---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"
author: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 905 of 927
url: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/905/
cite: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, section 905. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/905/"
---

# Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

*Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown*

The Victorian standard commentary, critical and practical, from Genesis to Revelation.

## 905. Revelation · 11 of 33

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/905/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/905/#p-N

[¶0] 11. white robes--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, read, "A white robe was given."

[¶1] every one of--One oldest manuscript, B, omits this. A and C read, "unto them, unto each," that is, unto them severally. Though their joint cry for the riddance of the earth from the ungodly is not yet granted, it is intimated that it will be so in due time; meanwhile, individually they receive the white robe, indicative of light, joy, and triumphant victory over their foes; even as the Captain of their salvation goes forth on a white horse conquering and to conquer; also of purity and sanctity through Christ. Maimonides says that the Jews used to array priests, when approved of, in white robes; thus the sense is, they are admitted among the blessed ones, who, as spotless priests, minister unto God and the Lamb.

[¶2] should--So C reads. But A and B, "shall rest."

[¶3] a little season--One oldest manuscript, B, omits "little." A and C support it. Even if it be omitted, is it to be inferred that the "season" is short as compared with eternity? Bengel fancifully made a season (Greek, "chronus," the word here used) to be one thousand one hundred and eleven one-ninth years, and a time ([Re 12:12], , Greek, "kairos") to be a fifth of a season, that is, two hundred and twenty-two two-ninths years. The only distinction in the Greek is, a season (Greek, "chronus") is a sort of aggregate of times. Greek, "kairos," a specific time, and so of short duration. As to their rest, compare [Re 14:13] (the same Greek, "anapauomai"); [Is 57:2]; [Da 12:13].

[¶4] until their ... brethren ... be fulfilled--in number. Until their full number shall have been completed. The number of the elect is definitely fixed: perhaps to fill up that of the fallen angels. But this is mere conjecture. The full blessedness and glory of all the saints shall be simultaneous. The earlier shall not anticipate the later saints. A and C read, "shall have been accomplished"; B and Aleph read, "shall have accomplished (their course)."

[¶5] 12. As [Re 6:4], , the sword, famine, and pestilence, answer to [Mt 24:6], ; [Re 6:9], , as to martyrdoms, answer to [Mt 24:9], ; so this passage, [Re 6:12], , answers to [Mt 24:29], , "the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven; ... then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming"; imagery describing the portents of the immediate coming of the day of the Lord; but not the coming itself until the elect are sealed, and the judgments invoked by the martyrs descend on the earth, the sea, and the trees ([Re 7:1-3]).

[¶6] and, lo--So A reads. But B and C omit "lo."

[¶7] earthquake--Greek, "shaking" of the heavens, the sea, and the dry land; the shaking of these mutable things being the necessary preliminary to the setting up of those things which cannot be shaken. This is one of the catchwords [Wordsworth] connecting the sixth seal with the sixth trumpet ([Re 11:13]) and the seventh vial ([Re 16:17-21]); also the seventh seal ([Re 8:5]).

[¶8] sackcloth--One kind, made of the "hair" of Cilician goats, was called "cilicium," or Cilician cloth, and was used for tents, &c. Paul, a Cilician, made such tents ([Ac 18:3]).

[¶9] moon--A, B, C, and oldest versions read, "the whole moon"; the full moon; not merely the crescent moon.

[¶10] as blood--([Joe 2:31]).

[¶11] 13. stars ... fell ... as a fig tree casteth her ... figs--([Is 34:4]; [Na 3:12]). The Church shall be then ripe for glorification, the Antichristian world for destruction, which shall be accompanied with mighty phenomena in nature. As to the stars falling to the earth, Scripture describes natural phenomena as they would appear to the spectator, not in the language of scientific accuracy; and yet, while thus adapting itself to ordinary men, it drops hints which show that it anticipates the discoveries of modern science.

[¶12] 14. departed--Greek, "was separated from" its place; "was made to depart." Not as Alford, "parted asunder"; for, on the contrary, it was rolled together as a scroll which had been open is rolled up and laid aside. There is no "asunder one from another" here in the Greek, as in [Ac 15:39], which Alford copies.

[¶13] mountain ... moved out of ... places--([Psa 121:1], Margin; [Jr 3:23]; ; [Na 1:5]). This total disruption shall be the precursor of the new earth, just as the pre-Adamic convulsions prepared it for its present occupants.

[¶14] 15. kings ... hid themselves--Where was now the spirit of those whom the world has so greatly feared? [Bengel].

[¶15] great men--statesmen and high civil officers.

[¶16] rich men ... chief captains--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, transpose thus, "chief captains ... rich men."

[¶17] mighty--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, and C read, "strong" physically ([Psa 33:16]).

[¶18] in--literally "into"; ran into, so as to hide themselves in.

[¶19] dens--"caves."

[¶20] 16. from the face--([Psa 34:16]). On the whole verse, compare [Ho 10:8]; [Lu 23:30].

[¶21] 17. Literally, "the day, the great (day)," which can only mean the last great day. After the Lord has exhausted all His ordinary judgments, the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, and still sinners are impenitent, the great day of the Lord itself' shall come. [Mt 24:6-29] plainly forms a perfect parallelism to the six seals, not only in the events, but also in the order of their occurrence: [Mt 24:3], the first seal; [Mt 24:6], the second seal; [Mt 24:7], the third seal; [Mt 24:7], end, the fourth seal; [Mt 24:9], the fifth seal, the persecutions and abounding iniquity under which, as well as consequent judgments accompanied with gospel preaching to all nations as a witness, are particularly detailed, [Mt 24:9-28]; [Mt 24:29], the sixth seal.

[¶22] to stand--to stand justified, and not condemned before the Judge. Thus the sixth seal brings us to the verge of the Lord's coming. The ungodly "tribes of the earth" tremble at the signs of His immediate approach. But before He actually inflicts the blow in person, "the elect" must be "gathered "out.

### Chapter 7

### Re 7:1-17. Sealing of the Elect of Israel. The Countless Multitude of the Gentile Elect

[¶25] 1. And--so B and Syriac. But A, C, Vulgate, and Coptic omit "and."

[¶26] after these things--A, B, C, and Coptic read, "after this." The two visions in this chapter come in as an episode after the sixth seal, and before the seventh seal. It is clear that, though "Israel" may elsewhere designate the spiritual Israel, "the elect (Church) on earth" [Alford], here, where the names of the tribes one by one are specified, these names cannot have any but the literal meaning. The second advent will be the time of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, when the times of the Gentiles shall have been fulfilled, and the Jews shall at last say, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." The period of the Lord's absence has been a blank in the history of the Jews as a nation. As then Revelation is the Book of the Second Advent [De Burgh], naturally mention of God's restored favor to Israel occurs among the events that usher in Christ's advent.

[¶27] earth ... sea ... tree--The judgments to descend on these are in answer to the martyrs' prayer under the fifth seal. Compare the same judgments under the fifth trumpet, the sealed being exempt ([Re 9:4]).

[¶28] on any tree--Greek, "against any tree" (Greek, "epi ti dendron": but "on the earth," Greek, "epi tees gees").

[¶29] 2. from the east--Greek, "the rising of the sun." The quarter from which God's glory oftenest manifests itself.

[¶30] 3. Hurt not--by letting loose the destructive winds.

[¶31] till we have sealed the servants of our God--parallel to [Mt 24:31], "His angels ... shall gather together His elect from the four winds." God's love is such, that He cannot do anything in the way of judgment, till His people are secured from hurt ([Ge 19:22]). Israel, at the eve of the Lord's coming, shall be found re-embodied as a nation; for its tribes are distinctly specified (Joseph, however, being substituted for Dan; whether because Antichrist is to come from Dan, or because Dan is to be Antichrist's especial tool [Aretas, tenth century], compare [Ge 49:17]; [Jr 8:16]; [Am 8:14]; just as there was a Judas among the Twelve). Out of these tribes a believing remnant will be preserved from the judgments which shall destroy all the Antichristian confederacy ([Re 6:12-17]), and shall be transfigured with the elect Church of all nations, namely, 144,000 (or whatever number is meant by this symbolical number), who shall faithfully resist the seductions of Antichrist, while the rest of the nation, restored to Palestine in unbelief, are his dupes, and at last his victims. Previously to the Lord's judgments on Antichrist and his hosts, these latter shall destroy two-thirds of the nation, one-third escaping, and, by the Spirit's operation through affliction, turning to the Lord, which remnant shall form the nucleus on earth of the Israelite nation that is from this time to stand at the head of the millennial nations of the world. Israel's spiritual resurrection shall be "as life from the dead" to all the nations. As now a regeneration goes on here and there of individuals, so there shall then be a regeneration of nations universally, and this in connection with Christ's coming. [Mt 24:34]; "this generation (the Jewish nation) shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled," which implies that Israel can no more pass away before Christ's advent, than Christ's own words can pass away (the same Greek), [Mt 24:35]. So exactly [Zec 13:8], ; [14:2-4], 9-21; compare Zec 12:2-14; 13:1, 2. So also [Eze 8:17], ; [9:1-7], especially [Eze 9:4]. Compare also [Eze 10:2] with [Re 8:5], where the final judgments actually fall on the earth, with the same accompaniment, the fire of the altar cast into the earth, including the fire scattered over the city. So again, [Re 14:1], the same 144,000 appear on Zion with the Father's name in their forehead, at the close of the section, the twelfth through fourteenth chapters, concerning the Church and her foes. Not that the saints are exempt from trial: [Re 7:14] proves the contrary; but their trials are distinct from the destroying judgments that fall on the world; from these they are exempted, as Israel was from the plagues of Egypt, especially from the last, the Israelite doors having the protecting seal of the blood-mark.

[¶32] foreheads--the most conspicuous and noblest part of man's body; on which the helmet, "the hope of salvation," is worn.

[¶33] 4. Twelve is the number of the tribes, and appropriate to the Church: three by four: three, the divine number, multiplied by four, the number for world-wide extension. Twelve by twelve implies fixity and completeness, which is taken a thousandfold in 144,000. A thousand implies the world perfectly pervaded by the divine; for it is ten, the world number, raised to the power of three, the number of God.

[¶34] of all the tribes--literally, "out of every tribe"; not 144,000 of each tribe, but the aggregate of the twelve thousand from every tribe.

[¶35] children--Greek, "sons of Israel." [Re 3:12]; , are no objection, as Alford thinks, to the literal Israel being meant; for, in consummated glory, still the Church will be that "built on the foundation of the (Twelve) apostles (Israelites), Jesus Christ (an Israelite) being the chief corner-stone." Gentile believers shall have the name of Jerusalem written on them, in that they shall share the citizenship antitypical to that of the literal Jerusalem.

[¶36] 5-8. Judah (meaning praise) stands first, as Jesus' tribe. Benjamin, the youngest, is last; and with him is associated second last, Joseph. Reuben, as originally first-born, comes next after Judah, to whom it gave place, having by sin lost its primogeniture right. Besides the reason given above (see on [Re 7:2]), another akin for the omission of Dan, is, its having been the first to lapse into idolatry ([Jud 18:1-31]); for which same reason the name Ephraim, also (compare [Jud 17:1-3]; [Ho 4:17]), is omitted, and Joseph substituted. Also, it had been now for long almost extinct. Long before, the Hebrews say [Grotius], it was reduced to the one family of Hussim, which perished subsequently in the wars before Ezra's time. Hence it is omitted in the fourth through eighth chapters of First Chronicles. Dan's small numbers are joined here to Naphtali's, whose brother he was by the same mother [Bengel]. The twelve times twelve thousand sealed ones of Israel are the nucleus of transfigured humanity [Auberlen], to which the elect Gentiles are joined, "a multitude which no man could number," [Re 7:9] (that is, the Church of Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately, in which the Gentiles are the predominant element, [Lu 21:24]. The word "tribes," Greek, implies that believing Israelites are in this countless multitude). Both are in heaven, yet ruling over the earth, as ministers of blessing to its inhabitants: while upon earth the world of nations is added to the kingdom of Israel. The twelve apostles stand at the head of the whole. The upper and the lower congregation, though distinct, are intimately associated.

[¶37] 9. no man--Greek, "no one."

[¶38] of all nations--Greek, "OUT OF every nation." The human race is "one nation" by origin, but afterwards separated itself into tribes, peoples, and tongues; hence, the one singular stands first, followed by the three plurals.

[¶39] kindreds--Greek, "tribes."

[¶40] people--Greek, "peoples." The "first-fruits unto the Lamb," the 144,000 ([Re 14:1-4]) of Israel, are followed by a copious harvest of all nations, an election out of the Gentiles, as the 144,000 are an election out of Israel (see on [Re 7:3]).

[¶41] white robes--(See on [Re 6:11]; also [Re 3:5], ; ).

[¶42] palms in ... hands--the antitype to Christ's entry into Jerusalem amidst the palm-bearing multitude. This shall be just when He is about to come visibly and take possession of His kingdom. The palm branch is the symbol of joy and triumph. It was used at the feast of tabernacles, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when they kept feast to God in thanksgiving for the ingathered fruits. The antitype shall be the completed gathering in of the harvest of the elect redeemed here described. Compare [Zec 14:16], whence it appears that the earthly feast of tabernacles will be renewed, in commemoration of Israel's preservation in her long wilderness-like sojourn among the nations from which she shall now be delivered, just as the original typical feast was to commemorate her dwelling for forty years in booths or tabernacles in the literal wilderness.

[¶43] 10. cried--Greek, "cry," in the three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic. It is their continuing, ceaseless employment.

[¶44] Salvation--literally, "THE salvation"; all the praise of our salvation be ascribed to our God. At the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, the type, similarly "salvation" is the cry of the palm-bearing multitudes. Hosanna means "save us now"; taken from [Psa 118:25], in which Psalm ([Psa 118:14], 15, 21, 26) the same connection occurs between salvation, the tabernacles of the righteous, and the Jews' cry to be repeated by the whole nation at Christ's coming, "Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord."