Revelation 19:21

19:21 The entire army of enemies is dispatched by the sword from Christ’s mouth (see 1:16; 2:12, 16; see also Isa 11:4; 49:2; 2 Thes 2:8). While one side of God’s word (grace) leads to repentance, the other side (judgment) carries out the death sentence.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev 19:21. Οἱ λοιποὶ, the remnant) even the kings, Rev 19:18-19. They are mingled with the crowd, as Pharaoh, Zaerach, Gog. See Ord. Temp. pp. 161, 162, 182, 183 [Ed. II. pp. 142, 143, 160].

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the remnant--Greek, "the rest," that is, "the kings and their armies" (Rev 19:19) classed together in one indiscriminate mass. A solemn confirmation of the warning in Psa 2:10.

Next: Revelation Chapter 20

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. With the sword of him that sat upon the horse] He who sat on the white horse is Christ; and his sword is his word-the unadulterated Gospel.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. And the remnant were slain] They are not, at least at once, consigned to the same eternal torment as their leaders: but see Rev_14:10, Rev_20:15.

with the sword of him &c.] None of His followers have need to bear part in the battle: indeed they seem to bear no arms, Rev_19:14. Compare the grand passage of St Chrysostom, in his 24th Homily on the Epistle to the Romans—(on xiii. 12), already partly quoted on Rev_19:11. “What then, is there no necessity for thee to fight? Yea, needful is it to fight, yet not to be distressed and toil. For it is not in fact war, but a solemn dance and feast-day, such is the nature of the arms, such the power of the Commander.” The victory is so plainly designated as one to be gained by purely spiritual means, that it is by no means certain that the armies to be overthrown are to be understood of an actual military confederacy. More probably, the confederacy of the powers of the world, under the leadership of Antichrist, will be primarily intellectual and spiritual.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the remnant were slain,.... Not only the kings of the earth, and their armies, that will now be gathered together, but all the remains of Papists, Pagans, and Mahometans, in the several parts of the world, even all the enemies of Christ: these will be slain

with the sword of him that sat upon the horse; upon the white horse, as the Ethiopic version reads; the Arabic version reads, that sat upon the throne,

which sword proceedeth out of his mouth, Rev 19:15 and is the word of God, or the judiciary sentence of Christ according to it; and the meaning is, either that these shall be subdued, conquered, and converted by the word; and so are fitly called a "remnant", a remnant according to the election of grace among the antichristian party; and which sense agrees with Rev 11:13 or else that they will be convicted and confounded, and not be able to stand against the light and evidence of the word of God, and will be sentenced by Christ to everlasting punishment; and it may be partly one, and partly the other.

And all the fowls were filled with their flesh; all the Christian princes and people will be satisfied with their kingdoms, riches, and wealth, and will rejoice at their destruction, and in the righteousness of God, which will be displayed in it; and now the world being clear of all Christ's enemies, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan, the way will be prepared for Christ's open and glorious kingdom in it.

Next: Revelation Chapter 20

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Ver. 21. Slain with the sword] Not so deeply damned, and yet so slain as to be made a prey to the infernal vultures; and then the fattest carcase shall be the finest prey, the greatest sinners the sorest sufferers.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the remnant - The remainder of the assembled hosts - the army at large, in contradistinction from the leaders.

Were slain with the sword - Cut down with the sword; not rescued for protracted torment. A proper distinction is thus made between the deceived multitudes and the leaders who had deceived them.

Of him that sat upon the horse - The Messiah, Rev 19:11.

Which sword proceeded out of his mouth - notes on Rev 19:15. That is, they were cut down by a word. They fell before him as he spake, as if they were slain by the sword. Perhaps this indicates that the effect that is to be produced when these great powers shall be destroyed is a moral effect; that is, that they will be subdued by the word of the Son of God.

And all the fowls were filled with their flesh - notes on Rev 19:17. An effect was produced as if the fowls of heaven should feed upon the carcasses of the slain.

The general idea here is, that these great anti-Christian powers which had so long resisted the gospel, and prevented its being spread over the earth; which had shed so much blood in persecution, and had so long corrupted and deceived mankind, would be subdued. The true religion would be as triumphant as if the Son of God should go forth as a warrior in his own might, and secure their leaders for punishment, and give up their hosts to the birds of prey. This destruction of these great enemies - which the whole course of the interpretation leads us to suppose is still future - prepares the way for the millennial reign of the Son of God - as stated in the following chapter. The “beast” and the “false prophet” are disposed of, and there remains only the subjugation of the great dragon - the source of all this evil - to prepare the way for the long-anticipated triumph of the gospel. The subjugation of the great original source of all those evil influences is stated in Rev 20:1-3; and then follows the account of the thousand years’ rest of the saints, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In all armies there are are common soldiers as well as officers. What the issue of this battle shall be, as to the leaders in it, the former verse told us: this tells us how it shall fare with those under the command of them. It seems they shall not be excused because they followed their leaders, and did only what they bade them; Christ commands that they also should be slain.

And all the fowls were filled with their flesh; and this bloody day (whenever it comes) will be a day of great slaughter, for the dead bodies will be enough to sup and fill all the fowls of heaven.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. The remnant—The non-military adherents of antichrist.

Slain—And so not cast into the lake of fire until after the day of judgment, Rev_20:11-15.

With the sword—One divine weapon does the whole work.

Fowls… flesh—The great supper is served; the very substance of the enemies of truth and righteousness is borne to the four points of the compass by God’s aerial servitors. Of the triad of leaders the last and greatest remains to be disposed of. That part is, unhappily, severed from this by the wrong division of chapters.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. The remnant; that is, the adherents of the beast, the "armies" of ver. 19. (For this description of Christ, see vers. 11, 15) Spiritual death is inflicted upon those who have proved themselves hostile to God. The last sentence emphasizes the nature of the punishment by the reference to the indignity offered to their bodies after death.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here is a most magnificent description of the overthrow of the beast and his adherents. It has, in particular, one exquisite beauty; that, after exhibiting the two opposite armies, and all the apparatus for a battle, verses 11-19; chap. xix, 11-19 then follows immediately, verse 20, xix, 20 the account of the victory, without one word of an engagement or fighting. Here is the most exact propriety; for what struggle can there be between omnipotence, and the power of all the creation united against it! Every description must have fallen short of this admirable silence.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

21. And the rest were killed with the sword of him, etc. This is probably symbolic. If these who had been sinners and supporters of the powers of evil were incapacitated for that support longer, it would be their death (separation) from that cause. It may be that this remnant were converted by the word. And all the birds were filled, etc. If this is a symbol its signification is that the victory was complete.

THE COMING OF CHRIST.

The coming of Christ, pictured in his chapter, has been seized upon by the advocates of his visible coming before the millennial period which is described in the next chapter. They insist that the passage embraced in verses 11–16 describes a personal coming which shall be visible to the eyes of all men, and which is the coming so often referred to in the Scriptures. To this it might be objected: (1) That the language of this description is all the language of symbolism. None expect that, when the Lord comes, he will be riding on a white horse with an army following him riding on white horses, and having a name “written on his vesture and on his thigh.” The language is undoubtedly symbolic. (2) If this be his coming to judgment of which he spoke in Matt. 24:30; Luke 21:27; Matt. 25:31 and described by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:16, Revelation does not rightly describe it. He declares that he shall come on the clouds of heaven preceded and heralded by the trump of the archangel. The coming described in Revelation is not evidently the one meant by our Lord. (3) This personal, visible coming of the Lord is always associated with the Last Judgment. See Matt. 25:31–34; 1 Cor. 15:23; 2 Thess. 2:8, etc. The Scriptures only recognize one visible Return or Coming of Christ. Now, the Last Judgment is not reached in Revelation until we come to chap. 20:11. Here it is placed after the Millennium. Hence, we must conclude that the Visible Return of the Lord does not take place before the Millennium, and that chap. 19:11–16 describes a coming in power, the power of his Word, but not a visible coming. (4) Is it objected that in 20:11 nothing is said of the coming of Christ? It is said (Matt. 25:31) that when the Lord comes he shall be seated on the throne of judgment and in Rev. 20:11 John sees this throne and the Lord sitting on the throne. He does not describe here his coming, but shows him already come and engaged in judgment.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

The rest of them were killed by the sword that came out of the mouth of the one who rode on the horse

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The rider of the horse killed the remainder of the beast's armies with the sword that extended from his mouth" (See: Active or Passive)

the sword that came out of the mouth

The sword blade was sticking out of his mouth. The sword itself was not in motion. See how you translated a similar phrase in Revelation 1:16.

translationWords

sword

horse

die

flesh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

21. οἱ λοιποί. They are not, at least at once, consigned to the same eternal torment as their leaders; but see Rev 14:10, Rev 20:15.

ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ καθημένου. None of His followers have need to bear part in the battle: indeed they seem to bear no arms, Rev 19:14. Compare the grand passage of St Chrysostom, in his 24th Homily on the Epistle to the Romans (on Rev 13:12), already partly quoted on Rev 19:11. “What then, is there no necessity for thee to fight? Yea, needful is it to fight, yet not to be distressed and toil. For it is not in fact war, but a solemn dance and feast day; such is the nature of the arms, such the power of the Commander.” The victory is so plainly designated as one to be gained by purely spiritual means, that it is by no means certain that the armies to be overthrown are to be understood of an actual military confederacy. More probably, the confederacy of the powers of the world, under the leadership of Antichrist, will be primarily intellectual and spiritual.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Were filled [εχορτασθησαν] . See on Mt 5:6.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.