The Measuring Angel and the Two Witnesses. Chap. 11 Revelation 11:1-13 1. _a reed_ Ezekiel 40:3; Zechariah 2:1. _like unto a rod_ i.e. a walking-staff: probably not as long as the one in Ezek., l.c., but perhaps of six _feet:_so that it would naturally, when carried, be grasped near the upper end,... [ Continue Reading ]
_the court which is without the temple_ The words might be translated "the outer court of the Temple." It must be remembered that "the courts of the Lord's House" were the ordinary place for the worshippers to assemble, even before the outer and larger "Court of the Gentiles," with its magnificent c... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will give power_ Better, as in the margin, "I will give to My two Witnesses that they may prophesy" the Hebrew idiom being literally reproduced. _my two witnesses_ The traditional view of these, dating from the second century, is that they are Enoch and Elijah the two prophets who, having (f... [ Continue Reading ]
_the two olive trees_&c. See Zechariah 4 _passim_. There apparently the "two Anointed Ones" are Zerubbabel and Jeshua, or rather perhaps the ideal King and Priest, conceived as types of Him Who is both: perhaps these two Witnesses similarly typify Him as King (cf. Deuteronomy 33:5) and Prophet.... [ Continue Reading ]
_will hurt them_ I.e. "_wishes_" or "_means_to hurt." _fire proceedeth out of their mouth_ Jeremiah 5:14 is a precedent for the image, 2 Kings 1:10, &c. for the sense.... [ Continue Reading ]
_power to shut heaven_ Like Elijah: _over waters_, &c. like Moses.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the beast_ Here first mentioned: probably that which appears in Revelation 13:1, not in Revelation 13:11: though neither of them makes his appearance immediately "out of the bottomless pit:" see, however, Revelation 17:8. But perhaps it is worth noticing that "the deep" in Romans 10:7 (the word is... [ Continue Reading ]
_the street_ For the sing. cf. Revelation 21:21; Revelation 22:2. The word in fact means a _broad_street, such as _the_principal street of a city would be. The modern Italian _piazza_is the same word; but Revelation 22:2 seems to shew that it is a street rather than a square perhaps most accurately... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall see_ Read, SEE: and so "suffer not" … "rejoice … and make merry," but "shall send." The presents seem to make the transition from the prophecy to the narrative a little easier. _three days and a half_ Should probably be " THE three &c." The _half_day lends a certain support to the "year-day... [ Continue Reading ]
_they heard_ Probably not the two prophets only, but "they that beheld them." _in a cloud_ Should be "in THE cloud" the same, perhaps, that received their Lord out of His Disciples" sight. Any way, "the cloud" is regarded as a permanently recurring phenomenon, like "the rainbow" in Revelation 10:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of men_ Lit., NAMES OF MEN, as the margin: cf. Revelation 3:4, and Acts 1:15 there quoted. _seven thousand_ Possibly this number is taken as approximately a tenth part of the population of Jerusalem. The city, which can never have extensive suburbs, being surrounded by ravines, can never hold a la... [ Continue Reading ]
_The second woe is past_ Having included the plagues inflicted by the two prophets, as well as the invasion of the terrible horsemen of chap. 9. _the third woe_ In what does this consist? _Perhaps_we are to see the answer in Revelation 12:12: but at any rate we have an instance of the way that, thr... [ Continue Reading ]
The Seventh Trumpet, Revelation 11:15-19. Chap. Revelation 12:7-12 15. _great voices_ Cf. Revelation 16:17. _The kingdoms of this world_&c. Read, THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD IS BECOME OUR LORD'S AND HIS CHRIST'S. The phrase "_His_Christ" is founded on the O. T. phrase "the Lord's Anointed;" cf. St Lu... [ Continue Reading ]
_which sat before God_&c. Read, WHICH ARE BEFORE GOD, WHO SIT UPON THEIR THRONES.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lord God Almighty_ See on Revelation 1:8. _which art, and wast_ Omit _and art to come_, as in Revelation 16:5. It is not, however, likely that any importance is to be attached to the omission of the full expression we had in Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou hast taken … thy wrath is come_ It is hypercritical in the N. T., and in this book particularly, to attempt to distinguish regularly between perfects and simple preterites: but here it is perhaps worth observing that all the verbs (after the first) are in the same tense: "Thou hast taken Thy g... [ Continue Reading ]
_destroy them which destroy_ The verb used twice over is ambiguous, and perhaps has a meaning that we should express differently in the two places; as in 1 Corinthians 3:17. Thus neither the marginal rendering nor the text is wrong.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the temple of God_ See on Revelation 4:6; Revelation 6:9. _the ark of his testament_ Better COVENANT, as constantly in the O. T. _there were lightnings_&c. So Revelation 8:5; Revelation 16:18: in all three places, they mark the end of the series of seven signs.... [ Continue Reading ]