Revelation 8:1-6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 8:2

The seven angels which stood before God - Probably the same as those called the seven Spirits which are before his throne, Revelation 1:4 ; (note). There is still an allusion here to the seven ministers of the Persian monarchs. See Tobit 12:15. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 8:3

Another angel - About to perform the office of priest. Having a golden censer - This was a preparation peculiar to the day of expiation. "On other days it was the custom of the priest to take fire from the great altar in a silver censer, but on the day of expiation the high priest took the fire from the great altar in a golden censer; and when he was come down from the great altar, he took incense from one of the priests, who brought it to him, and went with it to the golden altar; and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 8:4

The smoke of the incense - with the prayers - Though incense itself be an emblem of the prayers of the saints, Psalm 141:2 ; yet here they are said to ascend before God, as well as the incense. It is not said that the angel presents these prayers. He presents the incense, and the prayers ascend With it. The ascending of the incense shows that the prayers and offering were accepted. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 8:5

Cast it into the earth - That is, upon the land of Judea; intimating the judgments and desolations which were now coming upon it, and which appear to be farther opened in the sounding of the seven trumpets. There were voices - All these seem to point out the confusion, commotions, distresses, and miseries, which were coming upon these people in the wars which were at hand. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 8:6

Prepared themselves to sound - Each took up his trumpet, and stood prepared to blow his blast. Wars are here indicated; the trumpet was the emblem of war. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 8:1

And when. καὶ ὅταν , instead of καὶ ὅτε (as in the other seals), is read in A, C, and gives a certain indefiniteness which does not belong to any of the rest (Alford). ὅτε is, however, found in א , B, P, Andreas. He had opened the seventh seal; he opened. As in the case of the other seals, the silence accompanies the opening (see on Revelation 6:1 , Revelation 6:3 , Revelation 6:5 , etc.). This completes the number, and sets the roll free ( Revelation 5:1 ).... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 8:1

Silence in heaven. "Silence in heaven"? and that for "about the space of half an hour"? £ What can this mean, or how can it furnish an expositor with material for instructive teaching? The question is a natural one, and it is capable of being answered. This verse is neither to be dismissed as if unintelligible, nor slighted as if unimportant. It is full of most intense significance, and will be found to illustrate the truth that some of the most obscure and unpromising verses of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 8:1

Blessed silence. "There was silence … half an hour." No one certainly knows what these words mean. Every one can see that they tell of a pause, an interval between the opening of the seventh seal and the sounding of the first of those trumpets of which this eighth chapter mainly speaks. It may be—as one great expositor suggests—that during that Lord's day in which St. John was in the Spirit, and during which he saw in stately procession the series of magnificent visions, or heard, one... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 8:1-5

Prayer and fire. For some time there had been "silence in heaven." During this time there was a corresponding period of calm on earth. Then the prayers of the saints were rising to heaven, fragrant with the incense which mingled with them. As the sequel to these prayers, and as the answer to them, the angel takes fire in the censer and casts it on the earth. From that point a new series of activities unfolds. On these we shall touch in the next homily. Meanwhile we are detained by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 8:1-6

Soul silence. "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour," etc. This portion of the dream of John, like other portions, has Jewish elements of thought brought into strange and grotesque combinations. In dreams there are no new objects or elements of thought or emotion, but old ones brought into unique forms by an ungoverned imagination. Whilst they are evermore difficult, if not impossible to interpret, they are at all times... read more

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