i. e. persecution even unto death.-"Enkvrar, have washed, refers to the white robes with which they were clothed.-'Elɛýzavar, lit. have made white; but this primary meaning is incongruous here. To make white by washing in blood is an inconsistent expression. Of course the secondary sense of the verb, viz. to cleanse, to purify, (from the well known rite of cleansing things by blood under the ancient ritual), is the only proper meaning to be assigned to exarar here. The meaning is, that the Lamb has redeemed them by his blood, and thus conferred on them the honour of being clothed in white. On the use of the Aor. in these two cases, instead of the Perf. (which might have been used), see N. Test. Gramm. § 136, 5. 3, and comp. § 136. 3. Note 2.

(15) Because of this they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sitteth upon the throne will spread his tent over them.

The redeemed are made kings and priests to God, 1: 6. Hence, like the priests of old, they serve him in his temple day and night, i. e. without cessation.-Expráca in avtovs, English version, shall dwell among them. But this would be in' aurois. The Acc. here with dní must denote one of two things, viz. either, (a) That the glory of God, the Shechinah,, should rest on them or over them, as over the ark of the covenant, and over the tabernacle of old; see Ex. 40: 34 seq. Num. 9: 15-23; or (b) That he will erect his tent over them, i. e. receive them into intimate connection and union with him, and afford them his protection. That ozqrów may mean to furnish with a tent, etc., is plain from the nature of the verb; for verbs of this class often have a like meaning; e. g. oreqarów, to furnish with a crown, Tegów, to furnish with wings, etc. Either of the above meanings is good; but, on the whole, I prefer the latter; comp. Is. 4: 5, 6. Ps. 27: 5. 121: 5, 6. Is. 49: 10.

(16) They shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst any more, neither shall the sun fall upon them, nor any scorching heat.

...

Οὐ . . . ἔτι and οὐδὲ . . . ἔτι, no more or never... never, is a mode of negation so often repeated in the Apocalypse (comp. 18: 22, 23), that it is somewhat peculiar to this book, in respect to frequency, although it is in itself good Greek; see Luke 20: 40. Matt. 5: 13. John 14: 30. Gal. 4: 7. Heb. 8: 12. Buttm. § 149. voc. ti.

Oos here designates what we call the stroke of the sun, i. e. an excessive solar heat which creates a raging thirst and fever.-IIãv zavua is generic and includes all kinds of heat, that of the night as well as that of the day. The original idea, however, in Is. 49: 10, which seems to be here alluded to, is a little different; "No sun nor shall smite them." The word means mirage, i. e. that appearance of water,

which is occasioned by heat that makes the vapour exhale from the sandy desert, and which often misleads and destroys the unwary traveller by its deceptive appearance. Whether the writer intended to express this by xavua here, may possibly be doubtful. I have followed the most simple meaning of the Greek, in the explanation above; but as the Septuagint, in Is. 49: 10, have rendered by xavowv the Sirocco, there cannot be much objection to the idea, that John may have intended to express the same meaning by zavua. It is at least very descriptive, and sufficiently appropriate.

(17) For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall lead them, and he will guide them to fountains of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

But

Avà pécor is a phrase of some difficulty. Passow gives to avά with the Acc., the same meaning that &v has with the Dat.; e. g. ȧvà oróμa: iv oróμari; and there are many cases where this may be correct. in the case before us, there may be doubt whether such a sense is admissible. The Lamb is still standing between the throne and the elders ; of course he was now, while the speaker was contemplating him, not seated on the throne. In Mark 7: 31, we have avά μécor twv ógíwv Aɛzañókɛws, i. e. over against the limits of Decapolis; for Decapolis was on the east side of the lake of Galilee, and the journey of Jesus from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon to the sea of Galilee (as here asserted), could not possibly be through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, as our English version has it. Avà pέoov here may have a meaning different from the iv uio in Rev. 4: 6. 5: 6; for in the passage before us, it may mean the same as ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου, except that it implies a station opposite or over against the middle of the throne, i. e. directly in front of it. If however the writer be regarded as here declaring, not what the station of the Lamb was at that moment, but what station belonged of right to him, then we may translate in the midst, as I have done in the version above.

Iouarsi, here not to feed, for the imagery is not simply that of a shepherd feeding his flock, although it is borrowed from that source. The last part of the verse shows that another sense of nouavε is required here, viz. that of leading, guiding, as a shepherd does his flock, or as a conductor leads a caravan through the desert where the mirage is. This is shown by the next clause, which signifies as much as to say : 'He will not suffer them to be misled and deceived by the 7 or xavμα, so as to perish with thirst, but will safely guide them to fountains of living water.—ζωής is used as an adjective qualifying πηγὰς ὑδάτων, and as such is placed between the preposition and the principal noun.

Eğaλeía o deos z. 7. 2. shows, that the metaphor of a shepherd and

his flock is not intended to be continued here. To wipe away tears is an action appropriately having reference to human beings as such. The meaning of the expression is obvious: God will assuage every sorrow, and alleviate every suffering. Complete protection and defence, with the supply of every want and a removal of every woe-shall be afforded to all faithful followers of the Lamb.'

THE TRUMPETS: CHAP. VIII. Seq.

[The servants of God being now secure against impending destruction, all things appear to be in readiness for the execution of justice upon the persecutors of the church. One seal, and one only, remains yet to be broken, of the volume in which their destiny is inscribed; and it seems as if this must introduce the consummation. It is evident that such is represented to be the impression on the great multitude who encircle the throne of God. They stand in silent and awful expectation of the sequel which must take place, when that seal is broken. But the Lord is 'slow to anger and of great mercy, not willing that any should perish, but that all should repent and be saved.' 'Judgment is his strange work;' and delay does not prove that any uncertainty attends the final event. Besides; it` had already been declared (6: 11), that some delay would take place, until more martyrdoms should be accomplished. Here then the writer introduces various circumstances by which this is aptly brought about. The breaking of the last seal, instead of presenting a single symbol of a single event, is followed by a new series of events which is disparted into seven gradations or stages of accomplishment; and these are presented as becoming gradually more and more annoying and destructive to the enemies of the church. Trumpets, the usual emblems of war and bloodshed, are chosen as emblems of the series of judgments now to be inflicted. The first four trumpets affect the earth, the sea, the rivers with the springs, and the heavens. The remaining three indicate judgments that fall more immediately upon men.

The present chapter comprises the first four trumpets; and the evils which they introduce occur in the order already named. But before any of the trumpets are sounded, symbols are presented in heaven of the judgments about to take place. The supplication of the saints for the relief of the church comes up before God, along with the incense which is presented before his throne; and the answer that will be made to these supplications is symbolized by the action of an angel, who casts fire down upon the earth, which calls forth thunder, lightning, and earthquake, all indicative of future destruction to the enemies of the church. Such is the picture before us, and such the plan of the writer by which gradual approach is made to the final catastrophe. Placed in this simple light, there is nothing here which does not become intelligible and significant. Indeed the general design is sufficiently plain to any intelligent reader, who considers well the great outlines of the author's plan.]

(1) And when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about half an hour.

The reason of this attitude of the Coelicolae has been stated above.

But to make this silence-which is merely the expression of deep and fearful sympathy with the expected sequel-a fulfilment of all which the breaking of the seventh seal indicates, and then to separate the seven trumpets from this seal entirely, as Vitringa and others have done, seems to be wholly overlooking the nature of the writer's plan. But to go even farther still, and make silence, in such circumstances, to indicate millennial rest and peace, seems quite to exceed the bounds of credibility. Yet Vitringa (pp. 319 seq.) has done this; and Beda and others have supposed this silence to indicate the rest of the church after the destruction of Antichrist, (Vitringa ut supra, p. 326). How can the silence of half an hour appropriately indicate the long rest of the Millennium? Vitringa answers this question by remarking, that half an hour seemed to John a very long time, when waiting for a catastrophe.' But even if there were any good ground for such a remark, a method of exegesis which breaks up or confuses the regularity of plan and development in the writer's Epopeé, is wholly inadmissible.

(2) And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and seven trumpets were given to them.

The writer does not say merely seven angels, but τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀγγέ Lovs, THE seven angels. The reader is referred to Rev. 1: 4, with the notes and Excursus, for the illustration of this passage. The seven presence-angels are doubtless denoted here. Whether this number was borrowed, as has been affirmed, from the seven counsellors of the Persian king, (Ez. 7: 14), or from other sources, it matters not; comp. Tobit 12: 15. It is at all events an ancient mode of designating the number; and that it was familiar to the minds of the ancient Jews, appears from the passage in Tobit to which reference is made.

Seven trumpets, because the sounding of the trumpet is the usual signal of battle and of slaughter. By whom these trumpets were given to the angels, is not said. Nor is it at all necessary to particularize in such cases, in a composition like the present. Of course they were given by the direction of Him who sat upon the throne.

(3) And another angel came and stood by the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given him much incense, that he should place it, with the prayers of all the saints, upon the golden altar that was before the throne.

Eorán, placed himself, used like the middle voice; Buttm. § 136. -Aßarozór, lit. frankincense, the same as parós, and named from mount Lebanon, where the tree grows which produces the gum. Here, however, the word plainly means the pan or small vessel in which the incense was placed and burned, i. e. a censer. The usual appropriate name for such a vessel was pavarois; see in Phryn. sub verbo, ed. Lobeck.-Avon, put or place, like ; and thus often in the N. Tes

tament.

The nature of the representation supposes a temple in heaven, like that on earth, in which God dwells, and where he is worshipped, as in his earthly temple, by offering incense before him.-Tais nooбevrais zŵr áɣíov návrov presents some difficulty, at first. But in Rev. 5: 8, the twenty-four elders are represented as "each having golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints,” i. e. plainly, which symbolize the prayers of the saints. Thus is it with the angel here. The incense is the symbol of prayers which ascend to God and find acceptance. So Ps. 141: 2, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense." The sweet savour of the incense is indicative of its being grateful or acceptable; see Gen. 8: 21. At the temple, the multitude of worshippers were accustomed to pray, while incense was burned; Luke 1: 10. The Dat. Tais noosevɣaîs x. v. 1, I regard as a Dat. indicating the manner or the circumstances in which the incense is presented. It is accompanied by the prayers of the saints. It goes up before God, bearing along with it on its fragrant clouds (so to speak) the prayers of persecuted Christians. It is the angel-intercessor who presents these; see Exc. I. Good Angels, No. 6. No serious difficulty exists, when the passage is viewed in this light.

Ewald understands the Dat. 7000ɛvais to be here a Dativus commodi. This would vary the shade of the meaning, but not the substance. As he paraphrases it the sentiment would run thus: Much incense is placed on the altar, to aid the prayers of all the saints, i. e. to render them more acceptable to God.' On the whole I prefer the other interpretation as agreeing best with Rev. 5: 8. The Exc. named above will show the reader how common the idea of angel-intercessors was among the Jews, who were supposed by them to present the prayers of the pious to God.

(4) And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up from the hand of the angel before God.

The angel is supposed to take his stand by the altar of incense, and to set down his censer upon it, but still to keep hold of the vessel with his hand, while the fire, which is put to the contents of the censer, sends up volumes of sweet vapour or smoke from the hand of the angel thus continuing his hold upon the censer.

Having completed the symbol of the intercession, the author now proceeds to exhibit another symbol, indicative of the consequences which would follow.

(5) And the angel took the censer and filled it from the fire of the altar, and he cast [the fire] upon the earth; and there were loud thunders, and lightnings, and earthquake.

Enger used as Aorist; see, on this use, the remarks under 5: 7.