Revelation 18:12 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The merchandise, &c. There is an end of all traffic or commerce with her, whether spiritual or temporal; of gold and silver, &c. Almost all the things here named are still in use at Rome, both in their idolatrous service and in common life; fine linen The sort of which here mentioned, βυσσος, is exceedingly costly; thyine-wood A sweet- smelling wood, not unlike citron, used in adorning magnificent palaces. Vessels of most precious wood Ebony in particular, which is often, as here, mentioned with ivory, the one excelling in whiteness, the other in blackness, and both in uncommon smoothness. And cinnamon Bengelius adds, και αμωμον, and amomum, a shrub whose wood is a fine perfume; and ointments. Μυρον, liquid and fragrant ointment; and beasts Cows and oxen; and chariots Ρεδων, a word purely Latin, but here inserted in the Greek, doubtless, on purpose to show more fully the luxury of Rome; and slaves Σωματων, bodies; a common term for slaves; and souls of men For these also have been and are continually bought and sold at Rome. And this, of all others, is the most gainful merchandise to the Roman traffickers. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after And for which alone thy degenerate nature had any remaining relish. From what was imported, the narrative proceeds to the domestic delicacies of Rome; none of which is in greater request there than the particular sort of fruits here mentioned. The word οπωρα properly signifies such fruit as pears, peaches, nectarines, and all the apple and plum kinds; and all things Λιπαρα και τα λαμπρα dainty Or delightful to the taste; and splendid To the sight; as clothes, buildings, furniture. “It is plain,” says Lowman, “this is designed to be a figurative, and not a literal description; therefore readers seem to be at liberty to apply the figurative expressions to such literal meanings as will agree to the general and certain intention of them. But whether each of these wares is designed to point out some particular gainful corruption of Popery, may very well be questioned. It is sufficient, to answer the general intention of the prophecy, to observe, that Rome shall be deprived of all her wealth, which she procured by her management and intrigues, in the several places where her agents resided, who continually made her returns of great riches, and plentifully supplied her excessive pride and luxury. It is a pretty observation of Daubuz, “Rome receives all the luxurious wares mentioned, but she has so infatuated the world that she pays nothing for them but trumpery; her money is her enchantments and sorceries. Her merchants, her superior clergy, engross the real wealth of the world to bring it to her; and her returns and exportations are paper and bills drawn upon heaven and hell, never to be accepted; however, they pass among the common people for payment, as if they were of real value. The merchant who finds means to get shut of them takes no care about their intrinsic value, finding gulls who take them off his hands for real wealth.” Whether these wares were designed to signify pardons, indulgences, dispensations, and the like trifles, with which Rome purchases gold, silver, and whatever ministers to pride and luxury, this is a plain and manifest meaning, that she shall be deprived of all her wealth and luxury at once, and of all the means by which she used to procure them.