Revelation 8:13 - Exposition

And I beheld, and heard an angel. "An eagle" (Revised Version) is read in א , A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, etc., while "angel" is found in P, 1, 16, 34, 47, etc. One manuscript (13) has ἀγγέλου ὡς ἀετοῦ . St. John sees one eagle, the symbol of what is swift and unerring in swooping upon its prey. Thus Job 9:26 , "The eagle that hasteth to the prey" (see also Habakkuk 1:8 ; 2 Samuel 1:23 ). This is the meaning of the appearance of the eagle, which announces the swiftness and certainty of the coming woes. De Wette and others unnecessarily understand "an angel in the form of an eagle." De Lyra interprets it as St. John himself. Wordsworth, relying chiefly on the force of εἶς , believes that Christ is signified; but it is extremely doubtful whether the force of the numeral can be pressed so far. Others see a reference to the Roman legions, etc. The figure may have been suggested by Matthew 24:28 . Flying through the midst of heaven; flying in mid heaven (Revised Version). Not "midway between earth and heaven," but "in the direct line of the sun." The word is found only here and in Revelation 14:6 and Revelation 19:17 . In the former it is rendered as in this place, in the latter it is translated "in the sun." The eagle is thus plainly visible to all. Saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth! "Woe" is followed by "inhabiters" in the accusative case, according to א , B though the dative is read in A, P, and some cursives. "The inhabiters of the earth" are the ungodly, the worldly, those on whom God's wrath had been invoked by the saints at rest ( Revelation 6:10 ), whose prayer is now answered The triple denunciation renders the threatened judgments more emphatic and terrible. By reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound; Greek, out of the other voices (denoting front whence the woe proceeds) who are yet to sound. "Trumpet," in the singular, because taken distributively—"of each trumpet." The three woes are described in

They perhaps refer to spiritual troubles. instead of being concerned (as in the case of the first four trumpets) with temporal judgments.