CHAPTER 14
Revelation 14:1-5 And I saw, and behold, the lamb standing on mount Zion, and with him one hundred and forty-four thousand having the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters and like the voice of loud thunder, and the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one was able to learn the song except the hundred forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, a first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found. They are blameless .
The Lord is recorded in the Gospels as addressing the lawless among the Jews with the words: “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” (Matt. 23:38) For they were no longer worthy of divine visitation after the madness at the cross. How then does the Lord now appear from the vision standing on Mount Zion, as if from remorse? That the city of theirs and the temple and the whole people were left deserted, the Romans clearly showed, having burned the temple, set the cities on fire, laid waste all their land and sold even their mother-city 1 [μητρόπολιν] into slavery. But now to show the Lord as having ascended to Mount Zion is to show the ultimate return of Israel through faith, and that the Lord will dwell among them and receive them. For this is what was proclaimed through Isaiah: “’The Savior will come to Zion, and he will turn ungodliness away from Jacob,’ says the Lord.” (Isa. 59:20-21) The prophet and the apostle agree with Isaiah; the one sings, “For you shall make them turn their back in your latter end, you will prepare their face,” (Ps. 21:12) and the one writes, “when the full number of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved.” (Rom. 11:25-26)
Oecumenius commentary on Romans 11:25-26
But when, he says, you suppose nothing great or marvelous about yourselves, mistakenly believing that you are wiser than others, learn briefly a most dreadful mystery, revealing the deep providence of God concerning all, which made evident the Israelites—except for the election (for he says, “in part”)—they being hardened and their salvation being put aside; God transferred this to you. Yet after all of you have been grafted in, grace will again encompass them all. For this very thing is attested by the Scriptural oracle of Isaiah. "Partly." Not entirely, he says. For there were also innumerable Jews who believed, and who were about to believe. "The fullness of the Gentiles." By "the fullness of the Gentiles" he means all those from the Gentiles who are about to believe. So when, then, all shall have entered into faith, then also Israel, having believed, will be saved. And by Israel he means those who have remained within Judaism. "That you will place them, he says, on the back and among the remnants, that is, among the survivors, you will prepare their face." And thus all Israel will be saved; instead of "the majority," that is, he will turn them away from sins and will turn them back to himself. "He will come forth from Zion." Isaiah again introduces with a cry that he who is able to save will come forth from Zion, and will cleanse the sins of the Israelites. And when will these things be? When I shall take away their sins. This is the covenant, as it were a sign, when I shall make worthy of the forgiveness through baptism. Therefore, since I have not yet obtained this (for they have been hardened), this will happen later. "And this to them." so that no one of those already entrusted might think that the Scripture is fitting only for the Jews, he cites a sign by which it is shown that the prophecy is yet to come. Which is this? "When I take away their sins." If, then, it has not yet been taken away, the Scripture is to come. Therefore, he adduces (for God's gifts are irrevocable): "When I take away." Then, he says, God's promise will be fulfilled.
He says, and with him one hundred and forty-four thousand having the name of his Father written on their foreheads . Previously he called the one hundred and forty-four thousand the twelve thousand believers from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. (see Rev. 7:4-8) Does he then also now speak about these? I do not think so; for neither did he name them with the article [the/αἱ], for he did not say “the one hundred forty-four thousands,” but only “one hundred forty-four thousands”; nor does he testify that they have also kept their virginity. For virginity was not held in special esteem among Israel, as later it was neglected among the Gentiles; so that those here named must be considered as mixed from both Israel and the Gentiles, and in fact mostly from the Gentiles.
But to have the name of the Father and of his Son written indicates that they are endowed with some divine glory.
And I heard , he says, a voice like harpists singing a new song before the throne and the living creatures and the elders . The music pleasing to God and harmony of the song is indicated by the sound going forth as of those playing the harp; for if praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner according to what is written (Sir. 15:9), certainly it is beautiful and melodious in the mouth of the righteous.
And , he says, no one was able to learn the song except the hundred forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth . But I suppose that no one could hear the mysteries of the new song except those who were deemed worthy to sing them; for knowledge is to each according to the proportion of purity; for the Lord says many dwelling places 2 , namely rewards of good things, from my Father. (Jn. 14:2)
He says they were redeemed by the blood of Christ. For the precious blood of Christ has been poured out for all people, yet for some in vain, those who, though able to attain salvation from here, voluntarily deprived themselves of it, of whom the Lord, reproving them through the prophet, says, “What profit is there in my blood in my going down into corruption?” (Ps. 30:9) But concerning those who have been saved and justified, of whom these are the first fruits and the first installment, about whom the present discourse is, and very profitably, and to such a degree as no one could say how great.
These are , he says, the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were purchased from among men, a first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found. They are blameless , as the discourse of contemplation testifies to those who are in Christ, being far superior to and beyond the human nature.
Revelation 14:6-7 And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice: Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth and sea and springs of waters .
The brilliant and lofty mid-heaven is by nature an emblem of the glorious angel . But he possessed an eternal gospel ; for from eternity the lesson is salvation: to fear the Lord, since “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,” (Prov. 1:7) and love is the end (see 1 Tim. 1:5). Yet he says the cruel and soul-destroying beast, the Antichrist, must not be feared, even if he threatens and acts more harshly.
He says, because the hour of his judgment has come , he will render justice unlike anything even he who terrifies those on earth has done.
And worship him who made , he says, the one who made all creation, and not the deceitful and God-hating Devil.
Revelation 14:8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen, she who made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. ”
I suppose Babylon to mean the confusion of present life and the vain temptation; for Babylon is interpreted as confusion and the frenzy of idolaters. And it is made majestic by names, called by them enthusiasm 3 . But if you even perceive Babylon as sensible, you would not stray from the present aim.
And the wine , he says, of the wrath of her fornication , apostasy from God according to the written word: “you have destroyed all who commit fornication from you,” (Ps. 72:27) which fornication brings darkness to the nature of reason; for who of a sound mind would choose to worship with wood and stones, and to call the spirit away from God? About this matter was the wine spoken of, “the wine being the wrath of dragons; and the wrath of asps is incurable.” (Deut. 32:33) This Babylon first drank of the deadly wine herself, and thereafter all the nations whom she ruled she compelled to drink .
Revelation 14:9-12 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice: If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed undiluted in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus .
The third angel forbids people from worshiping the beast and from receiving its mark . For to worship someone as a god other than the true and living God is most impious.
And he says that he will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed undiluted in the cup of His anger . The glorious David also remembers this cup and the wine, saying that “a cup is in the hand of the Lord, full of wine mixed undiluted, and he inclined from it to this: but the cluster of its vintage was not emptied; all the sinners of the earth shall drink.” (Ps. 74:9) He says that the wrath of God is wine, not making the metaphor from joy but from darkening and from the change by which those controlled by the wrath of God are restrained.
He says of the mixed thing that it is undiluted . That is, mixed in an undiluted way; for the wrath of God has been mixed with generosity and goodness, it has been mixed undiluted ; for there is no equality between anger and goodness, but generosity far outweighs. For if there were equality of both the wrath of the righteous and the goodness, not every living thing would have endured. Knowing this, the prophet said, “If iniquity be observed, Lord, Lord, who will stand before you?” (Ps. 130:3) But since goodness is diverse in the cup of God beyond righteous anger, he again spoke mysteriously, saying: “Merciful is the Lord and just, and our God has mercy.” (Ps. 116:5) Having arranged his justice in the middle, so that, by the surrounding compassion being constrained and not forgiven, it may work its proper effects; and this is proper to justice, to give to each according to merit. Having once remembered the wine and therefore called forth the anger , he persisted in that course and named the cup the portion given by the hand of God to sinners. But someone may perhaps say, how do you call the mercy of God many in that judgment at the time when the vision delivered to us, having descended a little, declared that the punishments of those being punished are eternal?
For what does he say? And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night . To whom would one say this? “Is it, O man, to be tormented eternally and not suffer according to due merit?” For what? If someone is worthy of fire and darkness, and is condemned into darkness, and is punished merely in this, by not being in participation of God’s goods, and is pained only by that, and not punished sensibly. But he says that the smoke of torment that ascends is the anguish of sinners, poured out below in weeping to the outside.
Therefore, he says: Here is the patience of the saints . He says that in that time of the Antichrist, and in that temptation it is shown forth. For as great as the danger and the affliction then, so great a need of perseverance. Then the discourse is shaped as if from a question. And who, he says, are those whom you call holy and patient?
He says: those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus . For such people, even when trials and death are present, will set everything second to the faith and love of God.
Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." And the Spirit says, "That they may rest from their labors, for their works follow with them."
Blessed are those who are not permitted to worship the image of the beast nor to receive the mark upon their forehead and their hand, and because of this are put to death; for these, having taken up the crown of martyrdom, attain the same end as the other martyrs.
Revelation 14:14-16 And I saw, and behold a white cloud; and upon the head 4 there was one like unto the Son of man, having upon his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat upon the head 4 , Send forth your sickle, and reap: for the time to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat upon the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth 5 .
He sees the Lord who was worthy to become the Son of man , riding a cloud . It was truly a cloud, since the Gospel also says this, that which I have offered as demonstration above 6 is of some angelic power; or it is written, "and he mounted upon the cherubim and flew; he sped upon the wings of the wind." (Ps. 18:10) He calls the angels a cloud , because of the loftiness and exalted nature and worth of their being; or at least he calls the Mother of God [θεοτόκον] a cloud upon whom honor rests, and this mother according to the flesh; for so Isaiah likewise foresees her, saying, “Behold, the Lord sits upon a swift cloud, and he will come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall tremble before his face.” (Isa. 19:1) Interpreting this statement, Aquila 7 says that the cloud is of light thickness; thick, as I think, because it is human and flesh, but light because it is pure and blameless and not burdened by any sin, and also because of the exalted and heaven-reaching nature of the soul. Therefore, you should understand the cloud ; white because of the purity and the luminous [φωτοειδές] appearance of the things perceived.
But the crown signifies the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ; for Christ is King of both the spiritual and the sensible, and the crown of gold , from the precious things among us, sets forth the splendor of the kingdom.
And the sickle shown in his hand plainly indicates that in his power he sits over the end 8 [συντέλειαν] of the age.
And the angel said to him, Send forth your sickle, and reap: for the time to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe . And he says he cast his sickle upon the earth and it was reaped? A harvest is often spoken of in the Gospels; “but the workers are few.” (Matt. 9:37; Luke 10:2) There, the harvest signified the gathering of the faithful; here, it signifies the end of humanity, so that if any in them were chaff, unripe and worthy of fire, it would be delivered to the fire.
Revelation 14:17-20 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the altar, who had power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe." And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside of the city, and blood flowed out of the winepress even unto the bridles of the horses, by the space of a thousand six hundred stadia 9 .
The angel who has the sickle , who came forth from the heavenly temple , is himself also a minister and servant of the coming end. being heavenly and a minister of God, having come forth from the heavenly temple he is described.
And another , it is said, an angel from the altar who had power over fire . And this, I understand, is appointed for the punishment of the ungodly.
Then he says, send and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth . Now the previously mentioned (Rev. 14:15) harvest represents the righteous and the sinners being gathered together at the same time, whose separation “the Lord’s winnowing fan will make, who will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor; and he will gather the wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire,” as is said in the Gospels. (Matt. 3:12; Luke 9:17) But the vintage of the grapes plainly signifies the very lawless ones, from their drunkenness and the madness of the vision depicting them; and it is clear from these that neither the Lord deems them worthy to be gathered as the former, but some of the angels, and they are immediately cast out into the winepress of the wrath of God, not being granted defense nor asked, nor brought to judgment, as sinners also are introduced in the Gospels (Matt. 25:46; Luke 16:19-31), for whom the inexhaustible and unshared cause has become the reason of punishment. Concerning these things I think the prophet says that “the wicked shall not be raised in judgment.” (Ps. 1:5) He has appropriately called the punishment a winepress by the metaphor of grapes and the harvest.
And he says the winepress was trodden outside of the city ; for it was not lawful that those being punished should receive the returns of evils and defile the joy of the holy ones in the heavenly Jerusalem, which has been called out, through sympathy for those rightly punished, not that a great chasm does not separate the pious from the impious according to the words of the patriarch Abraham, which he made toward the rich in the Gospels. (Luke 16:26)
And blood , it says, flowed from the winepress . He rightly said blood , to show that having spoken of a cluster of grapes he had spoken metaphorically, since indeed the sufferers and the thrashers were people, and they thresh with the bridles of horses for a thousand six hundred stadia , he says. Certain horses of God are handed over to us in the divine Scripture, signifying angelic power that holds God’s dominion; for he says in the Song of Songs to the bride, “The heavenly bridegroom I likened to my horse in Pharaoh’s chariot, the near one, my near one.” (Song 1:9) And the prophet Habakkuk sings to God that he will “mount upon your horses, and your cavalry is salvation.” (Hab. 3:8) The Revelation says that the bridles of these horses are wet with the blood of sinners, not nearby but standing apart by length; and the whole statement is figurative, the riddle showing that the blood is so great. For those who travel the broad way are far more numerous than those on the narrow and pressed path (Matt. 7:14), just as those bridles might well be soaked from the horses set over punishment, whether of angels or whatever else.
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Translator’s notes for chapter 14.
1. “mother-city” [μητρόπολιν] The word μητρόπολιν (metropolin) literally means "mother city", combining the Greek words "mētēr" (mother) and "polis" (city). It denotes the homeland or central city-state that founded colonies, the capital of an empire (such as Rome), or the principal city/seat of a metropolitan bishopric in ecclesiastical usage.
2. “dwelling places” [μοναί] is a Koine Greek word primarily meaning "dwelling places," "abodes," or "rooms". It is the plural form of μονή, which is derived from the verb μένω, meaning "to stay," "remain," or "abide". The King James Version translation of "mansions" comes from the Latin Vulgate's mansiones . In 1611, "mansion" simply meant a place to stay or a residence, not necessarily a grand, palatial estate as the word is used today. Outside of the Bible, the word was used for a "staying" or "tarrying," and sometimes referred to a stopping place or station on a journey, such as an inn.
3. “And it is made majestic by names, called by them enthusiasm [ἐνθουσιασμός].” This phrase comes from the work “On Composition" (Chapter 25) by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, an important historian and teacher of rhetoric of the 1st century BC. In this particular excerpt, the author refers to the poetic language and the power of the word, noting the following: The phrase describes how poetry acquires modesty and grandeur through the choice of appropriate words. This process of elevating speech is called by the critics of technique ἐνθουσιασμός. Dionysius argues that the arrangement and selection of names not only provide clarity, but transform writing style into something divine and impetuous, imparting to it a quality resembling divine inspiration.
4. “ and upon the head there was one like unto the Son of man ”. “upon the head [ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς]” is an obvious scribal error. The correct reading is “upon the could [ἐπὶ τῆϛ νεϕέληϛ]”. I seriously doubt that Oecumenius himself made this error, and that it was probably done by copyists. Manuscripts 203 (Salonika Blat. 53) and 240 (Athos 770) read ἐπὶ τῆν κεφαλῆν.
5. “cast his sickle upon the earth.” The oldest Oecumenius manuscript omits that part, but manuscripts 203 (Salonika Blat. 53) and 240 (Athos 770) have the correct reading, which I added it in. Here, as in other places where the editor of the critical text goes with the readings from the oldest Oecumenius manuscript even when they are corrupt readings, I usually choose to follow later manuscripts that have the correct readings.
6. Oecumenius explained this in his comments on Rev. 1:7, His coming upon the clouds of heaven , and the Lord Himself said concerning Himself in the Gospel according to Mark as follows: "And the powers in heaven will be shaken; and then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." (Mark 13:25-26) For as I suppose it was written concerning His ascension into heaven on the day of the Ascension in the Acts, that a cloud received Him out of their sight, so He will come again with clouds. (Acts 1:9) I suppose, metaphorically, that the divine Scripture calls the holy angels " clouds " because of their lightness, their lofty nature, and their ability to walk on air [ἀεροβατές], as if it were saying that the Lord will come accompanied and attended by divine angels. For therefore the prophet also introduces Him, saying, "And he mounted upon the cherubim and flew; he flew upon the wings of the wind." (Ps. 17:11)
7. Aquila of Sinope (130A.D.) was a celebrated translator of the Hebrew Bible into Greek and a significant figure in 2nd-century Jewish history. A proselyte to Judaism from Sinope in Pontus (modern-day Sinop, Turkey), he is most famous for producing a highly literal Greek translation that sought to replace the Septuagint in Jewish communities. Aquila's version is the third column of the Hexapla, a monumental six-column parallel edition of the Old Testament compiled by the scholar Origen in the 3rd century.
8. The noun συντέλειαν is the accusative case of the word συντέλεια. In the New Testament and the Septuagint, the word is often associated with the sense of completion or the end: Refers to the end of the world or an era. Fulfillment: The full realization of a plan or a prophecy.
9. The word stadia [σταδίων] is the plural form of the word stadion [στάδιον] in the genitive case. In ancient Greece, the stadion was a unit of distance equal to 600 feet (approximately 185 meters). In the New Testament (Jn. 11:18) the distance “ἀπὸ σταδίων δεκαπέντε” (a distance of fifteen stadia) is mentioned.