when Manasseh prayed, all the angels who.
superintend the entrance of prayers went and closed every approach, to prevent his petition reaching heaven ; in Chag. 13 6 the prayers of the righteous are offered by Sandalphon (cf. Longfellow’s Sandalphon, and contrast Heb. vii. 25),
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402
di Thess. iv. 16, I Cor. xv. 52, Matt. xxiv. 31, 4 Esd. v. 4, Vi. 23: cf. Josh. vi. 4, Jer. iv. 19, Zephi. 15-16.
e Ας Vii. 2.
f iii. 20, vii. I, etc. (= é . “at altar of burnt offering’’) Amos ix. 1. 975. = “in aid of”. iCf. Win. § 20, 11 Ε. God (ix. 13). πι Aoristic pf., v. 7.
λους οἳ
Σσάλπιγγες.
Para πολλά, ἵνα δώσει] ®
ἀγγέλου ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ.
κβ , x A Sale a '9 / υσιαστηριον το χρυσουν το ενωπιον του povou.
61 Kings vii. 5ο.
ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἑστήκασι, καὶ ἐδόθησαν αὐτοῖς ἑπτὰ 3. καὶ "ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἦλθε καὶ ἐστάθη ΄ ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, ἔχων λιβανωτὸν "χρυσοῦν καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ θυµιά-
ταῖς προσευχαῖς τῶν ἁγίων ' πάντων ἐπὶ τὸ
4. καὶ ἀνέβη ὁ
καπνὸς τῶν θυµιαµάτων " ταῖς προσευχαῖς τῶν ἁγίων ἐκ Χειρὸς τοῦ
5. καὶ ' εἴληφεν 6 ἄγγελος τὸν λιβα-
h Dat. commodi? cf. Μου]. i.
k Num. iv. 11, inner altar of incense. 11. ε:
1 The variants δωση and δω are corrections of the original δωσει (SAC, 1, edd.) —tva with fut. indic. as iii. 9, etc. (Win. § 5, 17, § 13, 7, § 14, 9).
This septet of distinguished angels be- longs to the circle of ideas behindi. 4, iv. 5, ν. 6; but the author as usual prefers vividness and variety to homogeneity. He uses them for minatory purposes, assign- ing to “ another angel” their character- istic function (ver. 3) in Jewish tradition. The alteration of figure at this point is deliberate. The certainty of divine de- crees is suggested by the figure of seals; but now that the prophet is describing the promulgation of the actual events presaged in the book of Doom, he, like the author of 4 Esdras (2 cf. Lat. of v. 4), employs the figure of angels with trum- pets of hostile summons and shattering alarm. The final series (xv.-xvi.) in which these decrees are executed, is aptly described under the figure of bowls or vials drenching the earth with their bitter contents (cf. Bovon, Nouv. Test. Théol. ii. 503). The trumpet, as a signal for war, is naturally associated with scenes of judg- ment (reff.). ‘‘ Power, whether spiritual or physical, is the meaning of the trumpet, and so, well used by Handel in his ap- proaches to the Deity” (E. Fitzgerald’s Letters, 1.92). Trumpet to lip, the angels now stand ready. They are set in motion by a significant interlude (3-5).
Ver. 3. Between royalty and ritual the scenery of the Apocalypse fluctuates. It is assumed (as at vi. 9), after vii. 15 perhaps, that heaven is a temple, although this is not expressly stated till xi. 19; nor is it homogeneous with the throne- description in chap. iv. λιβανωτόν (‘‘ incense,” Gm. λεγ. N.T.) is used by mistake for the classical ABaverpiv(LXX, πνρ[ε]ιον or θνυίσκη) = “censer,” as αἷ- ready in an inscription of the second century B.c. (Dittenberger’s Sylloge In- script. Graec. 588 155) λιβανωτίς is em- ployed by confusion for “ frankincense”.
Golden censers (1 Macc. i. 22) and golden bowls (Φιάλαι) were among the furniture of the temple (1 Esd. ii. 13). On prayers as an offering, see Acts x. 4. The sym- bolism is borrowed from the temple- ritual; when the saucer of incense had been emptied over the burning coals placed on the altar of incense, the people bowed in prayer, as the fragrant cloud of smoke rose up. Wellhausen’s deletion of 3 b, 4asa gloss is therefore unneces- sary. John is consoling the church (cf. on vi. 10) by the assurance that their prayers for the coming of the kingdom are not breathed in vain.