Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 18:22-23

"And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived." — Revelation 18:22-23 (ASV)

And the voice of harpers . . .—Better, the sound. The sounds of mirth and triumph, and so on, cease: the sound of harpers, and musicians, and flute-players, and trumpeters, shall not be heard in thee ANY MORE: the power of wealth has gone; her own right hand has forgotten her cunning: every craftsman of every craft shall not be found in thee ANY MORE: the sound of grinding the corn is at an end: the sound of millstone shall not be heard in thee ANY MORE: the cheerful lamps of home and feast are extinguished: light of lamp shall not shine in thee ANY MORE: the sounds of domestic joy are silenced: voice of bridegroom and of bride shall not be heard in thee ANY MORE.

The words are an echo of earlier prophecy: I destroy from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. It was thus Jeremiah warned Jerusalem of her coming doom (Jeremiah 25:10). Now the same judgments are pronounced against the foe of the true Jerusalem.

For thy merchants were the great . . .—The judgment does not fall because the merchants were great: it is the sorcery of the next clause which is the true cause of her fall: the merchants are those who traded with her, as well as those who lived in her: by “her sorceries” we must understand her artful policy, her attractiveness, and the seductions by which she drew into the meshes of her worldliness and sin the nations around. In thy sorcery were all the nations led astray (Revelation 13:14).