In one hour: as in verse 10.

All this wealth has been laid waste: this translates the Greek verb “to make a desert,” that is, to cause to disappear (see its use in 17.16, “make desolate”). A more natural way of saying this in English is “all this wealth has disappeared.” In certain languages this will be expressed as “Babylon has lost all of her possessions.”

Shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea: this list intends to include all people who make their living in maritime trade. Shipmasters can mean “steersmen, pilots,” or as RSV translates it in Acts 27.11, “captain”; here it means the ships’ captains. The “captain” is the one who commands the ship or gives commands to the sailors. The second phrase, translated seafaring men by Revised Standard Version, is a curious one, and no exact parallel to it has been found. Literally it says “everyone who sails to a place.” Most take it to mean, quite generally, “voyagers,” “seafarers,” “all who travel by ship” (Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version); the specific sense “passengers” is preferred by Good News Translation, Translator’s New Testament, Bible en français courant, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje. Some take it to mean the merchants who went with their goods aboard the ship (the Greek equivalent of the Latin vectores). Either “those who travel on the sea,” “passengers,” or “people who pay to travel on the ship” seems to be the best option. Sailors may be expressed as “people who make the boat go” or “people who work under the captain (or, boss) of the ship.” In land-bound cultures where only small fishing boats are known, it is important to designate “ships” as “large boats that travel on the sea (or, ocean).” The fourth group are “those who earn their living on the sea.” This does not include fishermen; it means people engaged in maritime commerce.

They saw the smoke of her burning: as in Rev. 18.9.

What city was like the great city?: this is a rhetorical question meaning “There has never been a city as great as this one!” See a similar rhetorical question in 13.4.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .