Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
Here we have, I. A doleful lamentation made by Babylon's friends for her fall; and here observe, 1. Who are the mourners, namely, those who had been bewitched by her fornication, those who had been sharers in her sensual pleasures, and those who had been gainers by her wealth and trade - the kings and the merchants of the earth: the kings of the earth...
Commenting on Revelation 18:9-24
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication,.... Idolatry, Rev 17:2 and lived deliciously with her; Rev 18:3 joining with her in her sensual, as well as in her idolatrous practices: shall bewail her, and lament for her: shall mourn inwardly, and by various gestures outwardly express their sorrow at her desolation; see Eze 27:30 these will not be the ten kings who...
Verse 9. And the kings of the earth. This verse commences the description of the lamentation over the fall of the mystical Babylon. Who have committed fornication. That is, who have been seduced by her from the true God, and have been led into practical idolatry. .