How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
How much - i:e., in proportion as.
Lived deliciously - luxuriously (note, Revelation 18:3).
Sorrow, х penthos (G3997)] - 'mourning,' as for a dead husband.
I sit. So Vulgate; but 'Aleph (') A B C prefix 'that.'
I ... am no widow - for the world-power is my husband.
And shall see no sorrow - `mourning.' 'I am (long) seated ... I am no widow ... I shall see no sorrow,' marks her unconcerned security as to the past, present, and future (Bengel). I shall never have to mourn as one bereft of husband. Babylon was queen of the East; so Rome is queen of the West: called on imperial coins 'the eternal city.' Ammian Marcellin says (Revelation 15:7), 'Babylon is a former Rome, and (papal) Rome a latter Babylon. Rome is a daughter of Babylon: by her, as by her mother, God has subdued the world under one sway' (Augustine). As the Jews' restoration did not take place until Babylon's fall, so (R. Kimchi on Obadiah) 'when Rome (Edom) shall be devastated, there shall be redemption to Israel.' Romish idolatries are stumblingblocks to the Jews' acceptance of Christianity.