John Bengel Commentary - Revelation 4:8 - 4:8

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John Bengel Commentary - Revelation 4:8 - 4:8


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Rev 4:8. Ἔχον) Εἶχον, Er. (without the sanction of the other copies of Andreas) and Bar. L.; ἔσχον, Hunt. The ἀνὰ is thought by Wolf to require the plural form of the verb: the singular however occurs, Rev 21:21. The others, with great agreement, have ἔχον or εἶχον.[60]-[61] γέμουσις[62] ὀφθαλμῶν) Uffenb., a recent book indeed, has γέμουσιν ὀφθαλμούς; but that this was the reading of others also, you may collect from And. I., who substitutes ἔχοντα ὀφθαλμούς. The same Uff., Rev 4:6, has also γέμοντα ὀφθαλμούς. Perhaps more MSS. have the same variety, which may have been overlooked by collators. The verb γέμω is found with a genitive and accusative together, ch. Rev 17:4.-ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος, holy, holy, holy) Some copyists wrote this nine times, in accordance with the liturgical custom of the Greeks; but John, as Isaiah, wrote it three times. And in John the four beasts raise this cry to Him that sits upon the throne, that is, the Father, from whose right hand the Lamb, that is, Christ, takes the book which is sealed with seven seals. The Τρισάγιον, as the Greeks term it, occurs also in Psalms 99, where, on the announcement of His Majesty which is about to display itself, of His Justice which already displays itself, and of His Mercy displayed in time past, there resound three addresses on the subject of His Holiness. And, as in that instance, so this Apocalyptic Τρισάγιον also in the text itself, points out its own meaning in relation to itself:

[60] A has ἔχων: so Lachm. and Tiseh. B, ἔχον. Rec. Text, εἶχον; so Vulg. “habebant.” Either of the former, as being the more difficult, is less likely to have come from transcribers.-E.

[61] κυκλόθεν, about) This is to be referred not to the wings, but to the eyes.-V. g.

[62] So AB Vulg.; but Rec. Text, without good authority, γέμοντα.-E.

Holy, He who was:

Holy, He who is:

Holy, He who is to come.

He showed Himself as an object of holy worship, in the creation of all things: He shows Himself further more fully as an object of holy worship, in the governing of all things: He will in the highest degree show Himself an object of holy worship, in the consummation of all things. From Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: to Him be glory to all ages. Castellio is not inconsistent with those things which we said on the subject of Holiness in the German Notes; for, according to his explanation, קדוש is Augustus, as T. L. Bunemann observes in the Index of the Bible of Castellio.

In a similar hymn, Isa 6:3, there is added, THE EARTH is full of His glory. But in the Apocalypse this is deferred, until the glory of THE LORD fills the earth, His enemies having been destroyed. See ch. Rev 5:10, Rev 11:16-18, Rev 19:2. By the use of which passages, we collect, that the four beasts are more occupied, while the action is in heaven; the elders, while it is extended to the earth.