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Revelation 11

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Measuring the Temple and the Holy City 1–2

1
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. ​
2
And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. ​

The Two Witnesses Prophesy 3–14

3
And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ​
4
These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth. ​
5
And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. ​
6
These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. ​
7
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. ​
8
And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ​
9
And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
10
And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. ​
11
And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. ​
12
And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. ​
13
And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. ​
14
The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly. ​

The Seventh Trumpet Sounds 15–19

15
And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is becomethe kingdomof our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever. ​
16
And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God,
17
saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign. ​
18
And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth. ​
19
And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 11

Verse 1

a reed like unto a rod — Kalamos, a reed, the measuring instrument of Ezek 40:3, 5, 'a measuring reed of six cubits long', and of Zech 2:1–2, 'To measure Jerusalem'. Rev 21:15 has 'a golden reed to measure the city'. John is told to measure 'the temple of God' (naos, the sanctuary), 'the altar, and them that worship therein'.

Verse 2

forty and two months — The same period is written three ways in Revelation: 'forty and two months' (11:2; 13:5), 'a thousand two hundred and threescore days' (11:3; 12:6) and 'a time, and times, and half a time' (12:14), the last from Dan 7:25. 'Trodden down of the Gentiles' recalls Christ's word on Jerusalem (Luke 21:24).

Verse 3

my two witnesses — Martys, witness, and the law of Deut 19:15: 'at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.' Their 'thousand two hundred and threescore days' match the forty-two months of v.2. Sakkos, sackcloth, is the dress of mourning and repentance, which Nineveh 'put on' at Jonah's word (Jonah 3:5).

Verse 4

the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks — The picture is Zechariah's: two olive trees beside the lampstand (Zech 4:3, 11) and 'the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth' (Zech 4:14). Here they stand 'before the God of the earth'. Elsewhere in this book 'the seven candlesticks… are the seven churches' (1:20).

Verse 5

fire proceedeth out of their mouth — Elijah called fire from heaven on the captain of fifty (2 Kings 1:10), and the LORD told Jeremiah, 'I will make my words in thy mouth fire' (Jer 5:14). 'Must' (dei) is the verb of necessity: 'he must in this manner be killed' states what is ordained for anyone who would hurt them.

Verse 6

power to shut heaven — Elijah said, 'there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word' (1 Kings 17:1). Christ and James give its length as 'three years and six months' (Luke 4:25; Jas 5:17), which equals the forty-two months of v.2. Turning water 'to blood' is Moses' sign (Ex 7:20).

Verse 7

out of the bottomless pit — Abyssos, the abyss, opened by the star in 9:1–2 and ruled by 'the angel of the bottomless pit' (9:11). Rev 17:8 repeats that the beast 'shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition'. The war echoes Dan 7:21, 'the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them'.

Verse 8

spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt — The verse gives its own marker: 'where also our Lord was crucified'. Pneumatikos, spiritually, introduces the names: Jerusalem's rulers are addressed as 'rulers of Sodom' (Isa 1:10), and Egypt is 'the house of bondage' (Ex 20:2). Christians have read the city as Jerusalem, or as the world's godless order.

Verse 10

shall rejoice over them, and make merry — Christ foretold it: 'ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice' (John 16:20). 'Send gifts one to another' is a custom of rejoicing, as in Esth 9:22, 'sending portions one to another'. 'Tormented' is basanizo, the verb of the scorpion-torment of 9:5.

Verse 11

the Spirit of life from God — Pneuma zoes. The scene follows Ezekiel's valley: 'the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet' (Ezek 37:10). The bodies had lain 'three days and an half' (v.9), unburied; 'great fear fell upon them which saw them'.

Verse 12

Come up hither — The same words, 'Come up hither', called John through the open door in 4:1. 'In a cloud' is the manner of Christ's own ascension, when 'a cloud received him out of their sight' (Acts 1:9). 'Their enemies beheld them' uses theoreo, the same verb as the seeing of v.11.

Verse 13

gave glory to the God of heaven — Of others, 'they repented not to give him glory' (16:9); here the remnant gives it. 'God of heaven' is a title used by Cyrus (Ezra 1:2) and Daniel (Dan 2:44). 'Seven thousand' of men is literally 'names of men', as 3:4 speaks of 'a few names even in Sardis'.

Verse 14

The second woe is past — The woes were announced as a threefold cry, 'Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth' (8:13), for the three trumpets still to sound; 'One woe is past' is said at 9:12. The third 'cometh quickly' (tachy), and the seventh angel sounds in the next verse.

Verse 15

his Christ — Christos, the Anointed: the kings of the earth in Ps 2:2 'take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed'. 'He shall reign for ever and ever' is the sea-song of Moses, 'The LORD shall reign for ever and ever' (Ex 15:18), and the kingdom Daniel saw given to the Son of man, 'an everlasting dominion' (Dan 7:14).

Verse 17

Lord God Almighty — Pantokrator, the all-ruling. It stands nine times in Revelation (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22) and once elsewhere (2 Cor 6:18). 'Hast taken… and hast reigned' are past verbs; 19:6 gives the same cry with the same verb, 'the Lord God omnipotent reigneth'.

Verse 18

the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come — Orgizo and orge share a root: the nations' anger meets the LORD's wrath, as in Ps 2:1, 5, 'Why do the heathen rage… Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath.' 'Destroy them which destroy' is the one verb twice (diaphtheiro). The dead, 'small and great', stand in 20:12.

Verse 19

the ark of his testament — Kibotos tes diathekes, the words of Heb 9:4, 'the ark of the covenant', where the KJV uses 'covenant' for the same Greek diatheke. The lightnings, voices and thunderings recur at 4:5, 8:5 and 16:18, and the thunders and trumpet voice of Sinai (Ex 19:16) are their first pattern.