Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadHeinrich Meyer Commentary - Revelation 13:16 - 13:17
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Rev_13:16-17. καὶ ποιεῖ πάντας
ἵνα δῶσιν αὐτοῖς χαρ .
καὶ ἵνα μή τις , κ . τ . λ . The first ἵνα , just as Rev_13:12; the second ἵνα (Rev_13:17) has a different relation to the ποιεῖ , which is to be regarded as repeated before it, in so far as here an immediate determination of the object is lacking.
John describes how the entire number of worshippers of the beast,[3379] who recognize one another by a mark which certifies that they belong to the beast, hinder the intercourse, required even in business with respect to their daily life, of saints who have not received that mark of the beast.
ΔῶΣΙΝ ΑὐΤΟῚς ΧΆΡΑΓΜΑ . Deceived by the second beast unto the worship of the first beast (Rev_13:14), the dwellers on the earth put a mark upon themselves; they receive it willingly.[3380]
ἘΠῚ Τῆς ΧΕΙΡῸς ΑὐΤῶΝ Τῆς ΔΕΞΙᾶς Ἢ ἘΠῚ ΤῸ ΜΈΤΩΠΟΝ ΑὐΤῶΝ . Züll. and Hengstenb. unjustly resist the acknowledgment[3381] that the idea contains an allusion to the heathen custom of branding slaves and soldiers, and thus of designating that they belong to the same master. It is just concerning this that the treatment refers, and not with respect to a counterpart of Deu_6:8; for the ΧΆΡΑΓΜΑ of the worshippers of the beast is to mark them as such, and to render them distinguishable as of the same nature, but in itself by no means contains an admonition of a service of the beast to which they are bound. The reminiscence of the Gentile custom is the more natural here, as the worshippers of the beast are partners in the Gentile-Roman Empire. The ΧΆΡΑΓΜΑ , however, is not the bringing together by a “confession,”[3382] but it is the definite external mark indicated in both its forms in Rev_13:17, which is attached either to the forehead or the right hand, and thus in places most readily presented to the eyes; for, since it is intended only for visibility, whether it be attached to the one or the other place is a matter of indifference.[3383] Inappropriately, Hengstenb. says: “The forehead is the most suitable place for the confession” (? Rom_10:10), and the right hand comes into consideration “as the instrument for action.” But just because the parallel assertion ἘΠῚ Τ . ΜΈΤΩΠΟΝ ΑΎΤ . does not allow any other reference than to the convenient visibility of the mark, the ἘΠῚ Τ . ΧΕῖΡ . ΑὐΤ . Τ . ΔΕΞ . also cannot have any deeper reference. The right hand is mentioned because this must manifest itself especially in daily use.
The nature of the signature contained by the χάραγμα is definitely expressed in Rev_13:17 : ΤῸ ὌΝΟΜΑ ΤΟῦ ΘΗΡΊΟΥ , Ἢ ΤῸΝ ἈΡΙΘΜῸΝ ΤΟῦ ὈΝΌΜΑΤΟς ΑὐΤΟῦ , i.e., either the express name by which the beast is known, and. therefore written in letters, or the number which gives the numerical value of the letters contained in the name.[3384] In every respect perversely, Coccejus says that the ΧΆΡΑΓΜΑ is the law, the ὌΝΟΜΑ the Catholic Church, and the ἈΡΙΘΜ . unwritten tradition.
[3379] The specifications τ . μικροῦς κ . τ . μεγ ., κ . τ . λ ., exhaust in a perceptible way the idea of the πἁντας . Cf. Rev_6:15, Rev_11:18, Rev_19:18.
[3380] Cf. Rev_14:9; Rev_14:11, Rev_16:2, Rev_19:20, Rev_20:4.
[3381] Grot., Ebrard, etc.
[3382] Against Hengstenb., who yet himself remarks that the confession has an impulse for an external sign.
[3383] Cf., on the other hand, Rev_7:3.
[3384] Cf. De Wette, etc.