Revelation 12:1,Psalm 19:1

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Revelation 12:1-5

Revelation 12:1-5. And there appeared a woman clothed with the sun “It was a well-known custom,” says Lowman, “at the time of this prophecy, to represent the several virtues, and public societies, by the figure of a woman in some peculiar dress, many of which are to be seen in the Roman coins; in particular, Salus, the emblem of security and protection, is represented as a woman standing upon a globe, to represent the safety and security of the world under the emperor’s care. The... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Revelation 12:1-17

12:1-14:20 PICTURES OF CONFLICT AND TRIUMPHThe woman, the child and the dragon (12:1-17)In this vision the woman who gives birth to a son seems to symbolize Israel who produced the Messiah, Jesus. But it is the true Israel, the true people of God, who are pictured here. The faithful of old Israel were those who began the Christian church, and in the church there is no distinction on the basis of nationality. All Christians are now God’s people (12:1-2).Then appears a dragon (identified in verse... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Revelation 12:1

And . . . heaven = And a great sign was seen in heaven. appeared = was seen. App-133 . wonder. App-176 . What follows is a sign. heaven. See Revelation 3:12 . woman. i.e. Israel. See John 16:21 . twelve stars. Probably the zodiacal signs, representing the Israel nation in embryo. See App-12 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Revelation 12:1

SECTION III(Revelation 12:12 through Revelation 14)REV:12Here begins the second and final great division of Revelation. "In it we traverse the same ground once more."[1] Beginning with the Incarnation, we have the efforts of Satan to destroy Christ while he is on earth, and failing in this, to destroy the church, and failing in this, to wage war against the saints. The outline of the chapter is:The drama of the woman and the dragon (Revelation 12:1-6). A retrospective parenthesis to explain... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Revelation 12:1

Revelation 12:1.— We come now to a second representation of the same third period of prophesy; that is, a state of the church and world, in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, or while the woman, who fled into her place in the wilderness, was nourished there for a time, and times, and half a time. See Revelation 12:6; Revelation 12:14. As the former representation, Revelation 11:0 in which the witnesses were to prophesy, shewed that true religion should be preserved among a few faithful... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Revelation 12:1

1. This episode ( :-) describes in detail the persecution of Israel and the elect Church by the beast, which had been summarily noticed, Revelation 11:7-10, and the triumph of the faithful, and torment of the unfaithful. So also the sixteenth through twentieth chapters are the description in detail of the judgment on the beast, c., summarily noticed in Revelation 11:13 Revelation 11:18. The beast in Revelation 11:18- :, c., is shown not to be alone, but to be the instrument in the hand of a... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Revelation 12:1

John saw a "sign," something that signified or represented something else (cf. Revelation 12:3; Revelation 13:13-14; Revelation 15:1; Revelation 16:14; 19:29). Usually John used the Greek word semeion ("sign") to describe something miraculous that points to some deeper spiritual significance connected with an event or object (cf. John 2:11; John 2:18, et al.). He called this one a "great sign" (Gr. mega semeion)."In this section [chs. 12-14] there is what might be called a Book of Signs [cf.... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Revelation 12:1-6

The dragon’s hostility toward the male child 12:1-6This pericope furnishes the plot for the drama that unfolds in the rest of the chapter. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 12:1-17

The Woman and the Man-Child. The DragonThe persecution which the Church had already suffered, and which was about to burst forth again, is the great fact which underlies the whole ’Revelation.’ The sufferings of the Church and its members have been referred to again and again, particularly in Revelation 11:1-13. In the ’seals’ and the ’trumpets’ the Church has been assured, in a broad and general manner, that God’s judgments will fall upon the world of wickedness, and that the ungodly will bow... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Revelation 12:1

(1) And there appeared . . .—Better, And a great sign was seen in the heaven. The word sign is preferable to “wonder,” both in this verse and in Revelation 12:3. It is the same word which is rendered sign in Revelation 15:1. It is a sign which is seen: not a mere wonder, but something which has a meaning; it is not “a surprise ending with itself,” but a signal to arrest attention, and possessing significance; there is “an idea concealed behind it.” (Comp. Note on John 2:11.)A woman clothed with... read more