Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Revelation 18:13

“Cinnamon,” an aromatic spice (the inner bark of the tree) exported from E. Asia and S. China; ἄμωμον, aromatic balsam for the hair, made from the seeds of some Fastern shrub (Verg. Ecl. iv. 25, “assyrium uolgo nascetur amomum; from Harran, Jos. Ant. xx. 2, 2) for the form, cf. Levy's die Semit. Fremdwörter im Griech. (1895), p. 37; θυμιάματα, “incense,” in its ingredients of aromatic spices; λίβανον = “frankincense,” a fragrant gum-resin exported from S. Arabia (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20); enormous quantities of perfume were employed by the Romans, chiefly in the care of the body, but also to mix with wine at their banquets (e.g., Juv. vi. 303, etc.; E. Bi. 5320); σεμίδαλιν = “fine flour,” wheaten meal (LXX for סלת, cf. Deuteronomy 32:14; Psalms 81:16) of the choicest kind; wine, flour, and incense were all used in sacrifices. ῥεδῶν, a Gallic word = four-wheeled “carriages” used by the well-to-do (cf. Jerome on Isaiah 66). σωμάτων = “slaves” (later Greek, dropping the qualifying adj. δούλων or οἰκετικῶν, cf. Deissm. 160, Dittenberger's Sylloge, 2 845, etc.). καὶ ψυχὰς (reverting awkwardly to accus.) ἀνθρώπων = “and souls of men” (from Ezekiel 27:13, “they traded the persons of men for thy merchandise”: ἐνεπορεύοντό σοι ἐν ψυχαῖς ἀνθρώπων, LXX, cf. 1 Chronicles 5:21). The double expression is strange. If καὶ is not to be taken as “even,” identifying both, we must suppose that some distinction is intended, and that of the two σωμάτων is the more specific. Prostitutes, or female slaves, or gladiators, or even grooms and drivers (ἵπποι καὶ ἱππεῖς, Ezekiel 27:14) have been more or less convincingly suggested as its meaning. Slave-dealing (Friedländer, iii. 87 f.; Dobschütz, 266 269) was a lucrative trade under the empire, with Delos as its centre, and Asiatic youths especially were in large demand as pages, musicians, and court-attendants. Thousands of captives, after the siege of Jerusalem, were sent into slavery by the Roman government; and early Christians at this period (Clem. Rom. lv.) voluntarily went into slavery either as substitutes for others or “that with the price got for themselves they might furnish others with food”.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Revelation 18:13

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