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Rev_22:6-21. The Epilogue, which naturally contains two parts, since it first (Rev_22:6-17) comprises the revelations which John had received, and then also (Rev_22:18-21) the prophetical book in which John had written the revelations received for the service of the churches, comes to a close. In both respects this conclusion corresponds to the introduction of the whole (chs. 1–3), in which likewise the double purpose enters, viz., that of communicating the prophetical scriptures to the churches, and that of designating the contents of revelation as such from the very beginning.
καὶ εἷπέν μοι , viz., the angel, who spoke at Rev_21:9.[4396] This is acknowledged also by Ebrard, who, however, finds here not an angelic declaration interposed anew, but a repetition of the account of John, who now once more recalls the angelic declaration previously received. Ebrard decides, logically, that in Rev_22:8 sqq. there is presented not a repetition of the event actually occurring, Rev_19:10, but only a repetition of the account of the same. This conception, however, is not only in conflict with the mode of statement in the text, but is also improper for the reason that thereby the return, indispensable to the harmony of the entire Apoc., from the series of visions, Rev_4:1 to Rev_22:5, revealing the future[4397] to the standpoint of the introductory vision,[4398] is cut off. Cf. also Rev_22:16.
ΟὟΤΟΙ ΟἹ ΛΌΓΟΙ , Κ . Τ . Λ . Cf. Rev_21:5. The angel looks back to the entire revelation communicated to John. Cf. Rev_22:7; Rev_22:18 ( Τ . ΛΌΓ . Τ . ΠΡ . Τ . ΒΙΒΛ . ΤΟΎΤ .). So also Klief.
ΤῶΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΆΤΩΝ ΤῶΝ ΠΡΟΦΗΤῶΝ . “The spirits” of the prophets are here no more than in 1Co_14:32, the effects of the Spirit present in the prophets,[4399] but are the spirits belonging to the different prophets, which God subjects to himself, and inspires and instructs by his own Spirit. Thus the Lord, who is the God of the spirits of all the prophets, has especially manifested himself now in the spirit of John; this God has communicated to John[4400] his true words of revelation by signifying to him, through the ministry of the angel, the things which are to come, in order that he may proclaim them to his servants.
ΤΟῖς ΔΟΎΛΟΙς ΑὐΤΟῦ , i.e., believers in general, ΤΑῖς ἘΚΚΛΗΣΊΑΙς , Rev_22:16.[4401]
ΚΑῚ ἸΔΟῪ , ἜΡΧΟΜΑΙ ΤΑΧΎ . As the Divine authority, so also especially the chief contents of the now completed revelation are again made prominent,—this occurs by the angel speaking directly in the name of the coming Lord himself,[4402]—and then the parenetic inference which this affords ( ΜΑΚΆΡΙΟς , Κ . Τ . Λ .)[4403] is added by the angel.
On Rev_22:8 sqq., cf. Rev_19:10.
Ὁ ἈΚΟΎΩΝ ΚΑῚ ΒΛΈΠΩΝ ΤΑῦΤΑ . The part. pres.[4404] marks, without regard to time, the idea of (ecstatic) hearing and seeing of these things, and accordingly the prophetic dignity of John, who just by hearing and seeing all that has been “shown” him for eye and ear, has become the Divinely-appointed interpreter of the Divine mysteries. Thus the pres. particularly shows that the ΤΆΥΤΑ [4405] refers not only to what has been reported, Rev_22:6 sq., but also to the entire revelation of God. On the other hand, the aor. occurs ( κ . ὅτε ἤκουσα ) where that which is special, Rev_22:6 sq., is treated. The variations, consequently, which by additions to the mere ἤκουσα recur to the first clause of Rev_22:8,[4406] yield an absolutely false interpretation; for John falls down before the angel, because he thinks that in the speech heard ( ὅτε ἤκουσα ), Rev_22:6-7 (consider especially Rev_22:7), he recognizes the Lord himself.
καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου τῶν προφητῶν . That the prophets are here especially emphasized as the brethren of John, distinguished from the rest of believers,[4407] is natural, because it is now the intention to assert the prophetical authority of John and his book, which the rest of believers are to receive and keep as a testimony of the Lord. Corresponding also with this, is the fact that the angel immediately imparts the command[4408] not to seal[4409] the revelations written in this book, but to communicate them to believers.
ὁ καιρὸς γὰρ ἐγγύς ἐστιν . Cf. Rev_1:3. The nearer the time is, the more the churches need warning and consolation with respect to what is contained in this revelation.
ὁ αδικῶν , κ . τ . λ . The practical result afforded by this revelation is expressed, Rev_22:11, by the angel himself in a parenetic address[4410] which, recurring to what the former visions proclaimed, as well concerning the eternal ruin of the godless as also the eternal glory of the righteous, applies it to both classes of men. In connection with this, the summons to those doing wrong, and the filthy ( ὁ ῥυπαρός )[4411] to continue in their godless course, and thus to hasten to sure ruin, is not without a certain irony.[4412] [See Note XCVIII., p. 494.] The purpose of Rev_22:11 is the less to be mistaken, as the allusion to the retributive advent of the Lord not only immediately precedes ( ὁ καιρ . γ . ἐγγύς έστιν , Rev_22:10), but also is added directly afterwards (Rev_22:12 sq.), and here the impending righteous retribution is expressly emphasized: ὁ μισθός μου , κ . τ . λ . Cf. Rev_11:18; Isa_40:10; Isa_62:11.
ὡς τὸ ἔργον ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ . Cf. Rev_20:12.
The words, Rev_22:12, read like a speech out of Christ’s own mouth, those of Rev_22:13[4413] like one of God himself; but, just because of this alternation, it is unnatural to ascribe both declarations to the angel, speaking in the name of Christ and God. On the other hand, the alternation of speakers appears too confused, if Christ himself and God be regarded as actually speaking, particularly since Rev_22:14 sq. ( τ . ἐντ . αὐτοῦ ) is most easily regarded a parenetic digression of John. Hence the speeches of Rev_22:12-13, at the close of the book, must be conceived of here in the same way as the keynote of the entire speech of God given from the very beginning in the introduction, Rev_1:8. In the ancient prophetic way, John, who shows himself to be a true interpreter of Divine revelation, in two compendious Divine declarations, fixes the fundamental thoughts of this entire prophecy (cf. Rev_22:20); the very abruptness of these expressions is an indication that Christ and God do not actually enter into the scene as themselves speaking. The speech, Rev_22:12 sq., thus understood, forms then the transition from the speech of the angel actually present to the parenetic words of John, Rev_22:14 sq.
τ . ἐντολ . αὐτοῦ . Of God,[4414] not of Christ.[4415] On the reading advocated by Ew. ii., πλύνοντες , κ . τ . λ ., see Critical Notes. This reading is deprived of its plausibility by the correct estimate of Rev_22:12-13.
ἵνα ἔσται . Cf. Winer, p. 271.
ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτῶν ἑπὶ τὸ ξύλον τ . ζ . The purpose of the godly who endeavor, according to the promised reward, to eat of the fruits of the tree of life,[4416] shall certainly be attained; hence the beatitude.
καὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν , κ . τ . λ . Cf. Rev_21:27.
ἔξω οἱ κύνες , κ . τ . λ . The ordinary idea in the declarative sense, expressed by the annexed δὲ , appears too feeble; the inner opposition to the beatitude, Rev_22:14, more readily suggests the conceiving of the words, Rev_22:15, as a command, so that ἔξω , etc., does not mean “foris sc. sunt” [“without are dogs”], but “foras sc. sunto” [“let dogs be without”], etc.[4417]
οἱ κύνες . General designation of moral impurity; cf. ῥυπαρός , Rev_22:11.[4418] A special reference to Sodomites[4419] does not lie in the context.
κ . οἱ φαρμακοὶ , κ . τ . λ . Cf. Rev_21:8.
Still once more there follows, Rev_22:18, a concluding certification of the prophet, which in a double respect comprehends the introduction of the whole, since Christ, as the One revealing his own coming, not only maintains that he himself has given this revelation through the angel sent by him,[4420] but also expressly emphasizes the determination of the same for the churches.[4421] The latter occurs in an address to the churches themselves, ὑμῖν
ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις , which is then the more applicable if the words, Rev_22:16, be regarded not as an actual speech coming from the Lord’s mouth, but[4422] as spoken in the name of Christ. The reading ἐπὶ τ . ἐκκλ .,—i.e., “over,” in reference to the churches,[4423] not “to” the churches,[4424] nor “in[4425] the churches,” nor with the gen., as Beng. explains,[4426] since he refers the ὑμῖν as dative to the angels of the churches, but regards the ἐκκλησίαις , which he also reads without a preposition, as an ablative—avoids indeed the seeming difficulty that the speech of the Lord is directly applied to the churches, but creates a far greater difficulty with respect to the relation of the ὑμῖν , which then can refer only to the prophets in general.[4427] But the idea that the Lord had the mystery of his advent proclaimed by all the Christian prophets is here not only impertinent, but is expressly rejected by the words ἔπεμφα τ . ἄγγελόν μου , which definitely marks the present revelation to the prophet John; but the application of this to the churches is throughout appropriate. Cf. also the answer of the churches, Rev_22:17. [See Note XCIX., p. 494.] ἡ ρίζα καὶ τὸ γένος Δαυῒδ . What the first expression means figuratively, and according to the O. T. prototype,[4428] the second says more properly: the Son.[4429] In this passage the interpretation is also to be rejected, according to which the sense is that “in Christ alone the family of David stands and is preserved.”[4430] [See Note XLV., p. 216.] ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ λαμπρὸς ὁ πρωἰνός . Here Christ himself is called the bright morning-star;[4431] for from him issues the light of eternal day.[4432]
[4396] De Wette, Bleek, Volkm.
[4397] ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχ ., Rev_22:6. Cf. Rev_4:1.
[4398] Rev_1:9 to Rev_3:22.
[4399] De Wette.
[4400] Cf. Rev_1:1 sqq.
[4401] Cf. Rev_1:1.
[4402] Cf. Rev_22:12; Rev_11:3.
[4403] Cf. Rev_14:13, Rev_19:9.
[4404] Cf. Rev_20:10.
[4405] Notice the plural, which recurs also in the correl., τ . δεικν . μοι ταῦτα , Rev_22:8
[4406] See Critical Notes.
[4407] Cf., on the other hand, Rev_19:10.
[4408] Cf. Rev_1:11; Rev_1:19.
[4409] Cf. Rev_10:4; Dan_8:26; Dan_12:4; Dan_12:9.
[4410] According to Klief., an exhortation, added by John, is contained in Rev_22:11-15.
[4411] Cf. Rev_21:27 : βδέλυγμα ; Jam_1:21 : ῥυπαρία .
[4412] Cf. Eze_3:27. Andr., De Wette, Ebrard, Kienlen.
[4413] Cf. Rev_21:5-6, Rev_1:8.
[4414] Cf. Rev_12:17, Rev_14:12. Züllig, De Wette, Hengstenb.
[4415] Grot., Beng., etc.
[4416] Rev_22:2; Rev_2:7.
[4417] Cf. Mat_5:13; Mat_13:48.
[4418] Php_3:2; Mat_7:6.
[4419] Eichh., who compares Deu_23:18.
[4420] Cf. Rev_1:1.
[4421] Cf. Rev_1:3 sqq.
[4422] Cf. Rev_22:12 sq.
[4423] Züll., Hengstenb. Cf. Rev_10:11.
[4424] Luth.
[4425] Vulg.
[4426] Cf. also Wolf.
[4427] Cf. Rev_22:9. Hengstenb.
[4428] Cf. Rev_5:5.
[4429] Andr., Ewald, etc. Cf. Virg., Aen., IV. Revelation 12 : Credo equidem—genus esse deorum.
[4430] Vitr., etc.
[4431] Cf., on the other hand, Rev_2:28.
[4432] Cf. Rev_21:23.
To the message announced several times from Rev_22:6, as from the Lord’s own mouth, about which the entire revelation revolves, there now follows the answer: Ἔρχου . Thus speak “the Spirit,” who, on the one hand, qualifies the prophets for announcing the future to the churches, and, on the other hand, also works faith in the churches, and thus inspires them also with hopeful longing for the coming of the Lord,[4433] “and the Bride,” i.e., the assembly of believers who are moved by the Spirit[4434] [see Note C., p. 494]; and thus also every individual is to speak who hears the joyful promise of the coming of the Lord ( καὶ ὁ ἀκ ., κ . τ . λ . In connection with the latter summons, John expressly adds ( καὶ ὁ διφῶν )[4435] that the eternal blessings of life, which the coming Lord will distribute, are to be had gratuitously by every one who desires to receive them.[4436] This pertains only to the desire that is authenticated by the fidelity of obedience. The δωρεάν placed with great emphasis at the close, is truly of an evangelical character, and energetically defends the book against the charge of anti-Pauline Judaism.[4437]
[4433] Cf. Rev_19:10, Rev_2:7; Rev_2:11.
[4434] Cf. Rev_21:9.
[4435] Cf. Rev_21:6; Isa_55:1.
[4436] Cf. Rev_1:3.
[4437] Cf. Rom_3:24.
XCVIII. Rev_22:11. ὁ ῥυπαρὸς ῥυπανθήτω , κ . τ . λ .
XCIX. Rev_22:16. ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις
C. Rev_22:17. τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ νύμφη