Reformation, and the general light that had been diffused abroad by the word of God, which was then translated into the vulgar tongue, and put into the hands of the people at large, he says:-

"They will pay no more money for the housell sippings, bottom blessings; nor for 'seest me and seest me not,' above the head and under of their chalices, which in many places be of fine gold. Neyther regarde they to kneele anye more downe, and to kisse their pontificall rings which are of the same metal. They will be no more at coste to have the ayre beaten, and the idols perfumed with their sensers at pryncipall feastes; to have their crucifixes layde upon horses, or to have them solemply borne aloft in their gaddings abroade; with the religious occupyings of their paxes, cruettes, and other jewels which be of silver.

"Neyther passe they greatly to beholde precyous stones any more in their two-horned miters, whan they hollow their churches, give theyr whorishe orders, and tryumphantly muster in processions. Nor in costuous pearles in theyr copes perrours, and chysibilles, whan they be in their prelately pompous sacrifices. Men, knowing the worde of God, supposeth that their ornaments of silk, wherewith they garnishe their temples and adorne their idolles, is very blasphemous and divillish. They thinke also, that their fayre white rockets of raynes, or fine linnen cloath; their costly gray amices, of calaber and cattes tayles; theyr fresh purple gownes, whan they walke for their pleasures; and their read scarlet frockes, whan they preach lyes in the pulpit, are very superfluous and vayne.

"In their thynen wood (whom some men call algume trees, some basill, some corall) may be understande all theyr curious buildings of temples, abbeys, chappels, and chambers; all shrines, images, church stooles, and pews that are well payed for; all banner staves, paternoster scores, and peeces of the holy crosse.

"The vessels of ivory comprehendeth all their maundye dyshes, their offring platters, their relique chestes, their god boxes, their drinking horns, their sipping cuppes for the hiccough, their tables whereupon are charmed their chalises and vestiments; their standiches, their combes, their muske balles, their pomaunder pottes, and their dust boxes, with other toyes.

"The vessels of precious stone; which after some interpretours, are of precious stone, or after some are of most precious wood; betokeneth their costuous cuppes, or cruses of jasper, jacinct, amel, and fine beral; and their alabaster boxes, wherwith they annointe kinges, confirme children, and minister their holy whorish orders. Their pardon masers, or drinking dishes, as St. Benit's bole, St. Edmond's bole, St. Giles's bole, St. Blythe's bole, and Westminster bole, with such other holy re-liques.

"Of brasse, which containeth latten, copper, alcumine, and other harde metals, are made all their great candlesticks, holy water kettles, lampes, desks, pyllers, butterasses, bosses, bels, and many other thinges more.

"Of strong yron are the braunches made that holde up the lightes before their false gods; the tacks that sustayne them for fallinge; the lockes that save them from the robberye of thieves; their fyre pans, bars, and poolyes, with many other straunge ginnes besides.

"With marble most commonlye pave they their temples, and build strong pillers and arches in their great cathedrale churches and monastries; they make thereof also their superalities, their tumbs, and their solemne grave-stones; besides their other buildinges, with free-stone, flint, ragge, and brick, comprehended in the same.