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14 το Θεό, Λέγεσαν τῷ ἔκλῳ ἀγγέλω, ὁ ἔχων τὴν σάλπιγγα Λῦσον τὰς τέσσα ρας ἀγέλες της δεδεμένες ἐπὶ τῷ πολαμῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ 15 Εὐφράτη. Kai ἐλύθησαν οἱ τέσ σαρες άγγελοι οἱ ἡ τοιμασμένοι εἰς τὴν ὥραν, καὶ ἡμέραν, xỳ uñva, xj inauîòv, ἵνα ἀποκλείνωσι τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώ 16 πων. Καὶ ὁ ἀξιθμὲς τῶν τρατευμάτ των τε ἱππικό, δύο μυριάδες μυριάδων κι ήκεσα τὸν ἀριθ 17 μὲν αὐτῶν. Καὶ ὕτως εἶδον τὲς ἵπ πως ἐν τῇ δράσει, καὶ τις καθημένες ἐπ ̓ αὐτῶν, ἔχονίας θώς ρακας πυρίνες, καὶ ξακινθίνες, καὶ θειώδείς° καὶ αἱ κεφαλαὶ τῶν ἵππων ὡς κει φαλαί λεόντων, και ἐκ τῶν ςομάτων αὐτ

τῶν ἐκπορεύεται πῦρ καὶ καπνὸς καὶ θεῖον, 18 ̓Απὸ τῶν τριῶν πληγῶν τέτων ἀπεκτάνθησαν

τὸ

TRÍTOV Tüv av0gár πων, ἐκ τῶ πυρὸς, καὶ ἐκ τῶ καπν, και τῇ θείᾳ τῇ ἐκπι ρευομένω ἐν τῶν 50

the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Loose the four an66 gels, who are bound

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en at the great river 15 Euphrates.” And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, for to slay the third part of the 16 men.

And the number of the troops of cavalry was two myriads of myriads: and

: I heard the number of

17 them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sate on them having breast-plates of the colour of fire, of hyacinth, of brimstone. And the heads of the horses like heads of lions; and out of their mouths issueth fire, and smoke, and brim

18 stone. By these three

plagues were slain the third part of the men, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brim

stone issuing from 19 their mouths. For the

power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails; for, their tails are like serpents,

sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great 15 river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third 16 part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand and I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the

horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinct, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoak, 18 and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoak, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their 19 mouths. For their

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19 μάτων αὐτῶν. Ἡ γὰρ ἐξεσία τῶν ἵππων ἐν τῷ ςόμαλι | αὑτῶν ἐςιν, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐραῖς αὐτῶν· αἱ γὰρ ἐραὶ αὐτῶν ὅμοιαι ὄφεσιν, ἔχει σαι κεφαλὰς κ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀδικῶσι 20 Καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἵ ἐκ απο κλάνθησαν ἐν ταῖς πληγαῖς ταύταις, ἐ μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν αὕτων, ἵνα μὴ προ- | σκυνήσωσι τα δαι μόνια, καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα τὰ χρυσᾶ, καὶ τὰ ἀρ[υρᾶ, καὶ τὰ χαλκα, καὶ τὰ λίθινα, καὶ τὰ ξύλινα, α

having heads: and with them they injure. 20 And the remainder of | the men, who were not slain by these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, so that they should not worship the dæ mons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.

21 And they repented

not of their murders,
nor of their sorceries,
nor of their forni-
cation, nor of their

theft

pents, and had heads, and with them they 20 do hurt. And the rest

of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood ; which neither can see, nor hear, 21 nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their

sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

ἔτε βλέπειν δύναται,

ἔτε ἀκάειν, ὅτε 21 περιπατεῖν· Καὶ ἐ μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν φονῶν αὐτῶν, ἔτε ἐκ τῶν φαρμακειῶν αὑτῶν, ἔτε ἐκ τῆς πορνείας αὑτῶν, ἔτε ἐκ τῶν κλεμμάτων αὐτῶν.

Ver. 13, &c.] Upon the sound of the sixth Trumpet, a voice, proceeding from the four horns of the altar, and addressed to the angel, commands that he should loose the four angels, then bounden at the great river Euphrates," who were appointed for this

precise

precise time," the hour, and day, and month, and year;" and for this purpose, "to slay the third part

"of the men,"

The altar is the golden one, the altar of incense*, which makes a part of the scenery in heaven, standing before the Throne, as, in the earthly temple, before the Mercy-seat, which represented the local residence of God t. Upon the four horns or projecting angles of this altar, under the Mosaic law, atonement for the sins of the people was made. From this sacred place, from the four cardinal points thereof, is issued a decree of destruction against a third part of the Christian Church. For, by the men is to be understood the Christian men. In Acts xv. 17. oi nalahoitOL TV άvlgwπv, are the remnant or residue of the Israelites; and thus also in this chapter (verse 20,) of λοιποι τῶν ἀνθρωπῶν are plainly the residue of the Christian men; as also in chap. ix. 4, the men who have not the seal of God, are the nominal Christians. And the sins and offences of the Christians must have been great at this period, when the altar, which, as Bishop Newton observes, is " their sanctuary, calls "aloud for vengeance upon them." The voice coming from the altar which was before the throne, is as the voice of God, who permits, and had decreed this destruction; yet, coming from the altar, and not from the throne, somewhat more seems to be intended religion seems intimately concerned. The angels who lead this assault on the Christian Church, are four, in concordance with the four horns of the altar, whence the decree and permission proceeded. We are to account them etil angels, like those of the

* See note, ch. vi. 9.

+ See notes, ch. vi. 9. viii. 3.

↑ Exod. xxx. 1-10. Prideaux, Con. i. 141, &c.

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bottomless deep; for why, otherwise, were they bounden? They appear to have been engaged in such destructive warfare aforetime, at the river Euphrates; but their progress had been arrested, their activity restrained; now they are again loosed to devastate the Church. But what are we to understand by Euphrates? In Scriptural language, "War upon Euphrates," is against the King of Assyria, whose capital city Babylon, on that river, was the grand seat and receptacle of idolatry, the formidable enemy, the insidious corrupter, and at length, by the Divine appointment, the scourge and corrector of the Ancient Church t. The Jews, corrupted by the arts, and then subdued by the arms, of Babylon, were detained in a long captivity; from which they returned to their native soil, so entirely weaned from idolatry, that, prone as they had been to this strange propensity, before their sufferings in that idolatrous city, they were strongly and cautiously, and even "to superstition, set against it afterwards." Idolatry never again reared its head in the Church, till the Church had been for some ages Christian. That time was now come: for under this Trumpet, the Church is described as idolatrous and desperately

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2 Kings xxiii. 1 Esdras i. 25-27.

Jer. li. Prid. Con. book ii. art. Babylon. Whitby's note on 1 Pet. v. 15.-Upon Euphrates, at the time this prophecy was delivered, stood the ruins of Babylon, whose ancient walls inclosed a park; the country surrounding, was still called Babylon, and the Nestorians soon afterwards had a patriarch of Babylon, which, as Gibbon observes, was an appellation successively applied to the great cities which rose in the neighbourhood of Babylon; to Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Bagdat. This shews how connected was the name of Babylon with the reigning city on Euphrates.

Prideaux, Con. i. 389. 425. 515.

wicked;

wicked; as will appear evident by referring to the 20th and 21st verses. And it is not surprising that whnya, corrections, should issue from this quarter, where they appear to have been kept in readiness, even from the times when they had been so successfully applied to the punishment and correction of the Church. These ministers of wrath had been permitted to lead the Assyrian troops against the idolatrous Jewish church, and to carry it into captivity. But on the repentance of the sinners, their agency was restrained. They now come forth with a new commission against the idolatrous Christians; not to lead into captivity, but to slay one third of them. And, as is the punishment, so is also the effect of it, different from that of the former chastisement; the offenders are not all slain, and the remaining church is not reclaimed from its idolatry.

The above is a general view of the character of this Trumpet: but since the swarm of invaders under the fifth Trumpet, and the army of assailants under the sixth, appear to have a certain assimilation, as well as a certain difference, of character, which, compared together, may cast useful light on both; let us bring them into one view.

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