Revelation 18:3

the wine of Should perhaps be omitted: it mayhave come in from the parallel passage, Revelation 14:8.

the kings of the earth&c. Revelation 17:2.

the merchants of the earth Merchants are alluded to as frequenting the literal Babylon in Isaiah 47:15; but the prominence given to them suggests the analogy, not of Babylon but of Tyre: see on Revelation 17:1. Rome was in St John's day a wealthy and luxurious city, not a commercial city primarily, in the same sense as ancient Tyre and modern London, but a city with an immense commerce, the commerce really belonging to the city, though the port of Ostia was considerably further from the Capitol than the Docks are from Westminster. What Rome was then it may, and probably will, be again: and there is thus no need to look elsewhere than at Rome for the literal fulfilment of St John's description, though some have thought it inappropriate to the geographical position of the city.

abundance of her delicacies More literally, power of her luxury.