Revelation 16 - Introduction
The Seven Vials. Chaps. 15, 16... [ Continue Reading ]
The Seven Vials. Chaps. 15, 16... [ Continue Reading ]
The First Vial. Chap. 16 Revelation 16:1-2 1. _the vials_ Read, THE SEVEN VIALS. _upon the earth_ Lit., INTO THE EARTH, here and in the next verse. Here "the earth" seems to mean the lower world generally, there the dry land only.... [ Continue Reading ]
_went_ Lit., WENT AWAY, from the Angels" place in Heaven before the Temple to the _edge_or "window" whence they can look down upon the earth. _a noisome and grievous sore_ The plagues that accompany these vials have a close analogy to those of the trumpets in ch. 8 sqq., and, like them, have some t... [ Continue Reading ]
The Second Vial, Revelation 16:3 3. _Angel_ Should be omitted, reading THE SECOND, as we had "the first" before. So in Revelation 16:4_; Revelation 16:8; Revelation 16:10; Revelation 16:12; Revelation 16:17_. _as the blood of a dead man_ Lit., BLOOD AS IT WERE OF A DEAD MAN. See Exodus 7:17 sqq., e... [ Continue Reading ]
The Third Vial, Revelation 16:4-7 4. _the rivers … waters_ Revelation 8:10; see on Revelation 14:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the angel of the waters_ Here at least there is no question (see on Revelation 7:1; Revelation 14:18) that we have an elemental Angel; see Exc. I. _O Lord_ Should be omitted. _which art, and wast, and shalt be_ Read, WHICH ART AND WAST, THE HOLY ONE: the word for "holy" being the same as in Revela... [ Continue Reading ]
_of saints and prophets_ See Revelation 11:18; Revelation 18:20. _for they are worthy_ Omit "for:" but we may compare Revelation 3:4, where a very different judgement is grounded on the same weighty words.... [ Continue Reading ]
_another out of_ Should be omitted: St John "heard the Altar" itself "say" what follows. Why the unusual image should be used of the Altar speaking, instead of a voice only coming from it (cf. Revelation 9:13), we cannot say: but perhaps Revelation 6:9 sqq. suggests why the Altar utters its Amen to... [ Continue Reading ]
The Fourth Vial, Revelation 16:8-9 8. _the sun_ Cf. Revelation 8:12; but there the light of the Sun is diminished, here his heat is increased. "Power" is not expressed in the original.... [ Continue Reading ]
_repented not to give him glory_ Contrast Revelation 11:13, which therefore cannot refer to the same judgements as here, nor (probably) to judgements on the same place or people.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Fifth Vial, Revelation 16:10-11 10. _the seat_ Better THRONE: see Revelation 13:2. The word is best taken quite literally, not in the vague sense of the "seat" of his empire. _darkness_ Exodus 10:21; ch. Revelation 9:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Sixth Vial, Revelation 16:12-16 12. _Euphrates_ Revelation 9:14 sqq. Where Babylon confessedly stands for Rome, we should naturally understand the Euphrates to be used also in a symbolical sense, possibly as meaning the Tiber. But the Tiber is not a very "great river:" and the mention of "the k... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I saw_&c. Between the sixth and seventh vial, as between the sixth and seventh seal, and between the sixth and seventh trumpet, there appears a vision that has nothing to do with the series in which it is inserted, but which marks the near approach of the final conflict between the kingdoms of... [ Continue Reading ]
_devils_ Strictly DEMONS: see on Revelation 16:13. _miracles_ Strictly SIGNS, as in Revelation 13:14. One may notice, that this is the word _always_used for miracles in St John's Gospel. _go forth unto the kings_&c. See Revelation 19:19, and cf. Revelation 20:3; Revelation 20:8. _the battle_ Revel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I come_ St John apparently hears, and writes down as he hears, the words of Christ spoken in the midst of his vision. _as a thief_ See Revelation 3:3 and references. _Blessed is he that watcheth_ The _image_is that of St Matthew 24:43, though in the _phrase_there may be a reminiscence of... [ Continue Reading ]
The Muster for the Battle of Armageddon, Revelation 16:16 16. _And he gathered them_ More probably, AND THEY [the unclean spirits] GATHERED THEM. The sentence goes on from the end of Revelation 16:14; Revelation 16:15 being strictly parenthetical. _Armageddon_ The spelling which has the best author... [ Continue Reading ]
The Seventh Vial. Preliminaries of Judgement, Revelation 16:17-21 17. _into the air_ Lit. UPON THE AIR, according to the best reading. _of heaven_ Should be omitted, but of course it is the heavenly Temple that is meant. Here it seems that the Throne (that of Revelation 4:2) is inside it: but see o... [ Continue Reading ]
_voices, and thunders, and lightnings_ Revelation 8:5; Revelation 11:19. Here the best reading is LIGHTNINGS AND VOICES AND THUNDERS. _earthquake_ Revelation 6:12; Revelation 11:13: but this earthquake seems distinguished from those as surpassing them greatly in degree: unless the second of those b... [ Continue Reading ]
_the great city_ Probably _Jerusalem_, as in chap. Revelation 11:8. It seems pointless to suppose _Babylon_to be mentioned twice over: while on the other view there is a climax. Jerusalem is (or is to be) converted she is the City of God again, yet even she is sorely shaken (cf. 1 Peter 4:17): other... [ Continue Reading ]
_every island_&c. See Revelation 6:14. _great hail_ Revelation 8:7; Revelation 11:19. _about the weight of a talent_ While natural hailstones weighing the sixtieth part of one are noticed as extraordinary. Some notice, that the stones thrown by the engines at the siege of Jerusalem are said to hav... [ Continue Reading ]