John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out ,.... From heaven, or from power and authority in the Roman empire, namely, the devil, where he had long presided; it is observable that Constantine himself speaks of "the dragon" being removed from the government of the commonwealth by the providence of God, and by the ministry, or means of him F13 Euseb. de Vita Constantini, l. 2. c. 46. ; and he had his own effigies on a table placed before the porch of his palace, with the cross over his head, and... read more
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 12:8
And prevailed not ,.... That is, the dragon, or the devil, and his angels, prevailed not against Michael and his angels; but, on the other hand, were conquered by them, as the above tyrants were by Constantine and Theodosius: some copies read in the singular number, "and he prevailed not", as the Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition the Arabic and Ethiopic versions; and other copies in the plural number, "they prevailed not": and as the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions: neither... read more