“And I was given a rod (קְנֵה הַמִּדָּה) like a staff, with the words” (λέγων by a harsh attraction, _cf._ LXX of 1 Kings 20:9; Joshua 2:2, is left in apposition to the subject implied in ἐδόθη), “Up (or come = קוּמ) and measure the temple of God and the altar (of burnt-offering, which stood outside... [ Continue Reading ]
σάκκους, the simple, archaic garb of prophets, especially appropriate to humiliation (reff.). The faithful prophets who withdraw from the local apostacy to the desert in company with Isaiah (_Asc. Isa._ ii. 9 f.) are also clothed in this black hair-cloth. The voice of the divine speaker here “melts... [ Continue Reading ]
They are further described in the terms applied by Zechariah to the two most prominent religious figures of his day, except that they are compared to two lampstands, not to one which is septiform. The idea is that their authority and influence are derived from God. As in Revelation 11:7, the functio... [ Continue Reading ]
In this description, borrowed from traditional features of Moses and Elijah (whose drought lasted for three and a half years, according to Luke 4:25; James 5:17), the metaphorical expressions of passages like Jeremiah 5:14 and Sir 48:1 are translated into grim reality (see reff.), as in Slav. En. i.... [ Continue Reading ]
The influence of Hebraic idiom helps to explain (_cf._ Revelation 20:7-9) the translator's “transition from futures through presents to preterites” here (Simcox). τελέσωσι (Burton, 203) indicates no uncertainty. When their work is done, they are massacred not till then; like their Lord (Luke 13:31 f... [ Continue Reading ]
God's servants rejected and cast aside, as so much refuse! See _Sam. Agonistes_, 667 704. The “great city” is Jerusalem, an identification favoured by (_a_) incidental O.T. comparisons of the Jews to Sodom (Isaiah 11:9; Jeremiah 23:14; so _Asc. Isaiah 3:10_), (_b_) the Christian editor's note ὅπου κ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cf._ 2 Chronicles 24:19 f., Matthew 23:34 f., Job 1:12. ἀφίουσιν, for other N.T. assimilations of irreg. to reg. verb (Win. § Revelation 14:16; Blass, § 23:7), _cf._ Mark 1:34; Luke 11:4. In Ep. Lugd. the climax of pagan malice is the refusal to let the bodies of the martyrs be buried by their frie... [ Continue Reading ]
So far from laying it to heart that the godly perish, men are hyperbolically represented as congratulating one another on getting rid of these obnoxious prophets with their vexatious words (3) and works (6), which hitherto had baffled opposition (Revelation 11:4-5). Another naive Oriental touch is t... [ Continue Reading ]
After being resuscitated, they ascend in a cloud (like Enoch and Jesus) before the eyes of their enemies (unlike Jesus).... [ Continue Reading ]
On earthquakes as a punishment for sin, _cf._ Jos. _Ant._ ix. 10, 4 = Zechariah 14:5, and (for Sodom) Amos 4:11. The beast, as in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, gets off scatheless in the meantime, though his tools are punished or terrified into reverence (Jonah 3:5-10). ὀνόματα ἀ. Briggs ingeniously conje... [ Continue Reading ]
The rout of Satan (Revelation 12:10 and Revelation 20:4-10) means the absolute messianic (ὁ Χ. only in these sections = “messiah” in the eschatological sense) authority of God, as the destruction or submission of paganism (_cf._ Revelation 11:13) means the true coming of the eschatological βασιλεία... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ ἐρχόμενος is naturally omitted from this paean; God has already come! The variation of order in Revelation 1:4 and Revelation 1:8 has no occult significance. The phrase _Lord God_ is considered by Philo (on Genesis 7:5) specially applicable to seasons of judgment; _Lord_ precedes _God_, since the... [ Continue Reading ]
ὠργ. = defiant rage (_cf._ Revelation 16:11), not the mere terror of Revelation 6:17, at the messianic ὀργή. The prophets are as usual the most prominent of the ἅγιοι. If the καὶ after ἁγίοις is retained, it is epexegetic (as in Genesis 4:4; Galatians 6:16), not a subtle mark of division between Jew... [ Continue Reading ]
introduces Revelation 12:1-17; all that the prophet can speak of, from his own experience (_cf._ Revelation 13:1; Revelation 13:11, εἶδον), are the two θηρία on earth, but their activity in these latter days is not intelligible except as the result of mysterious movements in heaven. The latter he no... [ Continue Reading ]