The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 99

mnall link betw8!!11 the two boob. The having "garments" for l"h"" in ver. 4, and word" white" (;\~111,ds), excepting in Matt. v. "raiment" for the same word in vez. 5. The 86and John iv. 85,isin the New Testament; construction, 7rEpt/3dA-.\•tT8a., l, · -rwi. OOCtlff always used of heatHll'ily purity and bright- again in eh. iv. 4, and once or twice in the ness. Thus also Plato, Xp@µ.ciri& ai .\euscd LXX. (Deut. llii. 12); the usual construc- wpfrro,,.,.' ~ fleois et71 (' Laws,' 956) ; and tion is with the ecousative. The promise in Virgil of the souls in the other world, " Om- this verse is again threefold, the Jaet of the nibus hill nivea cinguntur tempora vitta. '' three promlsee in ver. 4 being repeated here (' lEneid,' vi. 665). (See notes on eh. i. 14.) as the :first in this triplet. Repetitions of a 'As we mlght expect, the word is specially similar kind are very frequent in the Fourth ~ueni in Revelation. Of course, the Gospel (i. 1, 5; x. 11; xiii. 20; xv. 19: white garments referred to here, vers. 5, xvii. 9, 16, etc.). I will in no wiae blot out 18, and eh. iv. 4, are quite di:trerent from hill name. The negative, 118 in vera. 3 and the undefiled garments just mentioned. The 12, is in the strongest form. Here we seem one is the imperfect purity of struggling to have a :figure borrowed from the custom saintl! on earth, the other the perfect purity of striking the names of the dead out of the of glorified saints in heaven. The promise, list of citizens. But . the figure is a very therefore, is threefold. (1) They sh/.lll walk, ancient one, as is seen from pat-allele in i.B. they shall have lite · and liberty. (2) the Old Testament. The present passage, They shall have Christ as their constimt 'E(aA.Cf"' • • • Elt ,,-;;1 {3({3AOIJ -rijs (..,;j1, is Companion. (8) They shall be in unsullied singularly close to the LXX. of Pa: lxix. 29, glory. And why? Because they are worthy. 'E!a.>..ucp91,ro,1Tap b: 81/3.\Cou (tl,ll'to,11 ; and to The merit is not theirs, but Christ's, in Exod. xxxii. 38, 'E£coMt,j,,- a.b-rov lscTij1 /31/31,.ov whose blood they have washed their robes µ.011; oomp. Ps. oix. 18: Da11. xii 1 : and (oh. vii. 14; 1 John ii 2), and by whose for the exect expression, "t·he 009k of life," grace they are pteserved,in holiness (!John see eh. xiii. 8; xvii. 8 ; xx. 15 ; xxi. 27; and .i. 7)., It is because they have by God's' help (without &Tticles) Phil. 1iv. 8, where Bi1hop fulfilled the conditions which he has pro- Lightfoot comments as follows: " The,, book mised to accept, that they are worthy. The of life' in the figurative language of the nearest approach to this declaration of Old Testament is the registei: of the covenant worthiness on the part of God's saints seems people (comp. Isa. iv. 3; Ezek. xiii. 9). to be Luke xx. 85 (not xxi. 36) and 2 Thess. Hence • to be blotted out of the book of the i. 5, 11. But iri all these passages they are living' means 'to forfeit the privileges of "accounted worthy" (l(aTaE,...,8/,,.,.H) rather the theocra.cy; to be shut out from God's ,than "worthy" (~w,). In eh. xvi. 6 we favour.' But the expression, though perhaps have the opposit,e worthiness of those who oonfinEl(l originally to temporal blessings, h1n•e earned the " wages of sin" instead of was in itself II witnesB to higher hopes; and the " gift of God" (Rom. vi. 28). Snob in the Book of Daniel :first it distinctly re- persons are literally worthy, and not merely fers to II blessed immortality (comp. Hermas, accounted worlhy. 'Vis.,' i. 3; see also Luke x. 20; Heb. xii._ Ver. 5.-:e:e that overcometh shall th'lll be 28)." And I will confess his name. With• arrayed in white garments, It is difficult out the smallest m1.nuscript authority or to see on what principles of criticism Alford any encouragement from previous versions, retains the reading of the Te:dus·Reooptus, Latin, German, or English, the Genevan o~os, instead of that rightly accepted by and Authorized Versions here tender 1eal the Revisers, 06..-...,s. The latter has a very "but"I The simple oonnexiQll with "and" decided balance of external evidence in its is thoroughly·in St. John's style :·" He shall favour ; the former is a corruption very be . • . and I will • • . an1U will" ( comp. likely to occur either accidentally or in vers. 12, 17 ; eh. ii. 26-28, etc. ; John i, 4, 5, order to introduce a construction very I0, 11, 14, etc.). Thie is the third of the frequent in St. John (John iii. 26; vi. 46; promises: (1) he shall be in unsullied glory: vii. 18; xv. 5; 2 John 9). The change (2) he shell never lol!ll his heavenly citizen- from "clothed" (Authorized Version) to ship; (3) he shall be publicly acknowledged "arrayed" (Revised Version) here and else- _ as a citizen by the Judge. This third point where is no doubt ma.de in order to mark is a combination of Matt. x. 82 (" before my the difference between 1rep1/3e.\'t}µevo, and Father")with Luke xii. 8("before thl!I angels ,,,a.avµl11os. But neither the Authorized of God"); "We may observe of this epistl~ Version (xvii, 4; xix. 8) nor the Revised that in great part it is woven together of Version (xi. S; xv. 6) is consistent. The sayings which the Lord had already uttered Authorized Version generally ren~ both in the days during which he pitched his words "clothed.'' The Revised Version tent among men ; he is now setiing hill 88111 generally ha.e ·" arra:)'8d" for 1rep1/3.1,,,,.,..,,os, from heaven upon his words uttered ~ and "clothed" for 1,,a,a.,,,Jvo,, The Autho- earth" (Trench). rized Version i8 singularly capricious in Ver. 6.-J:le that bath an ear. As in the  UO T.Em ,REVELATION OF' ,,ST. JORN THE. DIVIN'E. [en. m. 1-a