action of the doέnavov was directed.—Tòv uέyav is here associated with tǹv hyvóv (fem.); but λŋvós is both masc. and feminine. The most easy solution is to fill out the last phrase thus: τὸν μέγαν ληνόν; which was plainly at the writer's option, and probably in his mind.-"Aμnɛλov here of course designates the fruits of the vineyard, for they only are cut off or gathered and cast into the wine-press.-Tov výpov zou dɛou may be translated, of an angry God; for the first of two nouns thus connected, not unfrequently is employed as an adjective to qualify the other. Anger has reference here to the infliction of punishment, q. d. cast the grapes into the torcular Dei punientis. From the grapes thus cast into the press the juice is to be expressed, which is the symbol of blood to be shed; a natural symbol, on account of the colour of the juice, as well as the pressure necessary to obtain it.

(20) And the wine-press was trodden without the city, and there came forth blood from the wine-press up to the bridles of the horses, at the distance of a thousand and two hundred furlongs.

set up

Grapes in the press were usually trodden by the feet of men; see Is. 63: 2, 3. Lam. 1: 15. Of course the press, for convenience' sake, was in the vineyard where the grapes grew, comp. Is. 5: 2; so that wɛv nólews means in the country or field. Here then the great battle is supposed to be fought, in order to win the city, i. e. the city of the beast.-Aiua, blood, so that the natural congruity of the imagery (juice, wine), is here dropped, and the thing signified by the juice of the grape is expressed, viz. BLOOD. Up to the bridles of the horses, i. e. of the horses employed in attacking those who defend the city. Azó here designates the distance from the city; a use of the word which is frequent. -Twelve hundred furlongs 150 miles, Ewald and some others suppose to have reference to the whole extent of Palestine. But what has Palestine to do with the present battle? The measure comes as near the breadth of Italy as it does to the length of Palestine; and why may we not suppose the former to be meant here, so that all will in this way be congruous? The literal meaning no experienced interpreter will demand, in a case like this; so that to a great distance, or to a wide extent, is all that can be well supposed to be meant. The reason for choosing the number 1200 may probably be found in the usually computed breadth of Italy.

Sentiment: The enemy shall be overthrown with dreadful slaughter.

THE SEVEN VIALS: CHAP. XV.

[The pledges and tokens of divine retribution being thus given, the execution of it is speedily to begin. The writer, when he saw the orucov that follows, must be supposed to have had his place, in vision, in the heavenly world, (comp. 4: 1), although he does not expressly mention this. Yet that which he declares himself to have seen, of course implies all this. Seven angels are commissioned to go and inflict upon the beast and his coadjutors the seven last plagues, so-called because the wrath of God is accomplished by them, v. 1. No sooner is this command given, than the glorious host of martyrs around the throne of God, whose blood had been shed by the beast, sing the song of anticipative triumph, and praise the justice of God as about to be displayed in the overthrow of the beast.

The temple in heaven is then opened, and the seven angels, charged with the execution of divine justice, go forth from it in splendid apparel. One of the four living creatures which support the throne of God, gives each of them a vial or cruse filled with material to execute the wrath of God. The temple is immediately filled with smoke, arising from the fire which burns fiercely around the Almighty, as the emblem of his anger (comp. Ps. 18: 8), and also of his power to destroy. By reason of this, no one is able to enter into the temple; and, of course, no one is permitted to intercede for those who are about to be punished. Punishment, therefore, is certain and inevitable.]

(1) And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, because by them the wrath of God is accomplished.

Enusior, an extraordinary symbol, as the writer himself has declared. -In heaven, i. e. the scene lay in the upper world.—Seven angels, not the seven as in 8: 2, and therefore not the presence-angels of God.Having seven plagues which are the last, for so the Greek seems to run, inasmuch as 7λnyás has no article. The reason of the article here may be, that sozáras is like to an ordinal, which regularly demands the article; it is also emphatic. Ewald, who denies a catastrophe in chap. xi, says that last here means merely what completes the series already begun in chap. vi. viii. ix. But if we give to the word last such a meaning here, another difficulty rises up, which he does not seem to have foreseen. In the general march of the drama, the overthrow now before us is not the last. There is still another in the case of Gog and Magog, chap. xx. Besides, the writer here gives his own reason for saying τὰς ἐσχάτας ; which is, that the wrath of God, ἐτελέσθη, hit. has been accomplished by them, (Aor. for Fut., in order to denote certainty, Gramm. § 136. 3. d). In other words, although the beast had been often smitten, and in various ways, now a consummation of his punishment is to take place. As to reλéon, see the reference above, and comp. the use of the same word in the same tense and manner, in Rev. 10: 7.

As to the commission of angels here to execute the work of punishment, see in Exc. I. on the offices of Angels; also comp. 8: 2, where the seven presence-angels are commissioned to sound the woe-trumpets. The Redeemer himself appears at length, in order to close the terrific conflict, 19: 11 seq. But he here begins, and afterwards carries on, the contest by means of ministering spirits; comp. Heb. 1: 14.

Having the seven last plagues must, here and in v. 6, mean 'having a commission to inflict them;' for the vials of the wrath of God, which the angels are to pour out, are given to them at a subsequent period, see in V. 7.

(2) And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire-and those who came off conquerors from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing upon the sea of glass, having harps of God.

A sea of glass, i. e. a sea that was clear, pellucid, splendid. In 4: 6, this sea is said to be like chrystal; see the note there for full explanation. That which is here called sea, is the pavement of the court above, (sea in the sense of an extended level surface), in the midst of which the throne of God stands.-Mingled with fire, i. e. the tesselated pavement was composed in part, as it appeared on the present occasion, of stones having a red or fiery colour, as well as with those which were pellucid; which is indicative probably of the divine indignation that was about to burn against the persecutors of the church; for in Ex. 24: 10. Ezek. 1: 22, and also in Rev. 4: 6, no mention is made of the red colour. Fire is spoken of as intermingled, on the present occasion, because in this way it presents a symbol that Heaven is angry, i. e. is about to punish.

Νικῶντας ἐκ τοῦ θηρίου καὶ ... αὐτοῦ, an elliptical expression, no doubt. Our English idiom comes very near to the sense: Come off conquerors from the beast, etc., and this idiom is very common. The Greek vizorras seems to be here a kind of constructio praegnans, for the idea of σωζόμενοι is implied, and σως. ἐκ would be a regular construction. The expression, from the beast, naturally refers to the tyrant in person; from his image, to the statues of him in the temples.-Standing on the sea of glass, i. e. stationed around the throne of glory, which stood in the midst of that sea or smooth and level pavement.-Having or holding harps of God, i. e. such harps as are employed in praising God. These are speedily employed, in the present case.

(3) And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, O King of nations!

"Audovat, historic Pres. for the Praeter.-The song of Moses most naturally relates to the triumphal song recorded in Ex. xv, sung after the deliverance of the Hebrews from the Egyptians; i. e. the martyrs

cluded all intercessors from the house or temple; comp. 2 Chron. 5: 13, 14. In other words, no remission is to be shown in the exhibition of vindictive justice upon the beast. The second is, that inasmuch as the veiling of himself in clouds of darkness is often predicated of God, (see Ex. 19: 18 seq. Ps. 18: 8, seq. Is. 6: 4, etc.) so we may regard the mysterious majesty of the Godhead as symbolized by imagery such as that before us. The plagues, also, must be all completed, before the Vindicator of his church will relinquish the attitude thus described; for no one can enter the temple to intercede ❝zgi rɛɛowo, i. e. until they are completed.

THE SEVEN VIALS: CHAP. XVI.

[All is now ready to begin the attack. Vengeance no longer sleeps. The seven angels are bidden to go and pour out the vials of wrath upon the kingdom of the beast. The succession of plagues inflicted by them greatly resemble those under the trumpets, in chap. viii. There, the earth, the sea, the rivers and fountains of waters, and then the heavens above, are smitten. Here, men on the earth, then the sea, the rivers and fountains of water, and the heavens, are smitten. There is of course some variation in the manner of describing all this; but there are also many traits of mutual resemblance.-The three woe-trumpets (chap. ix. seq.) are indicative of great torments to men by the locusts; of immense slaughter by horsemen; and finally of thunder, lightning, tempest, and earthquake, which destroy the metropolis. Here the fifth vial affects the throne of the beast, i. e. his capital; the sixth brings in an overwhelming foreign enemy ; the seventh is poured upon the air, the residence of the dragon; and then thunder, etc., as before, conclude the first onset upon the capital of the beast. The similarity of plan in the two cases it is impossible to overlook; and yet the diversity in the execution is very considerable, so much so that the author cannot be justly accused of copying from himself.

The similarity in question makes much against the supposition of Ewald, that there is no catastrophe related in chap xi. If the whole were one piece, and everything related to one and the same enemy of the church, is it probable that John would have indulged in so much similarity here? At least, to my own mind this seems to be highly improbable. But when different enemies are involved in like destruction, and for the same cause, i. e. persecution, it is not to be wondered at, that the writer has drawn their respective pictures with some traits that are common to both.

Some of the dissimilitudes, however, between the two pictures seem to demand more particular notice and consideration than has usually been given to them. In the first catastrophe there are two series of sevens, viz. the seven seals, and the' seven trumpets; the last growing out of the protracted execution of the judgments symbolized by the seventh seal. In the second catastrophe, there is only one series of seven, viz. that of seven vials. In the first catastrophe, amidst all the preparations for destruction, and amidst the judgments inflicted, there is no actual destruction of human life until we come to the third trumpet, which renders bitter and poisonous the rivers and fountains, in consequence of which many die, 8:11. The fourth and fifth trumpets again are symbols of annoyances only; the sixth recommences the work of destruction, by horsemen (9: 15), and by earth

quake (11: 15). The seventh and last destroys those who have laid waste the land, 11: 18. In the second catastrophe, all is a succession of annoyances, But under the sixth vial, the beast and all his coadjutors are gathered into an immense army, and brought to Armageddon, that in due time they may be attacked and slaughtered there, 16: 13-16, comp. 19: 19-21. The seventh vial occasions thunder, lightning, tempest, hail, and earthquake, by which great Babylon and all her tributary cities are reduced to a ruinous state, and the final triumph of the antagonist-power is anticipated with certainty. It is the acme of victory, but not the completing of subjugation and destruction. This last work goes gradually on, until it is finished at last by the "King of kings and Lord of lords" himself, at the head of his victorious army, 19: 11-21.

Thus has the author of the book answered the demand of aesthetics for variety in his composition. But he has accomplished, at the same time, a much more important work. He has given a sketch which corresponds, with a good degree of exactness, to the state of facts. The persecuting power of the unbelieving Jews ceased in the main with the destruction of Jerusalem. Hence the tempest and earthquake which lay that place in ruins, are the finale of the first catastrophe. But not so with the second. The death of Nero was indeed the destruction of the beast, for the time being, and it made a temporary end of persecution. But the beast still came up again from the pit; the contest was renewed, and, with many remissions, continued down to the time of Constantine. Rome, as heathen, then finally ceased to persecute. The beast was finally slain.

In accordance with these historical facts, we must not fail to notice how faithfully drawn the picture before us is. The seventh vial paralyzes the power of the beast, i. e. persecution is arrested when Nero dies. But great Babylon is not yet extinct, although in a ruinous state. The empire is wide, and the shaking of the capital and the chief cities does not destroy the whole. Hence the subsequent proclamation in chap. xviii. of final extinction, and the picture of the mourners, when this shall take place. It is only in the course of time (which is not limited), when the Redeemer himself shall come at the head of his victorious army, that the final extinction of the power of the beast takes place. And all this, we should not fail to note, is in accordance with the fate of ancient Babylon. Her ruin was foretold in Is. xiii. xiv. It is there predicted, that "her time is near to come, and that her days shall not be prolonged," 13: 22. Yet it was at least seven centurics, before this was fully and entirely accomplished. But the main work, the capture of the city, was speedily done. Her fall commenced with this capture, and she continued to fall until at last she reached the bottom of the gulf of destruction. So with spiritual Babylon. The pledge, the symbol, or rather the commencement itself, of the final fall of the beast, began with the death of Nero, and the consequent cessation of persecution. Christianity, then in but an infant state, soon attained too much manhood and strength to be vanquished. Often was it attacked and greatly annoyed; but "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church." The gates of hell could not prevail against it.

Whoever now, instead of looking abroad and suffering his imagination to wander to the ends of the earth for correspondencies, will simply examine the interior of this book, the concinnity of its plan, its obvious and evident adaptedness to the state of things then existing, its resemblances to the ancient prophecies, and above all the object of the writer; whoever, I say, will take the latter course, will find more regularity and continuity of design and structure in the Apocalypse, than in any other book of the Bible. How can it be, that the object of the writer should lie so conspicuously on the very face of his book throughout, and yet this