REVELATION 18

In order to counter those who say that the Book of Revelation is a bunch of meaningless nonsense dreamed up by the author, I have written a number of posts discussing how very carefully the book is composed. And to demonstrate that the order of the book as a whole is finely constructed, I would like to now concentrate on just one section to show that this order extends down to the smallest units within it. The passage I selected is Revelation 18, a chapter dealing with one subject – the fall of Babylon the Great. It can be diagrammed as follows, with the prose sections given in bold type and key words listed in quotes:

                                                   Figure 1: Structure of Revelation 18

    Introduction 1 (vv. 1-2a): “another angel from heaven,” “mighty”

        Song 1 (v. 2b): Babylon inhabited by demons

            Reason for the fall (v. 3): “For the nations...”

    Introduction 2 (v. 4a): “another voice from heaven”

        Song 2 (v. 4b): a call to come out of Babylon

            Reason for the fall (vv. 5-8): “For her sins...”

                The kings lament (vv. 9-10a) “wept at smoke,” “They will stand far off”

                    Lament 1 (v. 10b): “alas, alas, the great city”

                        Reason for lament (10c): “for in one hour...”

                            The merchants lament (vv. 11-13)

                                Lament 2 (vv. 14)

                            The merchants lament (v. 15) “They stand far off”

                                Lament 2' (v. 16): “alas, alas, the great city”

                         Reason for lament (v. 17): “for in one hour”

                  Seafarers lament (vv. 17b-18a) “They will stand far off,” “wept at smoke”

                      Lament 3 (v. 18b): “what city was like the great city?”

                  Seafarers lament (v. 19a) “They wept and mourned

                      Lament 3' (v. 19b): “alas, alas, the great city”

                            Reason for lament (v. 19c): “for in one hour”

      Conclusion (vv. 20-21a): “heaven,” “a mighty angel”

          Song 3 (vv. 21b-23a): Babylon deserted by its inhabitants

              Reasons for the fall: (vv. 23b-24) “For your merchants..;”

The litany of precious goods in vv. 11-13 contains exactly 28 (i.e. 4x7) individual items, in keeping with the overwhelming emphasis in the book on the symbolic meaning of “7” as perfection or completion.

Inclusios (verbal bookends to individual units) in this chapter include: “plagues” at vv. 4b and 8 as well as “prophets” in vv. 20 and 24. The words “nations” and “earth (twice)” in verses 3 and 23-24 serve the same function to tie the whole chapter together.

Also, note from the structure above that in each of the three groups of laments over Babylon the phrases “alas, alas, the great city,” “in one hour,” and “they stand far off” appear.

Within Song 3, the following seven similar phrases serve as a repeated chorus which alternates in key words:

    “will be found no more” (21b)

            “will be heard in you no more” (22a)

    “will be found in you no more” (22b)

            “will be heard in you no more” (22c)

    “will shine in you no more” (23a)

            “will be heard in you no more” (23b)

    “in you was found” (24)

The first time it appears, it is Babylon herself which will be found no more. And the reason for that judgment is given in the last appearance – she has slaughtered in prophets and saints.

One hint as to the main point of emphasis in this chapter is given by the fact that “the merchants of the earth” are mentioned in three key locations in the text: the start (v. 3), middle (vv. 11,15), and end (v. 23b).

At this point I should mention that the distinctions in Figure 1 made between poetic and prose sections are based on those found in NRSV and are not to be taken as the “Gospel truth.” In fact, the division between these two genres is by no means a hard and fast one, as we can see by comparing other English translations:

    Even the related RSV translation differs from the NRSV in that it considers v. 20 to be written as poetry, not prose.

    TEV feels that only verses 4b-8 in this chapter should be indented as poetry. And the NEB treats the whole of Revelation as prose.

    The tabulation below shows which verses are treated as poetic according to other versions. Those in NRSV ares repeated for easier comparison:

Translation       Poetic Passages

JB                    10b; 16b-17a; 19b; 22-23

AB                  2b-3; 4b-8; 10b; 14; 16-17a; 18b; 19b-20; 21b-24

NIV                 2b-3; 4b-8; 10b; 16b-17a; 19b-20; 21b-24

NRSV             2b-3; 4b-8; 10b; 14; 16-17; 18b; 19b; 21b-24

Because of these uncertainties regarding the genres in this chapter, it would perhaps be best to ignore those distinctions altogether in arriving at the literary structure of Revelation 18 and stick to indications in the text regarding to distinct changes of subject. When one does that, something like this much less detailed, but more symmetrical, organization of Figure 2 is obtained, in which all of the various verbal parallels cited above still hold.

                                        Figure 2: Revised Structure of Revelation 18

    A. Introduction (vv. 1-8): Babylon will be inhabited by demons for her sins

            B. Laments for the Great City (vv. 9-19)

                1. The kings lament (vv. 9-10)

                    2. The merchants lament (vv. 11-17a)

                1'. The seafarers lament (vv. 17b-19)

    A'. Conclusion (vv. 20-21a): Babylon deserted by its inhabitants for her sins

For a verse-by-verse discussion of this chapter, see my posts titled “Lesson in Context: Part I (Revelation 18)” and “The Importance of Context: Part 2 (Revelation 18).”