αἱ δύο. Text. Rec[423] omits αἱ with אB2.

[423] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.

14. αἱ δύο πτέρυγες τοῦ�. The great eagle need not be any one mystical eagle known to the Seer and his disciples, it may be as general as “the eagle” Deuteronomy 28:49; if on the other hand we omit the article before δύο, it will be clear that the eagle is many-winged as in 4 Esdras, and therefore mysterious. Some suppose “the great eagle” to symbolise the Roman Empire; but that did not protect the Jewish church, though to some extent it did the Christian.

ἵνα πέτηται … τοῦ ὄφεως. This resumes Revelation 12:6 in a way characteristic of the writer’s method in linking different visions together, cf. Revelation 8:2; Revelation 8:6 and Revelation 15:1; Revelation 15:5-6. In the latter passage and in this chapter it might be a question whether the earlier verse was not the afterthought.

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Old Testament