This chapter contains the order to measure the temple of God; an account of the two witnesses, their prophesying: and power, their slaying, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, with what followed upon it; and the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the effects of that.

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod A measuring reed, which with the Jews was six cubits long, ; with the Greeks and Romans, ten feet long; the Ethiopic version here calls it a “golden reed”, as in .

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not The allusion is to the court of the Israelites, where was the great crowd and company of worshippers, even the national church of the Jews, called by Ezekiel the outer court, , and which was measured in ; but this must not be…

And I will give power unto my two witnesses By whom are meant, not Enoch and Elias, as some of the ancient fathers thought, who, they supposed, would come before the appearance of Christ, and oppose antichrist, and be slain by him, which sense the Papists greedily catch at; nor are the Scriptures,…

These are the two olive trees Or represented by the two olive trees in (Zech. 4:3, Zech. 4:11–14) , which there design Joshua and Zerubbabel; and who in laying out themselves, their gifts and wealth, in rebuilding and finishing the temple, were types of these witnesses, the ministers of the Gospel,…

And if any man will hurt them Do any injury to their persons, or properties, oppose their writings, blaspheme their doctrines, and hinder their ministrations; whoever; they be, whether they be any that live among them, or in other parts; whether they be secret or open enemies; or whether they be of…

These have power to shut heaven For these have the keys of the kingdom of heaven given them, and whatever they bind or loose on earth is bound or loosed in heaven; or in other words, having the true key of knowledge in matters, both of doctrine and discipline, given them, whatever they declare,…

And when they shall have finished their testimony For Christ, his truths and ordinances; when they are about to finish it, and almost concluded it, even towards the close of the 1260 days or years, in which they must prophesy in sackcloth: or else their testimony and their prophesying may be…

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city Not Jerusalem, which was destroyed when John had this vision, and which will; not be rebuilt at the time it refers to; nor is it ever called the great city, though the city of the great King; however, not in this book, though the new…

And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations These are either the enemies of the witnesses, who consisted of the people, kindred, tongues, and nations, out from among whom they were chosen, redeemed, and called; and before or against whom John, representing these witnesses,…

And they that dwell upon the earth Out of which the beast arose, and over which he reigns, even the inhabitants of the Roman empire, often in this book called the earth, the followers of antichrist, men that mind nothing but earth, and earthly things: shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and…

And after three days and a half When it was certain they were dead, and all hope of reviving was over; see ; that is, three years and a half: the spirit of life from God entered into them; this phrase is expressive of a resurrection the Jews frequently call the general resurrection (תחייה) , “a…

And they heard a great voice from heaven The Complutensian edition reads, “I heard”, i.e. “John”; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions; but the copies in general read “they”; not the enemies, but the witnesses: and this seems not to come from any Christian civil magistrate in the church, but from…

And the same hour was there a great earthquake Or the same day, as the Complutensian edition, and some copies, read; that is, at the time of the resurrection and ascension of the witnesses, as there was at the resurrection of Christ; and is to be understood of a very great commotion in the civil…

The second woe is past Not in John’s time, only in a visionary way; the meaning is, that the second woe trumpet, which is the sixth, will now have done sounding, when the four angels, bound in the river Euphrates, shall have been loosed, and they, with their horsemen, shall have done what they were…

And the seventh angel sounded The last of the seven angels, who had trumpets given them to sound, (Rev. 8:2, Rev. 8:6) . The days of the voice of this angel, as in , cannot refer to the times of Constantine; for though there was then a strange turn of affairs in favour of the kingdom of Christ,…

And the four and twenty elders The same with those in ; which sat before God on their seats; as they are also there described; and which may be expressive of their enjoyment of the divine Presence; and also of their quiet and undisturbed situation, being restored to their former places, which they…

Saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty The person addressed is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose the kingdoms are become, and who now reigns in great power and authority; he is Lord of all, and truly and properly God, and the Almighty, as his works of creation, preservation, redemption,…

And the nations were angry See , which the Septuagint render, the “Lord reigns, let the nations be angry”. This refers not to the times of the dragon, or the Pagan Roman emperors, who were wroth with the woman, the church, and made war with her seed; but Rome Papal, and its Gentiles, are intended;…

And the temple of God was opened in heaven The temple at Jerusalem, to which the allusion is, was the place of public worship; this, in times of idolatry, was shut up, and fell to decay; and when there was a reformation its doors were opened, and that repaired; and to this the reference seems to…