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"beginning," and "from the beginning with God*." The apostle to the Hebrews enforces the same notion of our Lord's eternity, when he calls him "Jesus

Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for evert." He is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the original Creator, and the final Judge, of the world; to whose illustrious advent, and final triumph over his enemies (as being the grand catastrophe of the Apocalypse) the prophet, who had already seen it exhi-X bited in vision, exultingly adverts, even before he begins his narration. This was natural, in one who had seen such a vision, but it would not easily have occurred in a work of mere imagination and art.

* John i. 1. 13. v. 26. 19. 22. xiv. 11. xvi. 15, also Col. i, 16. 17. Heb. i. 2, 3, 8. 1 John v. 20.

+ Heb. xiii. 8,

PART I

SECTION III.

The Appearance of the Lord Jesus with the Symbols of his Power; and the Commission given by him to Saint John to write what he beholds.

9 'Eyw 'Iwans, ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν, κα συγκοινωνὸς ἐν τῇ θλίψει και βασιλεία καὶ ὑπομονὴ Ἰησᾶ Χρισῦ, ἐγενόμην ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τῇ καλη

CHAP, i. VER. 9—to the end.

and

9 I John, your brother,
and fellow-sharer in
the tribulation
kingdom and patience
of Jesus Christ, was in
the Island called Pat-
mos, for the word of

9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of JesusChrist, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the

μένη Πάτμῳ, διὰ τὸν λόγον το Θεό, καὶ διὰ τὴν μαρκες | ξίαν Ιησέ [Χρισ8]. 10 Εγενόμην ἐν πνεύ μαλι ἐν τῇ κυριακή ἡμέρᾳ· καὶ ἔκεσα ὀπίσω με φωνήν μεγάλην ὡς σαλ11 πιο, λεγέσης Ο βλέπεις, γράΤον εἰς βιβλίον, καὶ πέμψον ταῖς ἔπλα ἐκκλησίαις, εἰς Ἔφεσον, καὶ εἰς Σμύρναν, καὶ εἰς Πέραμον, καὶ εἰς Θυάτειρα, καὶ εἰς Σάρδεις, καὶ εἰς Φι λαδέλφειαν, καὶ εἰς 12 Λαοδίκειαν. Καὶ ἐπέσρεψα βλέπειν τὴν φωνὴν, ἥτις ἐλάλησε μεν ἐμᾶ καὶ ἐπιτρέψας εἶδον ἑπτὰ λυχνίας χρυ 13 σᾶς, Καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἁπλὰ λυχνιών ὅμοιον ὑιῷ ἀνθρώπε, ἐνδεδυμένον εποδήρη, καὶ περιεζωσμένον τοὺς τοῖς μαςοῖς 14 ζώνην χρυσήν Ἡ δὲ κεφαλὴ αὐτὸ καὶ αἱ τρίχες λευ και, ὡσεὶ ἔξιον λευκόν, ὡς χιών καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐ τῆς ὡς φλόξ πυρὰς. 15 Καὶ οἱ πόδες αὐτῶ

ὅμοιοι χαλκολιβά

God, and for the testimony of Jesus 10 [Christ]. I was in the

Spirit on the Lord's day; and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trum11 pet, Saying, "That

"which thou seest "write in a book, "and send unto the "seven churches; to "Ephesus; and to "Smyrna; and to "Pergamos; and to "Thyatira; and to "Sardis; and to Phi"ladelphia; and to 12 “ Laodicea.” And I

turned to see what the voice was which spake with me; and being turned, I saw seven golden lamp13 bearers; And in the midst of the seven lamp-bearers one like the Son of man, clothed with a long garment down to the feet, and girt about the breasts with a 14 golden girdle; His

head and his hair white, as white wool, | as snow; and his eyes

as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like

smelting brass, as if burned brightly in a furnace; and his

word of God, and for

the testimony of Je10 sus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,and heard behind me a great

voice, as of a trum11 pet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven Churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyr. na, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Lao12 dicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candle13 sticks; And in the

midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, cloathed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about

the paps with a golden 14 girdle. His head and

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νω, ὡς ἐν καμίνῳ πεπυρωμένοι καὶ ἡ φωνὴ αὐτῷ ὡς φωνὴ ὑδάτων πολ 16 λῶν. Καὶ ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ αὐτῇ χειρὶ αγέρας ἑπλά· καὶ ἐκ τα δόματος αὑτῷ ῥομφαία δίδομος ἐξεῖα ἐκπορευομένη καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτο, ὡς ὁ ἥλιος φαίνει ἐν τῇ δυνάμει αὐτο. 17 Καὶ ὅτι εἶδον αὐτὸν,

ἔπεσα πρὸς τὰς πόδας αὐτῷ ὡς νεκρές· καὶ ἐπέθηκε τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτῆ ἐπ ̓ ἐμέ, λέγων [μοι]· Μὴ φυσ ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, 18 Καὶ ὁ ζῶν· καὶ ἐγενόμην νικρός, καὶ | ἰδώ ζῶν εἶμι εἰς τὰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς το θανάτε καὶ τῇ 19 άδε. Γράψον ὧν ἃ εἶδες, και ο εἰσι, καὶ ἃ μέλλει γίνεσ θαι μετὰ ταῦτα, 20 Το μυσήριον τῶν

ἁπλὰ ἀςέρων, ὧν εἶδες ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς με, καὶ τὰς ἑπτὰ λυχνίας τὰς

χρυ σᾶς οἱ ἁπλὰ ἀτέρες, ἄγγελοι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐκε κλησιῶν εἰσι καὶ αἱ ἁπλὰ λυχνίαι, ἁπλὰ ἐκκλησίαι εἰσί,

voice as the voice of 16 many waters; And

having in his right.

hand seven stars, and from his moutha twoedged sharp sword coming forth; and bis countenance as the Sun shineth in his 17 power. And when I

saw him, I fell at his
feet, as dead; and
he laid his right hand
upon me, saying [to
18 me]"Fear not; I am

"the first and the
"last, and he who
"liveth; and I was
"dead, and behold I
"am alive for ever
"and ever; and I
"have the keys of
"Death and of hell.

19 " Write therefore

20

"those things which

as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of 16 many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword, and his

countenance was as the sun shineth in 17 his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead: and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me,

Fear not; I am the 18 first and the last : I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

"thou seest, even 19 Write the things

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which thou hast seen,

and the things which are, and the things

which shall be here20 after, The mystery

of the seven stars which thou sawest in

my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

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Ver. 9. I John, &c.] Who this John was, and why, and whither banished, may be seen in note, c. i. 1. His dignity, as an apostle, and as a prophet favoured with this vision, and honoured with this commission, was at all events considerable; but, in the spirit of the Gospel, he calls himself only a brother, as his Lord had called himself before him, and a fellowsharer in the afflictions which the faithful were then suffering, under the persecution of Domitian. But to partake the sufferings of Christ, is to partake also his kingdom, which are here therefore emphatically united..

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For the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus.] The sense of this expression becomes clear, by comparing it with chap. vi. 9, where the Martyrs are represented as having suffered δια τον λόγον τ8 Θεό και δια paglugiau velkov, for the word of God, and for the "testimony which they bare." John was, like them, a persecuted sufferer and confessor, in the Island of Patmos, to which he was banished for his adherence to the faith, and where he was favoured with this vision .

Ver. 10. I was in the Spirit.] It is in vain to inquire the exact manner in which these sacred visions were communicated. The Jewish writers have said much upon the subject, but nothing which can satisfy a rational and sober mind. So far however is plain from Ezek. ii. 2. iii. 24. 2 Cor. xii. 2. and other passages of Scripture, that the prophet commonly perceived the impulse of the Spirit acting upon him in a sudden and extraordinary manner; yet so mysteriously, that

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Saint Paul affirms that he could not tell whether it was "in the body or out of the body," that he was present in the heavens. Saint John perceived this movement of the Spirit upon him, when the heavenly voice called to him. He represents it, as it struck his senses, coming from behind him, and thus affecting him with more sudden surprise; it was loud, and as of a trumpet, the signal of war; it was fearful and alarming. The trumpet was the voice of God, at the awful delivery of the Law from Mount Sinai, and so shall be again at the consummation of the world †.

Ver. 11. See notes on verses 4 and. 8.

Ver. 12. Seven golden lamp-bearers.] These are explained afterwards (v. 20.) to signify the seven Churches, or the universal Church of Christ. They are not the lamps or lights, but the bearers of them; they are the instruments, on which the lights being suspended, illuminate the Christian world. Spiritual knowledge is frequently represented in Scripture, under the emblem of a light or lamp. Numerous are the instances; but see in particular Mat. v. 14, 15, and the parallel passages, and Ezek. iv. 2. Agreeably to which, in Rev. iv. 5. seven lamps of fire are used to express the gifts of the Divine Spirit; but the receptacle of religious knowledge, the station from which it is communicated, is the lamp-bearer or candlestick; and by this is denoted the Church of Christ. So Irenæus, who, alluding to this passage, says, Ubique enim ecclesia prædicat veritatem, et hæc est έπταμυχος (aliter ἑπταμυξος)

Joel ii. 1. Amos iii. 6. 1 Cor. xiv. 8.

1 Thess. iv. 16. 1 Cor. xy. 52.

See note, ver. 4.

Lucerna,

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