Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 18:17

ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων. B2 has ἐπὶ τὸν τ. πλ.; P ἐπὶ τῶν πλοίων πλέων. Text. Rec[670] ἐπὶ τῶν πλοίων ὁ ὄμιλος with 1 Hipp[671] An[672][673].

[670] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.
[671] St Hippolytus. The readings not given by Tischendorf are from the newly published 4th book of his commentary on Daniel.
[672] Andreas’ Augsburg MS. 12th century.
[673] Andreas’ Augsburg MS. 12th century.

17. πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων. Vulg. renders ac omnes qui in locum navigant, which would mean “every one who saileth to the place,” a more natural sense than that of R. V[690], “who saileth any whither.” There is no known parallel in Biblical or other Greek for the curious phrase ἐπὶ τόπον: the nearest is σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους, St Matthew 24:7. The Old Latin, and most probably the Coptic, read πόντον in some form. If the text be right the words probably stand for the merchants travelling in ships with their own goods, which they intend to sell on arriving at their destination—Lat. vectores.

[690] Revised Version.

ναῦται. Cf. Ezekiel 27:29 sqq.

ὅσοι τὴν θάλασσαν ἐργάζονται. The sense is general and includes all the three classes named, shipmasters, sailing merchants, and sailors. “Trade” in A. V[691] is defensible, as neither noun nor verb had any exclusive reference to commerce in the seventeenth century.

[691] Authorised Version.

ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔστησαν. At this point, as in Revelation 11:11, vision may be supposed to take the place of prediction, and so the seer narrates what has been shewn him. The pleonasm ἀπὸ μακρόθεν is characteristic of St Mark who has it five times, St Matthew has it twice (Matthew 26:58 = Mark 14:54; Matthew 27:58 = Mark 15:40), St Luke twice (Luke 16:23; Luke 23:49 = Mark 15:40) with an added reminiscence of Psalms 37:12 LXX. Kings, merchants, and shipmen when they land would all naturally go up to the great city, but they see the smoke of her torment and stand afar off.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 18:17

Old Testament

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