785. 18:16 18:17 "And saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls,' because in one hour such great riches were laid waste." This symbolizes their grievous lamentation that their magnificence and material gains were so suddenly and completely destroyed.

"Woe, woe," symbolizes a grievous lamentation, as in no. 769 above. That great city symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, because it is said to be clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, which cannot be said of a city, but can be said of a religion. Being clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, symbolizes the same things as in nos. 725-727 above where the same words occur, depicting in general things magnificent in outward form. Such great riches being laid waste in one hour means symbolically that their material gains were suddenly and completely destroyed - one hour meaning suddenly and completely, as in no. 769 above, because time and everything having to do with time symbolizes a state (no. 476).

It is apparent from this that the description here contains the same symbolic meanings as those reported above.

Regarding the devastation of Babylon, something similar is said in Jeremiah:

(The land of Babylon) is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel... The thoughts of Jehovah stand against (her), to make (her) a desolation... They shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a foundation stone, because you shall be desolate forever... Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, a habitation of dragons, an astonishment and a hissing... ...Babylon has been reduced to desolation... The sea has come up over (her), she is covered with the multitude of its waves. Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness... (Jeremiah 51:5, 29, 26, 37, 41-43)

769. 18:10 "Standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' " This symbolizes their fear of punishments, and grievous lamentation then that the Roman Catholic religion, so well fortified, could be so suddenly and completely overturned, and that they could perish.

To stand at a distance for fear of torment symbolizes a state as yet distant from the state of those in a state of damnation, because the people here have a fear of torment, of which we will say more below. "Woe, woe," symbolizes a grievous lamentation. "Woe" symbolizes a lamentation over a calamity, misfortune, or damnation, as may be seen in no. 416 above; "woe, woe," therefore symbolizes a grievous lamentation. The great city Babylon symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, here Babylon as a woman or harlot as in no. 751 above, because the torment is said to be her torment. A mighty city symbolizes a religion so well fortified. "In one hour your judgment has come" means symbolically that it could be so suddenly overturned and that they could perish. "In one hour" means, symbolically, so suddenly, and its judgment symbolizes its overturn and the destruction of those who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her, who are the subject here. That they perished as a result of the Last Judgment may be seen in the short work, The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed (London, 1758). Their destruction is the subject of what is said here.

[2] We said that the kings' standing at a distance for fear of Babylon's torment symbolizes a state as yet distant from the state of those in a state of damnation, because the people here have a fear of torment, and the reason is that distance does not mean a spatial distance, but a distance of state when someone has a fear of being punished; for as a long as a person is in a state of fear, he then sees, considers, and laments. Distance of state, which is what distance is in the spiritual sense, is also symbolized by distance elsewhere in the Word, as in the following places:

Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might. (Isaiah 33:13)

Am I a God near at hand..., and not a God afar off? (Jeremiah 23:23)

It found grace in the wilderness... Israel (said)..., Jehovah appeared to me from afar... (Jeremiah 31:2-3)

Bring My sons from afar... (Isaiah 43:6)

Attend, O peoples, from afar! (Isaiah 49:1-2)

(The peoples and nations that) come from a far land, Isaiah 13:4-5.

And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 4:16; 5:15, Zechariah 6:15, where nations and peoples from afar mean people relatively distant from the truths and goods of the church.

In common speech, too, some relatives are said to be near relatives, and ones more remotely related are said to be distant relatives.