Revelation 11

And then she again took hold of me by the hand, and raised me, and made me sit on the seat to the left; and lifting up a splendid rod, she said to me, "Do you see something great?" And I said, "Lady, I see nothing."

Hermas, Vision 3

"And there was shown unto me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." A reed was shown like to a rod. This itself is the Apocalypse which he subsequently exhibited to the churches; for the Gospel of the complete faith he subsequently wrote for the sake of our salvation. For when Valentinus, and Cerinthus, and Ebion, and others of the school of Satan, were scattered abroad throughout the world, there assembled together to him from the neighbouring provinces all the bishops, and compelled him himself also to draw up his testimony. Moreover, we say that the measure of God's temple is the command of God to confess the Father Almighty, and that His Son Christ was begotten by the Father before the beginning of the world, and was made man in very soul and flesh, both of them having overcome misery and death; and that, when received with His body into heaven by the Father, He shed forth the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immortality, that He was announced by the prophets, He was described by the law, He was God's hand, and the Word of the Father from God, Lord over all, and founder of the world: this is the reed and the measure of faith; and no one worships the holy altar save he who confesses this faith.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

1–2

When he says “Rise,” he arouses the church, for John, who is an image of the church, did not hear these things sitting down but standing up. “Measure,” it says, “the temple and the altar and those who worship there.” He did not command that everyone be measured; rather, he commanded that a portion be prepared unto the end [time], so that what is said in the Gospel might be fulfilled, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” “But do not measure the court outside the temple, leave that out.” The court, which is outside the temple, although it seems to belong to the temple, in fact is not the temple, for it has no relation to the holy of holies. These are those persons who appear to be in the church but are outside of it.… Those persons who are outside the temple are also the nations who have never believed the gospel of the Lord. Both groups will trample his church.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:1-2

In the visions that had come before, the apparition revealed to the divine John the multitude of saints accompanying Christ and the divine throne they beheld, among whom those from the nations far outnumbered those from Israel. But now, another vision shows him how many, or rather how few, were esteemed in the time of the Old Covenant, and how many in the era of the New.

And see how cleverly this is depicted to him. He is given a measuring rod to measure the temple of God and the altar within the temple, clearly referring to the one in Jerusalem, and those who worship there. And he measured; for those who were counted were few, as in the times of old, who had found favor with God.

Commentary on Revelation

1–2

He commands that the teaching of a false faith and the contagion of a sinful way of life among the heretics, Jews and Gentiles be expelled, for it is not right that such persons approach the holy of holies. For the apostle says, “What have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside whom you are to judge?” When all the Jews, heretics, and Gentiles incessantly attack the church by all means available, it is as though they are trampling upon the church. The number of the months signifies not only the time of the last persecution but also the entire time of Christianity. For there are six ages of the world and seven days by which all time moves by passing away and returning. Six times seven makes forty-two, and I believe that the passage refers to both of these [numbers].

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:2

1–2

We think that the church is called the “temple of the living God,” for in it we offer spiritual sacrifices to God. And I think that the “court outside” is the assembly of the unbelieving Gentiles and Jews, and so by virtue of their impiety they are unworthy to be measured by the angel. “For the Lord knows those who are his,” as it says, but he who knows all things is said not to know the transgressors. That the holy city, whether that be the new Jerusalem or the catholic church, will be trampled by the nations for forty-two months signifies, I believe, that at the appearance of the antichrist those who are faithful and trustworthy will be trampled and persecuted for three and a half years.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:1-2

And a reed like a rod was given to me. In the reed, he received the ministry of writing the Gospel, which is not superfluous in vain elegance, but like a rod of righteousness, the rod of the kingdom of God (Hebrews I). For he describes the eternal kingdom of Christ.

Commentary on Revelation

Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar. He said rise, not because John was hearing these things while sitting, but because with this word he rouses the hearts of each one to measure the evangelical Scripture and deeds. For there they find how much each one advances and how much they conform to the divine rule.

Commentary on Revelation

And those who worship in it. Because not all who seem to worship in it do so, just as he who confesses me. Finally, he commands that a part not be counted, saying:

Commentary on Revelation

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, saying: Arise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar and them that adore therein. He says this in the person of preachers in general. The reed represents metaphorically the divine preaching written by it, and it is called like unto a rod because holy preaching is not pliant but straight. The temple of God is the faithful, to whom it is said, You are the temple of the living God. [2 Cor. 6:16] The altar in the temple is the life of the religious among the people of the faithful, in whom the fire of holy devotion principally and continuously remains without declining. By them that adore therein he means in the temple and the altar, words by which they that adore therein are themselves represented. So, what does it mean to measure the temple and the altar with a reed, if not to bestow the grace of gifts through holy preaching? Which the Church certainly does in Christ, that is in its Head. Note also that he who must measure the temple of God, is told to arise, that is, to rise to high summits of virtues through the practice of work, so as to become higher than the building he is measuring.

Commentary on Revelation

'(On this): The city is the Church ; and these months they are to persecute her and kill, when the false Christ [St. Matth. xxiv. 24] shall come, because she worships him not. Now of this said Daniel, He shall approve the covenant for many, one week; in the half of the week shall cease the sacrifice [Dan, ix. 27]. The half of the week: that is, three years and a-half; and these make the forty and two months which are mentioned. The sacrifice he speaks of is not that of sheep, but the prayers of the upright. And the holy city he speaks of is the righteous, i. e. [those] who are oppressed and trodden under foot by the horn that sprang up in the midst [Dan. vii. 8, 20, 21, 25], which is Antichrist, as Daniel said.

Hippolytus otherwise interprets that which is said in the Gospel, When indeed ye shall see the pollution of desolation [St. Matth. xxiv. 15] : for he says that it is not concerning the Jews, and the laying waste of Jerusalem, that these things are said, but concerning the end of Antichrist. The elect [ib. 22] he speaks of are the Christians who are in this conflict. And He says, Pray that ye fly not on the Sabbath or in winter [ib. 20] : i. e. He advises that we be not overtaken by those things that are coming on us, when we are unoccupied in righteousness, as the Jews [are unoccupied] on the Sabbath, or troubled with worldly cares and sins, as one that is in a winter storm. There shall be tribulation such as there was not like it since the beginning of the world, etc. [ib. 21 ; cp. Dan. xii. 1].

On this Hippolytus says, that in the siege of Vespasian this did not come to pass; for nothing new happened to the world in his days beyond the things that were before. If you speak of war, many times it has happened in former times : and if again of captives, there have not lacked massacres or blood-shedding that was more than that [of the siege]. And if of the eating of children and unclean beasts, lo also in the days of Ahab these things were [2 Kings, vi. 28]. Accordingly it is not concerning Jerusalem that the Lord said this; for when He willed to speak concerning her, He said, When ye shall see the army compassing the city, know that the desolation thereof is nigh [St. Luke, xxi. 20]. Hence the pollution of devastations He speaks of is Antichrist. And Daniel said, [In] the half of the week standeth the abomination in the sanctuary [Dan. ix. 27 ; cp. xi. 31]. Now "Vespasian did not set up in the temple an idol, but that Legion which Trajanus Quintus placed, a chief man of the Romans : he set up the idol there which is called Kôre.

Also the Apostle has written that these things are concerning Antichrist, Except if there come first a falling away, and the Man of iniquity be revealed, so that he as God shall sit in the temple, whom our Lord Jesus shall consume, etc. [2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, 8]. From these [words] it is evident that Vespasian did not call himself God, nor did he sit in the temple, nor was he killed by the Spirit of the Lord. Accordingly it is manifest that in the end tribulation arises against the Church, such as was none like it.'

Commentary of Dionysius Barsalibi on the Apocalypse

2–3

That is, to the men of this world, that it may be trodden under foot by the nations, or with the nations. Then he repeats about the destruction and slaughter of the last time.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

2–3

The space which is called the court is the empty altar within the walls: these being such as were not necessary, he commanded to be ejected from the Church.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

And he says that the outer court of the temple was cast out and should not be measured, because it was given to the Gentiles. Having measured the temple and the altar and those who were sacrificing within it, he heard that the court should be cast out to the outside and made wider, but not to be measured, as it was considered to have a superior measure.

He says that the court is given to the Gentiles, and it is held both within the temple and outside of it; and the New Covenant is held in place of the Old. For what is contained in it is fulfilled spiritually and truly in a shadowy manner, and it is different from the old one, according to the words of Jeremiah: "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt." (Jer. 31:31-32)

He therefore speaks of the new covenant as the court of the temple. Then, the vision subtly implies that the Lord of the Old Covenant has also been established, the one who in the New Covenant has appeared as Christ and Ruler, just as it seems to Paul when speaking about Israel, "for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them; and that rock was Christ." (1 Cor. 10:4)

He called the New one the court of the old; for the court is the beginning and entrance of God, but not the temple. Therefore, he did not measure the court through which both it and those within it are revealed; for both the New one and those who have succeeded within it extend beyond the limit, the former due to their countless multitude, and the latter because of the elusiveness and height of the doctrines.

That it is said to have been given to the Gentiles, it was indeed also given to Israel the new blessings; but since those among the Gentiles were superior in number to the distinguished ones from Israel, it demonstrated that the whole was from the greater number, saying that the court was given to the Gentiles.

And he says that they will trample the holy city for forty-two months, the city (not the temple), calling the church a city, concerning which it has been said with glory about you: the city of God (Ps. 86:3), the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22), the mother of the firstborn (Ps. 86:5), whose names are written in heaven. (Heb. 12:23)

What then does the measure of the forty-two months signify? It clearly indicates that the time of the new order on earth will be brief, and that the end will soon come. The number forty, composed of four tens, is not perfect, nor is the number two. From this, the argument shows that the new state will not endure long in the present life; therefore, the Scripture calls the final hour, and again the eleventh hour (Matt. 20:6, 9.), the time of the new era, during which the Only-Begotten came into the world; and in the future, it will be eternal.

To say that those from the Gentiles will trample the holy city, that is, the church, means that those dwelling within it will be persecuted.

Commentary on Revelation

But the court which is outside the temple, cast out, etc. Those who are joined to the Church in name only, and neither approach the altar nor the holy of holies, are cast out from the rule of the Gospel and joined with the Gentiles. For all the glory of the king’s daughter is within (Psalm XLIV).

Commentary on Revelation

And they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Not only are they expelled from the Church, but they also, together with their Gentile allies, attack the same Church for three and a half years. It is not that they will trample it only during that time, that is, the time of the Antichrist, but because the entire body of the wicked, as if belonging to its own head, is already now working in the ministry of iniquity.

Commentary on Revelation

But the court, which is without the temple, cast out, and measure it not: because it is given unto the Gentiles. He says The court which is without, cast out with the same way of speaking as when we order to cast someone out if someone knocks at the door and we do not want to let them in. What then do we understand the court to mean but the Jews, heretics and Gentiles? It is said to be given unto the Gentiles because they all pass into the number of the incredulous nations. And the holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months. The holy city is the temple and the altar, that is the heavenly Jerusalem, which is being built like a city. What does it mean, then, for the Church of the saints to be trodden underfoot by those who are without, if not to be persecuted with words and torments? Two and forty months signify a time and times, and half a time, [Rev. 12:14] that is the time of the Antichrist, yet also the whole time of this life because of its seven ages and the seven days that constitute its cycle; for six times seven make forty-two. This is also what was signified by the fact that the children of Israel entered the Land of Promise at the forty-second mansion. [Num. 33:1-49]

Commentary on Revelation

Enoch no doubt was translated, and so was Elijah; nor did they experience death: it was postponed, (and only postponed, ) most certainly: they are reserved for the suffering of death, that by their blood they may extinguish Antichrist. Even John underwent death, although concerning him there had prevailed an ungrounded expectation that he would remain alive until the coming of the Lord.

A Treatise on the Soul

'(On this :) There come two prophets, Enoch and Elias, and these are the two olive trees he speaks of [ib. 4], even as Zacharias spoke of them [Zech. iv. 3, 11, 14]. Now concerning Elias our Lord said, Elias must come to restore all things [St. Mark, ix. 12; cp. St. Matth. xvii. 11]. Of these he says that they work miracles and signs, and send plagues upon the unbelieving [Rev. xi. 5, 6], in order that the faithful may have some respite. These two prophets will stand up against Antichrist, even as Moses and Aaron stood up against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. These things then are to be in the half of the week, when Antichrist will scatter all men, so that there shall not be found two or three together to assemble, to offer sacrifice to God. This then is to be fulfilled, that the sacrifice shall cease. When then these are killed there [ib. 7] by the false Christ, afterwards they are to stand up, in presence of many, and are to be caught upon the clouds to meet our Lord [ib. 11, 12; 1 Thess. iv. 17]. In the half of the week, said John, Enoch and Elias are to receive power [ib. 6], and are to preach a thousand two hundred and threescore days girt with sackcloth [ib. 3], and to teach repentance to the people and the Gentiles. These days are the half of the week; and these are the two olive-trees and the two candlesticks (ib. 4), as Zacharias said, Enoch and Elias. And the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies he shall cast into the streets, that is the highways, of the city [ib. 7, 8]. (On this :) Concerning this beast Daniel said, I saw indeed a beast that came up out of the bottomless pit, that is, the sea [Dan. vii. 3], and made war with the saints [ib. 21], which [beast] that horn which sprang up designates [ib. 8J. No other kingdom is to persecute the saints, save this alone from which the horn is to spring up at the last, which is Antichrist, who is to kill Enoch and Elias. And after these things that is to come to pass which Esaias said; Behold the Lord out of His sanctuary send-eth forth His sword, great and strong, against the dragon, the crooked serpent [Isaiah, xxvi. 21 ; xxvii. 1]: and in like manner said Daniel, The beast was killed and destroyed, and his body was given to the burning fire [Dan. vii. 11]. The body he speaks of is the devil, he who worketh [2 Thess. ii. 7, 9] in the false Christ : and the city he speaks of is Jerusalem, where these things are to come to pass. For Paul said concerning him who is Antichrist, He sitteth in the temple of God as God'

Commentary of Dionysius Barsalibi on the Apocalypse

For John says, "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." That is the half of the week whereof Daniel spake. "These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire will proceed out of their mouth, and devour their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and have power over waters, to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their course and their testimony," what saith the prophet? "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them," because they will not give glory to Antichrist. For this is meant by the little horn that grows up. He, being now elated in heart, begins to exalt himself, and to glorify himself as God, persecuting the saints and blaspheming Christ, even as Daniel says, "I considered the horn, and, behold, in the horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things; and he opened his mouth to blaspheme God. And that born made war against the saints, and prevailed against them until the beast was slain, and perished, and his body was given to be burned."

Dogmatical and Historical Fragments

Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: "And I saw a great and wondrous sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who is to rule all the nations: and the child was caught up unto God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath the place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And then when the dragon saw it, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast (out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast) out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the saints of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus."

By the woman then clothed with the sun," he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father's word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the "moon under her feet" he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, "upon her head a crown of twelve stars," refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And those, "she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered," mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. "And she brought forth," he says, "a man-child, who is to rule all the nations; "by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, "her child was caught up unto God and to His throne," signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." "And the dragon," he says, "saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defence than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: "And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings."

Dogmatical and Historical Fragments

And the half of the week the two prophets, along with John, will take for the purpose of proclaiming to all the world the advent of Antichrist, that is to say, for a "thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth; " and they will work signs and wonders with the object of making men ashamed and repentant, even by these means, on account of their surpassing lawlessness and impiety. "And if any man will hurt them, fire will proceed out of their mouth, and devour their enemies. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of the advent of Antichrist, and to turn waters into blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will." And when they have proclaimed all these things they will fall on the sword, cut off by the accuser . And they will fulfil their testimony, as Daniel also says; for he foresaw that the beast that came up out of the abyss would make war with them, namely with Enoch, Elias, and John, and would overcome them, and kill them, because of their refusal to give glory to the accuser. that is the little horn that sprang up. And he, being lifted up in heart, begins in the end to, exalt himself and glorify himself as God, persecuting the saints and blaspheming Christ.

Dubious Hippolytus Fragments

He had earlier said that “you must prophesy again.” Now he desires to show this in his two witnesses. In the two witnesses, he wants us to understand the two Testaments by which his church is governed and ruled. For he did not say, “I make witnesses for myself,” as though they did not yet exist. Rather, he said, “I shall give to my witnesses,” who were with me from the beginning and have never at all departed from me. The 1, days are not a time of peace but of the last persecution, during which time the devil shall break out against the Christians, namely, when he receives power to test the church. And just as before the flood, when the sins of humankind raised their head to the heavens, there was not absent someone who might proclaim the wrath of God to those who were perishing, so also at that time there will be those who will announce the kingdom of God and the last day and by their own example will show the way of repentance to sinners. [The witnesses] were “clothed in sackcloth,” it says, that is, they were established in confession. As the prophet said, “When they troubled me, I clothed myself in sackcloth.” And Job said, “They have sewed sackcloth upon my skin.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:3

Since everything concerning the Lord's incarnation and administration was revealed to the evangelist in the vision, namely, the birth, the temptation, the teachings, the taunts against Him, as well as the cross, the resurrection, the second coming, and in addition the retributions for both the saints and sinners; what pertains to the forerunners of His second coming was omitted. Now, however, these matters are being taught again, as if by way of correction, that Elijah the Tishbite will indeed come, as the divine Scripture clearly foretells. Malachi states, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Tishbite before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, who will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (Mal. 4:4-5) Furthermore, the Lord, speaking to Matthew concerning John the Baptist, says, "If you are willing to accept it, this is Elijah who is to come." (Matt. 11:14)

Regarding another forerunner, we have heard nothing clearly anywhere, except that concerning Enoch, Genesis states that "he pleased God and was taken away." (Gen. 5:22) The wise Apostle, speaking of him, affirms "by faith, Enoch was taken away so that he would not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him." (Heb. 11:5)

An ancient tradition persists in the Church: after Elijah the Tishbite, Enoch will also come, preceding the second coming of Christ and proclaiming the imminent appearance of the Antichrist. It is said that they will come first and serve as forerunners, testifying in advance that the signs performed by the Antichrist are deceptive and that one should not believe the deceiver.

Regarding these matters, the vision now speaks: that they will prophecy for a certain number of days or reveal some secret number or the entirety of what is to come. It is said that they will do this while clothed in sackcloth. For they will mourn over the disobedience of the people at that time.

Commentary on Revelation

While he had said that “you must prophesy again,” here it is that “I will grant to my two witnesses and they will prophesy.” As there he spoke of John, here of the two witnesses, that is, of the church that preaches and prophesies on the basis of the two Testaments. There is another interpretation. The Truth proposes that there are two kinds of witness. On the one hand, there is the witness by way of one’s manner and character. This witness occurs in the heart and is known to God alone, also when there is but minimal approval during times of suffering. On the other hand, there is the witness by way of deed, which is accomplished publicly in the view of all when the opportunity of persecution arises. For sometimes witness seems to fail the soul, while at other times the soul in some seems to fail the witness. Therefore, the blessed Cyprian said, “The first title to victory is for him who has fallen at the hands of the Gentiles confessing the Lord; the second step to glory is to make a cautious withdrawal and then to keep himself for God. The one is a public confession; the other private. The former conquers the judge of the world; the latter satisfied with God as his judge guards a conscience pure by integrity of heart.” But the point is also very clearly demonstrated in the two sons of Zebedee. James, who was killed by Herod, is accounted a martyr because of his public confession, while his brother, John the Evangelist, is crowned because of his secret witness [as one who was] with Jesus. Moreover, it is clear that earlier the Lord had said to both, “You will drink my cup.” That is, one would give witness by way of deed, the other by way of his manner and practice. They are clothed in sackcloth. This means that they were both established in confession, for the humility of confession is characteristic to both kinds of witness.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:3

And I will give to my two witnesses, etc. Lest the savagery of the wicked frighten the listener, he recalls that the Church, united from two peoples, will be illuminated by the grace of virtues. And it is always looking at its head, namely Christ teaching in the flesh, and it is said to prophesy for three and a half years. The months of three and a half years, that is, thirty times forty-two, make up one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Daniel, however, writes of one thousand two hundred and ninety days for the same time, in which the abomination of desolation is to be set up.

Commentary on Revelation

Clothed in sackcloth. That is, in penitential mourning. As the prophet says: But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (Psalm XXXV).

Commentary on Revelation

And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. Martyr Victorinus understands the two witnesses to be Elijah and Jeremiah, for he says that we nowhere read Jeremiah's death; but others interpret it better in thinking that they are Elijah and Enoch. Let us for our part understand a genus in the species; that is, by the two witnesses let us understand the Church; and a thousand two hundred forty days are not only the cycle of the time of the Antichrist, but also that of previous times. It is appropriate for the Church to be represented by two witnesses, because of the two Testaments, the two peoples, the two commandments of love, and the two kinds of martyrdom. By sackcloth we understand confession of humility or the saints' brightness despised by the wicked.

Commentary on Revelation

For John says, "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." That is the half of the week whereof Daniel spake. "These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire will proceed out of their mouth, and devour their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and have power over waters, to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their course and their testimony," what saith the prophet? "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them," because they will not give glory to Antichrist. For this is meant by the little horn that grows up. He, being now elated in heart, begins to exalt himself, and to glorify himself as God, persecuting the saints and blaspheming Christ, even as Daniel says, "I considered the horn, and, behold, in the horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things; and he opened his mouth to blaspheme God. And that born made war against the saints, and prevailed against them until the beast was slain, and perished, and his body was given to be burned."

Dogmatical and Historical Fragments

"These are the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth." These two candlesticks and two olive trees He has to this end spoken of, and admonished you that if, when you have read of them elsewhere, you have not understood, you may understand here. For in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, it is thus written: "These are the two olive trees and two candlesticks which stand in the presence of the Lord of the earth; " that is, they are in paradise. Also, in another sense, standing in the presence of the lord of the earth, that is, in the presence of Antichrist. Therefore they must be slain by Antichrist.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

“These are those who stand,” it says, not those who shall stand as though they were not able to stand. In the two lampstands he signifies the church, which is fortified by the protection of the two Testaments. For in the seven angels and in the seven lampstands he designated the one church, so that when he spoke of one, he had also spoken of the others. When Zechariah who prophesied of our figure was awakened from sleep that he might behold the light of the church, he saw a single sevenform lampstand in which was declared the mystery of the sevenform church. For the two olive trees are the two Testaments, which pour out the oil of knowledge into the lampstand. And therefore the same prophet said, “He waked me, like a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, ‘What do you see?’ I said, ‘Behold, I see a lampstand all out of gold, with torches upon it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips of light which are upon it, and two olive trees upon it, one on the right of the torch and one on the left.’ ” And I asked what these might be. And the angel answered and said, these seven lights are seven spirits which are “the seven eyes of the Lord that range through the whole earth.” And when I inquired of the two olive trees, he said to me, “These are the two anointed sons who are with the Lord of the whole earth.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:4

These, he says, are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah, the inspired prophet, saw a lampstand with seven lamps above it and two olive branches, but the branches stood beside two golden oil dispensers, therefore saying: "What are these two olive branches on the sides of the two golden oil dispensers?" And he heard from the angel who was speaking that "they are the two sons of oil, who stand before the Lord of all the earth." (Zech. 4:11-14) And that from this the prophet's use of the articles in the phrase "these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands" is confirmed; for this serves to indicate an agreed upon symbolism, except that here Zechariah called them "two dispensers" John called them "two lampstands." That the two branches of the olive tree, one from the Jews and the other from the Gentiles, have been interpreted as the two peoples is not unknown to the saints. Nevertheless, it is also possible that the two prophets mentioned in the current discourse are meant.

Commentary on Revelation

He shows now that he is speaking not of future realities but of present things when he says, “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” This refers to the church, which is illuminated and made strong by the light of the two Testaments and is equipped by the two kinds of witness that by divine inspiration is allowed in various of its members. The two lampstands represent the [one] church, but he has spoken of two because of the two Testaments or because [the church] is gathered from the circumcision and uncircumcision and exists in union with the chief cornerstone.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:4

These are the two olive trees, etc. The Church, illuminated by the light of the two Testaments, always stands by the commands of the Lord. For the prophet Zechariah saw one seven-branched candlestick, and these two olive trees, that is, the Testaments, pouring oil into the candlestick. This is the Church with its unfailing oil, which makes it burn with light in the world.

Commentary on Revelation

These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, that stand in the sight of the Lord of the earth. The Church, whether in those two men or in all preachers in general, is represented by the olive tree because of the unction of the Holy Spirit, and by candlesticks because of the light of faith and work. While there is one olive tree and one candlestick made up of two peoples, they are called two olive trees and two candlesticks because of the two Testaments. They stand in the sight of the Lord because they stick to their Creator through inner contemplation. Hence Elijah, whom this is taken to refer to specifically, says, The Lord liveth, in whose sight I stand. [1 Kings 17:1] With another interpretation, this may refer to Elijah and Enoch specifically, who, taken away from human eyes, stick to God in secret.

Commentary on Revelation

"If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies." That fire proceedeth out of the mouth of those prophets against the adversaries, bespeaks the power of the world. For all afflictions, however many there are, shall be sent by their messengers in their word. Many think that there is Elisha, or Moses, with Elijah; but both of these died; while the death of Elijah is not heard of, with whom all our ancients have believed that it was Jeremiah. For even the very word spoken to him testifies to him, saying, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." But he was not a prophet unto the nations; and thus the truthful word of God makes it necessary, which it has promised to set forth, that he should be a prophet to the nations.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

This means that should anyone wish to harm the church, as one condemned he is consumed by a fire, which harms in the very same manner as a sort of reciprocal judgment. That is, he receives justly that very thing which he desired to inflict unjustly. Or, in a good sense this means that through the prayers of the church’s mouth one is consumed spiritually by fire so that one might be changed for the better, since when one is turned away from error, error ceases and one is saved.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:5

Should anyone harm the church or wish to harm her, through the prayers of her mouth he shall be consumed by a divine fire either in the present age for his correction or in the future age for his damnation.

Exposition on the Apocalypse 11:5, Homily 8

And he says that those who wish to wrong them are defended by fire going forth from their mouths, and they have the authority to shut the sky so that no rain falls during the days of their prophecy. This is among the most probable; for if one of them had such authority, Elijah the Tishbite, even before completing the ministry of Christ, how unlikely would it be for him to precede Christ?

Commentary on Revelation

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth, etc. If anyone harms the Church, he is consumed by the fire of judgment, reciprocating the harm. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword (Matthew XXVI). Hence, the Chaldean flame, which was cast on the children of God, consumed the ministers of impiety themselves. Or spiritually, by the prayers of the Church's mouth, one is consumed by spiritual fire to be changed for the better. Coals of fire, he says, you will heap upon his head (Romans XII).

Commentary on Revelation

And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come out of their mouths, and shall devour their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, in this manner must he be slain. What is symbolized by fire but holy preaching kindled by the firebrands of the Holy Spirit? It is not surprising if preaching makes the wicked die, since the apostles says, We are the good odour of Christ unto God in them that perish, etc. [2 Cor. 2:15] Alternatively, fire coming out of the mouths of the witnesses kills their enemies because the Church strikes those who persevere in evil with the lightning of anathema. Alternatively again, we may understand by the whole a part which is burned so as to be changed for the better. So out of the Church comes a fire of brightness by which the wicked are changed for the better.

Commentary on Revelation

And the half of the week the two prophets, along with John, will take for the purpose of proclaiming to all the world the advent of Antichrist, that is to say, for a "thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth; " and they will work signs and wonders with the object of making men ashamed and repentant, even by these means, on account of their surpassing lawlessness and impiety. "And if any man will hurt them, fire will proceed out of their mouth, and devour their enemies. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of the advent of Antichrist, and to turn waters into blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will." And when they have proclaimed all these things they will fall on the sword, cut off by the accuser . And they will fulfil their testimony, as Daniel also says; for he foresaw that the beast that came up out of the abyss would make war with them, namely with Enoch, Elias, and John, and would overcome them, and kill them, because of their refusal to give glory to the accuser. that is the little horn that sprang up. And he, being lifted up in heart, begins in the end to, exalt himself and glorify himself as God, persecuting the saints and blaspheming Christ.

Dubious Hippolytus Fragments

These two candlesticks and two olive trees He has to this end spoken of, and admonished you that if, when you have read of them elsewhere, you have not understood, you may understand here. For in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, it is thus written: These are the two olive trees and two candlesticks which stand in the presence of the Lord of the earth; Zechariah 4:14 that is, they are in paradise. Also, in another sense, standing in the presence of the lord of the earth, that is, in the presence of Antichrist. Therefore they must be slain by Antichrist.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

It says, “they have,” not “they will have.” For whoever remains in the faith of the one church of God will in no way be wanting in that power conferred upon him by God. “They have power to turn the waters into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire.” We have often said that everything that God is said to have done for the sake of his church is attached to the powers of the church. The Lord gives power to the church so that what is bound on earth is also bound in heaven. Heaven is spiritually closed “that no rain fall,” that is, that no rain of blessing fall upon the dry land. The Lord spoke of this concerning the vineyard of the Jews: “I shall also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” And not only did they suspend the rain but even made useless that rain which had fallen. For the water was changed into blood, even as the very earth was struck with every plague. Nor did these things occur by way of accident or fortuitously. Rather, “as often as they desired,” that is, as often as he desired who conceded to them such power. As the apostle says of the Holy Spirit, “apportioning to each one individually as he wills.” And again, “As God assigns to each one a measure of faith.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:6

And he says they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire. For "the presence" of the Antichrist will be revealed "in the power of Satan through all kinds of signs and false wonders," as Paul writes in his second letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:9), and these signs were intended to lead to assent and belief. Therefore, the two prophets who speak about him say that he is a deceiver and a fraud, and that he will use various signs to draw those who hear him into belief.

Commentary on Revelation

Not only do they suspend the rain, but also they make useless that rain that falls. That is, they turn the waters into blood on account of those who judge in a carnal way those things which the church gives to be discerned in a spiritual manner. Therefore, they deservedly die, being struck by the church with a just condemnation. And so they incur the defect of death from that source which for others brings forth spiritual life. For the apostle says that to think according to the flesh is death. “The good aroma of Christ,” which rises up from the church, is “to some a fragrance of death to death, to others a fragrance of life to life.” And so [the church] is said to strike the earthly with plagues when by the power of binding and loosing that she has she assigns to each a proper penalty for the variety of their merits and sins.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:6

How deep is the divine goodness! For he brings a healing that is commensurate with the wound. For since he has received the full operation of the devil, the antichrist will come with every false sign and wonder and will be more wondrous than every sorcery and enchantment. And so in the power of true signs and wonders, God will equip these saints for the promotion of truth and light, and they will expose the lies and darkness [of the antichrist], and to those who have been deceived they will give correction through the word of their teaching and through chastising scourges (drought, fire, changes in the elements and the like), and they will make an example of the deceiver, while until the completion of their prophesying they will remain uninfluenced either by him or by someone other.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:5-6

These have the power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls, etc. All power in heaven and on earth is given to the Church in Christ, with the keys to bind and loose entrusted to it (Matthew XXVIII). But spiritually, the heaven is shut so that it does not rain, so that the blessing does not descend on the barren earth from the Church. As the Lord said about the vineyard of His Father: I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it (Isaiah V).

Commentary on Revelation

And they have the power over waters, etc. They not only withhold waters but also make those that descended useless, which is to turn waters into blood. The good fragrance of Christ emanating from the Church, to some is the smell of death unto death, to others the smell of life unto life (2 Corinthians XVI).

Commentary on Revelation

These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy. What do we understand by heaven but the same thing as by the two witnesses, namely the holy preachers of the Church? When they shut heaven that it rain not, it is indubitably themselves that they shut. They shut themselves not so that they do not rain at all, but that they do not rain upon an earth that is thorny and very close to malediction. The limbs possess this power in the Head. And they have power over waters to turn them into blood. It is the sword of the letter, which the Church uses spiritually to pierce through the hearts of the elect to give their hearts life in the spirit, that makes this blood flow in the hearts of people who understand things wrongly. And to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they will. Every time they shut the divine mysteries to the faithful, they strike them with an incurable plague. On the other hand, every time they disclose God's mysteries to the faithful, they bring some to life, others to death. Note also that it is not said that they will have this power, but that they already have it, in order that we may understand that this is not said only about those two men but also about the present preachers.

Commentary on Revelation

I proceeded. But the size of that beast was about a hundred feet, and it had a head like an urn. And I began to weep, and to call on the Lord to save me from it. Then I remembered the word which I had heard, "Do not doubt, Hermas."

Hermas, Vision 4

"And the beast which ascendeth from the abyss." After many plagues completed in the world, in the end he says that a beast ascended from the abyss. Bat that he shall ascend from the abyss is proved by many testimonies; for he says in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel: "Behold, Assur was a cypress in Mount Lebanon." Assur, deeply rooted, was a lofty and branching cypress-that is, a numerous people-in Mount Lebanon, in the kingdom of kingdoms, that is, of the Romans. Moreover, that he says he was beautiful in offshoots, he says he was strong in armies. The water, he says, shall nourish him, that is, the many thousands of men which were subjected to him; and the abyss increased him, that is, belched him forth. For even Isaiah speaks almost in the same words; moreover, that he was in the kingdom of the Romans, and that he was among the Caesars. The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says to the Thessalonians: "Let him who now restraineth restrain, until he be taken out of the way; and then shall appear that Wicked One, even he whose coining is after the working of Satan, with signs and lying wonders." And that they might know that he should come who then was the prince, he added: "He already endeavours after the secret of mischief" -that is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives to do secretly; but he is not raised up by his own power, nor by that of his father, but by command of God, of which thing Paul says in the same passage: "For this cause, because they have not received the love of God, He will send upon them a spirit of error, that they all may be persuaded of a lie, who have not been persuaded of the truth." And Isaiah saith: "While they waited for the light, darkness arose upon them." Therefore the Apocalypse sets forth that these prophets are killed by the same, and on the fourth day rise again, that none might be found equal to God.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

7–8

When he says, “when they have finished their witness,” he clearly explains that these things will take place before the last persecution, at least that which they relate until the revelation of the beast who will ascend from the abyss, that is, from the depths of the iniquity of the hearts of the Jews. For, according to tradition, the antichrist will arise from the tribe of Dan. And “he will conquer them,” namely, in those who will have succumbed. However, “he will kill them,” indicating those who for the name of Christ will have been killed by a praiseworthy suffering. “And he will lay their bodies in the middle of that great city which is spiritually called Sodom, where also their Lord was crucified.” Another translation renders it [in the singular] “body.” And so it speaks of one body of the two, while elsewhere in subsequent verses it speaks of the “bodies.” In this way, he preserves the number of the Testaments, while the two witnesses demonstrate the one body of the church. This body—he speaks not only of those killed but also of those who are living—is thrown down, that is, it is despised, as [the psalmist says], “You have cast my words behind you.” [He casts them down] “in the middle,” that is, openly and visibly. This is, to be sure, that “Jerusalem which killed the prophets,” according to the words of the Lord who reproached it, saying, “and stoned those who were sent to you.” Rightly was [Jerusalem] reproved, nor did it deserve to be restored.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:7-8

And when they have finished their testimony, for they will testify that the one present is not the Christ, but rather a deceiver, a fraud, and destructive. But the Son of God, who must also be believed as Savior and God and as the benefactor of mankind, will come, a coming long foretold and now occurring.

And the beast, he says that it is ascending from the abyss. The term "beast" is used to describe the Antichrist due to his brutal, inhuman, and bloodthirsty nature; whereas "abyss" refers to the life of humans, which is bitter because of sins, salty, and unstable owing to the influence of the spirits of evil.

Therefore, the beast will kill the two witnesses, and their bodies will be left unburied in the streets of Jerusalem. For in that city, he will reign as king over the Jews, and having deceived them, he will exercise authority over all who serve and obey him, just as the Lord says to John: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him." (Jn. 5:43)

Commentary on Revelation

7–8

After [the two witnesses] have witnessed and urged escape from this deceit, the beast, that is, the antichrist, comes forth from the dark and deep recesses of the earth to which the devil had been condemned. And, with God’s allowance, he will kill them and leave their unburied bodies in Jerusalem itself, no doubt the ancient one which is now in ruins and in which the Lord also suffered. As it seems, he will establish his kingdom in Jerusalem in imitation of David, whose son is Christ, our true God, who is come in the flesh. In this way [the antichrist] intends to prove that he is the Christ who is fulfilling the prophetic word that says, “I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and rebuild its ruins.” And having been deceived at his coming, the Jews will accept this.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:7-8

And when they have finished their testimony, the beast, etc. He openly shows that all these things happen before the final persecution by saying, When they have finished their testimony, that is, the testimony they bear up to the revelation of the beast, which is to emerge in the hearts of the impious. Not that they will not continue to bear the same testimony then, strongly resisting the enemy, but that at that time the Church is believed to be deprived of the grace of virtues, while the adversary openly dazzles with signs of deceit. For want will precede his face, as the Lord says (Job XLI).

Commentary on Revelation

And will overcome them and kill them. He will overcome those who succumb and kill those who are slain for the name of Christ with praiseworthy patience. Or if he overcomes and kills spiritually, we will understand a part of the witnesses. As the Lord says in the Gospel: They will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you (Matthew XXIV). Which the evangelist Luke suggests in part by saying: They will kill some of you (Luke XI).

Commentary on Revelation

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast, that shall ascend out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. When they shall have finished means when they shall have reached the point at which they must finish their testimony, that is the time of the Antichrist. Whence it is clear that these things are happening before the last persecution; for due to the brevity of those days, about which the Lord says, For the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened, [Matt. 24:22] the Church's testimony is presented as if it were already finished when that time has been reached. Then the beast, that is the whole body of the Devil, is said to ascend out of the abyss, because it is given permission to speak by divine judgment; for the judgments of the Lord are a great abyss, [Ps. 35:7] therefore it ascends from where the permission for it to rise comes from. If on the other hand we understand by the beast the Antichrist alone, its ascent from the abyss is its carnal birth from the very deeply wicked people of the Jews, that it from the tribe of Dan. As for the fight, it will be both physical and spiritual. So in and shall overcome them, there is a certain part, mixed with the body of Christ, about which it is said that it can be overcome, either with threats or with flatteries. Hence the previous sentence by no means referred only to the two witnesses; for if it were the case (God forbid!) the beast would overcome them. Let us therefore understand these two as being in the part of the Church about which it is said, and kill them, that is in the elect part, which can be killed, but cannot be overcome.

Commentary on Revelation

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." But He calls Jerusalem Sodom and Egypt, since it had become the heaping up of the persecuting people. Therefore it behoves us diligently, and with the utmost care, to follow the prophetic announcement, and to understand what the Spirit from the Father both announces and anticipates, and how, when He has gone forward to the last times, He again repeats the former ones. And now, what He will do once for all, He sometimes sets forth as if it were done; and unless you understand this, as sometimes done, and sometimes as about to be done, you will fall into a great confusion. Therefore the interpretation of the following sayings has shown therein, that not the order of the reading, but the order of the discourse, must be understood.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

Jerusalem, however, is spiritually called Sodom, not in a literal sense, because of the recklessness and heresy present at that time, and Egypt, as a place betraying and wronging the servants of Christ; just as Egypt did to Israel; where also he says that the Lord of these two witnesses was crucified.

Commentary on Revelation

And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city. If they persecuted me, he says, they will also persecute you. It is therefore not surprising if the city of the impious, which did not fear to crucify the Lord, also holds His servants in derision, even those who have been killed. Such things are often recorded in ecclesiastical history.

Commentary on Revelation

Which is spiritually called Sodom, etc. That is, mute and dark, having neither the light of faith nor the voice of confession. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans X). These provinces were visibly struck with these plagues, that is, with devouring fire and water turned into blood, as a sign of spiritual punishment.

Commentary on Revelation

And their bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which is called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified. By the fact that the Church of the saints is described as lying dead in the street of the great city, it is shown that it has been strongly afflicted and spiritually laid under its enemies by God's judgment. Note also that we should understand here not only the bodies of those who are killed by the sword but also of those who are still alive, the kind of people about whom the apostle says, for you are dead, etc. [Col. 3:3] Since the persecution will be more cruel in Jerusalem, consequently the martyrdoms of the saints are said to take place there; and here it is shown that it is principally the Jews who will stick to the Antichrist, until those who must be saved are converted when Elijah and Enoch are preaching. That city is called spiritually Egypt and Sodom because of its imitation of them. Also, since that persecution will take place throughout the world, we may understand by this city the whole globe raging against the Church; for the Lord did not suffer his Passion inside that city, but outside its gates, so that he might be believed to have been crucified in the whole world, and to have taken possession of the whole world. By Egypt and Sodom is represented the iniquity of persecutors.

Commentary on Revelation

9–10

Since they do not allow their bodies to be gathered in a suitable place, they prevent a day for their memory to be indicated by a sacred celebration of the living.… It is no wonder that the earthly minded rejoice over the deaths of the righteous. For in addition to the plagues that beset the human race on account of the testaments of God, even the very sight of the righteous oppresses the unrighteous, as it is written, “Even the sight of him is a burden to us.” Not only does it oppress, it also causes him to melt away, and so the psalm says, “The sinner will see and be angry; he will gnash his teeth and melt away.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:9-10

And seeing that those deceived by the Antichrist from every tribe witness the destruction of the martyrs, they will rejoice over them as if their king has been victorious.

Commentary on Revelation

9–10

The intentions are expressed by which the impious strive to remove the church of Christ from the world, as the psalmist says, “Let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” And although they are unable to fulfill their desire, yet they make their evil intention known.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:9

9–10

Those Jews and Gentiles, who once were overpowered by the false wonders of the antichrist and who had indelibly engrafted that abominable name upon their hearts, prohibited the holy bodies from being buried, and they rejoiced because they were free from the torments that [the prophets] gave for their correction. For they did not acknowledge that “the Lord reproves him whom he loves,” and that “he scourges every son whom he receives” and “by muzzle and bridle he will pull and tug at those who are not near to him.” And God works in this way so that they might turn from necessity into the straight way from which they turned aside when they were deceived. We must make petition of the Lord and pray, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes,” and “Turn us, O God of our salvation, that you do not enter into judgment with your servant.” “When we are judged by you, our beneficent master, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world” but may rather through a few torments escape an eternal punishment.

Commentary on the Apocalypse, 11:9-10

And those from the peoples and tribes, etc. He did not say: The peoples and tribes will see, but many from the peoples, who, while others believe, openly mock the saints.

Commentary on Revelation

And they will not allow their bodies to be laid in tombs. He spoke of their intention and opposition. Not that they are able to prevent the Church from being remembered. As: Neither do you enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in (Matthew XXIII), while they enter, though being opposed by them. But they will clearly act concerning the bodies of the living and the dead, for they will not allow the living to be gathered for sacred celebrations in memory, nor the dead to be commemorated, nor their bodies to be buried in memory of the witnesses of God.

Commentary on Revelation

And they of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, shall see their bodies for three days and a half: and they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres. Just as graves protect bodies from human eyes, so do quiet times protect the saints from tribulation. Therefore since there will be no peace for the saints, consequently they are said to remain unburied. Let it look contradictory to no one if we have said that the dead men can be understood to mean not only the slain but also the afflicted, because he is metaphorically indicating the whole men by the bodies. So is the sum of three years and six months represented by the time of three days and a half: the whole is symbolized by a part.

Commentary on Revelation

Moreover, it is necessary to send gifts to one another as a sign of joy and gladness.

For, as the two prophets say, tormented those who live on the earth, no physical torment, however; rather, by mocking their sins, exposing them, and uncovering their deceit, they will torment them intellectually.

Commentary on Revelation

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. Whenever the righteous are afflicted, the unjust rejoice and feast, just as, when the wicked prosper, the poor are inflamed.

Commentary on Revelation

For these two prophets tormented them. Because of the plagues with which the human race is scourged on account of the Testaments of God, even the sight of the righteous themselves burdens the unjust. As they themselves say: He is grievous unto us even to behold (Wisdom II).

Commentary on Revelation

And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry: and shall send gifts one to another, because these two tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. How they are tormented by them, we have explained a little earlier: by their devouring them with spiritual fire, stopping salutary rain, and turning waters into blood.

Commentary on Revelation

11–12

“And they went up to heaven in a cloud.” The apostle spoke of this, saying, “We will be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air.” It is written that this cannot happen to anyone before the coming of the Lord, since at his coming all flesh is approved to arise from their graves. And so the faulty idea of those is excluded who think that these two witnesses are only two men who ascend on the clouds before the coming of Christ. For how could those “who dwell on the earth” rejoice at the death of two men if they died in only one city? Or how do they “exchange presents” if in a short period of time those who threw their bodies in the streets were disquieted by their resurrection although shortly beforehand they were rejoicing at their death? Their courage and reason were stupefied because throughout the earth the announcement came not of their death but of their resurrection. What kind of joy would it be, or what kind of pleasure for those who are feasting would it be, if along with the feast there was the stench of the dead? “And a great fear fell on those who saw them.” He says this of those who are alive when they see the resurrection of those who sleep and are shaken by a horrible fear. “And their enemies saw them [ascend].” Here he separates the unrighteous from the righteous and those who were steadfast in faith from those who were timid.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:11-12

11–14

Since all things are clearly evident and destined to occur perceptibly at that time, it is excessive to dwell on what has been acknowledged.

Commentary on Revelation

11–12

Being dead for as many days as there were years of their prophecy, they will rise up and ascend into heaven on a cloud, that dominical chariot. And fear and perplexity will seize those who see it.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:11-12

And after three and a half days, the Spirit of life from God, etc. Until now, the angel has narrated what will happen, and now he introduces the event that is heard as future, that with the kingdom of the Antichrist destroyed, the saints will have risen in glory.

Commentary on Revelation

And great fear fell upon those who saw them. He spoke of all the living, for even the surviving righteous will be fearful at the resurrection of the sleeping.

Commentary on Revelation

And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet. In this place is declared the general resurrection of all the saints after that last persecution. The spirit of life from God entering into them does not mean that they will receive another spirit, but that they will get back the same that they had. Standing upon one's feet means not staggering with any changeableness of spiritual things any more. So, let us hear what happens to the reprobates when the saints awaken: and great fear fell upon them that saw them. It is not surprising if fear seizes the reprobates, since even the elect themselves will be scared, albeit with a serene fear.

Commentary on Revelation

And they ascended to heaven in a cloud. This is what the Apostle said: We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians IV).

Commentary on Revelation

And their enemies saw them. Here he distinguished the unjust from those whom he had said in common to have been afraid.

Commentary on Revelation

And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: Come up hither. This voice is the one about which the apostle says, The Lord himself shall come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. [1 Thess. 4:15] And they went up to heaven in a cloud: and their enemies saw them. They go up in a cloud, that is, in the power of him who judges. This is why the Lord, after subduing death, went up to the Father's seat in a cloud. As for what we said earlier, that the bodies of the two witnesses consisted of living and dead people, we bring here a suitable witness to confirm it, Paul, who says, We who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. [Ibid. 16] So if, as the apostle says, those who are found alive will be taken up in the clouds into the air to meet Christ, is the Psalmist then lying when he says, Who is the man that liveth, and shall not see death? [Variant of Ps. 88:49] And the book of Genesis when it says, Earth thou art, and into earth thou shalt go? [Gen. 3:19 acc. to LXX] No! For, as father Augustine says, at the very moment when they are taken up in the clouds, they will taste a momentaneous death. It is the same for the body to return into the earth and for the body to remain there when the soul leaves it, because the body is earth anyway. As for how quick both changes will be, the apostle indicates it, affirming that it will all happen in the twinkling of an eye. [1 Cor. 15:52]

Commentary on Revelation

“In that hour there was a great earthquake.” By mentioning again the persecution, he confirms what he had said above. The Lord also expressed an opinion that is in harmony with this passage. He said, “In that hour let him who is on the housetop not come down to take whatever is in the house, nor let him who is in the field turn back.” When he says “in that hour,” he is indicating all time. “And a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand were killed in the earthquake.” The number ten and the number seven are perfect. Even were it not the case, it would be fitting to understand the whole from the part. He says that a tenth of the city, that is, all of it, fell, along with its builders who allowed the construction of perverse doctrine in the temple of their hearts. For there are two kinds of structures in the church. One structure is laid upon the Rock. The other structure is founded upon the sand and is not able to withstand the onslaught of present dangers. Rather, it crumbles straightway and topples with it whoever had not kept the faith of the true church with a pure heart. “The rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.” These are those who have been laid upon the Rock. When the unrighteous are dying from the earthquake, these fear lest they also become partakers with the unrighteous in this punishment. And through the confession of the Christian name and by the despising of their souls, they glorify the Lord, since they have been spared the torments of the unrighteous. The saint sang of this when he said, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees vengeance; he will wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.” For when the righteous sees the death of the sinner, he increases all the more in obedience to the commandments and does them with greater joy and purity, since he is himself being freed from the punishments of the wicked. As it is written, “When a just man sees the wicked punished, he becomes wise.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:13

It is possible that these things will happen at that time in a physical way. But we think that the “earthquake” symbolizes the transposition of those things that are shaking and tottering to something more firm and secure. That a “tenth of the city” falls refers to the corpse of impiety, which was not wise in the seizing of those prophets. The “seven thousand” who are killed signify those who remained attached to the seven days of the present life but did not wait for the eighth day of the resurrection and who must also be killed with “the second death” in Gehenna, namely, eternal punishment. Or, perhaps the seven thousand will be those Jews who were persuaded by the antichrist.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:13

And in that hour there was a great earthquake, etc. With the terror of the judgment impending, the entire city of the devil built upon the sand will collapse with all its builders. For both the number ten and the number seven are perfect. But if it were not, the whole would have to be understood from the part.

Commentary on Revelation

And the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Who among men will boast that he has a pure heart when the powers of heaven will be shaken?

Commentary on Revelation

And they gave glory to the God of heaven. These are the ones built upon the rock, who, while others fall from the earthquake, glorify the Lord with a righteous confession from their stability. For the righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance of the wicked. Some interpret the two prophets as Enoch and Elijah, who, preaching for three and a half years, will strengthen the hearts of the faithful against the soon-following perfidy of the Antichrist. After they are killed, the same period of persecution will ensue, and finally, with the conflict renewed, they will be overcome by the saints, who were believed to be dead in the protection of hiding places. These same prophets are said to rise for the unity of one body, and seeing them again, those who thought them dead will face a heightened persecution, causing many of those considered worthy of the septenary or denary number to fall, as Daniel says: He will confirm a covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and in the temple will be the abomination of desolation (Daniel IX). And later: And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days (Daniel XII). This number covers approximately three years and six months. Indeed, Elijah once destroyed his adversaries with fire and, hiding for three and a half years, withheld the rains, and finally, after the false prophets were killed, through the sacrifice that had been taken away, he turned Israel back to the Lord.

Commentary on Revelation

And at that hour there was made a great earthquake. After showing the resurrection, he recapitulates starting from the last persecution. It is not surprising if he calls the time shortened for the sake of the elect an hour, when he says elsewhere concerning all this time, Little children, it is the last hour. [1 John 2:18] Note also that he says it is a great earthquake because, according to the Lord's saying, there shall be a tribulation such as hath not been from the beginning. [Matt. 24:21] And the tenth part of the city fell. The tenth part of the city falls in those who do not belong to the number of the elect. The elect indeed, joining the nine orders of angels, make up for the fallen demons with their own multitude, and fill up the tenth place, which is that of their order. Therefore it is not the whole tenth that we should understand here, but a part of the tenth, which falls, that is the part which, not joining the nine orders of angels, by no means holds the place of the tenth order. And there were slain in the earthquake names of men seven thousand. By these we should understand the part that is now hiding among the lambs, but will be brought to publicly visible error when the last persecution takes place, and will be sent into the body of the beast to be devoured by it. The rest were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. Who are the rest he is talking about? Those who have remained in faith throughout? Or those who denied it, but came back to it afterwards? Or those who have been faithless, but will believe afterwards when Elijah and Enoch are preaching? We may actually understand all of these.

Commentary on Revelation

The second woe is past, and behold, the third woe comes quickly. This second woe pertains not to recapitulation but to the battle of the horses stirred by the trumpet of the sixth angel. For the eagle had predicted three woes from the voices of the three trumpets yet to come. But there, he did not say that the third would immediately follow, which pertains to the seventh angel and the end.

Commentary on Revelation

The second woe is past: behold the third woe cometh quickly. This is the end of the double recapitulation, but the second woe does not belong to this recapitulation. Indeed it had been said earlier, after the battle with the locusts was finished, that one woe was past and two were to come; then, when all that pertained to the second woe had been told (with the loosing of the four angels etc.) the second woe was not mentioned again. The reason for this is that there followed the recapitulation starting from Christ's coming, and he did not want us to think, if The second woe is past had been said there, that the third woe referred to the recapitulation. Therefore the second woe does not refer to this passage, but to the one above: the recapitulation that broke the order being finished, the second woe is mentioned with reference to where the order was broken. As for what the third woe is, it is disclosed when it is said after that:

Commentary on Revelation

As a detour, the vision recounts the matters concerning the two witnesses, who are identified as prophets, and elaborates on all that pertains to them, focusing on their origin and where they have come from. They have come forth from the holy restitution of the future, and that the number of those from the nations surpasses that of Israel, and that those who have pleased God in the New Covenant exceed those in the Old.

And it states that when the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, voices were heard in heaven proclaiming that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of God and of His Christ. God always reigns, and He neither began nor will cease to reign over heaven and earth and all things visible and invisible within them, but He is the Ruler and Lord of all things without beginning and without end. Since men also became kings on earth, God had a certain way of sharing kingship with them; but when the earthly kingdom of men is dissolved at the end of the present age, only God will reign. Therefore, it has been said that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of God and of His Christ, with the men who ruled on earth and the tyrannical demons having been destroyed and ceased.

Commentary on Revelation

And the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, etc. The first six trumpets, compared to the ages of this present world, announced various conflicts of wars for the Church. But the seventh, the herald of eternal Sabbath, proclaims only the victory and dominion of the true king.

Commentary on Revelation

And the seventh sounded the trumpet: and there were great voices in heaven. This seventh angel sounds the trumpet as the Lord appears for the judgment. By this angel we understand the Church, no longer preaching, but singing mercy and judgment for the Lord. This is why the angel standing upon the earth and the sea swears that time shall be no longer but the end will come with the seventh trumpet. The great voices in heaven, that is in the Church, are thanksgivings; and it is right to call them great, because a great desire is arising concerning great things. John shows where these voices come from, adding, saying: The kingdom of this world— that is the kingdom in which the old enemy used to reign — is become God's and his Christ's, and they shall reign for ever and ever. In them, that is the Father and the Son, the Trinity is understood.

Commentary on Revelation

That the foundation and strength of hope and faith is fear. In the cxth Psalm: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Of the same thing in the Wisdom of Solomon: "The beginning of wisdom is to fear God." Also in the Proverbs of the same: "Blessed is the man who reverences all things with fear." Of the same thing [in Isaiah: "And upon whom else will I look, except upon him that is lowly and peaceful, and that trembleth at my words? " Of this same thing in Genesis: "And the angel of the Lord called him from heaven, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest thy God, and hast not spared thy beloved son for my sake." Also in the second Psalm: "Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice unto Him in trembling." Also in Deuteronomy, the word of God to Moses: "Call the people together to me, and let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they themselves shall live upon the earth." Also in Jeremiah: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perfect upon the house of Israel, and in the house of Judah, a new covenant: not according to the covenant that I had ordered with their fathers in the day when I laid hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; because they have not abode in my covenant, and I have been unmindful of them, saith the Lord; because this is the covenant which I will ordain for the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will give my law, and will write it in their mind and I will be to them for a God, and they shall be to me for a people. And they shall not teach every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord because all shall know me, from the least even to the greatest of them: because I will be favourable to their iniquities, and their sins I will not remember any more. If the heaven should be lifted up on high, saith the Lord, and if the earth should be made low from beneath, yet I will not cast away the people of Israel, saith the Lord, for all the things which they have done. Behold, I will gather them together from every land in which I have scattered them in anger, and in my fury, and in great indignation; and I will grind them down into that place, and I will leave them in fear; and they shall be to me for a people, and I will be to them for a God: and I will give them another way, and another heart, that they may fear me all their days in prosperity with their children: and I will perfect for them an everlasting covenant, which I will not turn away after them; and I will put my fear into their heart, that they may not depart from me: and I will visit upon them to do them good, and to plant them in their land in faith, and with all the heart, and with all the mind." Also in the Apocalypse: "And the four and twenty elders which sit on their thrones in the sight (of God), fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God omnipotent, which art and which wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time in which it should be judged concerning the dead, and the reward should be given to Thy servants the prophets, and the saints that fear Thy name, small and great; and to disperse those who have corrupted the earth." Also in the same place: "And I saw another angel flying through the midst of the heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell upon the earth, and to all the nations, and tribes, and tongues, and peoples, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give Him honour, because the hour of His judgment is come; and adore Him who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Also in the same place: "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and the beasts were feeding with His lambs; and the number of His name a hundred and forty and four, standing upon the sea of glass, having the harps of God; and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Who would not fear Thee, and give honour to Thy name? for Thou only art holy: and because all nations shall come and worship in Thy sight, because Thy righteousnesses have been made manifest." Also in Daniel: "There was a man dwelling in Babylon whose name was Joachim; and he took a wife by name Susanna, the daughter of Helchias, a very beautiful woman, and one that feared the Lord. And her parents were righteous, and taught their daughter according to the law of Moses." Moreover, in Daniel: "And we are lowly this day in all the earth because of our sins, and there is not at this time any prince, or prophet, or leader, or burnt-offering, or oblation, or sacrifice, or incense, or place to sacrifice before Thee, and to find mercy from Thee. And yet in the soul and spirit of lowliness let us be accepted as the burnt-offerings of rams and bulls, and as it were many thousands of lambs which are fattest. If our offering may be made in Thy presence this day, their power shall be consumed, for they shall not be ashamed who put their trust in Thee. And now we follow with our whole heart, and we fear and seek Thy face. Give us not over unto reproach, but do with us according to Thy tranquillity, and according to the multitude of Thy mercy deliver us." Also in the same place: "And the king exceedingly rejoiced, and commanded Daniel to be taken up out of the den of lions; and the lions had done him no hurt, because he trusted and had believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel; and they cast them in the den of lions, and their wives and their children. And before they had reached the pavement of the den they were seized by the lions, and they brake all their bones in pieces. Then Darius the king wrote, To all peoples, tribes, and languages which are in my kingdom, peace be unto you from my face. I decree and ordain that all those who are in my kingdom shall fear and tremble before the most high God whom Daniel serves, because He is the God who liveth and abideth for ever, and His kingdom shall not pass away, and His dominion goeth on for ever; and He alone doeth signs, and prodigies, and marvellous things in the heaven and the earth, who snatched Daniel from the den of lions." Also in Micah: "Wherewith shall I approach the Lord, and lay hold upon Him? in sacrifices, in burnt-offerings, in calves of a year old? Does the Lord favour and receive me with thousands of fat goats? or shall I give my first-fruits of unrighteousness, the fruit of my belly, the sin of my soul? It is told thee, O man, what is good; or what else the Lord doth require, save that thou shouldst do judgment and justice, and love mercy, and be ready to go with the Lord thy God. The voice of the Lord shall be invoked in the city, and He will save those who fear His name." Also in Micah: "Feed Thy people with Thy rod, the sheep of Thine inheritance; and pluck up those who dwell separately in the midst of Carmel. They shall prepare Bashan and Gilead according to the days of the age; and according to the days of their going forth from the land of Egypt I will show them wonderful things. The nations shall see, and be confounded at all their might; and they shall place their hand upon their mouth. Their ears shall be deafened, and they shall lick the dust as do serpents. Dragging the earth, they shall be disturbed, and they shall lick the dust: in their end they shall be afraid towards the Lord their God, and they shall fear because of Thee. Who is a God as Thou art, raising up unrighteousness, and passing over impiety? " And in Nahum: "The mountains were moved at Him, and the hills trembled; and the earth was laid bare before His face, and all who dwell therein. From the face of His anger who shall bear it, and who withstandeth in the fury of His soul? His rage causes the beginnings to flow, and the rocks were melted by Him. The Lord is good to those who sustain Him in the day of affliction, and knoweth those who fear Him." Also in Haggai: "And Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Judah, and Jesus the son of Josedech, the high priest, and all who remained of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, because the Lord sent him to them, and the people feared from the face of God." Also in Malachi: "The covenant was with life and peace; and I gave to them the fear to fear me from the face of my name." Also in the thirty-third Psalm: "Fear the Lord, all ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him." Also in the eighteenth Psalm: "The fear of the Lord is chaste, abiding for ever."

Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews

16–18

He speaks of the beginning and the end. When he says, “You have begun to reign and the nations raged,” he indicates the first coming, for at his birth Herod and the people of Jerusalem were troubled. However, the time of the second coming is declared by wrath and judgment.… “Behold, the third woe has come,” it says. By the sound of the trumpet of the seventh angel he refers to nothing other than the church, which is praising the Lord and is in the sound of the trumpet giving thanks to him without end. And from this we understand that the rewarding of those who are good is not without the punishment of the wicked. “To reward your saints and to corrupt the corrupters of the earth,” it says. This means that [the Lord] gives to the righteous a recompense proper to their merits and to those who were corrupters he gives evil proper to their [wicked] deeds. For whoever has corrupted in himself the temple of the Lord, that is, the church of the body of Christ in baptism, he will without doubt be subjected to corruption. As the apostle said, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:16-18

16–18

He is now mentioning both the beginning and the end of the dispensation of Christ. For when he says, “You have begun to reign and the nations raged,” he is speaking of the first coming of Christ. But, indeed, when it follows that “your wrath has come and the time of the dead,” or as another translation has it, “at which time he will judge concerning the dead,” he is speaking of the second coming, when the saints and the prophets and those who fear his name, the small and the great and the old and the young, will receive their reward. As it says, “Your eyes beheld my imperfection, and in your book everything will be written.” And lest the wicked think that they may act with impunity, he subjects to destruction whomever has corrupted the earth. As the psalmist says, “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” It says that the third woe comes at the sound of the seventh angel, and when he sounded [his trumpet], only the church is mentioned as she praises the Lord and gives him thanks. And from this we learn that the recompense of the good is not apart from the woe of the wicked. And so the psalmist said, “When his wrath is quickly kindled,” certainly upon the wicked, “blessed are all those who trust in him.” And so now the church herself says, “Your wrath has come and the time for death, to reward your servants,” and following. This is the final woe. Since the bodily nativity of the Lord has been nicely recapitulated, he suggests that he is about to speak of the same things but in a different and more extensive manner.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:15-19

16–17

When this voice arose, the elders worshiped God, also offering their own thanksgiving, saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was." The phrase "who is" is properly attributed to the Holy Trinity, and "who was," although primarily said concerning the Father, is also applied to the Son, for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all exist eternally. Thus, the term "who was" is rightly spoken of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the thanksgiving of the elders is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

That you say you have taken your great power and your kingdom from those on earth, and that you alone now reign; but concerning the earthly kingdom that is perishing, it is understandable that the nations became angry, as their dominion was overthrown, referring to the orders of both the demons and the unbelieving men.

Commentary on Revelation

16–17

Here again he says that the holy angels and those who live as do the angels send a hymn of thanksgiving to God, because for our sake he has become worthy to receive as man that kingdom that as God he possessed from the beginning.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:15-18

And the twenty-four elders worshiped God, etc. Behold, he says, the third woe will come in the voice of the seventh angel. And when it sounded, it spoke only of the Church praising God and giving thanks. From this, we understand that the reward of the good is nothing other than the woe of the wicked.

Commentary on Revelation

And the four and twenty ancients, who sit on their seats in the sight of God, fell on their faces. Concerning the ancients, it has already been said that they signify the preachers, because a genus should be understood in the species. It is right for them to be twenty-four because of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles. By the seats and the ancients is understood one seat, that of Christ, consisting of superiors and inferiors. It is right to say that the ancients sit in the sight of God, because, when they examine the actions of their inferiors, they do not seek thereby human gratitude, but God's glory. They fall on their faces because they attribute all good not to themselves, but to God.

Commentary on Revelation

Who are, and who were, etc. You indeed have reigned from eternity, even with the wicked rebelling, but now their fury, judged by you, will be crushed. For the Lord reigns; let the peoples be angry (Psalm XCVIII).

Commentary on Revelation

17–18

And adored God, saying: We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who wast, and who art. By the fact that they do not say "who art to come," it is made clear that all this will be said or done at the last judgment. As for what follows, because thou hast received thy great power, and the nations were angry, it refers to his first coming. He received in his humanity the great power he has always had by his divinity. On the other hand, what is said next, because thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, refers to his second coming. Yet since the Lord says, Love your enemies, [Matt. 5:44 and Luke 6:27/35] how can it be said that these people are giving thanks for the coming of his wrath against the reprobates? Therefore they are not rejoicing at the destruction of the wicked, but at their own resurrection and glorification, which they know cannot possibly be fulfilled unless the damnation of the wicked comes first. It is according to this interpretation that the souls of the slain under the altar of God are said to cry, How long, O Lord, etc.; [Rev. 6:10] for they are not asking for revenge, but to be themselves rewarded after revenge has been taken on the wicked. Hence the Psalmist: The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge. [Ps. 57:11] The Judge's wrath does not mean a perturbation of the mind, but its straightness. So one shall see him such as one's own conscience is like. That thou shouldest judge them, and render reward to thy servants the prophets and the saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great. When the apostle says that we are saved by grace, [Eph. 2:8] how can the Lord be said here to render reward? One should know then that when the Lord renders reward to his servants, it is his own gifts that he rewards in them, for we could not have any work worthy of reward if we had not received from him the ability to do works. Note also that by the name of prophets are represented the apostles. Meanwhile, let no one despair on account of their imperfection, if they nonetheless strive to do perfect things but do not succeed; because even the little ones shall obtain that reward; whence blessed Job: The small and great are there. [Job 3:19] And shouldest banish them who have corrupted the earth. They are said to be banished rather than killed so as to show the everlasting exile of damnation, their eternal indigence. To corrupt the earth is to pervert one's life with wicked works. So it is from this that the third woe of the wicked results, about which it was foretold that it would come quickly with the seventh angel.

Commentary on Revelation

And your wrath has come, he says, and the time of the nations has been judged, and the reward has been given to your servants, the prophets, and the saints. He says that you have long been patient with them, since they did not reject your goodness; now, that is, on the day of judgment, you have brought forth your wrath against them. And the things owed and appointed to the nations have also come and are present. What then? This was the judgment and the giving of retribution to the saints who had suffered wrongfully under them, and the destruction by the recompense of punishment of those who corrupted the earth, as if they had defiled it with their own sins.

Commentary on Revelation

And having been patient with the unbelieving nations who were enraged at this as though it were a new and strange teaching, at the end he brings judgment upon them.… “The time of the dead” is the time of the resurrection of the dead, at which time recompense will be given to each, one after the other. In the “prophets and saints and those who fear God” we are perhaps to recognize the three orders of those who produce fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirtyfold. However, certainly the apostles will receive the first place and sit upon the twelve thrones. We think that the “small and great” are either the lesser saints and those who are rather more preeminent than they, or the “small” are the sinners who are subjects of contempt and the “great” are the righteous.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:15-18

And the time has come for the dead to be judged, and to reward, etc. It corresponds to the order of the gospel reading: first, all nations will be gathered before the Judge, then the righteous will be placed in the kingdom of the Father through many mansions, while the wicked, driven outside the boundaries of the kingdom, will be tormented by the flames of damnation.

Commentary on Revelation

And to destroy those who corrupt the earth. This is the final woe. Thus far concerning the seven angels blowing their trumpets, now he recapitulates from the birth of the Lord, saying the same things differently and more broadly.

Commentary on Revelation

Thus is it, therefore, also His will that we, too, should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and without intermission. The altar, then, is in heaven (for towards that place are our prayers and oblations directed); the temple likewise [is there], as John says in the Apocalypse, "And the temple of God was opened:" the tabernacle also: "For, behold," He says, "the tabernacle of God, in which He will dwell with men."

Against Heresies Book 4

"And the temple of God was opened which is in heaven." The temple opened is a manifestation of our Lord. For the temple of God is the Son, as He Himself says: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." And when the Jews said, "Forty and six years was this temple in building," the evangelist says, "He spake of the temple of His body."

"And there was seen in His temple the ark of the Lord's testament." The preaching of the Gospel and the forgiveness of sins, and all the gifts whatever that came with Him, he says, appeared therein.

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

When Christ the Lord was born, the temple of God was manifested in heaven, that is, in the church. The temple of God can be understood as the body of Christ, as the Lord himself said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” … Although the ark often signifies the church, here the ark is said to have appeared in the temple, and by adding the “ark of the covenant,” he indicates that there is something more exalted to be comprehended. Moreover, by saying “in heaven” he urges us to penetrate some mystery, so that this might be understood: the temple is the church, and the ark of the covenant is the mystery of the incarnation of Christ, who, like that ark, bore the tablets of the covenant within himself. For he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it, … as God promised through Jeremiah that the ark of the covenant would be taken from human hearts, certainly referring to that ark of the Hebrews, which was in Jerusalem. That is, [he promises] that the church will be called the throne of the Lord. He says, “When you have multiplied and increased in the land, says the Lord, they will no longer say ‘the ark of the covenant of the Lord,’ nor will it come to mind. In those days and at that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations will be gathered to her in the name of the Lord.” … The lightning is those virtues by which Christ the Lord makes his apostles to shine. The voices and the thunder are the preaching of the apostles, who thunder to the peoples as though they were clouds. Hail always harms itself when it dashes against fruit and breaks apart, and it diminishes itself even as it causes ruin. So also the fierce multitude of the Gentiles persecutes the faith of Christ, yet afterward are themselves broken apart and become smaller or nonexistent.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:19

And he says that the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. He says that after these things were spoken, hidden blessings and, in addition, certain new mysteries were revealed to the saints; for this is the opening of the Ark of the Covenant. For he indicates that good things are hidden in the coming age, concealed from present human beings, as he says, "what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man," which God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Cor. 2:9) And again, that there is some mystery and a different knowledge unknown to those now living, the Lord reveals by saying, "I will not drink again from the fruit of this vine until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father." (Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18)

The saints were deemed worthy of these things, but to the sinners there came flashes of lightning, voices, thunder, earthquakes, and great hail, which constitute the third woe, the future punishments known to us for the impious, and the word alludes to the signs from God.

Commentary on Revelation

By the opening of heaven and the vision of the covenant is shown the revelation of those blessings that have been prepared for the saints. According to the apostle, these blessings are hidden in Christ in whom the fullness of deity dwells bodily. And these things will be revealed when the punishments of Gehenna rain down upon the lawless and impious like terrifying voices and lightnings and thunder and hail. The earthquake signifies the transposition of present things.

Commentary on the Apocalypse 11:19

And the temple of God was opened in heaven, etc. The temple of the Lord, once situated on earth, covered the ark of the covenant under a mystical veil; but now in the Church, which is the temple of the living God, whose citizenship is in heaven (Philippians III), with the veil of the old temple and the middle wall of partition torn apart by the Lord’s blood, the ark of His Incarnation is now revealed to the whole world. For just as heavenly manna in pure gold, so is divinity in the holy body.

Commentary on Revelation

And there were lightnings, voices, etc. All these are the virtues of the Church's illumination, proclamation, and wars. He mentioned these as having occurred in the description of the preaching of the seven angels from the advent of the Lord, when He stood upon the altar, but generally from the beginning to the end. Then he described in parts how they were done: thus also now, saying that the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the battles followed, stating:

Commentary on Revelation

And the temple was opened in heaven: and the ark of his testament was seen in his temple. This saying goes back to the beginning of faith, and describes the battles of the Church with new symbols. What indeed does God's temple signify but Christ, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells corporeally? [Col. 2:9] It is said to be open because Christ has already been born, suffered, been resurrected, and been elevated, and since it is in the Church that Christ is proclaimed to have done all this, consequently he is said to open the temple in heaven. The ark of the testament, in which the power of the two Testaments was written by God's finger, means the Church; according to Exodus, this ark has four golden rings with bars through them to be carried on, [Ex. 25:12-14] that is the four Gospels through which the Church is governed by the holy preachers. In it there is a golden pot with manna inside, that is the wisdom of the divine Word with the food of life; and also Aaron's rod, [Heb. 9:4] that is the proof of kingly priesthood. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail. Lightnings are miraculous signs, by which the minds of the unfaithful were struck so that they submitted to humility; whence the Psalmist: Thou wilt multiply lightnings, and trouble them. [Probably a variant of Ps. 143:6, but also reminiscent of Ps. 17:15.] It is appropriate for the voices, that is the preachers, to come after the lightnings, because, in order to bring the incredulous to faith by speaking, the preachers first displayed new miracles. After words there follow thunders in order for those who despise voices to be shaken by terror of the judgment. Then an earthquake, that is persecution, which is also indicated by hail; for just as hail gets crushed as it crushes the fruits of the earth, and the earth bears fruit again, when the furious multitude of the Gentiles tried to take the name of God away from the earth, it was itself reduced to naught, either by force or by being changed for the better — for quite many of them came to Christ's faith.

Commentary on Revelation