Revelation 6:14

departed--Greek, "was separated from" its place; "was made to depart." Not as ALFORD, "parted asunder"; for, on the contrary, it was rolled together as a scroll which had been open is rolled up and laid aside. There is no "asunder one from another" here in the Greek, as in Act 15:39, which ALFORD copies.

mountain . . . moved out of . . . places-- (Psa 121:1, Margin; Jer 3:23; Jer 4:24; Nah 1:5). This total disruption shall be the precursor of the new earth, just as the pre-Adamic convulsions prepared it for its present occupants.

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 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll] The whole system of pagan and idolatrous worship, with all its spiritual, secular, and superstitious influence, was blasted, shrivelled up, and rendered null and void, as a parchment scroll when exposed to the action of a strong fire.

And every mountain] All the props, supports, and dependencies of the empire, whether regal allies, tributary kings, dependent colonies, or mercenary troops, were all moved out of their places, so as to stand no longer in the same relation to that empire, and its worship, support, and maintenance, as they formerly did.

And island] The heathen temples, with their precincts and enclosures, cut off from the common people, and into which none could come but the privileged, may be here represented by islands, for the same reasons.

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

14. And the heaven departed] i.e. parted asunder. The verb depart was so used (only in a transitive sense) in the Marriage Service until the last revision of the Prayer-Book, “till death us depart,” i.e. “till death part us.” Here we still have a reference to Isa_34:4. The word for “scroll” is the same as that rendered “book” in c. v. &c.

every mountain and island, &c.] Cf. Rev_16:20. There the convulsion is greater than here: and even there it does not imply quite so much as Rev_20:11—a fact to be remembered in the interpretation of this passage.

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 heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together,.... The manner of writing formerly was on rolls of parchment; hence the word volume is used for a book, which, when rolled up, the writing within could not be seen, not a syllable nor letter of it. In like manner the Roman empire, as Pagan, which was like a large sheet, or rather like the expanse or firmament of the heaven, stretched out over all the earth, was now, as to the Paganism of it, rolled up together, so that there were no more Heathen gods, nor Heathen priests; no more idolatry, and idolatrous worship of that kind were to be seen, and not so much as the names of Heathen gods to be heard of in the empire.

And every mountain and island were moved out of their places; by "every mountain" may be meant the places of idolatrous worship, which were usually upon mountains; see Jer 3:6; which were now shut up, or demolished, or used for Christian worship; and "every island" being moved also may show, that Paganism was not only rooted out of the provinces of the empire upon the continent, but out of the islands also; and the ecclesiastical history of these times informs us, that there were Christian churches in the isles, which enjoyed the Gospel free of persecution and distress; as in the isles of Cyprus, Crete, the Cyclades, Sardinia, Siciiy, Corsica, and in ours of England, Scotland, and Ireland (o). Mr. Daubuz thinks, that as "mountains" design the temples of idols, "islands" signify the revenues of them, which were now taken away, and applied to other uses.

(o) Centuriator. Magdeburg. Cent. 4. c. 2. p. 5, 8.

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

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Ver. 14. And every mountain] {See Trapp on "Rev 6:12"} Cinis quidam noxius e Visuvio emissus, Romam venit (inquit Dio) ita ut incolae putare coeperunt omnia sursum deorsum ferri, solemque in terram cadere, ac terrain in caelum conscendere. I myself saw, saith Bellarmine, a huge hill removed by an earthquake, and brought down to a town, which was wholly covered by it, and as it were buried under it. Perhaps he meant Pleurs in Rhetia, which was overcovered suddenly with a mountain, so that 1500 persons were buried there alive.

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 every mountain. In the dreadful confusion of the Roman empire, in the time of Constantine, so great was the revolution, that mountains appeared, as it were, moved out of their places; islands shifted from their accustomed situations. We behold at one time seven persons, Maximin Galerius, Maxentius, Severus Cæsar, Maximin, Alexander, Maximin Hercules, and Licinius, all aiming at the empire. The first six perished in nine years, from 305 to 314: Licinius was strangled in 324. All these were enemies of the Christian religion. Constantine, who supported it, remained sole master of the empire. (Calmet)

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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Two expressions more signifying the same thing. The first is used by the prophet, to signify the change God would make in the state of the Edomites, Isa 34:4, as will appear by comparing what that prophet saith, with what Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Obadiah say, upon the same argument, Jer 49:7-22; Eze 35:1-15.

And every mountain and island were moved out of their places; all sorts of people shall be destroyed, or all the paganish religion shall be rooted out.

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

14. Heaven departed as a scroll—Compare our notes on the passing “away with a great noise,” of 2Pe_3:10; and also on “the earth and the heaven fled away,” of Rev_20:11. These parallels prove the identity of this dissolution with that of those two passages, as well as with that of Mat_24:29. This identity of the three is conclusive against a pre-millennial advent.

A scroll—A sheet of parchment, papyrus, or paper, loosely crumpled and vanishing away. To the eye of the spectator, in this scene of rocking terrene convulsion, the apparent sky of clouds and firmament will seem to crumple and rush away.

Mountain… island… moved—As seen from a bird’s-eye view, the prominent geographical points will appear to change their places.

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 heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up. The scroll the parchment book or roll, which is spread out to read, and, when read, roiled up and put away. The passage is apparently founded upon Isa_34:4. "The host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll," etc. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places (cf. Isa_40:4, "Every mountain and hill shall be made low;" also Jer_3:23, "Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains The enumeration of seven objects in vers. 12-14 seems to denote the all extending nature of God"s judgment.

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

And the heavens departed as a book that is rolled together - When the scripture compares some very great with a little thing, the majesty and omnipotence of God, before whom great things are little, is highly exalted. Every mountain and island - What a mountain is to the land, that an island is to the sea.

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

14. The heaven was removed as a scroll. The old religions, supposed to be of heavenly origin, pass away. Every mountain and island were moved. Mountain and island are used to denote earthly rulers and kingdoms, the latter referring more especially to European provinces which are often called “the isles of the sea” in the Bible. From the period of Diocletian, the great persecutor, the title, “Your Eminence,” or, in other words, “mountain,” was bestowed upon princes. As a mountain stood above the plain, so the rulers of the earth were exalted.

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.

14. νῆσος. א reads βουνός.

ἐκινήθησαν. א* reads ἐκίνησαν; A ἀπεκείνησαν.

14. ἀπεχωρίσθη. A. V[267] departed, i.e. parted asunder. The verb depart was so used (only in a transitive sense) in the Marriage Service until the last revision of the Prayer Book, “till death us depart,” i.e. “till death part us.” Here we still have a reference to Isa 34:4. The word for “scroll” is the same as that rendered “book” in c. v. &c.

[267] Authorised Version.

πᾶν ὄρος καὶ νῆσος. Cf. Rev 16:20. There the convulsion is greater than here: and even there it does not imply quite so much as Rev 20:11—a fact to be remembered in the interpretation of this passage.

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.

Departed [απεχωρισθη] . The verb means to separate, sever. Rev., was removed.

Scroll [βιβλιον] . See on Luk 4:17. Compare Isa 34:4. Mountain and island. Compare Mt 24:35; Nah 1:5.

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