Verse Lens · Concise explanation

Revelation 18:11 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse voices their shock that the mighty city's judgment arrived in one hour.

Kings, merchants, and sailors mourn at a safe distance

This verse is one part of that explanation in Revelation 18:9-20. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.

Read It With

  • Revelation 18:9-20

Read Revelation 18:11 with 18:9-20. This verse voices their shock that the mighty city's judgment arrived in one hour. The complete unit's controlling movement is: Political and commercial beneficiaries mourn Babylon from a distance as her luxury market vanishes; the cargo list climaxes in enslaved bodies and human lives before heaven is called to rejoice at divine judgment.

Why This Verse Appears Here

The preceding movement establishes: Revelation 18:1-8 established this prior movement: A glory-bearing angel announces fallen Babylon as a haunt, names her intoxicating political economy, and a heavenly voice calls God's people out before sudden plagues answer her self-glory. This unit then contributes: Political and commercial beneficiaries mourn Babylon from a distance as her luxury market vanishes; the cargo list climaxes in enslaved bodies and human lives before heaven is called to rejoice at divine judgment. The following movement develops: Revelation 18:21-24 continues the book through this next movement: A millstone cast into the sea enacts Babylon's disappearance; music, craft, milling, light, and marriage cease because merchant power, deception, and the blood of prophets, saints, and earth's slain are found in her. At Revelation 18:11, this verse voices their shock that the mighty city's judgment arrived in one hour.

What Remains True

Revelation 18:11 shows that voices their shock that the mighty city's judgment arrived in one hour; its faithful force remains governed by creator worship, the slain Lamb, truthful witness, patient endurance, justice, and new creation.

Continue in Context

Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.

Read Revelation 18:9-20 — Kings, Merchants, and Sailors Lament a Collapsed Market
Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete coverage.

Exact location: Revelation 18:9-20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

Greek textual evidence

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos

Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010

Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations checked independently of the KJV.

Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Revelation.txt, 18:9-20

Open the Revelation Greek text file ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Revelation with translators' and textual notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition

Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual variants, imagery, cross-references, and stated alternatives.

Exact location: NET Bible Revelation PDF, printed pp. 2408–2447, 18:9-20 and attached translator/textual notes

Open the official NET Revelation PDF ↗
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