John Gill

“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in…

“And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest,.... John replies in a very humble, modest, and respectful manner, to the elder, calling him "sir", according to the usage of the eastern people; and it is observable, that this word is much used in his Gospel…”

‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’

“They shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more,.... The words are taken out of Isa 49:10, and will be true in a literal and corporeal sense.”

And the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

“And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets,.... Given them, Rev 8:2; prepared themselves to sound; they stood up, took their trumpets in their hands, and put them to their mouths; this was giving notice of what was coming upon the earth, and a…”

Then the first angel sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were hurled down upon the earth.

“The first angel sounded,.... Or blew his trumpet: and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood; somewhat like one of the plagues of Egypt, Exo 9:23; in which was hail mingled with fire, only no blood, but what was caused by its fall on…”

Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck.

“And the fourth angel sounded,.... His trumpet. Some think this refers to the Eutychian heresy, which confounded the two natures of Christ, and of two made one mixed nature, neither human nor divine; and brought great darkness upon the doctrine of Christ's person, the sun…”

In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.

“And in those days men shall seek death,.... Or desire to die, as Job did: and shall not find it; or shall not die: and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them; death will be preferred to a miserable life; it will…”

And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads, and faces like the faces of men.

“And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses,.... The heads of locusts, especially of some of them, are very much like the heads of horses: and here they are compared to horses prepared unto battle; as they are in Joe 2:4.”

They also had thoraxes like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.

“And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron,.... Alluding to the hard skin of the locusts, with which nature has fenced it (q); see Joe 2:8; and denotes the armour with which the Saracens were accoutred: and if to be understood of the…”

The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.

“One woe is past,.... One of the three woe trumpets, the first of them; that is, in the vision which John had of it, not the thing itself designed by it: and behold there come two woes more hereafter; under the blowing of the sixth…”

Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.

“Neither repented they of their murders,.... Of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, with whose blood the western antichrist is made drunk, and which will be found in her, and for which she is answerable.”

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.

“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod,.... A measuring reed, which with the Jews was six cubits long, Eze 40:5; with the Greeks and Romans, ten feet long; the Ethiopic version here calls it a "golden reed", as in Rev 21:”

Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where their Lord was also crucified.

“And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city,.... Not Jerusalem, which was destroyed when John had this vision, and which will; not be rebuilt at the time it refers to; nor is it ever called the great city, though the…”

But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those…

“And after three days and a half,.... When it was certain they were dead, and all hope of reviving was over; see Joh 11:39; that is, three years and a half: the spirit of life from God entered into them; this phrase is expressive of…”

The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming shortly.

“The second woe is past,.... Not in John's time, only in a visionary way; the meaning is, that the second woe trumpet, which is the sixth, will now have done sounding, when the four angels, bound in the river Euphrates, shall have been loosed, and…”

The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and…

“And the nations were angry,.... See Psa 99:1, which the Septuagint render, the "Lord reigns, let the nations be angry".”

Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea,.... The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read, "and he stood", &c.”

So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

“And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth,.... He put forth, and made use of that power which he had in his hand, in answer to the entreaty of the angel, the time being fully come which was fixed…”

And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood that flowed from it rose as high as the bridles of the horses for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

“And the winepress was trodden without the city,.... The beloved city, the new Jerusalem, into which none of the wicked will enter, and without which are dogs, &c. Rev 20:”

and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty!

“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God,.... Not that in Deu 32:1 but that in Exo 15:1 and the sense is, either that they observed the law of Moses, which he as a servant in the Lord's house faithfully delivered, and…”

And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it turned to blood like that of the dead, and every living thing in the sea died.

“And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea,.... Not literally; and so does not design the stagnation of it, which it is thought will be before the general conflagration; see Amo 7:4 nor is it to be understood of the sea of…”

And I heard the angel of the waters say: “Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was, because You have brought these judgments.

“And I heard the angel of the waters say,.... So we read in Jewish writings (t) of an angel that was שרא דימא, "the prince of the sea", and of angels that were over the waters, and others over fire (u); though here is designed…”

And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had…

“So he carried me away in the spirit,.... Not in body, as if he was removed from the isle of Patmos to some other place; but in a visionary way, just as Ezekiel was carried between earth and heaven, in the visions of God, to…”

of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; of slaves and souls of men.

“And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense,.... Things for delight and pleasure, for the gratifying of the senses; cinnamon, and odours were used for perfuming, Pro 7:17 anointing with oil was used at feasts, Psa 23:5 and "frankincense", or censings, at banquets, and for…”

saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!

“And saying, alas, alas! that great city,..... Using the same words the kings of the earth do, Rev 18:10 only adding, suitable to their characters as merchants, and the things they traded in with her, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet…”

and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.

“And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning,.... See Gill on Rev 18:9. saying, what city is like unto this great city?”