For in one hour - In a very brief period - so short, that it seemed to them to be but one hour. In the prediction Revelation 18:8, it is said that it would be “in one day” (see the notes on that place); here it is said that, to the on-lookers, it seemed to be but an hour. There is no inconsistency, therefore, between the two statements.
So great riches is come to nought - All the accumulated wealth of so great and rich a city. This should have been united with Revelation 18:16, as it is a part of the lamentation of the merchants, and as the lamentation of the mariners commences in the other part of the verse. It is so divided in the Greek Testaments.
And every ship-master - This introduces the lamentation of the mariners, who would, of course, be deeply interested in the destruction of a city with which they had been accustomed to trade, and by carrying merchandise to which they had been enriched. The word “ship-master” - κυβερνήτης kubernētēs - means, properly, a “governor”; then a governor of a ship - the “steersman” or “pilot,” Acts 27:11.
And all the company in ships - Prof. Stuart renders this “coasters.” There is here, however, an important difference in the reading of the text. The commonly received text is, πᾶς ἐπὶ τῶν πλοίων ὁ ὅμιλος pas epi tōn ploiōn ho homilos - “the whole company in ships,” as in our common version; the reading which is now commonly adopted, and which is found in Griesbach, Hahn, and Tittmann, is ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων ho epi topon pleōn - “he who sails to a place”; that is, he who sails from one place to another along the coast, or who does not venture out far to sea; and thus the phrase would denote a secondary class of sea-captains or officers - those less venturesome, or experienced, or bold than others. There can be little doubt that this is the correct reading (compare Wetatein, in loco); and hence the class of seamen here referred to is “coasters.” Such seamen would naturally be employed where there was a great and luxurious maritime city, and would have a deep interest in its fall.
And sailors - Common seamen.
And as many as trade by sea - In any kind of craft, whether employed in a near or a remote trade.
Stood afar off - notes on Revelation 18:10.