Of these the three most ancient are, A. The Alexandrine, in the British Museum, probably of the fourth century. A fac-simile of it was published by Woide in 1786, a magnificent work, reflecting great honour upon the Editor, and on those who generously assisted him. See above, on the Gospels, p. xxxiv, new edit. B. The Basilian, in the Vatican at Rome, No. 2066; of the sixth or seventh century. A transcript of it was published by Tischendorf, in 1846; and another has been published at Rome, as a Supplement to Mai's edition of the Codex Vaticanus, No. 1209. This Basilian MS. is not to be confounded with Codex B, in the Vatican, No. 1209, containing other portions of the Greek Testament, but not comprising the Apocalypse. See above, on the Gospels, p. xxxiv. C. The Palimpsest MS. of S. Ephraim the Syrian; so called from its having certain works of S. Ephraim written over the Greek Testament; probably of the fourth century. A transcript was published by Tischendorf in 1843. By the goodness of Divine Providence these three invaluable MSS. containing the Book of Revelation have been preserved to our own age, and have been made generally accessible at this day by means of transcripts. In this respect we of the present generation enjoy a privilege which was not granted to our forefathers, the ENGLISH TRANSLATORS, nor indeed to any of our predecessors. This circumstance will appear the more striking, when we recollect that one of these three Ancient Manuscripts, the Ephraim Palimpsest, which, about a century ago, was almost illegible', has now, within the last few years, been restored, as it were, to life by a chemical process, so that the reading of nearly every letter of it has been ascertained". Notice of some ancient Commentators on the Apocalypse, whose Works are extant. I. Victorinus, Bishop of Petabium, or Petavium, Pettau, in Pannonia, circ. A. D. 270 (Cave, i. p. 147'). He is said to have suffered martyrdom in the Diocletian persecution, A. D. 303. The "Commentarius in Apocalypsim," ascribed to Victorinus, printed in Bibliotheca Patrum Maxima, iii. p. 414-421, and in a shorter form, entitled "Scholia in Apocalypsim," in Biblioth. Patrum Gallandii, iv. p. 52-65, whence it has been recently republished by the Abbé Migne. Patrologia, v. p. 318-348. The work of Victorinus was revised and modified by S. Jerome (see Ambros. Ansbert. in Bibl. P. Maxima, xiii. p. 404). II. Auctor Anonymus, apud S. Augustinum, tom. iii. pp. 3106-3159, ed. Paris, 1837. This Exposition on the Apocalypse, which is very valuable, is in the form of Homilies or Sermons preached in the Church. It will be designated by Aug.? in the following notes; see on ii. 1. It has been ascribed by some to Tichonius, the celebrated Donatist Expositor, contemporary with S. Augustine, circ. A.D. 390. (Cave, i. p. 285.) Tichonius is known to have composed an exegetical work on the Apocalypse (see Bede's Commentary, passim), and it is probable that these Homilies contain considerable portions of that treatise, adapted to the use of the Church. III. Primasius, Bishop of Adrumetum in Africa, flourished A.D. 550. His "Commentarius in Apocalypsim" is contained in Bibl. Patrum Maxima, x. pp. 287-340, and has been published by the Abbé Migne in his Patrologia, tom. lxviii. pp. 794-956. IV. Cassiodorus Aurelius Magnus, "Senator Romanus, deinde Monachus Vivariensis in Calabria.” (See Cave, Hist. Lit. i. p. 501.) He wrote his work, "De Divinis Lectionibus," circ. A.D. 556. His "Complexiones in Apocalypsim" were published at Rotterdam, 1723, 12mo. pp. 213-243, and are inserted in the Abbé Migne's Patrologia, tom. lxxx. pp. 1406-1418. Cassiodorus, in p. 9 of his work De Divinis Lectionibus, speaks of Primasius as his own contemporary, and refers to his work on the Apocalypse. lypticæ, iv. p. 307, 4th ed. Dr. Todd on the Apocalypse, p. 269. 5 E. g. Bede, Explan. Apocalyps. Epist. ad Euseb., "Has ergo regulas non in Apocalypsi tantùm, id est, in Revelatione Sancti Joannis Apostoli, quam idem Tichonius et vivaciter intellexit, et veridicè satisque catholicè disseruit, præter ea duntaxat loca, in quibus suæ partis, id est, Donatistarum schisma defendere nisus." Cujus quidem auctoris et nos in hoc opere sensum secuti, nonnulla quæ extrinsecus posuit, breviandi causâ, omisimus.” V. Andreas, Archbishop of Crete, supposed by some to have been afterwards Bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia ', probably in the sixth or seventh century. (Cave, i. p. 467. Fabric, Bibl. Gr. viii. 696, xi. p. 62, ed. Harles.) His Commentary on the Apocalypse is printed in Morell's edition of S. Chrysostom, tom. viii., and a Latin translation of it in Bibl. Patr. Max. tom. v. pp. 589-633. We may here mention the two other Greek Expositors, who derive their materials mainly from Andreas, Arethas, and Ecumenius. VI. Arethas, Bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, in the tenth century. (Fabric, Bibl. Græc. viii. p. 698, ed. Harles. Cave, i. p. 520, in Ecumenii opera, ed. Paris, pp. 640-837, A.D. 1631.) A Latin translation of his Exposition is found in Bibl. P. Max. ix. pp. 741-791. VII. Ecumenius, Bishop of Tricca, in Thessaly, probably in the tenth century. (Cave, ii. p. Fabric. Bibl. Gr. viii. p. 692.) 112. Much has been effected recently towards an improved edition of these two Expositors by the late lamented Dr. Cramer, in his publication "Ecumenii et Aretha in Apocalypsim," Oxonii, 1840. 'Nobis," says he in his Preface, "plenissimum forsan Antiquorum Græcorum Patrum Commentarium, qui extat, in Apocalypsim, licuit vulgare." The learned Editor has printed new Scholia of Ecumenius, and has added to those already published of Arethas. The Exposition of Ecumenius commences at p. 497 and ends at p. 582 of Dr. Cramer's volume. VIII. Beda Venerabilis; born near the mouth of the Tyne, in the county of Durham, A.D. 672, died A.D. 735. (Cave, i. p. 612.) Explanatio Apocalypsis in tom. xii. pp. 337-452 of Bedæ A valuable and interesting Exposition. Opera, Lond. 1844. IX. Ambrosius Ansbertus, Gallus Presbyter (obiit A.D. 778), in S. Joannis Apocalypsim libri x. ad sanctissimum in Christo Patrem ac Dominum D. Stephanum Divinâ Gratià Papam; ed. princ. Col. 1536, fol. p. 442. Bibl. P. Max. xiii. pp. 403–639. (Cave, i. p. 631.) X. Berengaudus, Monachus Benedictinus, circ. A.D. 800. Expositio super vii. Visiones Apocalypseos, inter S. Ambrosii Opera, ed. Bened. tom. ii. pt. ii. pp. 499-589. XI. Haymo, "Episcopus Halberstattensis, Alcuini discipulus," obiit A.D. 853; an excellent Expositor. Commentariorum in Apocalypsim Beati Joannis libri vii. jam primum in lucem editi, et ad multorum scriptorum Codicum fidem castigati, Coloniæ, 1531, 12mo. (Cave, ii. p. 28.) Commentaries on the Apocalypse were written by Alcuin and Rabanus Maurus (Trithem, 251. 267), contemporaries of Haymo, but are not now extant. XII. Anselmus Laudunensis (Laon, in Picardy) Benedictinus, Petri Abælardi magister; fl. A.D. 1103. In Apocalypsim Enarrationes, Coloniæ, 1612, inter Anselmi Cantuariensis Opera, ii. p. 471, sqq. (Cave, ii. p. 187.) XIII. Bruno, Abbas Monte-Cassinas, ob. 1125. (Cave, ii. p. 158.) Commentarius in Apocalypsim Opera, Venet. 1651. 2 tom. fol. XIV. Rupertus Tuitensis (propè Coloniam Agrippinæ), ob. 1135. Comment. in Apocalypsim, lib. xii. ad Fridericum, Archiepiscopum Coloniensem, Colon. 1541, p. cxcv; Noriberg, 1526, ed. Paris, ii. p. 450, sqq. (Cave, ii. p. 193.) XV. Anselmus, Episcopus Havilbergensis, de Sigillis Apocalypticis scripsit, A.D. 1145. (Cave, ii. p. 224.) Some further account of this important treatise has been given, and some extracts from it have been printed, by the present writer in his Edition of the Greek Text of the Apocalypse, London, 1849, Appendix B. XVI. Ricardus de Sancto Victore, propè Parisios, "natione Scotus, S. Bernardi familiaris," obiit 1173. In Apocalypsim S. Joannis libri vii. (Cave, ii. p. 228.) Opera, Rothomagi, 1650. 2 tom. folio. XVII. Joachimus, Calaber, Abbas Florensis sive de Flore, fl. A.D. 1200. (Cave, ii. p. 278.) His work on the Apocalypse was first published with the following title: 66 'Expositio magni Prophetæ Abbatis Joachim in Apocalypsim: Opus illud celebre; Aurea, ac præ ceteris longè altior et profundior Explanatio in Apocalypsim Abbatis Joachim de statu Universali Reipublicæ Christianæ, deque Ecclesiâ Carnali in proximo reformandá, atque in primævam sui ætatem redigendâ; triplici priùs tamen percutiendâ flagello, moxque omnium Infidelium ad Christi fidem conversione; jam multis sepulta sæculis, sed adimplenda tempore instante ad utilitatem et consolationem fidelium nutu divino detecta atque reserata in lucem primo venit," Venetiis, 1527, 4to. 1 Andreas of Crete was probably a different person from Andreas of Cappadocia. In the MSS. the Commentary on the Apocalypse is attributed, sometimes to the one, sometimes to the other. Arethas assigns it to his predecessor in the See of Cappadocia. The date of Joachim's prefatory Epistle is printed "Floris. anno Dominica Incarnationis Mc." It ought to be мCC. A further account of Joachim's expositions of the Apocalyptic prophecies is given in Appendix C of the present Editor's volume above quoted, Lond. 1849; and Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. § 70. XVIII. Thomas Aquinas, nat. 1224, ob. 1274. Thomæ Aquinatis in B. Joannis Apocalypsim Expositio nunc primum è tenebris eruta, Florentiæ, 1549, 12mo. p. 654. The preface speaks of it unhesitatingly as the work of Aquinas. Cave (ii. p. 306) denies the genuineness of this exposition, and conjectures that it was written by Thomas Anglicus, the monk of Ely, of the twelfth century. XIX. Joannes Petrus Olivi, a Franciscan, of Languedoc, ob. 1297. Postilla in Apocalypsim. For a further account of Peter Olivi, and of his memorable labours on the Apocalypse, see Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. § 70, and Appendix D of the present Editor's Greek Text of the Apocalypse. Lond. 1849. XX. Albertus Magnus, Provincial of the Dominicans, Master of Aquinas, Bishop of Ratisbon, died at Cologne, A.D. 1280. (Cave, ii. p. 311.) Commentarii in Apocalypsim. Basil, 1506. XXI. Petrus Aureolus, sive Petrus de Verberia, Doctor facundus, Archiepiscopus Aquensis (of Aix), fl. 1310. (Cave, ii. p. 25, App.) His Breviarium Bibliorum contains his comment on the Apocalypse. XXII. Nicolas de Gorham, of Merton College, in the fourteenth century. Comment. in Apocalypsim, Antwerp, 1617-1620, p. 178 sqq. (Cave, ii. p. 86 in Appendice.) XXIII. Jacobus de Paradiso, Carthusianus, A.D. 1449. "De Septem Statibus Ecclesiæ in Apocalypsi descriptis, deque authoritate Ecclesiæ et Ejus Reformatione." A valuable and interesting treatise, printed in Browne's Fasciculus Rerum Expetendarum, &c., ii. p. 102. Lond. 1690. VOL. II.-PART IV. Y ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ. a 1 John 1. 1. b Rom. 13. 11. James 5. 8. 1 Pet. 4. 7. ch. 22. 7, 10. c Exod. 3. 14. ver. 8. Ι. 1'ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει, καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ, 2 * ὃς ἐμαρτύρησε τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅσα εἶδε. 3 » Μακάριος ὁ ἀναγινώσκων, ó καὶ οἱ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας, καὶ τηροῦντες τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ γεγραμμένα· ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς ἐγγύς. b 4Ἰωάννης ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις ταῖς ἐν τῇ ̓Ασίᾳ· χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη 4. ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος· καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων, ἃ ἐνώπιον & 11. 17. & 16. 5. CH. I. 1. ̓Αποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, κ.τ.λ.] The Apocalypse, or Revelation, of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, to show to His servants what things must come to pass shortly. The Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doth (John v. 20); and the Everlasting Son, the WORD of God, God with us (Matt. i. 23), God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. iii. 16), reveals God's will to the world (see Matt. xi. 27. Luke x. 22. John i. 18). Hence the Apocalypse is the Revelation of Jesus Christ (cp. Gal. i. 12. 2 Cor. xii. 1). John (says Bengel) is the writer of this book, but its Author is Christ. By some English Writers this Book is sometimes called, in the plural number, "the Revelations," but this is erroneous. The Book is 'ATокáλv↓is, Apocalypse, an unfolding or revealing of what is secret; as Andreas expresses it, it is TV KρUTTV dnλwois (see the LXX, in 1 Sam. xx. 30). Hence S. Irenæus (v. 30) says, "the Apocalypse was seen (ewpάon); a passage which shows that this title of the book, "the Apocalypse," is very ancient, probably from St. John himself. It is this act of revealing which the title describes. Compare the use of this word in Rom. ii. 5; viii. 19; xvi. 25. 1 Cor. i. 7; xiv. 6. 2 Cor. xii. 1. 7. Gal. i. 12; ii. 2. Eph. i. 17; iii. 3. 2 Thess. i. 7. 1 Pet. i. 7. 13; it is the office of revealing the future which is assigned to Christ by God, and this truth is declared in the name and contents of the Apocalypse. Accordingly we shall see that it is Christ, Who commands John to write the seven Epistles to the Seven Churches, and reveals what some of them will suffer (i. 11. 19); it is Christ, Who opens the Book sealed with the Seven Seals (v. 7. 9), and reveals the future sufferings and final triumph of the Church (vi. 1—17; vii. 1–17); it is Christ, Who offers the prayers of all the Saints, which lead to the sounding of the Seven Trumpets which announce God's Judgments on His enemies (viii. 3-13; ix. 1-21; xi. 15); it is Christ, Who delivers the little Book opened to St. John, and gives him a commission to prophesy again (x. 1—11). The Divinity of Christ is declared by what follows; "He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John." Compare xxii. 16. The Angels are Christ's Angels, because He is God. See Matt. xxiv. 31. τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννη] to His servant John. The blessed Apostle, the beloved Disciple, who was admitted to see the heavenly visions which he is about to describe, is not "exalted by the abundance of his revelations" (2 Cor. xii. 7), but describes himself by this title, "the servant of Christ." 66 Mysteries are revealed unto the meek." Ecclus. iii. 19. 2, 3. Es uapтúpnσE K.T.λ.] who bare witness of the Word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, as many things as he saw. St. John thus intimates, that what he writes in the Apocalypse, is not from himself, but from God; that it is not from any private imagination, but that it is the testimony of Christ; and that he writes whatever he saw in the visions of God. Therefore he adds, "blessed is he who readeth, and who heareth (i. e. hearkens to, and obeys) the words of the prophecy, and observeth the things which are written therein." On the sense of akоvш with an accusative as here, see Acts ix. 7. On the meaning of doa see note, John xxi. 25, and on the promise of blessedness to him that readeth and keepeth, see on James i. 22. 8 yap kaipos éyy's] for the season is at hand: the season (kaipòs) at which they will come to pass is near. This assertion is always true, even to the end of time. For since the prophecies in this book extend from the Apostolic age to the Day of Judg ment, some of them are continually on the eve of their accomplishment. Besides, since the duration of the present world is but a span when compared with Eternity, the season of Judgment is at hand; the Judge standeth before the door (James v. 9). Cp. 2 Pet. iii. 8. Arethas. 4. Ἰωάννης ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις] John to the Seven Churches that are in Asia. The Asia here mentioned is the district more commonly known as Ionia and Lydia, and was called in Roman language Proconsular Asia. It was a province of not more than one hundred miles square, watered on the north by the river Caycus, on the south by the Mæander, and bounded on the east by the Phrygian hills, and on the west by the Mediterranean Sea. See on Acts ii. 9, and Abp. Ussher's Treatise on the Original of Bishops and Metropolitans, Oxf. 1641, p. 53, and following. Its capital was Ephesus, in which city St. John resided, wrote his Gospel, and died, and which is now named after him. See above, Introduction to St. John's Gospel, p. 267. On these Epistles to the Seven Churches see further below, i. 11; ii. 1. Xápis vμîv κal eiphvn] Grace be to you, and Peace. The salutation with which St. Peter's two Epistles, and all St. Paul's Epistles to Churches begin (see on 1 Thess. i. 1); and serving as a bond of Christian fellowship between St. John and those two Apostles. The Apocalypse also ends with the final salutation which was characteristic of St. Paul, The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. See above, on 1 Thess. v. 28. e d Isa. 55. 4. Acts 20. 28. τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, 5 4 καὶ ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς, ὁ πρωτότοκος 4 P. 39. 38. τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς· τῷ ἀγαπῶντι ἡμᾶς καὶ λού σαντι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ, 6° καὶ ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς ἐπ βασιλείαν ἱερεῖς τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ αὐτοῦ, αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν. 7Ἰδοὺ, ἔρχεται μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν, καὶ ὄψεται αὐτὸν πᾶς ὀφθαλμὸς, καὶ οἵτινες αὐτὸν ἐξεκέντησαν, καὶ κόψονται ἐπ' αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ ai & 2.5, 9. 1 John 1. 7. ch. 5. 10. & 20. 6. 1 John 1. 7, 9. ch. 3. 14. & 5. 9. & 17. 14. το 111 & 19. 16. e Rom. 12. 1. Heb. 9. 14. Pet. 1. 19. f Isa. 3. 13, 14. Dan. 7. 13. Zech. 12. 10. Matt. 24. 30. 1 Thess. 1. 10. 2 Tuess. 1. 10. Jude 14. thought and language. Thus the combination of the preposition and here with the participle, & v, marks its connexion with the indeclinable Hebrew (Jehovah), and also, if we may so say, bespeaks the indeclinability of the Divine Essence, with which there is "no variableness or shadow of turning." James i. 17. See below, v. 5, and Winer, Gr. Gr. pp. 64. 164; it indicates that the phrase ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος is a proper name reserved to God alone, and that He Who spake to John in Patmos is the same as He Who spake to Moses in the Wilderness, when He thus described Himself, Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὢν, “I AM the BEING One;" "I AM the ever EXISTING One," and ordered Moses to say, ὁ ὢν ἀπέσταλκέ με, I AM hath sent me." Exod. iii. 14. The commission given here to St. John resembles that given to Moses; and it will be seen that the Apocalypse presents a continuous series of typical analogies between the Church of Christ, whose future fortunes he reveals, and the history of the Israelitish Church led by Moses out of Egypt in its pilgrimage through the wilderness, toward Canaan, the figure of Heaven. Cp. Arethas here, and see Introduction above, p. 144. Elz. has Toù after anò, but it is not in the best MSS. ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων] from the Seven Spirits which are before His throne. From a comparison of this passage with Zech. iv. 10, speaking of those "seven, which are the Eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth," it has been inferred by some that the Seven Spirits here mentioned, are the Seven principal Angels, of which number Gabriel and Michael are two. Cp. Luke i. 19. The ancient opinion of the Hebrews on this subject is expressed in the book of Tobit, xii. 15, "I am Raphael, one of the Seven Angels which go in and out before the presence of the Holy One;" and this opinion was entertained by Irenæus, cited by Andreas, and by Clemens Alex. Stromat. i. ad fin., and by Andreas and Arethas, and in later times by Ribera, Viegas, Corn. à Lapide, Mede, Bossuet, Drusius, Bp. Bull (Sermons, i. pp. 291, 292), and others. Cp. below, iii. 1, where Christ is said to have the Seven Spirits of God, and the Seven Stars, and iv. 5, where the Seven Spirits are typified by seven lamps, and v. 6, where they are symbolized by the Seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb. There would be, doubtless, an appropriate significance in the conveyance of the message of Grace and Peace from God and Christ, through the ministry of the Seven Angels of the Church in Heaven to the Seven Angels of the Churches of Asia, who represent the fulness of the Apostolic Ministry of the Church Universal on Earth. See i. 20; ii. l. Perhaps, however, as some ancient Expositors affirmed (see Andreas), the Seven Spirits represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which rest on Christ, the Holy One of God (Isa. xi. 2; lxi. 1. Luke iv. 18), and which after His Ascension He sent, and is ever sending to comfort and illuminate His Church, and therefore they may well be called horns, lamps, and eyes. Nor is there any harshness in the expression Grace and Peace be to you from the Seven Spirits; for these seven gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed by Christ, Who received them from the Father (John xiv. 16), Who is the Wellspring of all good (see on 2 Cor. xiii. 14), are the means of all Grace and Peace to the Church; and so the words are understood by Victorinus, Primasius, Bede. The septenary number (says Aug.) is consecrated to the Holy Ghost in Holy Scripture, and is recognized as such by the Church. And (as is added by Bede here) the One Spirit is here characterized as sevenfold, because in the One Spirit is all fulness and perfection; and this interpretation is sanctioned by Bp. Andrewes (Sermon "on the Sending of the Holy Ghost," iii. p. 134), and so Bp. Wilson, who says that the salutation is from "the Holy Ghost Who governs the Church of Christ, until His Coming again, and with His sevenfold gifts inspires it." 5. ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός] from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness. The structure of and with a nominative may be compared with that in v. 4; and as in that passage it decla red that there is no variableness or shadow of turning in God (James i. 17), so it may here be understood to signify, that 1 Sapxwv] the Prince of the Kings of the Earth, an appropriate declaration in the preamble of a Revelation which will disclose insurrections of earthly Powers against Christ (xix. 19). kal λoboavti K.T.λ.] and Who washed us from our sins by His blood. Some MSS., viz. A, C, and several Cursives, and the Syriac and Armenian Versions and Fathers, Andreas, and Primasius, and Cassiodorus, have λúσavтi, Who redeemed us, and so Lachmann, and Düsterdieck, but not Ewald, De Wette, Tisch. This reading deserves consideration, and may perhaps be preferable. For the Copyists were more likely to alter AuσavT into Aovoavr than vice versá; and the great proof of Christ's love is, that He redeemed us by pouring forth His Own Blood, as our ransom, XÚT pov; and whereas we were held in bondage by reason of our sins, and were liable to everlasting death (Rom. vi. 17-23), Our Redeemer delivered us from that captivity by paying that price which alone could satisfy God's justice, and procure our release, and He purchased us, by that price, for Himself. See Matt. xx. 28. Acts xx. 28. 1 Cor. vi. 20; vii. 23. Eph. i. 7. Col. i. 14. Heb. ix. 12. 1 Tim. ii. 6. 1 Pet. i. 18. On the use of ev as the instrument, see vi. 8. 6. ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς βασιλείαν] and He made us to be a kingdom, Priests to God and the Father. So the best MSS. Elz. has Bariλeis, Kings; but the spiritual character of the Christian privileges is best expressed by the abstract word a Kingdom, which may be designed to be a caution against erroneous and antinomian notions which some have deduced from the declaration of Scripture, that all Christians are Kings. It is a phrase derived from the Ancient Scriptures (Exod. xix. 6; xxiii. 22), Ye shall be to Me a royal Priesthood,” βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα. Cp. 1 Pet. ii. 9, and Winer, p. 512. Observe the aorist here, eroínoev, He made; that is, by certain special acts on His part, His Incarnation, and Death, and Ascension. See below, v. 10. 7. ἰδοὺ, ἔρχεται μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν] Behold, He cometh with the clouds, the clouds of the Last Judgment described by Daniel, vii. 13. St. John, being in the Spirit, already anticipates the end of all things, and sees it as already at hand; as it is to Him to Whom a thousand years are as one day (2 Pet. iii. 8), and by See v. 3. Whose inspiration he writes. On καὶ οἵτινες αὐτὸν ἐξεκέντησαν] and they also who pierced Him, whether on the Cross, by nails and the spear, and by bitter mockeries and insults; or by their sins. Heb. vi. 6. the variation here from the Septuagint Version of this text, cited from Zech. xii. 10, see above on John xix. 37, where is the same variety; and where it is observed, that the text which speaks of Christ's suffering, affords also evidence of His Godhead. This deviation from the LXX Version, and this identity of the rendering of this remarkable text in St. John's Gospel (xix. 37), and in the Apocalypse, are confirmatory of the belief that those two writings are from the same hand. The frequent citations in this, the first Chapter of the Apocalypse, from the ancient Hebrew Prophets, especially from Daniel and Zechariah, are doubtless designed to lead the reader to regard the Apocalypse as a sequel to, and continuation of, Hebrew prophecy, and as dictated by the Same Spirit Who spake by its mouth. And since the Apocalypse is the last prophetical Book of Holy Scripture, it may be regarded as the consummation of all God's prophetic Revelations to the world. See above, Introduction to this Book, p. 146. |