Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“Addressed to the executioners of God's wrath. Reward--Greek, "repay." she rewarded--English Version reading adds "you" with none of the oldest manuscripts.”

“"Strong" is the meaning of God's Hebrew name, "EL." judgeth--But A, B, and C read the past tense (Greek, "krinas"), "who hath judged her": the prophetical past for the future: the charge in Re 18:4 to God's people to come out of her implies that the judgmen…”

“God's judgments inspire fear even in the worldly, but it is of short duration, for the kings and great men soon attach themselves to the beast in its last and worst shape, as open Antichrist, claiming all that the harlot had claimed in blasphemous pretensions …”

“But A and C read the present, "weep and mourn." merchandise--Greek, "cargo": wares carried in ships: ship-lading (compare Re 18:17). Rome was not a commercial city, and is not likely from her position to be so. The merchandise must therefore be spiritual, ev…”

“(See on Re 17:4). stones . . . pearls--Greek, "stone . . . pearl." fine linen--A, B, and C read Greek, "bussinou" for "bussou," that is, "fine linen manufacture" [ALFORD]. The manufacture for which Egypt (the type of the apostate Church, Re 11:8) was fame…”

“English Version reading is supported by Coptic and ANDREAS, but not oldest manuscripts. ointments--Greek, "ointment." frankincense--Contrast the true "incense" which God loves (Ps 141:2; Mal 1:11). fine flour--the similago of the Latins [ALFORD]. beasts--…”

“Direct address to Babylon. the fruits that thy soul lusted after--Greek, "thy autumn-ripe fruits of the lust (eager desire) of the soul." dainty--Greek, "fat": "sumptuous" in food. goodly--"splendid," "bright," in dress and equipage. departed--supported by…”

“And--so Vulgate and ANDREAS. But A, B, and C omit. decked--literally, "glided." stones . . . pearls--Greek, "stone . . . pearl." B and ANDREAS read "pearls." But A and C, "pearl."”

“"Musicians," painters and sculptors, have desecrated their art to lend fascination to the sensuous worship of corrupt Christendom. craftsman--artisan.”

“Applied by Christ (Mt 23:35) to apostate Jerusalem, which proves that not merely the literal city Rome, and the Church of Rome (though the chief representative of the apostasy), but the WHOLE of the faithless Church of both the Old and New Testament is meant…”

“Compare Ps 149:4-9, which is plainly parallel, and indeed identical in many of the phrases, as well as the general idea. Israel, especially, will join in the Hallelujah, when "her warfare is accomplished" and her foe destroyed. Salvation, &c.--Greek, "The sa…”

“This verse is the hearty response to the stirring call, "Alleluia! Praise our God" (Re 19:4, 5). the Lord God omnipotent--Greek, "the Omnipotent." reigneth--literally, "reigned": hence reigneth once for all. His reign is a fact already established.”

“The righteousness of the saint is not, as ALFORD erroneously states, inherent, but is imputed: if it were otherwise, Christ would be merely enabling the sinner to justify himself. Ro 5:18 is decisive on this.”

“Identifying Him with the Son of man similarly described, Re 1:14. many crowns--Greek, "diadems": not merely (Greek, "stephanoi") garlands of victory, but royal crowns, as KING OF KINGS. Christ's diadem comprises all the diadems of the earth and of heavenly p…”

“"His name written on His vesture and on His thigh," was written partly on the vesture, partly on the thigh itself, at the part where in an equestrian figure the robe drops from the thigh.”

“The "kings" are "the ten" who "give their power unto the beast." free and bond--specified in Re 13:16, as "receiving the mark of the beast." The repetition of flesh (in the Greek it is plural: masses of flesh) five times in this verse, marks the gross carna…”

“The dragon is both lion and serpent. As the first law in God's moral government is that "judgment should begin at the house of God," and be executed on the harlot, the faithless Church, by the world power with which she had committed spiritual adultery, so it …”

“The guillotine in revolutionary France was a revival of the mode of capital punishment of pagan imperial Rome. Paul was beheaded, and no doubt shall share the first resurrection, in accordance with his prayer that he "might attain unto the resurrection from ou…”

“The rights which Rome as a harlot usurped, shall be exercised in holiness by the Bride. They are "kings" because they are "priests" (Re 20:6; 5:10); their priesthood unto God and Christ (Re 7:15) is the ground of their kingship in relation to man.”

“Moreover, none can be saved in the present age and in the pale of the Christian Church who does not also reign with Christ hereafter, the necessary preliminary to which is suffering with Christ now. If we fail to lay hold of the crown, we lose all, "the gift o…”

“A has but one Greek article to "Gog and Magog," whereby the two, namely, the prince and the people, are marked as having the closest connection. B reads the second article before Magog wrongly. HILLER [Onomasticon] explains both words as signifying "lofty," "e…”

“Hence it is possible that an apostasy should take place at its close. In the judgment on this apostasy the world of nature is destroyed and renewed, as the world of history was before the millennial kingdom; it is only then that the new heaven and new earth ar…”

“Rather, the Son, to whom "the Father hath committed all judgment." God in Christ, that is, the Father represented by the Son, is He before whose judgment-seat we must all stand. The Son's mediatorial reign is with a view to prepare the kingdom for the Father's…”

“Therefore it is called, "the Lamb's book of life." Electing grace has singled them out from the general mass. according to their works--We are justified by faith, but judged according to (not by) our works.”

“Death and Hades, as personified representatives of the enemies of Christ' and His Church, are said to be cast into the lake of fire to express the truth that Christ and His people shall never more die, or be in the state of disembodied spirits. This is the sec…”