Revelation 14:14-20

The Harvest and the Vintage of the World. The scene culminates in a vision of the Parousia, and an ingathering of the spiritual harvest.

Revelation 14:14. The coming of the Son of Man on the clouds, which was first suggested by a misinterpretation of Daniel 7:13, is one of the most familiar ideas in Christian eschatology (cf. Mark 14:62; Matthew 24:30). like unto a son of man: Daniel 7:13 *. The phrase originally denoted the advent of a new kingdom with human qualities and characteristics in contrast to earlier empires, which could only be described under the figure of beasts. Later on, however, especially in the Book of Enoch, the term Son of Man was used to denote the Messiah, and this later usage of the phrase led to a misinterpretation of the passage in Daniel.

Revelation 14:15. send forth thy sickle: for the metaphor, cf. the parable of the harvest in Mark 4:29. Many scholars think that the harvest represents the ingathering of the saints, the vintage the ingathering of the wicked for their doom.

Revelation 14:19. winepress: the metaphor comes from Isaiah 63:1.

Revelation 14:20. without the city: winepresses were generally erected outside the walls of a city, but the phrase no doubt suggests the further meaning that capital punishment was inflicted on criminals without the city (cf. Hebrews 13:12).