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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 1:15

His feet like unto fine brass - An emblem of his stability and permanence, brass being considered the most durable of all metallic substances or compounds. The original word, χαλκολιβανον , means the famous aurichalcum , or factitious metal, which, according to Suidas, was ειδος ηλεκτρου, τιμιωτερον χρυσου , "a kind of amber, more precious than gold." It seems to have been a composition of gold, silver, and brass, and the same with the Corinthian brass, so highly famed and valued;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:1-20

Revelation 3:1-22 THE INTRODUCTION . Most writers agree that the first three chapters are introductory. They may be thus subdivided: Revelation 1:1-3 , the superscription; Revelation 1:4-8 , the address and greeting; Revelation 1:9-20 , the introductory vision; Revelation 2:1-29 ; Revelation 3:1-22 , the epistles to the seven Churches of Asia. The earliest systematic commentator on the Apocalypse in the Greek Church, Andreas of Caesarea, in Cappadocia... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:9-19

The Saviour's revelation of himself. We may divide our Saviour's teaching about himself into three parts, in chronological order. There are As stage succeeded stage, the words became richer in glory. During the forty days after the Resurrection, the teachings concerning himself were in advance of those which preceded it (cf. Luke 24:46 , Luke 24:47 ). And those on "the Lord's day" to the exile were greater than all the rest. What a Lord's day that was for the prisoner! Many would... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:9-20

The introductory vision. This section is introductory, not merely to the epistles to the Churches, but to the whole book. In it the seer narrates how he received his commission; and with it should be compared Isaiah 6:1-13 ; Jeremiah 1:1-10 ; Ezekiel 1:1-3 ; Daniel 10:1-21 , especially Daniel 10:2 , Daniel 10:7 , where "I Daniel" is exactly parallel to "I John" here. The Revised Version is again much to be preferred to the Authorized Version. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:9-20

The vision of the Lord. That St. John should have been favoured with this glorious vision is but in keeping with what was often granted to the prophets of the Lord—to Moses, at the burning bush; to Isaiah, in the temple; to Jeremiah, at his consecration to his prophetic office, and likewise to Ezekiel; and to the three chief apostles, SS . Peter, James, and John, at the Transfiguration; St. John, at Patmos; and St. Paul, at Damascus and when caught up to heaven. All these visions were... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:9-20

The vision of the Son of man. The vision granted for the comfort of the suffering Church was made: 1 . To a "brother and partaker" in all "the tribulation and kingdom and patience," sharing at the very hour, "in the isle that is called Patmos," the consequences of faithfully proclaiming the Word of God and bearing his testimony to Jesus. 2 . He was in an exalted spiritual state: "in the Spirit"—under the control of the Spirit; sensitively alive to the teachings of the Spirit;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:10-17

Voices and visions from eternity. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," etc. Concerning this vision, and, indeed, nearly all the visions recorded in this Apocalypse, there are three facts to be predicated at the outset. 1 . It is mental. What is here reported as heard and seen by John was not seen by his bodily eye or heard by his bodily ear. It was, I consider, a purely mental vision. It is one of the characteristic attributes and distinctions of man that he can see and hear... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:13

In the midst of the candlesticks . "For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them". Like unto the Son of man . Here and in Revelation 14:14 we have simply υἱὸς ἀνθωώπου , as also in John 5:27 and Daniel 7:13 ; not ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου , as in Acts 7:56 and everywhere else in all four Gospels. It is not certain that the absence of the articles forbids us to render the phrase, "the Son of man;" but it is safer to render,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:14

His head . From the garments of the great High Priest, St. John passes on to himself. What he had seen as a momentary foretaste of glory at the Transfiguration, he sees now as the abiding condition of the Christ. In Daniel 7:9 "the Ancient of days" has "the hair of his head like pure wool." This snowy whiteness is partly the brightness of heavenly glory, partly the majesty of the hoary head. The Christ appears to St. John as a son of man, but also as a "Divine Person invested with the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 1:15

Fine brass . This may stand as a translation of χαλκολίβανος , a word which occurs here and in Revelation 2:18 only, and the second half of which has never been satisfactorily explained. It may have been a local technical term in use among the metalworkers of Ephesus ( Acts 19:24 ; 2 Timothy 4:14 ). The Rhemish Version renders it "latten." In what follows, the Revised Version is to be preferred: "as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many... read more

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