Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 11:7

τὸ θηρίον. A adds τὸ τέταρτον.

7. τὸ θηρίον. Here first mentioned: probably that which appears in Revelation 13:1, not in Revelation 13:11 : though neither of them makes his appearance immediately “out of the bottomless pit”: see, however, Revelation 17:8. But perhaps it is worth noticing that “the deep” in Romans 10:7 (the word is the same as “the bottomless pit” here) corresponds to “the sea” of Deuteronomy 30:13.

ποιήσει μετʼ αὐτῶν πόλεμον. Daniel 7:21. We are not to think of the “saints” who rally round the “witnesses” as necessarily holding the holy city against the armies of the beast; in the earliest and best days of the Maccabees the sinners were for the most part at ease in Zion, while the saints were fighting the good fight in the wilderness; the struggle to which the Seer looks forward is the antitype of that.

νικήσει αὐτούς. Martyrs who have only to testify and suffer are always conquerors; but it belongs to the calling of these prophets not only to witness but to strive—and to strive in vain; their testimony is silenced and their work undone.

καὶ�. After the lost battle.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 11:7

Old Testament

New Testament