Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Revelation 16:4-7
Revelation 16:4-7. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers a fountains of waters, &c. Or those territories of the Papacy which were as necessary to it as rivers and fountains are to a country: the kind of plague under this vial being the same as that of the former. For, as the former destroyed the living creatures, or living souls, that were in or upon the sea, namely, the Spaniards, the great mariners of the world at that time, as to their maritime power, who... read more
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Revelation 16:6
For they have shed the blood of saints - The nations here referred to. They have been engaged in scenes of bloody persecution, and this is a just recompense.And prophets - Teachers of religion; ministers of truth. It is not necessary to understand the word “prophets” here in its technical sense, as denoting those who are raised up by God and sent forth as inspired men, but it may be understood in its more common signification in the New Testament as denoting teachers of religion in general. See... read more