CHAPTER 16
Revelation 16:2-7 And the first poured out his bowl upon the earth; and there came to pass a grievous and nasty sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast and that worshipped his image. And the second poured out his bowl upon the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea. And the third poured out his bowl upon the rivers and the fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous are you, who are and who was and who is holy, because you have judged these things; for they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard the altar saying, Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments .
These things could be understood in two ways: either as events that will occur sensibly at the time of the end, or allegorically. For when the Lord, addressing the signs of the end to his own disciples, set forth many of the evils that were then to occur, saying “you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. And there will arise nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes in places; and all these are the beginning of birth-pains, and after a little while, for then there will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be.” (Matt. 24:6-8)
If the things now said were to be interpreted as having happened when each of the seven bowls is poured out, the beginning of the suffering and the pains signified by the sore that arose from the first bowl would be the afflictions and anguishes that distress the souls of men then because of the reports of wars; and the blood of the sea and waters plainly indicate the killings of those encamped near the waters in land battles, as is natural.
And I heard, he says, the angel of the waters speaking. Almighty is God and foreseeing of His creatures and sufficient for the benefit of all, so that there is no need for any collaborator for this; for where the mere willing is the sole work accomplished and where by the impulse of the will all things have been made existent, how could there be need of one who assists and partakes in the conferring of benefits? But since God is good and desires also to show kindness to the holy angels through assistance given to those who pray, for by aiding one who is in need one benefits not so much that other as oneself, and because there was no one among the angelic powers who was in want and in need of assistance from another, God appointed that those on earth who are in every respect needy of good should be provided for by the holy angels.
Therefore, in previous passages (see Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14) we recognized angels as the guardians of the churches, and Daniel the wisest wrote that Michael, the chief among angels, watches over the tribe of the Jews. (Dan. 12:1) And now the Revelation recounts to us an angel appointed over the waters . For the earthly creation, composed of the four elements, has the air conjoined with fire, earth, and water 1 . For some among the heavens wished to be fashioned into a fifth kind of body, which they say it is ethereal and circular in its motion; the three elements, fire and earth and air, are lavishly diffused for the purposes of respiration and other common uses 2 . That indeed fire, though the element is said to saturate the whole ether, is abundant and self-sufficient upon the earth, and dwells in its cavities and stones; and already some draw fire from waters in vessels lined with glass, whenever, when lifted up toward the sun, they become mirrors facing it.
But the earth is common to all, a mother and a tomb and a secure dwelling. Yet the water is not abundant for everyone: there is drinkable water in springs, fountains, wells and rivers, and the aerial water retained in the clouds in the heights gives us timely rain by divine command and nourishes every living thing on the earth. Since therefore water is not abundant for all, one of the holy angels has been appointed over it, so that it may be provided sufficient and adequate for the needs of those who lack it, which indeed often, through our wickedness, cuts off and causes scarcity, famines and the plagues that follow them.
Of this angel , appointed by God’s providence over the waters, I heard him say : Righteous are you, who are and who was and who are holy . That “ who are ,” then, shows the unending nature of God; and that “ who was ,” the one without beginning; and He “ who is ” holy is righteous in all things through all things.
Because he says these things you have judged , for they shed the blood of saints may drink blood ; for it is necessary that those encamped by the waters and the rivers in time of war should drink water defiled with blood from the slaying of the dying; to which an angel likewise sends up thanksgiving and those who circle the heavenly altar . For I heard the altar say this, indicating those who minister at the altar. May it be that we all, delivered from all the hardships spoken of, send up a thankful hymn to Christ, to whom be glory unto the ages. Amen.
[Ninth Discourse]
The first three bowls poured out by the three angels produced the things written. But as for the fourth and the fifth, it must be examined what they did.
Revelation 16:8-11 And the fourth angel says, He poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given to him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with a great heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has authority over these plagues, and they did not repent to give him glory. And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened, and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their works .
But these things are not difficult to explain in terms of the turns of fortune. For the scorching of the sun would be to people the wasting and the crowding and the destitution of those left in wars, who, oppressed by evils, ought to have asked from the Almighty God aid and deliverance from the afflictions that hold them; these men also blasphemed and, he says, did not repent . And therefore the plagues , so that since through the benefits of God they did not know the Master, at least through punishments they may come to recognition.
And the bowl of the fifth angel was poured out , he says, upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened . For it is written concerning the apostle about the Antichrist, “whom the Lord will consume by the breath of His mouth,” (2 Thess. 2:8) and concerning Isaiah: "Let the wicked be taken away that he may not see the glory of the Lord," (Isa. 26:10) “the glory” that calls the Lord's glorious presence.
Oecumenius commentary on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
“whom the Lord will consume.” Then follows relief. Whom Christ, he says, will destroy. For just as, while a fire is still at a distance, small creatures are consumed by the heat, so likewise Antichrist will be consumed from the very coming of Christ and by the breath of his mouth . And he calls the breath of the mouth a command and precept, and as it were a blast, or the Holy Spirit.
The previous statement that the bowl was poured out upon the throne of the beast indicates that the godlessness of the Antichrist will receive a tyrannical end, his ruin being wretchedly effected, and that darkness will seize all those placed under him with unexpected punishment of the accursed; for they remain in darkness of thoughts, perplexed by what has happened.
And he says that they gnawed their tongues because of the fire. This is accustomed to happen in every utmost distress, if indeed the tongues or some part of the body are accustomed to be taken away by the teeth, they think that it will lessen the other pain. They too must repent, if not for any other reason, then at least because of the overthrow of the Antichrist, whom they have appointed for themselves as king and god, and because they have blasphemed the true God by the deposition of the imposter.
Revelation 16:12-16 And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon and out of the mouth of the False Prophet; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go forth unto the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God the Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into the place called in Hebrew Meggido 3 .
The sixth angel made the Euphrates River passable, perhaps drying up some of its springs so that passage by it would be easy for the kings . By a diabolic agency and by the permission of God, many kings were gathered together for their mutual war; for the Lord had said that wars would occur at the time of the end in the brief testimony given above (Matt. 24:6).
And he says they came out from the mouth of the Dragon and from the mouth of the False Prophet . The Dragon, the author of evil, he calls the Devil, and the False Prophet is someone else acting by the power of the Devil, as if it were prophesying, or the Antichrist 4 .
But if he is speaking in general of the Antichrist, whom in the earlier passages he introduced as one deprived by the Spirit of the Lord, but now as though still living he vents demons through his mouth, let the hearer not be astonished.
For what is seen is a vision, and the first things are often shown to the evangelist later, and conversely the later things first, and he says, I saw three spirits like frogs . For there are spirits of demons performing signs, which go forth unto the kings . The demons are compared to frogs because they delight in the filthy, muddy life of men and in the slime. But the damp and windless life seems to them more like the life of sinners rather than the steadfast and hardened life of the righteous, whom they greatly envy and rejoice in the destruction of the living.
And he says that it is a kind of wonder-working 5 [θαυματοποιΐας] of the demons to bring the kings together against one another in war at the time of the end, and he calls that day great , that is, that season; for truly that day is called great and terrible, and also by Joel it is said, before it comes, "the great and evident day of the Lord." (Joel 3:4)
Behold, I come like a thief , says the Lord. He says "like a thief" because of the sudden and unexpected nature of his second coming.
Oecumenius commentary on 2 Peter 3:10
The uncertainty of the Lord's coming is signified as a theft , when it is least expected, through the thief and the night: through the night indeed, because of uncertainty; for all things in the night are uncertain: through the thief; because he is not expected; for no one will be robbed who expects a thief, but those who least expect him will be robbed. Therefore, the Lord also says that just as in the days of Noah there were men rejoicing in weddings and drinking, thinking nothing of the future calamity that would overtake them (Matt. 24:38), until the flood overwhelmed them: so too will the coming of the Lord suddenly come upon the wicked.
Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked . He persevered in the way of the thief; therefore he said that the garments must be kept so that they are not lost, garments meaning the virtuous and modest life by which we are deemed worthy of God's protection, that is, the body so that it may be holy and clean. For he who has not guarded it will be shamed before the angels and the humans of the divine throne, being pursued in the judgment at that time and left naked , deprived of divine assistance.
And the demons, he says, gathered the kings of the whole inhabited earth into the place called in Hebrew Meggido . This is interpreted as “Cutting off” or “to be cut off.” Therefore he called the place of war Meggido from the cutting off and slaughter destined to be gathered there.
Revelation 16:17-21 And the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came forth from the temple from the throne saying, “It is done”; and there were flashes of lightning and voices and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, such as had not occurred since men were upon the earth, so great an earthquake, and the great city was [divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and the great city Babylon was] 6 remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the wrath of God; and every island fled away and no mountains were found. And great hail, about the weight of talents, fell from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague of it was exceedingly great .
Into the air indeed he poured out his bowl ; and the voice said It is done . What has been done? The decree, that is, of God and His plan.
When this was spoken, there were flashes of lightning and voices : the flashes from the heights, the voices on the earth from the awe of the flashes.
And thunders and an earthquake . Either he calls an earthquake the shaking of the earth, since this too is contained among the signs of the end (Luke 21:11), or he calls an earthquake the transformation of things seen, according to what is said to the Haggai: “once more I will shake not only the heaven but also the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations.” (Hag. 2:6-7) Therefore it is also emphasized, as he says, that there had never been such an earthquake like it before.
And he says the great city was divided into three parts , and the cities of the nations fell . Concerning Jerusalem he says the great city , and it is clear from what he contrasts with it the cities of the nations ; for in the divine Scripture, it is customary to call Israel, apart from the other peoples, a nation. And he calls it great , as infamous.
And all the cities fell ; for when the land was being transformed and made new, how could the cities standing in it remain untouched, defiled by the dwelling of sinners?
And Babylon , he says, the Great, was remembered before God to be given the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath . In what it said previously, And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen;” (Rev. 14:8) but in the present passage he wants us to understand that he does not mean that Babylon, but signifies another. And I think he means Rome and those who will then occupy it, as the discourse to follow will teach.
Therefore he says that great Babylon was remembered before God . That is, the memory of her former sins, when they persecuted and killed the saints, came before God; and the cup of the wine of the wrath of God is already interpreted; therefore there is no need to speak at length.
And he says that every island fled and no mountains were found .
Islands are said to be the churches from the nations, as the prophet says: “The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice; let many islands be glad.” (Ps. 97:1) Islands are also said, as those that have emerged and overcome the bitter and salty idolatry. But one might also understand islands as the impure hordes of demons, signifying something different, as being entangled in this salt and fickle life.
About the mountains , he says that they are demons, and the great singer, singing, shows that “the mountains melted like wax before the face of the Lord because he is coming.” (Ps. 96:5) The account therefore hands down to us that the ranks of the demons at that time will be destroyed and vanish. But where could the wretched ones flee from the presence of God, “in whose hand are the ends of the earth,” (Ps. 4:4) who measured the heaven by a span and the earth with a handful? (Isa. 40:12) except that those who suffer will attempt a useless flight and escape.
Because of these events and the great hail , it was necessary that the people then turn to pleas and prayers. For thereby the calamities upon them would cease, whereas they instead blasphemed God , by whose favor the evils also increased against them.
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Translator’s notes for chapter 16.
1. This statement describes a central tenet of Classical Element Theory, which originated in ancient Greece and served as the primary scientific framework for the physical world for nearly two millennia. Empedocles (c. 450 BCE) was the first to propose that all earthly creation is composed of four fundamental "roots": Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. He taught that these elements are eternal and unchanging, but their various mixtures and proportions create everything in existence. Aristotle (c. 350 BCE) refined this theory by adding that elements are joined through shared qualities: Air is hot and wet. Fire is hot and dry. Water is cold and wet. Earth is cold and dry.
2. This passage draws from the cosmological works of St. Basil the Great (specifically his Hexaemeron or "Six Days of Creation"), where he critiques and adapts ancient Greek theories of the universe. It distinguishes between the "corruptible" materials used for life on Earth and the "incorruptible" substance of the heavens.
3. “ Meggido” The oldest Oecumenius manuscript reads “Meggido.“ [Μαγεδδώ]. Both manuscripts 203 (Salonika Blat. 53) and 240 (Athos 770) read “Armageddon” in both the Scripture text and the comments. In this case I whose “Meggido” because Oecumenius interprets the word “Meggido” and not “Armageddon”.
4. Oecumenius stated that the False Prophet is the Antichrist in chapter 13.
5. The word θαυματοποιΐας refers to the ability or act of performing miracles. Depending on the context, its meaning varies: In religious context, the performance of supernatural acts attributed to divine intervention or to persons with particular spiritual gifts (saints, prophets). Magic tricks or wonder-working. In ancient Greece, the term also described the θαυματοποιΐας of the time, that is, magicians, tightrope walkers, or individuals who used visual tricks to impress the audience.
6. The oldest Oecumenius manuscripts omit that section in brackets, but it is in both manuscripts 203 (Salonika Blat. 53) and 240 (Athos 770), as well as in the comments.