Revelation 15:2

νικ. ἐκ κ. τ. λ., “those who came off conquerors from” another pregnant use of ἐκ (cf. Revelation 2:21; Revelation 8:11) combining the ideas of victory over (cf. on Revelation 2:7) and deliverance from. A possible Latinism (cf. L ivy 8:8, uictoriam ferre ex aliquo; 45:38, aliquis est Romae qui triumphari de Macedonis nolit?)? The prophet paints the downfall of the Roman persecutor in terms of the Jewish tradition preserved, e.g., in Targ. Jerus. (on Exodus 12:42) which singled out four memorable nights, that of the creation, that on which God's promise of a son came to Abram, that of the tenth Egyptian plague, and that on which the world is ended (when Moses appears in a cloud from the wilderness and messiah in a cloud from Rome, led by the Word of the Lord). cf. Schemoth Rabba on Exodus 12:2 : ex quo Deus mundum suum elegit, determinauit principium mensis redemptionis, quo liberati sunt Israelitae ex Aegypto, et quo liberabuntur futuro saeculo. In time as well as in method (cf. on Revelation 8:6, and 1 Corinthians 10:1-11) the two redemptions, Mosaic and messianic, are to correspond. πυρί, a truly Red sea, red with the glow of God's wrath. Like Pharaoh and his host (Exodus 15:5; Exodus 15:10 = Revelation 18:21) the persecutors of God's people in these latter days not only fail to effect their purpose, but are themselves destroyed by God's vengeance (cf. Revelation 16:2). The faithful get through their sea of troubles, resisting threats and persuasions, and now stand safe at (i.e., on the shore of) the heavenly sea. “Duteous mourning we fulfil / In God's name; but by God's will / Doubt not the last word is still / victory” (D. G. Rossetti). Here, as at Revelation 12:11 the thrill of triumph is enhanced by the fearful odds against which the saints had to contend. Apparently the world is now tenanted by pagans only, God's faithful having been removed. Hence the plagues are all-embracing (contrast Revelation 7:1 f.). Cf. Revelation 20:4.