Revelation 1:1-20

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Revelation 1:14-18

There was coming forth from his mouth a sharp, two-edged sword. The sword referred to was not long and narrow like a fencer's blade; it was a short, tongue-shaped sword for close righting. Again the seer has gone here and there in the Old Testament for his picture. Isaiah says of God: "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth" ( Isaiah 11:4 ); and of himself: "He made my mouth like a sharp sword" ( Isaiah 49:2 ). The symbolism tells us of the penetrating quality of the word... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Revelation 1:20

1:20 Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches and the seven lampstands are the seven Churches. This passage begins with a word which throughout the New Testament is used in a very special case. The King James Version speaks of the mystery of the seven stars and of the seven golden candlesticks. The Greek, musterion ( Greek #3466 ), does not mean a mystery in our... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ ,.... Either of which he is the author: for it was he that sent and showed it by his angel to John; it was he, the lion of the tribe of Judah, that took the book, and opened the seals of it, and which is a very considerable proof of his deity; since none but God could foreknow and foretell things to come, or declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet, as is done in this book: or of which he is the subject; for it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:2

Who bore record of the word of God ,.... Of the essential and eternal Word of God, his only begotten Son; as John the apostle did in his Gospel, and in his epistles, and also in this book; and which is a clear evidence of his being the writer of it, And of the testimony of Jesus Christ ; that is, the Gospel, which testifies of the person of Christ, of the truth of his divinity, and reality of his human nature; of the union of the two natures, divine and human, his person: of his several... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:3

Blessed is he that readeth ,.... This book the Revelation, privately, in his closet or family, carefully and diligently, with a desire of understanding it; or publicly in the church of God, and endeavours open and explain it to others; and may allude to the reading of the law and the prophets in the synagogues, which were not barely read, but expounded; see Acts 13:15 ; and the rather this may be thought to be the sense of the words, since there is a change of number in the next clause, ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:4

John to the seven churches which are in Asia ,.... In lesser Asia; their names are mentioned in Revelation 1:11 , grace be unto you, and peace ; which is the common salutation of the apostles in all their epistles, and includes all blessings of grace, and all prosperity, inward and outward: See Gill on Romans 1:7 . The persons from whom they are wished are very particularly described, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come ; which some understand of the whole... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:5

And from Jesus Christ ,.... Who, though the second Person in the Trinity, is mentioned last, because many things were to be said of him; and who is described in all his offices: in his prophetic office, the faithful witness ; as he is of his Father, of his mind and will, with respect to doctrine and worship; of his truth and faithfulness in his promises; and of his love, grace, and mercy, to his chosen; and of himself, of his true deity, proper sonship, and perfect equality with the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:6

And hath made us kings and priests ,.... The Alexandrian copy, and Complutensian edition, read, "a kingdom, priests"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "a kingdom and priests"; and the Arabic version, "a kingdom of priesthood"; reference seems to be had to Exodus 19:6 , "and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests"; which the Jerusalem Targum renders, "ye shall be unto me", מלכין וכהנין , "kings and priests"; and so the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases it thus, "and ye shall be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:7

Behold he cometh with clouds ,.... John carries on the account of Christ in his kingly office, one branch of which is to execute judgment; and describes him by a future coming of his, which cannot be understood of his coming to take vengeance on the Jews, at the time of Jerusalem's destruction, though that is sometimes expressed in such language, and with such circumstances, as here; see Matthew 24:30 ; because if this revelation was made to John, in the latter end of Domitian's reign, as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 1:8

I am Alpha and Omega ,.... These are the words of Christ himself, appearing at once, and confirming what John had said of him, concerning his person, offices, and future coming: Alpha is the first letter, and Omega the last in the Greek alphabet, and signifies that Christ is the first and the last, as it is interpreted in Revelation 1:11 , and is a character often given to the divine Being in prophetic writings; see Isaiah 41:4 ; and is no small proof of the proper deity of Christ. Alpha... read more

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