Revelation 12:5

Revelation 12:5. The birth takes place. The woman is delivered of a son, of man's sex. The last expression is remarkable. In the Authorised Version we read simply of ‘a man child,' in the Revised of ‘a son, a man child.' We have given another rendering in the hope of thereby bringing out the force which in the original obviously belongs to the words. The object is not simply to tell us that the ‘son' is a male, which as a son he must be, but to impress upon us the thought of his manhood, power, and force. He is already more than a child; the properties of manhood belong to Him from His birth (comp. John 16:21 and note there). The function of this Son is as a shepherd to tend all the nations with a sceptre of iron. He is to subdue and rule the hostile world (chap. Revelation 2:27); and He is caught up unto God and unto his throne not merely that He may be safe there, but that with Divine power He may destroy him who would have destroyed Himself (chap. Revelation 3:21). It may be well to observe that this power is not said to be as yet actually exercised by the ‘son.' It belongs to Him, and it shall be exercised in due season.