υσπαύστως εἶχε The rendering ot burial honours to the dead was a matter of great moment in the ancient world; to be denied pious burial meant ignominy in the memory of this world and penalties in the next. The two witnesses are treated as the murdered high priests, Ananus and Jesus, were handled by the Jewish mob in the seventh decade (Jos. Bell. iv. 5, 2).---βλέπονσιν, the onlookers, who evidently sympathise with anti- christ (cf. on xvi. 12), include pagans as well as Jews (Andr.).— ἡμέρας, κ.τ.λ., three and a half as the broken seven (cf. on ver. 2) here in days. This trait (cf. on ver. 12) shows that their fate was not originally modelled on that of Jesus.
jg—15.
, [ο lol ἀφίουσιν ” τεθῆναι εἰς μνῆμα.
, Cee: 3 ο) \ > 0 .
Χαιρουσιν ἐπ αὐτοῖς καὶ εὐφραίνονται , 5 a a A
ἀλλήλοις, ὅτι οὗτοι of δύο προφῆται * ἐβασάνισαν τοὺς κατοικοῦντας
ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.
2 lel ~ Lal “a ~
ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσῆλθεν ἐν adtois,” καὶ ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας αὐτῶν, \ , a
καὶ Εφόβος µέγας " ἐπέπεσεν ἐπὶ τοὺς " θεωροῦντας αὐτούς, A 3 ν j ~ ~ lel ”
καὶ ἠκουσαν" ᾿ φωνῆς μεγάλης ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λεγούσης αὐτοῖς, to κ. 1 a
““AvaBate de", Kat ἀνέβησαν eis τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐν τῇ ™ νεφέλῃ» 4 26 , 3 A ce A 7 A
καὶ ἐθεώρησαν αὐτοὺς ot ἐχθροὶ αὐτῶν.
II. "Καὶ μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ ἥμισυ * πνεῦμα ζωῆς
419
1ο. καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ε Ps. cv. 18)
ς αλ Neh. viii. καὶ °Sapa πέμψουσιν | ο aie 19, 22.
d Sap. ii.12 14-15, 1 Kings XViil. 17.
e From Ezek. XXXVIii. 5,
12.
f xiii. 15,= Όση ΑΒ.
13. Καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ dpa
ἐγένετο " σεισμὸς µέγας, καὶ τὸ ΄δέκατον τῆς πόλεως ἔπεσε, καὶ (Gen. vi.
17).
ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν τῷ σεισμῷ Σὀνόματα ἀνθρώπων χιλιάδες ἑπτά ᾿ς Gen. xv.
.Ν καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἔμφοβοι ἐγένοντο καὶ οὐρανοῦ.
14. " Ἡ ovat ἡ δευτέρα ἀπῆλθεν ’
ἰδοὺ ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ τρίτη ἔρχεται ταχύ. | 15. Καὶ 6 ἕβδομος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν, καὶ ἐγένοντο φωναὶ peyd-
λαι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῶ, "λέγοντες,
in vi. 16, xvii. 6, and xviii. 19. © am. Aey. N.T. : Jer. xiii. 16, Dan. ii. 18, 44, Isa. xxv. 3.
whole favour the futures in 9-10.
12 Kings ii. 11. p Cf. on iii. 4, Num. 1. 20, 28; Deissm. 196-197, Abbott 91-01. r Cf. as ix. 12, and xii. 12.
(citation from Dan. ii. 19), in N.T.: =SOW? PJON- 1Ti., Bs., Bj. read πεµπουσιν (18, Arm., Tic., Spec., etc.).
34, an an - 12. 1e8wxav δόξαν Στῷ Θεῷ τοῦ h Only here
in Apoc. i Par. Lost, vi. 29-36. k Win. § 13, 22. Such unusual -a forms of sec. aor. are textually untenable however n vi. 12, Matt. xxvii. 51. q Xvi. 9, 11, 5 Only here and xvi. 11
πι Acts i. 9.
t Constr. ad sensum.
The vss. on the
2 Read ev (om. εν CP, τ, etc., Tr., WH 2) αντοις A, min. (5), Arm., vg., Anda, Lach., Al. Ti., Ws., Bs. (cf. Luke ix. 46), which has been early improved into ets
(SQ, etc., Bj.) or ew (min. 5) αντους. 3 Ῥοτηκουσαν (
*ACP, vg., Ti., Tr., WH, Ws., Sw., Bj.) ηκουσα (NCQ, etc., Me.,
And., Areth., Tic.) is read by some (e.g., Al., de Wette, Dist., Bs., Lind., Wellh.).
Ver. 10. So far from laying it to heart that the godly perish, men are hyper- bolically represented as congratulating one another on getting rid of these ob- noxious prophets with their vexatious words (3) and works (6), which hitherto had baffled opposition (4, 5). Another naive Oriental touch is that their victims exchange presents in order to celebrate the festive occasion.
Ver. 12. After being resuscitated, they ascend in a cloud (like Enoch and Jesus) before the eyes of their enemies (unlike Jesus).
Ver. 13. On earthquakes as a punish- ment for sin, cf. Jos. Ant. ix. 1ο, 4= Zech. xiv. 5, and (for Sodom) Amos iv. 11. The beast, as in 2 Thess. ii. 9-12, gets off scatheless in the meantime, though his tools are punished or terrified into reverence (Jonah iii. 5-10).—évépara a. Briggs ingeniously conjectures that