Chapter XXVII (continued, part 42)
cousin, or stepbrother, being son of Josepli by a former marriage; for ancient traditions universally agree that Slary, Jesus' mother, continued perpetually a virgin). Jude therefore calls himself modestly " brother of James." See my IntroducCion. to them . . . sanctified by Gofl the Father—Tlie oldest MSS. and versions, Origen, Lucifer,
it were present before the eyes, " this." Enoch's prophecy comprises the "ungodly men" of the last days before Christ's coming to judgment, as well as their forerunners,
tlie "ungodly men" before the flood, the type of the last
&c., read, "beloved " for satictified. If English Version be read, cf. Colossians 1. 12; 1 Peter 1. 2. The Greek is not "by," but "in." God the Father's love is the element in wh ch they are "beloved." Thus the conclusion, v. 21, corresponds, " Keep yourselves in the love of God." Cf. "Beloved of the Lord " 2 Thessalonians 2. 13. preserved in Jesus Christ— "kept." Translate not "in," but as Greek "for Jesus Christ." "Kept continually (so the Greek perfect participle means) by God the Father for Jesus Christ," against the day of His coming. Jude, beforehand, iflentions the source and guarantee for the final accomplishment of believers' s.alvatiou; lest tliey sliould be disheartened by the dreadful evils which he proceeds to announce. [Bengel.] and called—Predicated of " them
judgment (Matthew 24. 37-39 ; 2 Peter 3. 3-7). The disposition and the doom of both correspond, the grace of our God—A phrase for the Gospel especially sweet to believers who appropriate God in Christ as "our God," and so rendering the more odious the vile perversity of those who turn the Gospel state of grace and liberty into a ground of licentiousness, as if their exemption from the law gave them a. license to sin. denying the only Lord —The oldest MSS., versions, and Fathers omit "God," which follows in English Version. Translate as the Greek, "the only Master;" here used of Jesus Christ, who is at once Master and " Lord" (a dlflferent Greekword). So 2 Peter 2. 1, Note. By virtue of Christ's perfect oneness with the Father, He, as well as the Father, is termed " th(! ONLY" God and "Master." Greek, "Master," Implies God's absolute ownership to dispose of His creatures as He likes. 5. (Hebrews 3. 16; 4. l;J.) therefore—Other oldest MSS. and Vulgate read, "But;" in contrast to the ungodly
tliat are beloved in G9d the Father, and preserved in Jesus f'hrist: who are called." God's effectual calling In the exercise of His Divine prerogative, guarantees their eternal safety. iJ. Mercy—in a time of wretcliedness. Therefore mercy stands. first; tlie mercy of Christ
(v. 21). peace—in tlie Holy Ghost {v. 20). love—of God (v.
V. i. though ye once—rather, "once for all." Translate, " I wish to remind you, as knowing all (viz., that lam referring to. So the oldest MSS., versions, and Fathers) once for all." As already they know all the facts once for
21). The three answer to the Divine Trinity, be multiplied— in you and towards you. 3. Design of the Epis-
tle (cf. V. 20, 21). all diligence — (2 Peter 1. 5.) As the minister is to give all diligence to admonish, so the people should, In accordance with his aduionition, give
all, he needs only to " remind" them, the Liord—The oldest M.SS. and versions read, " Jesus." So " Christ" is said to have accompanied the Israelites In the wilderness ; so perfectly is Jesus one with the God of the Israelite theocracy, saved—brought safely, and Into a state of safety and salvation, afterward Greek, "secondly;" in the ne.xt instance "destroyed them that believed not," as contrasted with His in the first instance having saved them, 6. (2 Peter 2.4.) kept not their first estate Vulgate translates, "their own principality," which the fact of angels being elsewhere called "principalities," favours: " their own" implies that, instead of being content with the dignity once for all assigned to them under the Son oi God, they aspired higher. Alford thinks the narrative in Genesis 6. 2 is alluded to, not the fall of the devil amu his angels, as he thinks "glvin-g themselves over to fornication" (u. 7) proves; cf. Greek, "in like manner to
all diligence to have all Christian graces, and to make
tlielr calling sure, the common salvation — wrought by Christ. Cf. Note, "obtained like precious faitli,"' 2 Peter 1. 1. This community of faith, and of the object of faith, salvation, forms the ground of mutual exhortation by appeals to common hopes and fears, it was needful for me—rather, " I felt it necessary to write (now at once; so the Greek aorist means ; tlie present infinitive
• to write,' which precedes, expresses merely the general
fact of writing) exhorting you." The reason wliy he felt
It necessary "to write with exhortation," he states, v. A, "For there are certain men crept in," Ac. Having intended to write generally of i/ie common soJoa^iort, he found
it necessary from the existing evils in the Church, to write specially that they sliouhl contend for. the faith agaiixst those evils, earnestly contend—Cf. Philippians
these," viz., to the angels [v. 6). It seems to me more natu-
ral to take "sons of God" (Genesis 6. 2) of the Sethiles, than of angels, who, as " spirits," do not seem capable of carnal connection. The parallel, 2 Peter 2. 4, plainly re-
1.27, " striving together for the faith of the Gospel." once — Greek, "once for all delivered," <tc. No odier faith or revelation is to supersede it. A strong argunifut for resisting heretical innovators (d. 4). Believers, like Nehemlali's workmen, with one hand " build themselves up in their most holy faith," with the other they "contend ca'-nestly for the faith" against its foes, the sninis—all t^Miristlans, holy (i. e., con.secrated to God) by their calling, and in God's design. crept in unawarei>—sIcalUilly and unlawfully. jyote,'ZPi:U-T 2. 1, "7;rii'i/i^ shall bring in damnable heresies." certain men — Implying disparagement, before . . , ordained— C/rffc, " forewritten," viz., in Peters prophecy v. 17, 18; and in Paul's before that, 1 Timothy 4. 1
fers to the fall of the apostate angels. And " in like manner to these," v. 7, refers to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, "the cities about them" sinning "in like man-
ner" as they did. [E.STius and Calvin.] Even If Greek "these," V. 7, refer to the angels, the sense of "in like manner as these" will bo, not that tlie angels carnally fornicated with the daughters of men, but that their am-
bilion, whereb.v their affections went away from God and they fell, is in God's view a sin of like kind spiritually as Sodom's going away from God's order of nature after strange flesh; the sin of tlie apostate angein after their 643
2Ttmothy .'1. 1 ; and by implication in thejudgments which
Hnrrihle Punishnmts are Prepared JUDE. for the Teachers of Damnable Doctrine*
flict between Michael and Satan is again alluded to. durst not—from reverence for Satan's former dignity
kind is analogous to tliat of tlie linmnn Sodomites after
tlieir kind. Cf. the soinewliat similar spiritual connection of whoremoyiciers and covelouA-ness. The apocryplial book of Enoch interprets Genesis 6. 2 as Alfokd. But though Jade accords with it in some particulars, it does not follow that he accords with it in all. Tlii' Hebrews name the fallen angels Aza and Azael. l«-ff— ol' tlieir own accord. tUeir own Greek, " their proper." liabit.->tioi» —Heaven, all bright and glorious, as opposed to tlie "darkness" to which they now are doomed. Their ambitious designs seem to have had a peculiar connection with this earth, of which Satan before his fall may have
(v. 8). railing acciisatiou Greek, "judgment of blasphemy," or evil-speaking. Peter said. Angels do not, in order to avenge themselves, rail at dignities, though ungodly, when they have to contend with them : Jude says, that the archangel Michael himself did not rail even at the time when he fought with the Devil, the prince of evil spirits—not from fear of him, but from reverence of God, whose delegated power in this world .Satan once had, and even in some degree still has. From the word "disputed," or debated in controversy, it is plain it was a judicial contest, aliout the body of Moses—his literal body. Satan, as liaving the power of death, opposed the raising of it again, on the ground of Moses' sin at Meribah, and his murder of the Egyptian. That Moses' body was raised, appears from his presence with Elijah and Jesus (who were in tlie body) at the Transfiguration : the sample and earnest of the coming resurrection-kingdom, to be ushered in by Michael's standing up for God's people. Thus in each dispensation a sample and pledge of the future resurrection was given: Enoch in the patriarchal dispensation, Moses in the Levitical, Elijali in the prophetical. It is noteworthy that the same rebuke is recorded here, as was used liy the Angel of the Lord, or Jeliovah the Second Person, in pleading for Joshua, the representative of the Jewish Church, against Satan, in Zechariah 3. 2; whence some lia?e thought that also here "the body of Moses" means the Jewish Church accused by Satan, before God, for its fllthiness, on which giound he demands that Divine justice should take its course against Israel, but is rebuked by the Lord who has " chosen Jerusalem :" thus, as " the body of Christ" is the Christian Church, so " the body of Moses" is the»Jewisli Church. But the literal body is evidently here meant (though, secondarily, the Jewish Church is t.vpified by Moses' body, as it was there represented by Joshua the high priest); and Michael, whose connection seems to be so close with Jehovah-Messiah on the one hand, and with Israel on the other, naturally uses the same language as liis Lord. As Satan (adversary \n court) or the Devil (rt<;o!fs«-) iiccuses alike the Church collectivelj' and "Ihe brethren" Individually, so Christ pleads for us aa our Advocate. Israel's, and all believers' full justification, and the accuser's being rebuked flnall.v, Is yet future. JOSBPHUS, Antiquities, 4. 8, states that God hid Moses' body, lest. If it had been exposed to view, It would have been made an idol of. Jude, in this account, either adopts it from the apocryphal "assumption of Moses" (as OuiGHN, concerning f'rincipalities, ;>. 2, thinks), or else from I he ancient tradition <m which tliat work was founded. Jude, as inspired, could distinguish how much of the tradition was true; how much false. We have no such means of distinguishing, and therefore can b" sure
been God's vicegerent, whence arises his subsequent connection with it as first the Tempter, then " the prince of this world." reserved — As the Greek is the same, and
tliere is an evident reference to Iheir having "kept not their first estate," Iranslare, "He hath kept." Probably what is meant is. He hath kept them in His purpi>se ; that
is their sure doom ; moreover, a.s yet, Satan and his demons roam at large on the eartli. An earnest of their doom is their having been cast out of lieaven, being already restricted to " the darkness of this present world," the "air" that surrounds the earth, their peculiar element now. They lurk in places of gloom and death, looking forward with agonizing fear to their final torment in tlio bottomless pit. He means not literal chains and darkness, but figurative in this present worl<l where, with restricted powers and liberties, shut out from heaven, they, like condemned prisoners, await their doom. 7. Etch as Alford translates, " (I wish to remind yon, v.
5) that," &c. Sodom, &c. — 12 Peter 2. e.) giving tlirmselves over to fornication — following fornication extra-
ordiniirily, i.e., out o/ the order of nature. On "in
lilte manner to them" (Greek), cf. Kote, v. C. Cf. on spiritual fornication, "go a rrhorhtg from thee," Psalm
7:}. 'Jn. going after strange Hesh— departing from the course of nature, and going after that which is unnatural. In later times the most enlightened lieathen nations indulged in tlie sin of Sodom without compunction or shame, are set fortli — before our eyes. Kuflfering — undergoing to this present time; alluding to the marks of volcanic fire about the Dead Sea. the vengeance Greek, " righteous retribution." etemal Are —The lasting marks of the fire that consumed the cities irreparably, is a type of the eternal fire to which the in-
' haoitanis have been consigned. lii'.:^<:iKlj translates as the Greek will admit, "Suffering {t/ie) pnnislitnent (which they endure) as an example or sample of eternal fire (viz., that which shall consume the wicked)." ]'>.eliiel 10. 53-55 shows that Sodom's punishment, as a nation, is not eter-
nal. Cf. aUso 2 I'eter 2. (i. W. also—rather, " In like manner nevertheless'' (notwithstanding tliese warning exam-
ples). [ALFORD.] these . . . dreamers—The Greek has not "filthy" of English I'ersion. Tlie clause, " these men dreaming" (i. e., in their dreams), belongs to all the verbs, "defile," &c. ; "despise," Ac; "speak evil," &c. All sinners are spirltuall.y asleej), and their carnal activity is as It were a dream (I Tliessaloniaiis 5.0,7). Their speaking evil of dignities is because tliey are dreain-
<if no tradition, savt! that which Is in the writter, ivord. 10. (2 Peter 2. 12.) those things wMcU— Greek, "all tilings H'hatsoever they nnderstand not," viz., the things of the siilritual world, hut iv lint . . . naturally-Connect thus, " )r/Ki<6"i'ec (so the Greek) things naturally (by natural, blind instinct), as the unreasoning (so the Greek) animals, they know," &c. The Greek for the former " know" Implies d(>eper knowledgtv, the latter " know," the mere percepi Ion of the "animal sensesand faculties." 11. Woe—Note, 2 Peter 2. 14, "cursed children." Cain—the murderer: the root of whoso sin was hatred and env.v of the godly, as It is the sin of these seducers, ran greedily— /iV., " have bi'i ii poured forl h" like a t<n rent that has liurst Us banks. Ui'ckless of what It costs, the loss of God's favour and heaven, on they rush alter gain like Italaam. perished in tite gaiiiHaying of I'ore— (Cf. l\'ole,
ing, and know not what tlieij are speaking evil of (v. 10). "As a man dreaming seems to hlmselt to be seeing and nearIng many things, so llie natural man's lusts are iigilaled
'>y j"y. distress, fear, and the other passions. l!ut he is a ulranger to self-command. Hence, though he In ing into play all the powers of reason, he cannot conceive the true liberty which the sons of light, wlio are awake and lu the dayliglil, enjoy." (Hkn(;i:i,.J dellle <l>e flesh— ( I'. 7.) «loinlnion—" lordship." dignilleH— "glories." I'larlhly
niid heav<'nly dignities. 9. Michael, tlie areliangel— Nowlujre In Scripture Is the pluial used, " archangels;" but only ONE, "archangel." The only other passage In the New Testament where It oc<!urs. Is 1 Thessiiloiilans 1.
V. 12.) When we read of Korah perlsliing by gainsaying, we read virtually also of these perishing in like manner through liiesame: for the same seed bears the same harvest. I'i. spotM—So 2 Pi'ter '2. I'!, Greek, spiloi ; but hero the Greek Is spilades, which elsi'wiiere, in secular wrileisi, means j-ocA:jr, vii., on which the Christian love-fr'nsla \vey« In danger of being shipwrecked. The oldest MS. prefixes the nrtldo emphatically, " riiK rocks." The rofor*
](f, wliere Christ ^^ distlngnislieil from the aicliangel, with whose voice' He shall descend to raise I he ilcad ; they ther(;fore err who confound Chi'liit wUli Michael.
Tlie nanit'S means. Who is like Godf In Daniel 10. l;i ho Is
ciilleri • One (Margin, the first) of ihe chief princes." He Is
lliij champion angel of Israel. In Hovelatlon 12.7 Ihocon-
Horrihle Punishments are Prepared JUDE. for the Teachers of Damnable Doctrinet.
(cf. Deuteronomy 33. 2; Daniel 7. 10; Zechariah 14.5; Mattliew'25.31; Hebrews 12.'22). 15. This verse and the beginning of Enoch's prophecy is composed in Hebrew poetic parallelism, the oldest specimen extant. Some think Lamech's speech, which is also in poeiic parallelism, was composed in mockery of Enoch's prophecy: a.s Enoch foielold Jehovah's coming to judgment, so Lnmecli presumes on impunit.y in polj-gamy and murder (just as Cain the murderer seemed to escape with impunuy). convince—convict, liard speeclies—such as are noticed in v. 8, ll), hi; iNIalachi 3. 13, U; contrast l(j. 17. .ungodly sinners—not merely sinners, but proud despisers oj
euce to " clouds . . . winds . . . waves of the sea," accords
Willi lliis image of rm-ks. Vulyate seems to have been misled l>y llie siiuilar sounding word to translate, as
Knyliili Version, "spots;" cf. liowever, u. 2o, wliicli favours
Esu/huli Version, if the Greek will bear it. Two oldest
M«ir.., l.'V tlie transcriber's effort to make Jude say the Kaiue as Peter, read liei e "deceivings" for " love-feastn," but tlie weiglitiest JIS. and authorities support JJinjlish
Kt,)V(/OM reading. Tlie love-feast accompanied the Lord's Supper (1 Corinlliiaus II., end). Korah tlie Levile, not
t-atistied with his miaUslry, aspired to the sacrijicing pries"wod also; so ministers in the Lord's Supper have Koiight to make it a sacrijice, and tliemselves the sacri-
God: impious, against lilm—They who speak against (iod's ciiiidren are regarded by God as speaking against Ili/nscl/. 10. murmurers—ill secret: muttering murmurs against God's ordinances and ministers 'in Cliurcli and Slate. CI. t'. 8, "speak evil of dignities;" 10, "hard speeches;" agai nst the Lord, complainers—never satistied wilh their lot (Numbers 11. 1; cl. the penally, Deuteronomy 28. 17, 48). walJiijig after tlieir own lusts—(y. 18.) The St creC o) their murmuring and complaining is the restless insatiabilily of tlieir desires, great sweJliiig words — (2 Peter 2. 18.; men's persons— their mere cjutward appearance and rank, because of advantage—lor the sake of what they may gain from them. Wliile they talk great swelling words, I hey are really mean and fawning towards ihose ol wealth and rank. 17. But ye, beloveel— in contrast to tlio;-,e reprobates, v. 2U, again, remember—Implying liiat his readers had been contemporaries of the aposlles. l-'or Peter uses the very same formula in reminding the ci/iilemporaries of iiiniself and the other aposlles. spoken Ijet'ore—spoken already before now. tUe apostU-s-Peler {yules, 2 Peter 3. 2, 3), and Paul before Peter (.^cls 2U. 21); 1 TimoUiyf. 1; 2 Timothy 3. 1). Jude does not e.Ycluoe liim.sell from the number ot the apostleH here, for in t. 18, immediately alter, he says, "they told YOU," not us (J'ather as Greek, " used to tell you:'' implying thai. Jude's readei's were conteiiiporaiies of ihe apos-
Jiciuy priests, usurping the function of oiir only Ciirisllan sacerdotal Jfriust, t.'lirist Jesus. Let tlieia beware
Hi Korali's doom! without iTeHr — Join these words not as Enylisli Vemion, but with "feast." Sacred feasts especially ouglit to be celebrated wilh /car. Feasting
is not faulty in itseif [UkngklJ, but it needs to be aecoiupanied 'with J'mr of forgetting God, as Job in the case of his sons' feasts, fej.cidig llieiiiselvcs— f^'i ict, "pasturing (tending) th(;niselves." What they look to
is the pampering of themselves, not the feeding of the
flock, clou.ls—from which one would expect refresiiing rains. 2 I'eler 'i. I", "wells without water." Professois "Without practice, carried about—The oldest MSB. have "carried aside," i. e., out of the right course (cf. Ephesians trees wliosc fruit witUeretU—rather, "trees ol the
late (or ivauiny) autumn," viz., when there are no longer leaves or fruits on the trees [Bkngel], ifcc. «itl»out fruit—having no good fruit of knowledge and piactice; sometimes used of what is positively bad. twice dead First wlieji they c;ist their leaves in autumn, and seem during, winter d'-ad, but revive again in spring; secondly, when they are "plucke<l up by the roots." .So these apostates, once dead in unbelief, and tlieii by profession and baptism rai.sed Irom the death of sin to the life of righteousness, but now having become dead again by cpostasy, and so hopelessly/ dead. There is a climax. Not only wiUwui leaves, like trees in late autumn, but wilhovi
tles, who used to tell lliem). IS. mockers—in the parallel,
2 Peter 3. 3, the same Greek is translated "scoll'ers." The word is I'ound nowhere else in the New Testament. How Alfokd can deny that 2 Peter 3. 2, 8 is referred to (at least in part), 1 cannot imagine, seeing that Jude quotes the very words of J'eter as Uie words which the api'stlcg used to speak to his iJude's) readers, walk after their own ungodly lusts— "after (according to) their own lusts of ungodliness." 19. These lie they—.Showing that their characters are such as Peter and Paul had Ibretold. seiiarate themselves— from Church communion in ita viial, si)iritual reality: for outwardly they took part in Church ordinances (v. 12). Some oldest M.S.S. omit " themselves:" then understand it, "separate," cast out members of the Church by excommunication (Isaiah (io. 5; 61).
fruit: not only so, but dead twice; and to crown all, "plucked up by the roots." 13. Raging—Wild. Jude Aas in mind Isaiah 57. 20. sliame—plural in Greek, shames" (cf. I'hilippians 3. 19). . wandering stars—instead of moving on in a regular orbit, as liglits to tlie world, bursting fortli on the world like erratic comets, or rather meteors of fire, with a strange glare, and then doomed to fall back again into the blackness of gloom. 14. See Inlroduclion on the source whence Jude derived this prophecy of Enoch. The Holy Spirit, by Jfide, has sealed the truth of this much of the n»atter contained in the bo(;k of Enoch, though probably that book, as well as Jude, derived it Irom tradition (cf. /Yo^e, i'. 9). There are reasons given by .some lor thinking the book of Enocli copied from Jude rather than vice versa. It is striking how, from the first, prophecy hastened towards its consummation. The earliest piopliecies of the Red'eemer dwell on His second coming in glory, rather than His first coming in lowliness (cf. Uenesis ;>. 15 wilh Romans l(i. 20). Enoch in his translation without <ieatii, illustralcd that truth which he all his life preached to the unbelieving world, the certainty of the Lord's coming, and the resurrection of the dead, as the only ell'ectual aulidote to their skepticism and self-wise conlidence in iiaturci's _p(trmauencc. AnA— Greek, " iMoreover, also Enoch," <tc. of these—in relation to these. Tlie reference of his prophecies was not to the antediluvians alone, but to all the ungodly (f. 15). His prophecy applied primarily indeed to the flooti, but ultiinatcly to the final jutlgnienl. «eventli from Adam Seven is the sacred number. In Enocli, freedom from death and the sacreil number are combined: for every seventh object is most highly valued. Jude thus shows the anticiuily of the prophecies. Cf. "of old," SS'ole, V. 4. There were only five fathers between Enoch and Adam. The seventh from Adam prophesied the things wliicli shall close the seventh age of the world. (Benoel.J comctli— "came." Prophecy rcganls the future a.s certain as if it were past, saints—Holy angels
5; Luke (i. 22; John 9.31; cf. "casteth them out of the Church," 3 John 10). Many, however, understand " themselves," which indeed is read in some of the oldest MSS. AH English Version has it. Arrogant setting up of themselves, as having greater sanctity and a wisdom and peculiar doctrine, disiin<!t from others, is iniiilied. seitsual —lit., " aninial-souled :" as opposed to the spiritual, or " having the Spirit." It is translated " the natural man,"
1 Corinthians 2. M. In the threefold division of rnan'8 being, /;o(/,v, «f/«/, firtfi .y^irtf, the due state in God's design
is, that "the spirit," which is the recipient of the Holy Spirit unlling man to God, should be first, and should rule the soul, which stands intermediate between the body and spirit; but in the animal, or natural man, the spirit is sunk into subserviency to the animal soul, which Is earthly in its motives and aims. The "carnal" sink somewhat lower, for in these tlie Jlesh, the lowest elenieut 'and cor ru 1)1 si d(M)r man's bodily nature, reigns paramount,
having not (he Spirit—In the animal and natural man
the spirit, his higher part, which ought lo be the receiver of the Holy .Spirit, is not so; and therefore, his spirit not being in its normal slate, he is said not Ui have the spiritlfif. John 3. 5, (i). In the completion of redenipllon thiparts of redeemed man sliail be placed in their due relation: whereas in the ung(xlly, the soul severed fi'oin the sjri.rU bib
Introduction. EEVELATION. Introduction.
"save" is present, therefore meaning "try tosave." Jude already (i'. 9) had reference to the same passage (Zechariah
shall have for ever animal life without union to God and
heaven—a living death. 30. Re^5uming v. 17. building
lip j-onrselvcs—the opposite to the " separate tliemsel ves"
3. 1-3). The three classes are: (1.) Those who contend with you (accusative in oldest MSS.), whom you should convict;
{v. 19): as "in the Holy Ghost" is opposed to "Having not the Spirit." on—as on a foundation. Building on the FAITH is equivalent to building on Christ, the object of faith, praying in the Holy Ghost — (Romans 8.
(2.) those who are as brands already in the fire, of which hell-fire is the consummation: tliese you should try to save by stmtching them out: (8.) those who are objects of compassion, whom accordingly you should compassionate (and help if occasion should ofler), but at the same time not let pity degenerate into connivance at their error. Your compassion Is to be accompanied "with fear" of being at all defiled by them, hating—Even hatred has
26; Ephesians 6.18.) The Holy Spirit teaolies wliat we are to pray for, and how. None can pray aright save by being in the iipirit, i. e., iu the element of His influence. Chkysostom states tliat, among the charisms bestowed at the beginning of the New Testament dispensation, was
tlie gift of prayer, bestowed on some one who prayed iu the name of tlie rest, and taught others to pray. Moreover, their prayers so conceived and often used, were received and preserved among Christians, and out of them forms of prayer were framed. Such is the origin of
its legitimate field of exercise. Sin is the only thing wliich God hates: so ovight we. even the garment—
proverbial phrase: avoiding the most remote contact with sin, and hating that which borders on it. As garme7itsot the apostles wrought miracles of good iu healing, so the very garment of sinners metaphorically, i. e., anything brought into contact with their pollution, is to be avoided. Cf. as to lepers and other persons defiled, Leviticus l;?. 52^57; 15. 4-17: the garments were held polluted ; and any one touching them was excluded, until purified, from religious and civil communion with the sanctified people of Israel. Christians who received at baptism the white garment in token of purily, are not to defile it by any approach to what is defiled. 34, 35. Concluding doxolo-
liturgies. [Hammond.] 31. In i'. 20, 21, Jude combines the Father, tlie Son, and the Holy Gliost : and/aiWi, hope and
love. Keep yourselves—not in your own strengtli, but "iu the love of God," i. e., God's love to you and all His believing cliildren, the only guarantee for their being kept
Hafe. Man's need of watching is implied ; at the same time he cannot keep iiimself, unless God in His love keep him. looking for—in hope, tlie mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ—to be fully manifested at His coming. Mercy is usually attributed to the Father: here to the Son; so en-
gy. Now Greek, "But." you—Alfokd, on inferior authority, reads, "them." You is iu contradistinction to those ungodly men mentioned above, keep . . . from falling— rather, "guard . . . (so as Xo be) withoid falling," or stumbling, before the presence of Ills glory i. e., before Himself, when He shall be revealed in glory, faultless— Gi-eefc, " blameless." with excec<ling joy lit., " with exultation" as of those who leap for joy. To tl»e only .... God our Saviour—The oldest MSS. add, "through Jesus Christ our Lord." Tlie transcribers, fancying that "Saviour" applied to Clirist alone, omitted the words. The sense is. To the onl.v God (the Father) who is our Saviour through (i. e., by the mediation of) Jesus Christ our Lord. dominion Greek, "might." power—a«^/»or£<i/.-
tirely one are they. 33,33. None but those who "keep themselves" are likely to "save" others, have compassion—So one oldest MS. reads. But two oldest MSS., Vul-
gate, &c., read, "convict ;" " reprove to their conviction ;" " confute, so as to coxivince." malting a difference—The oldest MSS, and versions read the accusative for the nominative, " svhen separating themselves
" [Wahl], referring tor. IS); or " when contending with yon," as the Greek is
translated, v. 9. 33. save with fear—The oldest MSS. do not read " with fear" in this position : but after " snatcliing tliem out of the flre" (with which, cf. Amos 4.11; I Corintliians 3. 15; Zechariah 3. 2, said of a most narrow escape), they add the following words, forming a thiiid
legilimate power. The oldest MSS. and Vulgate, after "power," have "before all the age," i. e., before all time
class, "and others compassionate with (in) fear." Three kinds of patients require three kinds of medical treatment. Ministers and Christians are said to "save" those whom they are made the instruments of saving; the Greek lor
as to the past; "and now," as to the present; "aud to aU the ages," i. c.,for ever, as to the time to come.
THE REVELATION
OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE.
AuTHENTlcixy.—The author calls himself Jo/in (c.h. 1. 1, 4, 9; 22. 8). JtrsTiN Martvii (Dialogue, p. .W, A. D. 130-16J\ quotes from the Apocalypse, as .To/in the apostle's work, the prophecy of the milleniiiuin of the saints, to he followed by the general resurrection and judgment. This testimony of Justin is referred to also hy Kusumus, iCcclrsia.sticdl Jlistory
4. 18. Justin, in the early part of tlx; second ceiilury, held his controversy with Tiypho, a learned .lew, at E}itirsus, where .Tohii had been living thirty or Ihirly-dve years belong : he says that " the Ilevelation had been given to John, one of tlie twelve apostles of Christ.'^ Mm^rro, bishop of Sardis (about 171 A. i).), t»i.e of the sn-en churches addressed, a
successor, therefore, of one of the S(!ven angels, Is said hy Kvsv.mvn {Kcclesi<i.iHeal JJislory i. 2(!) to liave written treatises on the Apocalypse of John. The testimony, of the bishop of Sardis is the more Impartial, as .Sardls is one of the churches severely reproved (ch. 3. 1). Ho also Tnicoi>iiiiiUS ok .\NTiorii (al)oul ISO A. D.), according txi Kuskmv» 4. 26, quoted testimonies from the Apocalypse of John. Kitskhiu.s says the same of Apollonius, who lived In Asia Minor in the end of the second c(>utury. Ikkn.I'IU.s (about 180 A. l).), a hoaror of I'olycarp, the disciple of John, and Hupposed by Arciihishoi' Usiikk to he the aiigrl of the Church of iSinyrna, is most de(-i(led again and again In quoting Uu: Apocalypse as the work of the aposl le .lohn (Iltvrrses l.,20. 11 ; 1., 21. 1., 'iO. I ; 5., 1 ; ,5., 30. .3; 5., S). 2). In
V 6.. 'M). 1 , ulludliig to the mystical mini her otl h<' be.'isl, Will (<h. 13. 18 1, Ion ml In all old copies, he says, " We do not hazard
a conlidciit llieoiy as to t he naini! of .\Mtielii ist; for If It had lieen ne(ressary tliat his name sliould be proclaimed openly at the pri;sent lime. It would have been {leclnred l>y him who saw the apocalyptic vision ; for it was seen nt HO
long lime bael:, but almost in our generation, towards the end of Domitian's reign." Ill his work against heresies, published
• ten yea rs after Polycarji's martyrdom, he (j notes the A poeal.vpse lw<'nly times, and makes loii^^ extracts from It, as In-
81)1 red Scripture. These testimonies of iiersons contemporary with John's I mined I ate successors, and m<ire or less con-
litvled with the region of the seven churches to which Ui vclallon is addressed, are most convincing. TliiKTUH.lAN, oi
61(5
Introduction. REVELATION. Introduction.
North Africa (about 220 a. d.), Adversus Marclon 3. M, quotes the apostle John's description iu the Apocalypse of the sword proceeding out of the Lord's mouth (ch. 19. 15), and 24, the heavenly city (cli. 21). Cf. De Resurreclione 27 ; De Anima 8, 9, &c. ; De Proescriptione JHcereticorum 33. The Muratori fragment of the canon (about A. D. 200) refers to John the apostle writing to the seven churches. IIippolytus, bishop of Ostia, near Rome (about 240 A. D.), De Antichrisio, p. 67, quotes ch. 17. 1-18, as the writing of John the aposlle. Among Hippolytus' works, there is specified in the catalogue on his statue, a treatise "on the Apocalypse and Gospel according to John." Clement of Alexandria (about 200 A. D ), Stromala G. 13, alludes to the twenty-four seats on which the elders sit as mentioned by John iu the Apocalypse (ch 4. 5); also, in Quis dives Salvu.i, sec. 42, he mentions John's return from Patmos to Ephesus on the death of the Roman tyrant. Origen (about 233 A. D.), Commentary on MaltJiew, in Eitsebius {Eccleaiaslieal History 6. 25), mentions John as the author of the Apocalypse, without expressing any doubts as to its authenticity; also, in Gommentary on Matthew, tom. IB. 6, he quotes ch. 1. 9, and says, " John seems to have beheld the Apocalypse in the island of Patmos." VrcTORlNUS, bishop of Pettau in Paiinonia, wlio suffered martyrdom under Diocletian iu 303 A. D., wrote the earliest extant commentary on the Apocalypse. Though the Old Syriac Pesehito version does not contain the Apocalypse, yet Ephrem Syrus (about 378 A. I).) frequently quotes the Apocalypse as canonical, and ascribes it to John.
Its canonicity and inspiration (according to a scholium of Andreas of Cappadocia) are attested by Papias, a hearer ofJohn, and associate of Polycakp. Papias was bishop of Hierapolis, near Laodicea, one of the seven churches. Wordsworth conjectures that a feeling of slianie, on account of the rebukes of Laodicea in Revelation, may have operated on the Council oi Laodicea, so as to omit Revelation from its listof books to be read pxiblicly . (?) The Epistle of the churches of Lyons and Vienne to the churciies of Asia and Phrygia (in Eusebius, Ecclesiaslical Hixtory 5. 1-3), In the persecution under M. Aurelius, a. d. 77, quotes ch. 1. 5; 3. 14; 14. 4, and 22. 11, as Scripture. Cyprian (about 250 A. D.) also, iu Ep. 13, quotes ch. 2. 5 as Scripture ; and in Ep. 2.5 he quotes ch. 3. 21, as of tlie same authority us the Gos-
pel. (For other instances, see Alford's Prolegomena, from whom mainly this summary of evidence has been derived.) Athanasius, in his Festival Epistle, enumerates the Apocalypse among the canoJiieaZ Scriptures, to which none must add, and from which none must take away. Jerome (\n Epistola ad Paulinum) includes in the canon the Apocalypse, adding, " It has as many mysteries as words. All praise falls short of its merits. In each of its words lie hid manifold senses." Thus an nnbroken chain of testimony down from the apostolic period confirms its canonicity and authenticity.
The Alogi (Epiphanius Hcereses 51), and Caius the Roman presbyter (Epsebius 3. 28), towards the end of the second and beginning of the third century, rejected St. Jolrn's Apoeal5'pse on mere captious grounds. Caius, according to Jerome, De Viris Illaslribus, about 210 A. D., attributed it to Ceriuthus, on the ground ot its supporting the millennial reign on earth. Dionysius of Alexandria mentions many before bis time who rejected it because of its obscurity, and hecaiise it seemed to support Cerinthus' dogma of an earthly and carnal kingdom ; whence tliey attributed it to Cerinthu.s. This Dionysius, scholar of Origen, and bishop of Alexandria (a. d. 247), admits its inspiration (in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History". 10), but attributes it to some John distinct from John the apostle, on the ground of itsdifTerence of style and character, as compared with St. John's Gospel and Epistle, as also Ijecause the name John is several times mentioned in the Apocalypse, which is always kept back in botli the Gospel and Epistle; moreover, neither does the Epistle make any allusion to the Apocalypse, nor the Apocalypse to the Epistle ; and the style is not pure Greek, but aliouuds in barbarisms and solecisms. Eusebius wavers in opinion (Ecclesiastical History 24. 39) as to Mliether it is, or is not, to be ranked among the undoubtedly canonical .Scriptures. His antipathy to the millennial doctrine would give an unconscious bias to his judgment on the Apocalypse. Cyril of Jerusalem (a. d. 386), Cate-
chesisi. 35, 30, omits the Apocalypse in enumerating the New Testament Scriptures to be read privately as well as pub-
licly. "Whatever is not read in the churches, that do not even read by thyself; the apostles and ancient bishops of the Church who transmitted them to us were far wiser than thou art." Hence, we see that, in hisday, the Apocalypse was not read in the churches. Yet in Catechesis 1. 4 he quotes ch. 2. 7, 17; and in Calechesis 1., 15. 13 he draws the pro-
phetical statement from ch. 17. 11, that the king who is to humble the three kings (Daniel 7. 8,20) is the eighth Icing. In
c. 15. and 27. he similarly quotes from ch. 12. 3, 4. Alford conjectures tliat Cyril had at some time changed his opinion, and that these references to the Apocalypse were slips of memory whereby he retained plnaseology which belonged to his former, not his subsequent views. The sixtieth canon (if genuine) of the Laodicean Council in the middle of the fourth century omits the Apocalypse from the canonical books. The Eastern Church in part doubted,
the Western Church, after the fifth century, universally recognized, the Apocalypse. Cyril of Alexandria, De
AdoralioneliS, though implying the fact of some doubting its genuineness, himself undoubtedly accepts it as the work
of St. John. Andreas of C^sarea, in Cappadocia, recognized as genuine and canonical, and wrote the flrsfentire and connected commentary on, tlie Apocalypse. The sources of doubt seem to have been, (1.) the ant;igonisra of many to the millenniutn, which is set forth in it; (2.) its obscurity and symbolism having caused it not to be read in
the churches, or to be taught to the young. But fhe most primitive tradition is unequivocal in its favour. In a word,
the objective evidence is decidedly for it; the only arguments against it seem to have been subjective.
The personal notices of John in the Apocalypse occur ch. 1. 1, 4, 9; 22. 8. Moreover, the writer's addresses to the churches of Proconsular Asia (ch. 2. 1) accord with the concurrent tradition, that after John's return from his exile
In Patmos, at the death of Domitian, under Nerva, he resided for long, and died at last in f:phesus, in the time of Trajan (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History S. 20, 23^. If the Apocalypse were not the inspired work of John, purporting
as it does to be an address from their superior to the seven churches of Proconsular Asia, it would have assuredly been
reject<'d in that region; whereas the earliest testimonies in those churches are all in its favour. One jierson alone waa
entitled to use language of authority sucli as is addressed to the seven angels of the churches—namely, John, as the
last surviving apostle and superintendent of all the churches. Also, it accords with John's manner to assert the ac-
curacy of his testimony both at the beginning and end of his book (cf. ch. 1. 2, 3, and 22. 8, with John 1. 14; 21. 21; 1 John 1. 1,
2). Again, It accords with the view of the writer l)eing an inspired aposlle that he addresses the angels or presidents
of the several churches in the tone of a superior addressing inferiors. Also, he commends tlie Church of Ephesus for
trying and convicting " them which say they are apostles, and are not," by which hi? implies his own undoubted slaim
to apostolic Inspiration (ch. 2. 2), as declaring in tlie seven epistles Christ's will revealed tlirough him.
As to the difference of style, as compared with the Gospel and Epistle, the difference of subject in part accounts for It,
the visions of tlie seer, transported as lie was above the region of sense, appropriately taking a form of expression
abrupt and uub >und by the grammatical la ws wliicli governed his writings of a calmer and more deli berate clmracUjr.
Inlroduetion. REVELATION. TntroJuction.
Moreover, as being a Galilean Hebrew, Tohii, in writing a Revelation akin to the Old Testament propliecies, naturally reverted to their IIel)raistic style. Ai-fORD notices, among the features of resembhmce bet ween tlie styles of tne Apocalypse and John's Gospel and Epistle, (1.) the cliaracteristic appellation of our Lord, peculiar to John exclusively,
'•the Word of God" (ch. 19. 13; cf. John 1.1; 1 John 1. 1). (2.) the phrase, "he tliat overcometh" (ch. 2.7, 11, 17; 3.5, 12,21;
12. 11; 15. 2; 17. H; 21. 7 ; cf. John 16. 3.!; 1 Jolin 2. 13, 1-4; 4. 4; 5. 4, 5). (3.) The Greek term {alelhinos) for " true," as opposed
to that which is shadox-iy and unreal (ch. 3. 7, 14; 6. 10; 15. 3; 16. 7; 19. 2. 9, 11 ; 21. 5; 22. 6). Tiiis term, found only onoe iu
St. Luke (Luke 16. 11), four times in St. Paul (1 Thessalonians 1. 9; Het)rews 8. 2; 9. 24 ; 10. 22), is lound nine times in St. John's Gospel (Jolin 1. 9; 4. 23, 37 ; 6. 32; 7. 28 ; 8. 16 ; 15. 1; 17. 3; 19. 35). lour times in John's First Epistle (I Joiin '2. S; 5.20), and leu times in Revelation (eh. 3. 7,14; 6. 10; 15. 3; 16.7; 19. '2, 9, 11; 21.5; 22. 6). (4.) The Grce?: diminutive for "Liimb"
(arnion, lit., "\a\vilili\u") occurs twenty-nine times iu the Apocalypse, and the only other place where it occurs ia John 21. 15. In John s writings alone is Christ called ti.reci/i' " the Lamb " (John 1. 29, .16). In 1 Peter 1. 19, He is called "as a lamb without blemish," in allusion to Isaiah 53. 7. So the use of " witness," or " testimony " (ch. 1. 2, 9; 6. 9;
11. 7, &c. ; cf. John 1. 7, 8, 15, 19, 32; 1 John 1. 2; 4. 14; 5. 6-U). " Keep the word," or " commandments" (ch. H. 8, 10; 12.
17, lie; cf. John 8. 51, 55; 14. 15). The assertion of the same thing positively and negatively (ch. 2. '2, 6, 8, 13; 3. 8, 17, 18;
cf. John 1. 3, 6, 7, 20; I Jolui 2. '27, 28). Cf. also 1 John 2. 20, 27 with oh. 3. 18, as to the spiritual anoinling. The seeming solecisms of style are attrilmtable to that inspired elevation which is above mere grammatical rules, and are designed to arrest the reader's attention by the peculiarity of the phrase, so as to pause and search into some deep truth lying beneath. The S'ivid earueslness of the inspired writer, handling a subject so transcending all others, raises him above all servile adherence to ordinary rules, so that at times he abruptly passes from one grammatical constrnctiou to another, as he graphically sets the thing described belbre the eye of the reader. This is not due to ignorance of grammar, for he "has displayed a knowledge of grammatical rules in other much more difficult constructions." [WiM-at.J The connection 01 l/iouglU is move ailended to than mere grammatical connection. Another consideration to be taken into account ;s, that two-tilths ol the whole being the recorded language of others, he moulds his stylo accordingly. CI. Tregisi^les' Intruduclion to licveUUion from Heathen Aulltorities. TREGK1.LKS well says [^'ew Testament IliUoric Ji^videiice), " There is no book of the New Testament for which we h.n ve such clear, ample, and numerous testimcuiies in the second century as we have in favour of the Apocalypse. The
inoriclosely the witnesses were connected with the apostle John (as was the case with Irenieus), the more explicit is their testimony. That doubts should prevail in after ages must have originated either in ignorance of the earlier testimony, or cl.se from some supposed intuition of what an ajjostle ought to have written. The objections on the ground of internal style can weigh not hing against the actual evidence. It is in vain to argue, a priori, that .St. John could not have V/ritten this book, when we have the evidence of several competent witnesses that ho did write it."
KeI.ATION Olf THE APOCALYPSE TO TUB KlvST OF THE CANON.—GREGORY NYSSEN, tOIU. 3, p. 601, Calls ReveUltlOU "the last book of grace. It completes the volume of inspiration, so that we are to look for no further revelation
till Christ Himself shall come. Appropriately the last book completing the canon was written by John, the last survivor of the apostles. The Jvew Testaiueut is composed of the historical hooks, the Gospels and Acts, the doctrinal
Epistles, anil t lie one prophetical book, Uevelation. The .same apostle wrote the last of the Gospels, and probably the
last of the Epislles, and the only prophetical book of the New Testament. All the books of the New Testament had been written, anil were read iu the Church assemblies, some years before John's death. His life was providentially prolonged tiiat he might give the final attestation to Scripture. About the year 100 A. D., the bishops of Asia (the augels of the seven churches) came to John at Ephksus, bringing him copies of the three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and desired of him a statement of his apostolical judgment concerning them ; wliereupon he pronounced them aulbenlic, gi nui'ue, and inspired, aiul at their recjuest added his own Gospel to comjilete the fourfold aspect of the Gospel of Clii ist (cf. MuKATOiti's Cannii ; lOu.srcni US 3. 24 ; jElioMK, Proveinium in Mattluvum ; V^CTOKI^•us on the
Apocalijiixe ; THKonoKET, Mupmeslia). A Greek divine, fjuoted in Allatius, calls Uevelation "the seal of the whole
Kible." The canon would he incoinpletii without Uevelation. Scripture is a complete whole, its component books, written in a period ranging over 150U years, being mutually connected. Unity of aim and spirit pervades the entire, so that the end is the nece.s.sary sequence of the niitldle, and the middle of the beginning. Genesis presents before us man and his bride in innocence and blessedness, followed by man's fall through Satan's subtlety, and muii's conse-
qiient misery, his exclusion from Paradise aiul its tree ot life and delightful rivers. Uevelation presents. In reverse order, man llrst liable to sin and death, but afterwards made conqueror through the blood of the Lamb; the first Adam and Kve, represented by the second Adam, Christ, and I he t;hurch. His spotless bride, in Paradise, with free access to the I l ee of lile and the crystal water of lite that tlows from the throne of God. As Genesis foretold the bruising of'the seipenl's Ili ad by the woman's seed, so Revelation declares the final accomplishment of that prediction
(Chs. 19., 20,. Pi.ACK AND Time ot-' Writing.—The best authorities among I lie Fathers state that John was exiled under Domt-
tlai\ (Irena;iis, 5. 30; Clement of Alex anuria ; Kusehiuh, Kcclasiastical History 3. 20). VtcTORiNUs says that he had
to labour in tlie mines of Patmos. At Domitian's death, 95 A. l)., he ri lurned to Epliesus under the Emperor Nerva. Probably it was immediately after his return that he wrote, under Divine Inspiration, the account of the visions vonchsaled to him in Patmos (ch. 1. 2, 9). However, ch. 10. 4 seems to imply that ho wrote tho visions immediately
niter seeing them. Patmos is one of the Sponides. lis ('Ircn inference is al)out thirty miles. "It was lilting that when loi hldden to go beyond certain bounds of the earth's lands, he was permitt<'d to penetrate the secrets of heaven."
[liEDE, ICxphin. Apiic<i/i/i>.ie on ch. 1.] The folhAvlng aiguments favour an earlier dale, eiz., under Nero: (I.) Eu.sebius
«)i lieitnyi liculDcinonnlrations) unites in the same sentence John's hanisluncnl with the stoning of James and tho belieadiug of Paul, which were under Nero. (2.) Clemen.s Alexandrin Uti' story of the robber reclaimed by John, after
lie hiid puisued, and with dilllculty overtaken him, accords better with John then being a younger man than uiuler Uoinltlan, when he was 100 years old. AliETiiAS, iu the sixth century, applies tho sixth seal to tho destriictlon of Je rusalem (70 a. n.), adding that the Apocalypse was written before that event. So the Si/ridc vc7:iion stales he was banished by Nero the (Jii'sar. Laodicea was overthrown by an earlluiuake 60 a. i>., but was Immediately rebuilt, so that
Its being calh'd " rich and Increased with goods " Is not 1 iicompat Ibh^ with this book having been written under the Neronlau persi'cutlon (61 A. i).). Hut the possible allusions to it in Hi?brews 10.37; cf. ch.. 1.4,8; 4.8; 22. 12; Hehrewg
11. 10; cf. ';h. 21. 11; Hebiews 1'2. 22, 23 ; cf. ch. 14.1; Hebrews 8. 1, 2 ; cf. ch. 11. 14) ; 15.5; 21.3; Hebrews 4. 12; cf. ch. 1,
16; 2. 12, 16; 111. 13, 15; Hebrews 4. 9; cf. ch. 20; also 1 Peter 1. 7, 13; 4. 13, with ch. 1. 1 ; 1 Peter 2. 9, with ch. r,. 10; 2Tlm-
Olliy 4. 8, Willi ch. '2. 26, '27; 3. 21 : 11. 18; Ephesians 6. 12, with ch. 12. 7-12; Pliillpiiians I. 'i, with cli. 3. 5; 13. 8, IT. 8; SO.
Inlrocluciion. REVELATION. Introduction,
12, l.j; Colossians 1. 18, wilh ch. 1. 5; 1 Corinthians 15. 52, with ch. 10. 7; 11. 15-18, make a date before tlie ciestructioii of Laoilicea possible. Cerinthus is stated to have died before Jolin : as then he borrowed much in Iiis Pseudo-Apocalypse from Jolin's, it is liliely the latter was at an earlier date tlian Domitian's reign. See Tii^Locii's InlroducCion Co Aj'ocoli/pse. Bui the Pauline benediction (cli. 1. 4) implies it was written after Paul's death under Nero. To What Readers Addressed.—The inscription states that it is addressed to tlie seven churches of Asia, f. e., Proconsular Asia. St. .Tohn's reason for fixing on the number seven (for there were more than seven churches in the region meant by "Asia," for instance. Magnesia and Tralles) was doubtless because seven is the sacred number implying totality and universality : so it is implied that John, through tlie medium of the seven churches, addresses in the .Spirit the Church of all places and ages. The Church in its various states of spiritual life or deadness, in all ages and places, is represented by the seven churches, and is addressed witli words of consolation or warning aeconlingly. Smyrna and Philadelphia alone of the seven are honoured with unmixed praise, as faithful in tribulation and ricli
in good works. Heresies of a decided kind had by this time arisen in the churclies of Asia, and the love of many had waxed cold, whilst others had advanced to greater zeal, and one had sealed his testimony w ith his blooil.
OB.IECT.—It begins with admonitory addresses to the seven churches from tlie Divine Son of man, whom John saw
In vision, after a brief introduction whicli sets forth the main subject of the book, i^iz., to "show unto Plis servants
tilings which must shortly come to pass" (clis. 1.-3). From ch. 4. to the end is mainly propliecy, with praclical exhortations and ('onsolations, however, interspersed, similar to those addressed to the seven ohurclies (the representa-
tives of the universal Church of every age), and so connecting the body of tlie book with its beginning, which tliere-
fore forms its appropriate introduction.
Three scliools of interpreters exist: (I.) The Preterists, who hold that almost tlie whole has been fulfilled. (2.) The Historical Interpreters, who hold tliat it comprises the history of the Church from St. .Jolm's time to the end of tlie world, the seals being c/iro)io?()f/imWy succeeded by tlie trumpets, and tlie trumpets by tlie vials. (3.) The Futurists, who consider almost the whole as yet future, and to be fulfilled immediately before Christ's second coming. The
first tlieory was not held by any of the earliest Fathers, and is only held now by Rationalists, who limit John's vision to things within his own horizon. Pagan Rome's persecutions of Christians, and its consequeutlj' anticipated destruction. The Futurist school is open to this great objection : It would leave the Cliurcli of Christ unprovided with prophetical guidance or support under lier tiery trials for 1700 or 1800 years. Now God has said, " Surely He will do notliing, but He revealetli His secrets unio His servants the prophets." The Jews had a succession of prophets who guided them with the light of prophecy : wliat their prophets were to them, that the apocalyptic Soriplures have been, and are, to us.
Alfoud, following Isaac Wii^liams, draws attention to the parallel connection between tlie Apocalypse and Christ's discourse on the Mount of Olives, recorded in Matthew 24. The seals plainly bring us down to tlie second coming of Christ, just as the trumpets also do (cf. cli. B. 12-17; 8. 1, &c. ; 11. 15), and as the vials also do (ch. 16. 17): all three run parallel, and end in the same iioint. Certain "catchwords" (as Wordsworth calls tliem) connect the three series of symbols together. They do not succeed one to the otlier in historical and chronological sequence, but move side by side, the-subsequent series filling up in detail the same picture whieli the preceding series had drawu In outline. So Victokinxjs (on ch. 7. 2), the earliest commentator on the Apocalypse, says, "The order of the things said is not to be regarded, since often the Holy Spirit, when He has run to tlie end of the last time, again returns to
llie same times, and supplies what He has less fully expressed." And Primasius (.Ad Apoealypsiii in fine), " In the trumpets he gives a description by a pleasing repetition, as is his custom."
At the very beginning, St. Jolin hastens, by anticipation (as was the tendency of all the prophets), to the grand consummation. Ch. 1. 7, " Beliold, He cometh witli clouds," &c.; d. 8, 17, "I am the beginning and the ending—the
first and the last." So the seven epistles e.xhibit the same anticipation of the end. Ch. 3. 12, "Him that overcometh,
I will write upon Him tlie name of my God, and the name of tlie city of my God, wliicli is new Jerusalem, which Cometh down out of heaven:" cf. at the close, ch. 21. 2. So also ch. 2. 28, "I will give him the morning star:" cf. at the
close, 22. 16, " I am the bright and morning star."
Again, the eurtliqwike that ensues on the opening of the sixth seal is one of the catchwords, i. e., a link connecting chronologically this sixth seal with the sixth trumpet (ch. 9. 13; 11. 13): cf. also the seventli vial, ch. 16. 17, 18. The concomitants of the opening of the sixth seal, it is plain, in no full and exliaustive sense apply to any event, save the terrors which shall overwhelm tlie ungodly just before the coming of the Judge.
Again, the beast out of the bottomless pit, between the sixth and seventh trumpets, connects this series with the sec-
tion, chs. 1'2., 13., 14., concerning the Church and her adversaries. Again, the sealing of the 144,000 under the sixtli seal connects this seal with the section, ohs. 12.-14. Again, the loosing of the four winds by the four angels standing on the four corners of tlie earth, under the sixth
seal, answers to the loosing of the /our angels at the Euphrates, under the sixth trumpet.
Moreover, links occur in the Apocalypse connecting it with the Old Testament. For instance, the "mouth speaking great things," connects the beast that blasphemes ayainst God, and makes war against tlie saints, witli the Utile horn, or at last king, who, arising after tlie ten kings, shall speak against the Most High, and wear o%it the saints ; also, cf. the "forty-two months" (ch.l3. 5), or "a thoiJsand two hundred and threescore days" (ch.l2. 6), with the " time, times, und the dividing of time," of Daniel 7. 25. " Moreover, tlio "forty-two months," ch. 11. 2, answering to ch. 12. 6 and
13. 5, link together the period under the sixth trumpet to the section, chs. 12., 13., 14. AUBEKLEN observes, "The history of salvation is mysteriously governed by holy numbers. They are tlie scafll'old* Ing of the org.anic edifice. Tliey are not merely outward indications of time, but indication.s of nature and essence. Not only nature, but history, is based in numbers. Scripture and antiquity put numbers as tlie fundamental forms
of tilings, where we put ideas." As number is the regulator of the relations and proportions of the natural world, so does it enter most frequently Into the revelations of the Apocalypse, wliich sets forth the harmonies of the super-
natural, the immediately Divine. Thus the most supernatural revelation leads us the farthest into the natural, as was to be expected, seeing the God of nature and of revelation is one. Seven is the number for perfection (cf. ch. 1. 4;
i. 5, the seven Spirits before the throne; also, ch. 5. 6, the Lamb's seven horns and seven eyes). Thus the seven churches represent the Church catholic in its totality. The seven seals—trumpets—vials, are severally a complete series each In
Itself, fulfilling perfectly the Divine course of judgments. Three and a half Implies a number opposed to the Divine
(seven), but broken in itself, and which. In the moment of its highest triumph, Is overwhelmed by judgment and
John Wrilelh his Revelation REVELATION I. to the Seven Churches of Asia,
utter ruin. Four is tlie number of tlie worliTs extension ; seven is the number of God's revelation in the woild. In the /our beasts of Daniel tliere is a recognition of some power above them, at the same time that tliere is a mimicry of tlie four cherubs of Ezekiel, the heuvenljsymbols of all creation in its due subjection to God (ch. -1. 6-8). So the four corners of the earth, the four winds, the four angels loosed from the Euphrates, and Jerusalem lying "foursquare," represent world-wide extension. The sevenfoldness of the Spirits on the part of God corresponds with the fourfold cherubim on tlie part of the created. John, seeing more deeply into the essentially God-opposed character of the world, presents to us, not the four beasts of Daniel, but the seven heads of the beast, whereby it arrogates to
Itself the sevenU)\d perfection of flie Spirits of God; at tlie same time that, with characteristic self-contradiction, it has ten liorns, the number peculiar to the world-power. Its unjust usurpation of the sacred number seven is marked by the addition of an eighth to the seven heads, anil also bj' tlie beast's own number, 6(56, which in units, tens, and liuudreds, verges upon, but falls short of, seven. Tlie judgments on the world are complete in six: after the sixtli seal and the sixtli trumpet, there is a pause. When seven comes, there comes " the kingdom of our Lord and His Clirist." Six is the number of tlie world given to Judgment, Moreover, six is half of twelve, as three and a half is the lialf of
seven. Twelve is the number of the Churcli : cf. the tivelve tribes of Israel, the twelve stars on the woman's head (ch.
12. 1), the twelve gates of new Jerusalem. Six thus symbolizes the world broken, and without solid foundation. Twice twelve is the number of the heavenly elders; twelve times twelve thousand the number of the sealed elect: the tree of
life yields twelve manner of fruits. ' Doubtless, besides this symbolic force, there is a special chronological meaning in
tlie numbers; but as yet, though a commanded subject of investigation, they have received no solution which we can be sure is tlie true one. Thej-are intended tostimulate reverent inquiry, not to gratify idle speculative curiosity; and when the eventsllall have been fulfilled, they will show tlie Divine wisdom of God, who ordered all things in minutely harmonious relations, and left neither the times nor tlie ways to hap-hazard.
The arguments for the year-day theory are as follows: Daniel 9. 21, "Seventy weeks are determined upon," where the Hebrew may be seventy sevens; but Mede observes, the Hebrew word means always seven of days, and never .seven of years (Leviticus 12. 5; Deuteronomy 16. 9, 10, 16). Again, the number of years' wandering of tlie Isx'aelites was made to correspond to the number of days in which the spies searched the land, viz., forty : cf. " each day for a year," Numbers 11. 33, 34. So in Ezekiel 4. 5, 6, " 1 have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days . . . forty days : I have appointed thee each day .for a year." St. John, in Revelation itself, uses days\n a sense which can hardly be literal. Ch. 2. 10, " Ye shall have tribulation ten days." tlie persecution of ten years recorded by Eusebius seems to correspond to it. In the year-day theory there is still quite enough of obscurity to exercise the patience and probation of faitli, for we cannot say precisely tchen the 1200 years beyin; so that this theory is quite compatible with Christ's words, "Of tliat day and hour knoweth no man," &c. However, it
Is a difficulty in this theory that " a tliousand years," in cli. 20. 6, 7, can hardly mean 1000 by 360 days, t. e., 360,000 years. The tirst resurrection there must be literal, even as i". 5 must be taken literally, "the rest of the dead lived not again nntil the thousand years were finished." To interpret the former spiritually would entail the need of interpreting the latter so, wliich would be most improbable; for it would imply that the rest of the (spiritually) dead lived not spiritually until the end of the thousand years, and then that they did come spiritually to life. 1 Corinthians 15. 23, "they that are Christ's at His coming," contlrms tlie literal view.
time of the end, St. John, now that the time is at hand {v. 3), is directed to reveal, of Jesns Cl»rlst—coming/ro?« Him. Jesus Christ, not John the writer, is the Author of the Apocalypse. Christ taught many things before His departure; but those which were unsuitable for announcement at that time He brought togetlier into the Apocalypse. [Bkngel.] Cf. His promise, John 15. h), "AH things that 1 have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you;" also, John 16. 13, "The Spirit of truth
Ver. 1-20. Title: Soukce and Object of this Revelation : Blkssing on the Reader and Keeper of it, AS THE Time is Near: Insoi^iption to the Seven Churches: Apostolic Greeting: Kky-notk, "Behold He Cometh" (cf. at the close, ch. 22. 20, "Surely I come quickly"): Introductory Vision of the Son of Man IN Glory, amidst the Seven^ Candlesticks, with Seven Stah.s in His Right Hand. 1. Revelnllon—An apocalypse or unveiling of those things which had been veiled. A manifesto of the kingdom of Christ. Tlie travelling niiiiuial of the (Jliurch for the Gentile Chris-
ivill show you things to come." The Gospels and Acts are the books, respectively, of His tlrst advent, in the flesh, and in the Spirit; the Epistles are the inspired comment on them. The Apocalypse is the book of His second advent and the events preliminary to It. wlilch God gave unto liliii—The Eatlier reveals Himself and His will in, and by. His Son. to show—The word recurs ch. 22.6: so entirely have the parts of Revelation reference to one another. It is its peculiar excellence that it comprises in a perfect compendium future things, and these widely dilt'ening: things close at hand, lar oil" and between the two; great and little; destroying iiiid saving; repeated from okl prophecies and new ; long and short, and these interwoven with one another, opposed and mutually agreeing ; mutually involving and evolving ont> another ; so that in no book more than In t his would tho addition, or talilng away, of a single word or clause (cli
,^tian times. Not a detailed history of the future, but a representation of the great epochs and chief powers in developing the kingdom of God in relation to the world. The Cliurcli-/i/.vto) ic«Z view goes counter to the great |)rin-
clple, that Scrijiture Interprets itself. Revelation Is to teach us to understand the times, not the times to Interpret to us the Apocalypse, although it Is in the nature of the case that a reflex InlluentH; Is exerted here and is understood by the prudent. [Auberle.n.] The book Is In a series of jiaiallel groups, not in chronological succession. Still there is an organic historical development of the kingdom of God. In this book all tlie other books of the Bible end and meet: in it Is the consummation of all previous prophecy. Daniel foretells as to Christ and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, and tlie Inst Antichrist. But Jolin's Revelation (Ills up the inlcMinecllate period, and ilescrilKis the miUemiiiini iiiid final slate beyond Antichrist. Daniel, as a godly stalc^sman, views the history of God's people in relation to tlic four world-kingdoms. .lohn, as an apostle, views histor.v from the C/iri.i-
22.' 18, 10), have the effect of marring the sense of the context and the comparison of passages togetlier. (Benokl.J liU wrvniitx—not merely to "His servant John," but to
all His servants (cf. ch. 22. 3). sluorlly— (.'rccA-, "_speed-
il.v;" lit., "Ill," or "with s])eed." Cf, "The time is at hand," v. 8; ch. 22. 6, "shortly;" 7, "Behold I coma quickly." Not that the things prophesied were according to man's computation near; but this word "shortly" Implies a corrective of our estimate of worldly event* and periods. Though a " thousand yeare" (ch. '20.) at li.ast
tiati Churcli, aspi c't. The term Apocalypse Is applied to no Old Te.'-tanient book. Daniel is Ihc nearest approach to
11; but what Daniel was told to seal and shut up till the 650
John Writeth his Revelation REVELATION I. to the Seven Churchea of Asm.
are Included, the time Is de clared to be at hand. Luke 18.
sular, governed by a Roman proconsul: consisting of Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, and Lydia: the kingdom which Attains III. had bequeathed to Rome. Grace . . . peacn —Paul's apostolical greeting. In his Pastoral Epistles he inserts " mercy" in addition : so 2 John 3. him which is . . . wag ... Is to come—A periphrasis for the incommunicable name Jehovah, the self-existing One, unchangeable. In Ctreek the Indeclinability of the designation here implies His unchangeableness. Perhaps the reason why " He which is to come" is used, instead of " He that shall be," Is because the grand theme of Revelation is the Lord's coming {v. 7). Still it is the Father as distinguished from "Jesus Christ" {v. 5) who is here meant. But so one are the Father and Son, that the designation "which is to come," more immediately applicable to Christ, is used here of the Father, tlie seven Spirits wliicli are before his throne—The oldest MSS. omit " are." before— " in the presence of." The Holy Spirit in His sevenfold (i. e., perfect, complete, and universal) energy. Corresponding to "the seven churches." One in His own essence, manifold in His gracious influences. The seven eyes resting on the stone laid by Jehovah (ch. 5. 6). Four is the number of the creature world
8, "speedily." The Israelite Church hastened eagerly to the predicted end, whicli premature eagerness prophecy restrains (cf. Daniel 9). Tlie Gentile Church needs to be reminded of the transitoriness of the world, which it is apt to make its home, and the nearness of Christ's advent. On the one hand Revelation saith, " the time is at hand ;" on the other, the succession of seals, &c., sliow that many intermediate events must first elapse. Ue sent —Jesus Christ sent, by l»ts angel—joined with "sent." The angel does not come forward to "signify" things to John until ch. 17. 1; 19. 9, 10. Previously to that St. John receives information from others. Jesus Christ opens the Revelation, r. 10, 11; ch. 4. 1 ; in ch. 6. 1 one of the four living creatures acts as his informant; in ch.
7. 13, one of the elders; in ch. 10. 8, 9, the Lord and His angel who stood on the sea and earth. Only at the end
(ch. 17. 1) does the one angel stand by Him (cf. Daniel
8. 16; 9. 21; Zecliariah 1. 19). a. bare record of—" testified the word of God" in this book. Where we should say
"testifies," the ancients in epistolary communications use the past tense. The word of God constitutes his testimony; v. 3, "the words of this prophecy." tlie testimony of Jesus—" the Spirit of prophecy" (ch. 19. 10). and of all things that—Tlie oldest MSS. omit "and." Translnle, "Whatsoever things lie saw," in apposition with "the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ." 3. lie that readeth, and they that hear—wiz., the public reader in Church assemblies, and liis hearers. In the first instance, he by whom John sent the book from Patnios to the seven churches, read it publicly: a usage most .scriptural and profitable. A special blessing attends him who 7-eads or hears the apocalyptic "prophecy" with a view to keeping the things therein (as there is but one article to " tliey that hear and keep those things," not two classes, but only one is meant: " they who not only hear, but also keep those things," Romans 2. 13); even though he find not the key to its interpretation, he finds a stimulus to faith, hope, and patient waiting for Christ. K'ote, the term "prophecy" has relation to the human medium or prophet inspired, here John : " Revelation" to the Divine Being who reveals His will, here Jesus Christ. God gave the revelation to Jesus: He by His angel revealed it to John, who was to make it known to the Church. 4. John-the apostle. For none but he (supposing the writer an honest man) would thus sign Himself nakedly without addition. As sole survivor and representative of the apostles and eye-witnesses of the Lord, he needed no designation save his name, to be recognized by his readers, seven churches— not that there were not more churches in that region, but the number leven is fixed on as representing totality. These seven represent the universal Church of all times and places. See Tkench's (Epistles to Seven Chvrches) interesting Note, ch.
(cf. the fourfold cherubim); seven the number of God's revelation in the world. 5. tlie faitlifnl witness—of the truth concerning Himself and His mission as Prophet, Priest, and King Saviour. "He was the faithful witness, because all things that He heard of the Father he faithfully made known to His disciples. Also, because He taught the way of God in truth, and cared not for man, nor regarded the persons of men. Also, because the truth which He taught in words He confirmed by miracles. Also, because the testimony to Himself on the part of the Father He denied not even in death. Lastly, because He will give true testimony of the works of good and bad at the day of judgment." [Richard of St. Victor in Trench.] The nominative in Greek standing in apposition to the genitive, "Jesus Christ," gives majestic prominence to "the faithful witness." the tlrst-begotten of the dead—(Colossians I. 18.) Lazarus rose to die again. Christ rose to die no more. The image is not as if the grave was the womb of His resurrection-birth [Alford]; but as Acts 13. 33; Romans 1. 4, treat Christ's resurrection as the epoch and event which fulfilled the Scripture, Psalm 2. 7, "This day (at the resurrection) have I begotten Thee." It was then that His Divine Sonship as the Godman was manifested and openly attested by the Fattier. So our resurrection and our manifested sonship, or generation, are connected. Hence " regeneration" is used of the resurrection-state at the restitution of all things (Matthew 19. 28). tlie Prince—or Ruler. The kingship of the world which the Tempter offered to Jesus on condition of doing homage to him, and so shunning the cross, He has obtained by the cross. "The kings of the earth" conspired against the Lord's Anointed (Psalm 2.2): these He shall break in pieces (Psalm 2. 9). Those who are wise in time and kiss the Son shall bring their glory unto Him at His manifestation as King of kings, after He has destroyed His foes. Unto Him that loved ns—The oldest MSS. read the present, "... loveth us." It is His evercontinuing character, He loveth us, and ever shall love us.