The Greek noun gomos means a ship's cargo, load, or freight. It refers to the goods transported in a vessel. In Acts 21:3, the ship that carried Paul set down its cargo at Tyre. In Revelation 18:11–12, the word appears in the lament over Babylon's fall — no one will buy her cargo anymore.
The gomos of Babylon in Revelation 18 represents the totality of a civilization's wealth and commerce — gold, silver, precious stones, fine cloth, exotic foods, slaves, and human souls. The list is a searing indictment: a world system that treats even human beings as commodities ends in catastrophic loss. The 'merchants of the earth' weep, but heaven rejoices (Revelation 18:20). Theologically, gomos reminds believers not to load their hearts with the cargo of this age, for 'what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?' (Mark 8:36).