Revelation 18:11; The Merchants of the Earth

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Revelation 18:11 (KJV)  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 

The merchants take up their dirge in verse 11 – And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.

Babylon is the epitome of luxury, so with her gone, no one remained to buy their commodities (Johnson). They had made money their god, using unscrupulous means to accumulate material goods and placing their whole confidence on this centre of commerce. Primarily they bemoan the loss of profits and customers, but they also grieve over the disappearance of so great a treasure as this city represents (v16-17a).

Revelation 18:16-17 (KJV)  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought….

This recalls the situation with ancient Tyre – Ezekiel 27:25-31 (KJV)  The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land; And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. 

The wail of merchants is more extended than that of the kings or the sea-people because their loss is greater. The dirge centres on trade because the wealth it generates is generally associated with a sense of false security that keeps people from seeing greed, cruelty, injustice etc, in their true light (Sweet).

[Robert L Thomas, Revelation 8-22 An Exegetical Commentary, Moody Press, 1995, 329-330]