The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 21

Ver. H.-Jria head. From the garments be found in the double oharacl,er. of Ood'a of the great High Priest, St. John passes on Word, which not only smites the wioked, but to himself. Wliat be had seen BB a momen- 11earoh0B the good; which outs sometimes te tary foretaste of glory a.t the Transfiguration, punish, sometimes to heal. Th1111 in these he see■ now as the abiding condition of the very epistles to the Churches, penetrating Christ. In Dan. vii. 9 " the Ancient of words both of blessing and eondemnation days " ~ " the hair of his bead like pnre are uttered. The word for " &woni"' (/HJt'· 'll'ool." 'fbui snowy whiteness iB partly the t/>a.Ca.) oocurs six times in Revelation: else- brightness of heavenly glory, partly the where in the New Testament only Luke majesty of the hoary head. The Christ ii. 35. In elassica.l Greek it is the heavy appears_ to St. John a.s a son of man, but also 'l'Juacian broa<leword. In the LXX. it I.I as a "Divine Person investoo with the at- mred of the "flaming sword" of the cherubim ~butes of eternity." As a :flame of fire. which kept the way of the tree of life (Gen. "The Loni thy God is a ooru<uming fire " iji. 24); alaoofthe sword of Goli.&th(l ~inga (Dent. iv. 2-1:)•. "I the Lord sea.rob the ivii. 25). Ria oountenance was aa the na bean, I try the reins" (Jer. xvii. 10). The ahineth. It is the "Sun of Righteooll1¥l88 " flame purifiea the oonsoienee and kindles and "the Light of the world." The ex- the affections. ceptional glory of the Transliguxation baa Ver. 15.-Fine brass. This may stand 1\11 'l;iecome constant now. · a :translation of xu.1.rcoll.//J11.11or, a word :which Ver. 17.~I fell a.t hill feet u dea.d i lite- occurs here and in eh. ii. 18 only, and the rally, a, one dead-a, a dead tnata. St. second hslf of whioh has never boon satia- Peter bad fallen at JeBns' feet when he foctorily explained. It may have been a became eonscioUB of the ineffable difference local teohnical tenn in use among the metal- between sioles~ncl!II and sinfulne!lS (Luke y workers of Ephesus (Acts xix. 24; 2 'fim. 8). How much more, therefore, would eon I•. 14). The Rhemish Version renders it sciousn81!8 of the glorified Christ overwhelm "latten." In what follows, the Revisod Ver- St. John I Long yean of .contemplation of sion is to be preferred : "88 if it had bea. t'e- the incarnate Son would not prevent that. firied in a fumaoe ; and his voice as the t1oic6 In like manner, Joshua (•. H), Daniel of many waters." It is tempting to think (viii. 17, 27), and St. Paul (Act.a ix. 4) ·that ,. the roar of the sea is in the ea.ra of Bl'0 aft'eoted by ihe Divine prceeuoe. !'ear the lonely man in Patmos;" but the image JLOt, ThUB Ohriet encouraged the terrified seems rather to be that of the sound of many apostles on the lake (John vi. 20) and ai eatamcts ( oouip. Ezek. i. 24; xliii. 2 ; Dan. the Transfiguration. So al8o the angel x. 6). There ia. singuliu'Jy little of the cheered Daniel (x. 12), Zacharias (Luke i. BCenery of Patmos in the Apocalypse. 18), Mary (Luke i. 30), the ahepherda (Luke Ver. 16.-He holds the Churches in hie ii 10), and the WOJlll!U ai the aepulebn hand 88 a precioue wsseseion, which, he (Matt. ::aviii. 6). sustains 11,1 a · glory to himself, Theae Ver. 18.-I am he ihai lindl. ~ Churches are as planets, which shine, not should be joined with what preoedea. "I ai:a with their own light, but that ot the sun; the First and the Last, a.nd fk Li'lliflg OM; which shine most brightly in the night of and I became dead. and behold I am alive "tribula.iion," which (like him who holds for evermore, and I have the keys or lLilJa them in his right hand) an!. a guide to the and of Bade#." " Became" or "OBDi8 to wa.nderer, and are ever moving, yet ever at be" (,l,yEJ•di,11•~ as in vers. 9 and 10, ~ rest. Out of his mouth a llh.arp two-edged oates an exceptional condition. The" Ame1-" sword. This metaphor runs through both hBB been improperly inserted after" for evei,. Old and New TeBtamenw. It is frequent in more" (see on "for ever and ever,"· in ver \his book (eh. ii. 12, 16; xl:r.. 15, 21; comp. · '6) from liturgical UBage. Moat English Luke it~; ~l'h. vL l?: Heh. iv; 12; P& v0111ione omit it. The keys, BB ilO often, are xlT, S; lvii. 4; lix. 7; lxi•. S; 01lix. 6: Prov. the Bign of authority (oh. iii 7; ix. 1; u. xii 18 ; Isa. :d. 4; xUx. 2, etc.). The sharp 1 : Matt. xvi. 19).. Obrist, u the a.heolutely , words or iDeB and the 11011,rehing words of Living One, who " has lire in himaelf" a.u (lad are both spokeu of under this figure of is the Soume of life in othen, baa control, the sword. Terlullian and Richard of St. not merely over the puaage from this world Vietor explain the twoedgeaasthe Law and to the other, bui over the other world itselt. the Goepcd. Ol.her atill more fanciful ex- He eau ·recall departed souls from their rest- planatiose ha'l'8 been given. "Two-edged" ing-place. The error or rendering 4 Ail7fs (IIOTOJW$) ia literally "two-mouthed." and " hell" baa often hE!en pointed out; lt Is no\ P,?bape expresaee no more than the thorough a place of punishment. but the temporary efllcleiloy of thesword. It occurs in eh. ii. home of the departed, who are awaiting 'the 12 &ild Heh. iv. 12; also in el88Bical Greek day of judgment. "Death," in all 1he ljJ8i • equi\'Blent to the more oommon Ai,.""11<11r. mauueoripts and versiona precedes" Badee 1" U • 4oub1e meaning be inlisted ou, it may and this is the logical order. f THE REVELATlON OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. [en. L 1-20.