Revelation 14:10 - Exposition

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; he also … which is mingled unmixed ( i.e. undiluted) in the cup of his anger (Revised Version). The warning is given to men while there is yet time; the fall of Babylon, which is prophetically spoken of as having taken place ( Revelation 14:8 ), being yet in the future; that is to say, at the end of the world. The language in which the retribution is couched corresponds to that in which the sin is described (see on Revelation 14:8 ). The verb κεράννυμι , which originally signified "to mix," gradually came to signify "to pour," from the ancient custom of mixing spices, etc., as well as water, with the wine. The Authorized Version "poured out," therefore, is a correct translation. The pouring is in this case not accompanied by dilution with water; that is, God's wrath will not be tempered, but the wicked will feel the full force of his anger. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The figure which is here used to portray the punishment of the wicked is common in the Bible. Isaiah 34:9 , Isaiah 34:10 , cf. with Genesis 19:28 , may supply the origin of the simile. The punishment is in the presence of the angels and of the Lamb; that is, probably, the purity and bliss of heaven is visible to the wicked, and the sight of it, combined with the knowledge of its in- accessibility to themselves, is part of their torment (cf. Luke 16:23 ). It is part of the wrath of God described in the first part of the verse.