σωπα αὐτῶν, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ 12 Θεώ, Λέγολες Α μήν· ἡ εὐλογία καὶ ἡ δόξα, καὶ ἡ σοφία, καὶ ἡ εὐχαρίσια, και ἡ τιμὴ, καὶ ἡ δύναμις, καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν εἰς τὰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ̓Αμήν. 13 Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη εἰς ἐκ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, λέγων μοιο Οὗτοι οἱ περιβεβλημένοι τὰς πολὰς τὰς λευ κας, τίνες εἰσὶ, κα 14πόθεν ἦλθον; Καὶ εἴρηκα αὐτῷ· Κύριε με σὺ οἶδας. Καὶ εἶπέ μοι Ουτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐρχόμενοι ἐκ τῆς θλίψεως τῆς μεγάλης· καὶ ἔπλυναν τὰς τολὰς αὑτῶν, καὶ ἐλεύκαναν [τολὰς αὑτῶν] ἐν τῷ αἵμαλι 15τῷ ἀρνία. Διὰ τῦτό εἰσὶν ἐνώπιον ធម៏ θρόνος τῇ Θεῦ, καὶ λατρεύεσιν αὐτῷ ἡ μέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτῶν καὶ ὁ καθήμενὉ ἐπὶ τῇ θρόνε, σκηνώσει ἐπ ̓ 16 αυτές. Οὐ πεινά σεσιν ἔτι, ἐδὲ δι ψήσεσιν ἔτι, ἐδὲ μὴ θέσῃ ἐπ' αὐτὸς ὁ ἥλια, ἐδὲ τῶν 17 καῦμα· “Οτι τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον 13men! And one of the elders spake, saying unto me, « These, "clothed in white “ robes, who are they, | "and whence came 14" they ?”. And I said unto him, 6. Ο my “ Lord, thou know"est." And he said unto me, "These are they who are come out “ of the great tribula“ tion, and have wash"ed their robes, and "have made them "white [their robes] "in the blood of the 15 Lamb : Therefore "are they before the “ on the throne, shall “ have bis dwelling 16% over them ; They "shall hunger no me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 16 them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 17 heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eye Ver. 1. After these things, I saw.] There appears, by these words, to be some separation of that which follows, from the main part of the sixth seal, which has preceded. And yet the sixth seal is certainly continued, for the seventh does not open till the next chapter. So this chapter is probably to be taken as a kind of supplement to the body of the sixth seal; belonging to it, yet separated from it. The sixth seal represents the vengeance of God upon a wicked world. This part of it seems to exhibit the Divine protection and Salvation, which shall support the elect in that " great day;" ""the Jew first, and "also the Gentile." Ib. Four angels.] The number is cardinal, and expressive of universality*. Angels are ministers of the Divine mercy, and of the Divine vengeance. Ib. On the four corners of the Earth.] The earth is a part of the scenery exhibited in this vision, and is a proper appendage to that which has been already displayed; the glory of the Lord in heaven. For he is described in Scripture as ruling over heaven and · earth the one being "his throne;" the other, "his "foot-stool." "The four corners of the earth" are, in the language of Isaiah and Ezekiel, the whole * See note, ch. iv. 6. Y 2 + Is. lxvi. 1. earth; earth; which now appears in view, immediately below heaven and the throne; not in an orbicular form, but stretched out as a plain, with four sides and angles, and thus it continues through the trumpets. Ib. The four winds.] In the language of Scripture, a wind (which, when violent, destroys) is used to express destruction; and the four winds, a general destruction. The necessity of a superintending Providence to restrain the fury of these ministers of vengeance, will be acknowledged by those, who have witnessed the dreadful devastation committed by the unimprisoned winds in ruder climates; or, who have read accounts of the hurricanes in the West Indies. Hence the heathen poet has represented them as under divine restraint, and with such dignified language, that I shall not scruple to quote from him : Hic vasto rex Æolus antro Luctantes ventos, tempestatesque sonoras Et premere et laxas sciret dare JUSSUS habenas. But now the restraint is removed, * Is. xi: 12. Ezek. vii. 2. Jer. li. 1. iv. 11, 12. Hos. xiii. 15. ENEID. i. 56-63. ↑ Jer. xlix. 36. Ezek. vii. 2. Dan. vii. 2. viii. 8. xi. 4 -- ac venti, velut agmine facto, Quà data porta, ruunt, et terras turbine perflant. Incubuêre mari, totumque à sedibus imis Unà Eurusque Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis ENEID. i. 86-90. Previous to the dreadful siege of Jerusalem by Titus, a prophet (perhaps an enthusiast) is described by Josephus, as going about and crying, Dwun año των τεσσάρων ανέμων: * which was perfectly understood to mean a wide and dreadful destruction ↑. Ver. 2. Sunrising.] This quarter, which we call the East, was the cardinal point of first importance with the eastern nations of antiquity; because from that point was seen to arise the sun, that visible source of light and vital heat. In the camp of the Israelites, the eastern side was always the front, the honourable post. Here Moses and Aaron were stationed. And "The Sun of Rigtheousness" (so our Lord is called) is said to emit his first beams of glory, his "day-star," from that quarter §. Hence, the Jews appear to have reckoned their cardinal points by supposing a person to face the East, as the first and principal quarter of the heavens. To a man so stationed, the South is on his right hand, the North on his left, and the West behind him. In consequence of this distribution, the Syrians, who were to the East of Israel, are said to be " before "Israel" the Philistines, who dwelt to the West, $ A voice from the four winds. ↑ Bell, Jud. lib. vi. c. 5. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 8.-The space comprehended under "the four winds," is paraphrased by our Lord in these words, "from the uttermost part of the earth to the "uttermost part of Heaven;" Mark xiii. 27. ↑ Numb. ii. 3. iii. 38. Ezek. xliii. 2. Matt. ii. 2. xxiv. 27. "behind" "behind" them. Hobah is described as on the " left "hand of Damascus," because it lay to the North of that city. The Europeans, on the contrary, have made the North their first and fronting point, and, as such, have placed it at the top of their maps. And from this cause, in political geography, the eastern bank of a river is termed its right bank, the western its left. This division is as ancient as the times of Homer: Ε. επι δεξι ιωσι, προς ηῶ τ' ηέλιον τε ILIAD Xii. 2394. The angel who now appears upon the earth to the angels stationed at its four corners, comes from the Divine presence, with a Divine commission, of which the seal he bears is a mark and earnest. Ib. A seal of the Living God.] Seals were in use with ancient nations to secure secure possessions §; each person having his peculiar mark which ascertained the property to be his own.-Signare, quid est nisi proprium aliquid ponere? Ideò rei ponis signum, ne res, cum aliis confusa, à te non possit agnosci |. Hence the seal of God is his mark by which He * Gen. xiv. 15.-And from this usage, it has been observed, that the same word in Hebrew, which is applied to signify the South, signifies also the right hand. Augustin. in Johann. vi.-What is sealing, but marking a thing as your own? You place a mark on the thing, lest, being mixed with other things, it may not be known by you. "knoweth |