Revelation 2:22

Rev 2:22-23. Behold — I will at length execute judgment upon her, and let the process of my righteous vengeance be observed. I will cast her into a bed — Not of pleasure, but of great tribulation — I will severely punish these seducers for their evil principles and practices; and this punishment shall reach all who have been partakers in such acts of wickedness: and this threatening shall be accomplished as surely as the punishment was which the Prophet Elijah denounced in the name of the Lord against Jezebel, 1Ki 21:23. Except they repent, &c. — Except they be humbled for, and forsake their vile practices. And I will kill her children — I will slay those that presume to follow her in her wickedness; with death — An expression which denotes death by the plague, or by some manifest stroke of God’s hand. Probably the remarkable vengeance taken on these was the token of the certainty of all the rest. And all the churches — To which thou now writest; shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins — The desires; and hearts — Thoughts; and that though I am very long- suffering with respect to many sinners, and am unwilling immediately to come to extremities; yet I am not to be mocked and trifled with; and therefore they will learn to respect and honour the administration of my government; who, as I know the secrets of men’s hearts, so I will at length give unto every one of you according to your works — And according to those principles from which I know they have proceeded; and thus I will approve the perfect justice of my treatment of you all. It is observable, the angel of the church at Thyatira was only blamed for suffering such deceivers to seduce Christ’s servants. This fault ceased when God took vengeance on these seducers. Therefore he is not expressly exhorted to repent, though that is implied.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:22-23 Christ’s judgment on this “Jezebel” and her followers comes in three stages: (1) Jezebel is on a bed of suffering; (2) her followers will suffer greatly; and (3) her children will die (cp. Acts 5:5, 10; 1 Cor 11:30). This judgment echoes the plagues on Egypt that ended with the deaths of Egypt’s firstborn sons (see Exod 12:29-30). • God sees thoughts and intentions (see Jer 17:10; Acts 1:24; Heb 4:12-13), and he gives whatever sentence people deserve (see Rev 22:12; Jer 17:10; Matt 16:27).

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

Rev 2:22. Βαλῶ[42]) Thus Hunt. Æth. Arab. Lat. and many others, who read I will send, and Tertullian, who has I will give. The others read βάλλω. For the copyists frequently put ΛΛ for Λ in the use of this verb; and ἸΔΟῪ is usually construed with a present, though sometimes also with a future: Luk 1:20; Luk 1:31; Luk 1:48. And the future agrees with this passage, because the condition, unless they shall repent, gives an interval of time: and ἀποκτενῶ accords with ΒΑΛῶ: and lastly, in all these denunciations, the sense of the future prevails: ch. Rev 2:5, ΚΙΝΉΣΩ; Rev 2:16, ΠΟΛΕΜΉΣΩ; Rev 2:24, ΒΑΛῶ, where also many read ΒΆΛΛΩ; ch. Rev 3:4, ΠΕΡΙΠΑΤΗΣΟΥΣΙ; Rev 2:9, ΠΟΙΉΣΩ, with ἸΔΟΎ; Rev 2:20, ΕἸΣΕΛΕΎΣΟΜΑΙ, Κ.Τ.Λ.

[42] So B (βάλω) and Memph. But Vulg. and most authorities, βάλλω.—E.

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

Rev_2:22-23. The ἰδού so strongly emphasizes the succeeding threat, and makes us so to expect something new in comparison with Rev_2:21, that the discredited ἐγώ appears in an exegetical respect entirely superfluous.

Already the βάλλω αὐτ. shows that the κλίνη is a bed which the woman takes only when so compelled. Yet the κλίνη does not designate the punishments in hell,[1251] but the sick-bed,[1252] in opposition to the bed of sensuality. But by this description of such judgment, the reference to Jezebel and her entirely different[1253] punishment is abandoned,[1254] so that even in Rev_2:23, in the words Κ. Τ. ΤΈΚΝΑ ΑὐΤ., an allusion to the destruction of the sons of Ahab[1255] dare not be sought. The punishment of the woman and her companions, without regard to the significant designation existing in the name Jezebel, is determined in accordance with the manner of their sins. It is to be observed, however, that the expression now chosen, ΜΟΙΧΕΎΕΙΝ

Τ. ΜΟΙΧ. ΜΕΤʼ ΑὐΤῆς, i.e., those who shared in her deeds,[1256] designates the entire conduct of the woman and her party in a double sense, embracing the ΠΟΡΝΕΊΑ and the ΦΑΓ. ΕἸΔΩΛ., since the ethnicizing disorder must be punished more than adultery in a theocratical-symbolical sense, as in fact actual fornication was what was chiefly designed. Thus the ΜΟΙΧΕΎΟΝΤΕς ΜΕΤʼ ἈΥΤῆς are those who perform ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ ΑὐΤῆς, i.e., the works taught and practised by the woman; or as in Rev_2:23 it is again said, according to another application of the symbolical idea,[1257] ΤᾺ ΤΈΚΝΑ ΑὐΤῆς,[1258] and therefore not actually bastards.[1259] Incorrectly, N. de Lyra: gehenna. It is possible to think of a pest,[1260] because the LXX. have rendered the Heb. דֶּבֶר, Eze_33:27, by ΘΆΝΑΤΟς. Meanwhile it is sufficient to leave the matter in its universality; the entire formula ἈΠΟΚΤ. ἘΝ ΘΑΝΆΤῼ then in its fulness corresponds in some measure to the Hebrew mode of combining an infin. with the finite tense of its root, as, e.g., Lev_20:10, where the punishment of adultery is stated מות־יומַת (LXX., ΘΑΝἈΤῷ ΘΑΝΑΤΟΎς ΘΩΣΑΝ). But any allusion to this precise passage is, to say the least, doubtful. The independence of the Johannean formula, notwithstanding its adoption, of Hebraic modes of statement, lies partly in the distinction between the words ἈΠΟΚΤΕΝῶ and ΘΑΝἈΤῷ, and partly in the fact that by the addition of the preposition ἘΝ the precise idea of the means[1261] is marked.

ΚΑῚ ΓΝΏΣΟΝΤΑΙ, Κ.Τ.Λ. Every judgment of the Lord upon the world is a revelation of his glory, and has the intentional result to advance and strengthen believers more and more in their knowledge. Thus the idea of the ΓΝΩΣ. is entirely too general[1262] to admit of any special opposition to the false gnosis[1263] of the Nicolaitans. It is different with Rev_2:24.

ΠᾶΣΑΙ ΑΊ ἘΚΚΛ. Not only the Asiatic;[1264] but rather, as the judgment upon false teachers in Thyatira is an act which belongs to the coming of the Lord, so also this special act shares in the absolutely universal significance of Christs final appearance.

ὍΤΙ ἘΓΏ ΕἸΜΙ, Κ.Τ.Λ. A forcible designation of the person of whom so great a thing is said as Ὁ ΕῤΕΎΝΩΝ, Κ.Τ.Λ. Cf. Psa_7:10. The Son of God who executes judgment (ΚΑῚ ΔΈΣΩ, Κ.Τ.Λ.) has also the divine attribute of searching the deepest recesses of man, and thus the condition for just judgment,[1265] as he has both eyes as a flame of fire, and feet like brass.[1266]

ΝΕΦΡΟῪς ΚΑῚ ΚΑΡΔΊΑς. According to Grot. and Beng., the former is intended to designate the desires, and the latter the thoughts. But the expression designates rather the entire inner part without any distinction of the two points.

ὙΜῖΝ. An animated turn to those guilty.[1267] Cf. Rev_2:24.

ΚΑΤᾺ ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ ὙΜΩΝ. Because the Lord, who recognizes the inner source of the works, sees also their worth.[1268]

[1251] Beda, N. de Lyra. Cf. also C. a Lap., Tirin.

[1252] Psa_41:4.

[1253] 2Ki_9:31 sqq.

[1254] Against Herder, etc.

[1255] 2Ki_10:7. Züll., Ebrard.

[1256] Areth., Vitr., Ew., De Wette, etc.

[1257] Cf. Isa_57:3.

[1258] Areth., N. de Lyra, Calov., Vitr., Eichh., De Wette, Stern, Hengstenb., Ebrard, Ew. ii.

[1259] Aretius, Grot., Beng., Ew., Klief.

[1260] Grot., Vitr., Wetst., Bengel, Ewald, etc. Cf. Rev_6:8.

[1261] Cf. Rev_2:16.

[1262] Cf. Joe_3:17; Isa_37:20.

[1263] Hengstenb.

[1264] Grot.

[1265] Jer_11:20; Jer_17:10.

[1266] Rev_2:18.

[1267] Grotius, De Wette.

[1268] Cf. De Wette.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 2:22 . κλίνην (bed, not a couch of revelry) aegritudinis non amoris; disease or sickness ( cf. for the phrase, 1MMal 1:5 ) the punishment of error, especially of error accompanied by licentiousness. The inscriptions from Asia Minor abound with instances of the popular belief that impurity, moral and even physical, was punished by disease or disaster to oneself, one’s property, one’s children. Sickness might even go the length of death (1Co 11:29-30 ). The prophet, however, seems to avoid calling Jesus or God σωτὴρ or σώζων , a term appropriated by the popular religions of Phrygia and lavished on many deities as healers and helpers ( C. B. P. i. 262 f.). μοιχ ., men and women who imitate her licentiousness. θλ ., physical distress, illness. μετανοήσουσιν , the fut. indic., expresses rather more probability than subj. with ἐὰν μή ( cf. Blass, § 65, 5). For tense of βάλλω see Zec 8:7 , LXX, etc.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold--calling attention to her awful doom to come.

I will--Greek present, "I cast her."

a bed--The place of her sin shall be the place of her punishment. The bed of her sin shall be her bed of sickness and anguish. Perhaps a pestilence was about to be sent. Or the bed of the grave, and of the hell beyond, where the worm dieth not.

them that commit adultery with her--spiritually; including both the eating of idol-meats and fornication. "With her," in the Greek, implies participation with her in her adulteries, namely, by suffering her (Rev 2:20), or letting her alone, and so virtually encouraging her. Her punishment is distinct from theirs; she is to be cast into a bed, and her children to be killed; while those who make themselves partakers of her sin by tolerating her, are to be cast into great tribulation.

except they repent--Greek aorist, "repent" at once; shall have repented by the time limited in My purpose.

their deeds--Two of the oldest manuscripts and most ancient versions read "her." Thus, God's true servants, who by connivance, are incurring the guilt of her deeds, are distinguished from her. One oldest manuscript, ANDREAS, and CYPRIAN, support "their."

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 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed] "This again alludes to the same history. Ahaziah, son of Ahab and Jezebel, by his mother's ill instruction and example, followed her ways. God punished him by making him fall down, as is supposed, from the top of the terrace over his house, and so to be bedridden for a long time under great anguish, designing thereby to give him time to repent; but when, instead of that, he sent to consult Baalzebub, Elijah was sent to pronounce a final doom against his impenitence. Thus the son of Jezebel, who had committed idolatry with and by her advice, was long cast into the bed of affliction, and not repenting, died: in the same manner his brother Jehoram succeeded likewise. All this while Jezebel had time and warning enough to repent; and though she did not prevail with Jehoram to continue in the idolatrous worship of Baal, yet she persisted in her own way, notwithstanding God's warnings. The sacred writer, therefore, here threatens the Gnostic Jezebel to make that wherein she delighteth, as adulterers in the bed of lust, to be the very place, occasion, and instrument, of her greatest torment. So in Isaiah, the bed is made a symbol of tribulation, and anguish of body and mind. See Isa 28:20; Job 33:19.

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

(22) I will cast her into a bed.—The chamber of voluptuousness will become the chamber of sickness. The spot of the sin shall be the scene of punishment. (Comp. 1Ki_21:19.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. I will cast] lit. ‘I am casting’ i.e. am about to cast. Cf. ‘I ascend’, Joh_20:17.

a bed] Perhaps of sickness, as “death” in the next v. is perhaps to be taken of pestilence: cf. Rev_6:8.

with her] Possibly the sense is “I will cast them together with her into …,” but the sense “the partners of her adulteries” is at least equally natural. It seems probably intended, that she and they are to be separated in punishment: Francesca’s “Questi che mai da me non fia diviso” is rather a poetical sentiment than a moral one. But if Jezebel be understood to mean a sect rather than an individual woman, it will be possible to distinguish her “adulteries” as metaphorical from the literal “fornication” which she encouraged: if so, her paramours are the false teachers, her children their disciples.

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.

Behold, I will cast her into a bed,.... Of sickness and languishing; and which denotes the sickly, pining, and languishing state of the church of Rome, as a just retaliation for her bed of luxury and deliciousness, adultery and idolatry, she had indulged herself in; this was threatened, and was yet to come, and began at the time of the Reformation, signified by the next church state; and, ever since, the whore of Rome has been visibly sickening and decaying. The Alexandrian copy reads, "into a prison":

and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation: the kings of the earth, and their subjects, who have joined in the idolatries and corruptions of the Romish church, Rev 17:2, which may be understood either of that distress and uneasiness the Reformation in some countries gave them; or those outward troubles, wars, and desolations they have been since attended with, particularly the empire of Germany; which has been in great tribulation, formerly by the Turks, and of late by internal broils among themselves, and by the armies of other princes entering into it; or it may regard that eternal vengeance that will be recompensed to all such persons:

except they repent of their deeds; their spiritual fornication or idolatry, and all the abominations the members of that apostate church are guilty of. There seems to be an allusion in this verse to Ahaziah and Joram, sons of Ahab and Jezebel, who followed their mother's idolatrous practices, and were cast upon a bed of sickness, Kg2 1:2.

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

22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

Ver. 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed] A bed of affliction for that bed of security upon which she had stretched herself, Amo 6:4. God hath his season, his harvest for judgment, Mat 13:30. Men may expect a time of healing when they shall find nothing else but a time of trouble, Jer 14:19. One may defer a sore till it be incurable. See Eze 24:13.

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.

Behold, I will cast her into a bed - Not into a bed of ease, but a bed of pain. There is evidently a purpose to contrast this with her former condition. The harlot’s bed and a sick-bed are thus brought together, as they are often, in fact, in the dispensations of Providence and the righteous judgments of God. One cannot be indulged without leading on, sooner or later, to the horrid sufferings of the other: and how soon no one knows.

And them that commit adultery with her - Those who are seduced by her doctrines into this sin; either they who commit it with her literally, or who are led into the same kind of life.

Into great tribulation - Great suffering; disease of body or tortures of the soul. How often - how almost uniformly is this the case with those who thus live! Sooner or later, sorrow always comes upon the licentious; and God has evinced by some of his severest judgments, in forms of frightful disease, his displeasure at the violation of the laws of purity. There is no sin that produces a mere withering and desolating effect upon the soul than what is here referred to; none which is more certain to be followed with sorrow.

Except they repent of their deeds - It is only by repentance that we can avoid the consequences of sin. The word “repent” here evidently includes both sorrow for the past, and abandonment of the evil course of life.

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

I will cast her into a bed; another kind of bed than she hath sinned in and by, not a bed of ease and pleasure, but of pain and torment. Nor shall the seduced escape, they shall also be cast into

great tribulation, pains and torments of conscience, or afflictions more corporal, either from the more immediate hand of God, or the hands of men.

Except they repent of their deeds; this is to be supposed to all God’s threatenings of judgments, the execution of them ordinarily may be prevented by repentance, and such is the patience of God, that he gives the vilest sinners a space to repent.

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

22. Behold—A challenge of attention to this threatened judgment; a judgment so clear and palpable as to strike all the Churches, Rev_2:23.

Cast her into a bed—Her bed of adulteries shall be exchanged for a bed of tribulation; a figurative bed of penalty for the literal bed of sin.

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

Behold! The exclamation "arrests attention, and prepares the way for something unexpected and terrible." It is one of the many differences between the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, that in the former ide is the dominant form, while in the latter idou is the invariable form; (kai ide in Rev_6:1, Rev_6:5, 7 is a spurious addition) idou is very rare in the Gospel; ide is found nowhere in the Apocalypse. In the Epistles neither form occurs. I do cast her into a bed. Ballw , not balw , is the true reading; the future has been substituted for the present to match the futures in ver. 23. Forbearance having failed, God tries severity; and, as so often in his dealings with man, the instrument of wrong doing is made the instrument of punishment. The bed of sin becomes a bed of suffering. Compare "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine;" and "I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord". (1Ki_21:19 2Ki_9:26) Ballw is one of many words which has become weakened in meaning in late Greek: it often means no more than "place" or "put". (Joh_5:7 Joh_12:6 Joh_13:2 Joh_18:11 Joh_20:25) In the passive it is rather common of being laid up in sickness. (Mat_8:6, 14 9:2 Mar_7:30) But perhaps we should rather compare such expressions as "cast into prison, into the sea, into the fire, into Gehenna". (Mat_18:30 Mat_21:21 Mat_18:8, Mat_18:9) It may be doubted whether there is any significance in the fact that her sin is spoken of as porneina (ver. 21), whereas those who sin with her are said moiceuein . Idolatry is spoken of both as whoredom and as adultery. In the one case it is a contrast to the marriage tie between God and his faithful worshippers; in the other it is a violation of it. Jezebel anticipates the harlot of Revelation 17, as Balaam anticipates the false prophet of Re 13. The remarkable construction, "repent out of (metanohsai ek), is peculiar to this book (vers. 21, 22 Rev_9:20, 21 16:11; but in Act_8:22 we have metanohson apo , and in Heb_6:1 we have metanoia apo , compare the converse, metanoia eiv , Act_20:21) "Her works" is to be preferred to "their works." Authv might easily be changed to autwn , either accidentally, owing to the preceding ergwn , or deliberately, because it seems strange to talk of repenting from the works of another person. But the point is that those who have become partakers in her sins have abandoned their own works for hers; and it is therefore from her works that they are bidden to repent (compare "my works" in ver. 26).

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

I will cast her into a bed-into great affliction-and them that commit either carnal or spiritual adultery with her, unless they repent - She had her time before. Of her works - Those to which she had enticed their and which she had committed with them. It is observable, the angel of the church at Thyatira was only blamed for suffering her. This fault ceased when God took vengeance on her. Therefore he is not expressly exhorted to repent, though it is implied.

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

22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed. Sickness and a bed are symbols of affliction and punishment. Them that commit adultery with her. This is the term applied to idolatrous Israel (Jer. 3:9; Ezek. 16:32). To practice the idolatrous rites of this faction would be spiritual adultery.

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.

I will throw her onto a sickbed ... into great suffering

Her having to lie in bed would be the result of Jesus making her very sick. AT: "I will make her lie sick in bed ... I will make suffer greatly" or "I will make her very sick ... I will make suffer greatly" (See: Metonymy)

those who commit adultery with her into great suffering

Jesus speaks of causing people to suffer as throwing them into suffering. AT: "I will make those who commit adultery with her to suffer greatly" (See: Metaphor)

commit adultery

"practice adultery"

unless they repent of her deeds

This implies that they have participated with her in her wicked behavior. By repenting of her deeds, they also repent of participating in her behavior. AT: "if they do not repent from doing the evil that she does" or "if they do not repent of participating in her deeds" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

I will strike her children dead

"I will kill her children"

her children

Jesus spoke of her followers as if they were her children. AT: 'her followers" or "the people who do what she teaches" (See: Metaphor)

thoughts and hearts

The term "heart" a metonym that represents feelings and desires. AT: "what people think and want" (See: Metonymy)

I will give to each one of you

This is an expression about punishment and reward. AT: "I will punish or reward each one of you" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

adultery

suffer

repent

die

church

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

22. εἰς κλίνην. Arm[108] reads εἰς κάμινον, A reads εἰς φυλακὴν. It is not easy to connect either with the text. We might account for A by supposing that a scribe was misled by a reminiscence of Rev 2:10 sup.; if κάμινον were substituted for κλίβανον the latter might be contracted into κλῑν, so too φυλακὴν might be a gloss on some non-classical derivative of κλείω which would like κλίνην be capable of contraction into κλῑν.

[108] Armenian.

22. βάλλω. Lit. “I am casting” i.e. “am about to cast.” Cf. ἀναβαίνω, St Joh 20:17, and note on ἔρχομαι sup. Rev 2:5.

εἰς κλίνην. See crit. note. Perhaps a bed of sickness, as “death” in the next verse is perhaps to be taken of pestilence, cf. Rev 6:8.

μετʼ αὐτῆς. Possibly the sense is “I will cast them together with her into …,” but the sense “the partners of her adulteries” is at least equally natural. It seems probably intended, that she and they are to be separated in punishment: Francesca’s “Questi che mai da me non fia diviso” is rather a poetical sentiment than a moral one. But if Jezebel be understood to mean a sect rather than an individual woman, it will be possible to distinguish her “adulteries” as metaphorical from the literal “fornication “which she encouraged: if so, her paramours are the false teachers, her children their disciples.

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.

22.] Behold (arrests attention, and prepares the way for something unexpected and terrible), I cast her (evidently against her will: but there is not necessarily violence in the word: it is the ordinary verb for being “cast” on a bed of sickness: see reff. and Mat 8:6, Mat 8:14) into a bed (ἀντὶ τοῦ, εἰς ἀῤῥωστίαν, Areth.: will change her bed of whoredom into a bed of anguish: see Psa 41:3. So most Commentators. Perhaps the threat has reference to a future pestilence. Bede, Lyra, al., understand the bed to be “infernalis pœna,” the latter referring to Isa 14:11. Ansbert, curiously enough, “severitatis vel audaciæ lectum,” into which God casts his enemies before their destruction), and those who commit adultery (not now πορνεύοντας, but a more general term, embracing in its wide meaning both the πορνεῦσαι and εἰδωλόθυτα φαγεῖν, and well known as the word used of rebellious and idolatrous Israel, cf. Jer 3:8, Jer 3:5:7; Eze 16:32 al.) together with her μετʼ αὐτῆς is not = αὐτήν, so that she should be the ‘conjux adulterii,’ but implies merely participation—those who share with her in her adulteries. These μοιχεύοντες μετʼ αὐτῆς, as interpreted by the tone with which the rebuke began, will mean, those who by suffering and encouraging her, make themselves partakers of her sin. And this rather favours the idea that not one individual, but a dominant party, is intended. See below) into great tribulation (this clause forms a kind of parallelism with the former, so that εἰς θλίψιν μεγ. is parallel with εἰς κλίνην. But it is not to be regarded as interpreting κλίνη. Her punishment and that of her children (see below) is one thing; that of the partakers in her adulteries, those in the church who tolerated and encouraged her, another, viz. great tribulation. This is forcibly shewn by the ἔργων αὐτῆς following), if they do not (aor.: speedily and effectually, shall not have done so by the time which I have in my thoughts) repent of her (not their: they are Christ’s servants who are tampering with her temptations and allowing themselves in her works, which are alien from their own spiritual life) works. And her children (emphatically put forward as distinguished from the last mentioned: q. d., “And as to her children, &c.” These are her proper adherents: not those who suffer her, but those who are begotten of her, and go to constitute her. Some Commentators have vainly dreamt of the slaughter of Ahab’s 70 sons, 2Ki_10: but they were not Jezebel’s children. The historical figure is obviously dropped here) I will slay with (in, but perhaps merely instrumental: see above, on ver. 16) death (the expression is probably a rendering of the Heb. מוֹת־יוּמַת, as in Lev 20:10, which the LXX render by θανάτῳ θανατούσθωσαν, and which there occurs in reference to adultery. But we need not, as Hengst., suppose a direct reference to that passage: for there is nothing of adultery here: we have done with τοὺς μοιχεύοντας μετʼ αὐτῆς, and are come to the judgment on τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς): and all the churches (this remarkable expression, meaning not, all the Asiatic churches, but all the churches in the world till the end of time, lifts the whole of this threatening and its accompanying encouragements out of proconsular Asia, and gives us a glimpse into the œcumenical character of these messages) shall know (the fanciful Hengst. imagines a reference in γνώσονται to the false γνῶσις: but in so common and solemn a formula of the O. T., this must surely be out of the question) that I am he that searcheth the reins and the hearts (which, see reff. is the attribute of God: and therefore of the Son of God. Cf. ver. 18 above, and note. Grotius says, “Per renes intelliguntur desideria, ut et Psa 139:13, Jer 12:2, Pro 23:16: per cor, cogitata, 1Sa 16:7, 1Sa 16:1 Reg. 8:39 al.” But it seems doubtful whether so minute a distinctionis in the words; whether they are not rather a general designation for the whole inward parts of a man): and I will give to you (‘will render, in My doom of judgment.’ The strain of the Lord’s message is Suddenly changed into a direct address to those threatened) to each according to your works (ἔργα, not the mere outward products of the visible life, but the real acts and verities of the inward man, discerned by the piercing eye of the Son of God).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.