Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness,.... At their festivals, and nuptial solemnities:the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; expressing their mutual love unto, and delight in, each other; so agreeable to one another and their friends: or it may mean those epithalamies, or nuptial songs, sung unto them by their friends:the sound of the millstones; either the voice of those that sing at the mill while grinding; or rather the sound of the stones themselves used in grinding; either in grinding spices for the bride cakes; or rather in grinding corn for common use; and so denotes the taking away of bread corn from them, and the want of that.
The sense is, there should be corn to grind, and so no use of the mill:and the light of the candle; at their feasts and weddings, or rather, for common use; signifying that houses should be desolate, without inhabitants, no light in them, nor work to be done.
The whole shows that they should be deprived of everything both for necessity and pleasure. John seems to have borrowed some phrases from hence, Re 18:22; in which he appears to have followed the Hebrew text, and not the Greek version.
The Targum of the last clause is,"the voice of the company of those that sing at the light of candles.'