The seven vials are poured out. The plagues that ensue.
Vpon the pouring out of the seuen cuppes of Gods vvrath, on the land, the sea, the fountaines, the seat of the beast, Euphrâtes and the aire: there arise sundrie plagues in the vvorld.
1And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels: Go and pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.Ed udii una voce grande dal tempio, che diceva ai sette Angeli: andate, e versate le sette ampolle dell'ira di Dio sulla terra.AND I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seuen Angels: Goe, and poure out the seuen vials of the vvrath of God vpon the earth.Et audivi vocem magnam de templo, dicentem septem angelis: Ite, et effundite septem phialas iræ Dei in terram. 2And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth. And there fell a sore and grievous wound upon men who had the character of the beast: and upon them that adored the image thereof.E andò il primo, e versò la sua ampolla sulla terra, e ne venne ferita crudele, e pessima agli uomini, che avevano il carattere della bestia, e a quelli, che adoraron l'immagine di essa.And the first vvent, and poured out his vial vpon the earth, and there vvas made a cruel and very sore vvound vpon men that had the character of the beast: and vpon them that adored the image thereof.Et abiit primus, et effudit phialam suam in terram, et factum est vulnus sævum et pessimum in homines, qui habebant caracterem bestiæ, et in eos qui adoraverunt imaginem ejus. 3And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea. And there came blood as it were of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.E il secondo Angelo versò la sua ampolla nel mare, e divenne come sangue di cadavere: e tutti gli animali viventi nel mare, perirono.And the second Angel poured out his vial vpon the sea, and there vvas made bloud as it vvere of one dead: and euery liuing soul died in the sea.Et secundus angelus effudit phialam suam in mare, et factus est sanguis tamquam mortui: et omnis anima vivens mortua est in mari. 4And the third poured out his vial upon the rivers and the fountains of waters. And there was made blood.E il terzo Angelo versò la sua ampolla nei fiumi, e nelle fontane d'acque, e diventarono sangue.And the third poured out his vial vpon the riuers & the fountaines of vvaters: and there vvas made bloud.Et tertius effudit phialam suam super flumina, et super fontes aquarum, et factus est sanguis. 5And I heard the angel of the waters saying: Thou art just, O Lord, who art and who wast, the Holy One, because thou hast judged these things.E udii l'Angelo delle acque, che diceva: giusto sei, o Signore, che sei, e che eri santo, perché hai sentenziato così:And I heard the Angel of the vvaters, saying: Thou art iust ô Lord, vvhich art, and vvhich vvast, the holy one, because thou hast iudged these things:Et audivi angelum aquarum dicentem: Justus es, Domine, qui es, et qui eras sanctus, qui hæc judicasti:
6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets: and thou hast given them blood to drink. For they are worthy.Perché hanno sparso il sangue de' santi, e de' profeti, e hai dato loro a bever sangue: imperocché lo meritano.because they haue shed the bloud of the Sainctes and Prophets, & thou hast giuen them bloud to drinke, for they are vvorthie.quia sanguinem sanctorum et prophetarum effuderunt, et sanguinem eis dedisti bibere: digni enim sunt. 7And I heard another, from the altar, saying: Yea, O Lord God Almighty, true and just are thy judgments.E ne udii un altro dall'altare, che diceva: si certamente, o Signore Dio onnipotente, (sono) giusti, e veri i tuoi giudizi.And I heard an other saying: Yea Lord God omnipotent, true and iust are thy iudgements.Et audivi alterum ab altari dicentem: Etiam Domine Deus omnipotens, vera et justa judicia tua. 8And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun. And it was given unto him to afflict men with heat and fire.E il quarto Angelo versò la sua ampolla nel sole, e fugli dato di affliggere gli uomini col calore, e col fuoco:And the fourth Angel poured out his vial vpon the sunne, and it vvas giuen vnto him to afflict men vvith heate and fire:Et quartus angelus effudit phialam suam in solem, et datum est illi æstu affligere homines, et igni: 9And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God, who hath power over these plagues. Neither did they penance to give him glory.E gli uomini bollivano pel gran calore, e bestemmiarono il nome di Dio, che ha podestà sopra di queste piaghe, né fecero penitenza, per dare a lui gloria.and men boiled vvith great heate, and blasphemed the name of God hauing povver ouer these plagues, neither did they penance to giue him glorie.et æstuaverunt homines æstu magno, et blasphemaverunt nomen Dei habentis potestatem super has plagas, neque egerunt pœnitentiam ut darent illi gloriam. 10And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast. And his kingdom became dark: and they gnawed their tongues for pain.E il quinto Angelo versò la sua ampolla sul trono della bestia: e il regno di lei diventò tenebroso, e pel dolore si mangiavano le proprie lor lingue:And the fift Angel poured out his vial vpon the seate of the beast: and his kingdom vvas made darke, and they together did eate their tonges for paine:Et quintus angelus effudit phialam suam super sedem bestiæ: et factum est regnum ejus tenebrosum, et commanducaverunt linguas suas præ dolore: 11And they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and wounds: and did not penance for their works.E bestemmiarono il Dio del cielo a motivo dei loro dolori, e ferite, e non si convertirono dalle opere loro.& they blasphemed the God of heauen because of their paines and vvoundes, & did not penance from their vvorkes.et blasphemaverunt Deum cæli præ doloribus, et vulneribus suis, et non egerunt pœnitentiam ex operibus suis.
12And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon that great river Euphrates and dried up the water thereof, that a way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun.E il sesto Angelo versò la sua ampolla nel gran fiume, l'Eufrate: e s'asciugarono le sue acque, affinchè si preparasse la strada ai Re d'Oriente.And the sixt Angel poured out his vial vpon that great riuer Euphrates: and dried vp the vvater thereof that a vvay might be prepared to the kings from the rising of the sunne.Et sextus angelus effudit phialam suam in flumen illud magnum Euphraten: et siccavit aquam ejus, ut præpararetur via regibus ab ortu solis. 13And I saw from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.E vidi (uscire) dalla bocca del dragone, e dalla bocca della bestia, e dalla bocca del falso profeta tre spiriti immondi simili alle rane.And I savv from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false-prophet three' vncleane spirites in maner of frogges.Et vidi de ore draconis, et de ore bestiæ, et de ore pseudoprophetæ spiritus tres immundos in modum ranarum. 14For they are the spirits of devils, working signs: and they go forth unto the kings of the whole earth, to gather them to battle against the great day of the Almighty God.Imperocché sono gli spiriti de' demoni, che fanno prodigi, e sen vanno ai Re di tutta la terra per congregarli a battaglia nel giorno grande di Dio onnipotente.For they are the spirites of Deuils vvorking signes, and they goe forth to the kings of the vvhole earth to gather them into battel at the great day of the omnipotent God.Sunt enim spiritus dæmoniorum facientes signa, et procedunt ad reges totius terræ congregare illos in prælium ad diem magnum omnipotentis Dei. 15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.Ecco che io vengo, come viene il ladro. Beato, chi veglia, e tien cura delle sue vesti, per non andare ignudo, onde veggano la sua bruttezza.Behold I come as a theefe: Blessed is he that vvatcheth, & keepeth his garments, that he vvalke not naked, and they see his turpitude.Ecce venio sicut fur. Beatus qui vigilat, et custodit vestimenta sua, ne nudus ambulet, et videant turpitudinem ejus. 16And he shall gather them together into a place which in Hebrew is called Armagedon.E gli ragunerà nel luogo chiamato in Ebraico Armagedon.And he shal gather them into a place vvhich in Hebrevv is called Armagedon.Et congregabit illos in locum qui vocatur hebraice Armagedon.
17And the seventh angel poured out his vial upon the air. And there came a great voice out of the temple from the throne, saying: It is done.E il settimo Angelo versò la sua ampolla per l'aria, e voce grande uscì dal tempio, e dal trono, che disse: è fatto.And the seuenth Angel poured out his vial vpon the aire, and there came forth a loud voice out of the temple from the throne, saying: It is done.Et septimus angelus effudit phialam suam in aërem, et exivit vox magna de templo a throno, dicens: Factum est. 18And there were lightnings and voices and thunders: and there was a great earthquake, such an one as never had been since men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, so great.E ne seguirono folgori, e voci, e tuoni, e gran tremuoto successe, quale non fu mai, dacché uomini furon sulla terra: tal tremuoto, sì grande.And there vvere made lighteninges, and voices, and thunders, and a great earthquake vvas made, such an one as neuer hath been since men vvere vpon the earth, such an earthquake, so great.Et facta sunt fulgura, et voces, et tonitrua, et terræmotus factus est magnus, qualis numquam fuit ex quo homines fuerunt super terram: talis terræmotus, sic magnus. 19And the great city was divided into three parts: and the cities of the Gentiles fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath.E la città grande si squarciò in tre parti: e le città delle genti caddero a terra: e fu fatta dinanzi a Dio ricordanza della gran Babilonia, per dare a lei il calice del vino dell'indignazione dell'ira di esso.And the great citie vvas made into three partes: and the cities of the Gentiles fel. And Babylon the great came into memorie before God, to giue her the cuppe of vvine of the indignation of his vvrath.Et facta est civitas magna in tres partes: et civitates gentium ceciderunt. Et Babylon magna venit in memoriam ante Deum, dare illi calicem vini indignationis iræ ejus. 20And every island fled away: and the mountains were not found.E le isole tutte fuggirono, e sparirono i monti.And euery Iland fled, and mountaines vvere not found.Et omnis insula fugit, et montes non sunt inventi. 21And great hail, like a talent, came down from heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God, for the plague of the hail: because it was exceeding great.E grandine grossa come un talento cadde dal cielo sopra degli uomini: e gli uomini bestemmiarono Dio per la piaga della grandine: attesoché fu sommamente grande.And great haile like a talent came downe from heauen vpon men: and men blasphemed God for the plague of the haile: because it vvas made exceding great.Et grando magna sicut talentum descendit de cælo in homines: et blasphemaverunt Deum homines propter plagam grandinis: quoniam magna facta est vehementer.
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Bossuet
I heard a great voice. Bossuet explains the pouring out of the seven vials in this manner. The five first he supposes to have taken place under the reign of Valerian and Gallien; the sixth he supposes to have been poured out during the reigns of Valerian, Dioclesian, and Julian; and the seventh under Honorius and the Alani. (Bossuet)
Calmet
All commentators, however, seem to agree that the great city mentioned in the 19th verse, is to be understood of Rome, and that the plagues which are here foretold, are denounced against her. (Calmet, Pastorini, etc.)
Witham
Go and pour out the seven vials, etc. According to the exposition followed by the bishop of Meaux[Bossuet], all these seven vials are already past, being punishments and judgments exercised against the heathen emperors, from the time of Valerian even to the time of Julian, at whose death it might be said, (ver. 17) it is done. Idolatry is destroyed, as to its public worship. Here in particular, by the drying up of the Euphrates, and by the armies of the East, these interpreters understand those of the Persians, who first gave the great shock to the empire in Valerian's time, and by whom afterwards Julian the apostate was defeated, and killed. By the great Babylon they also understand idolatrous Rome; and by the islands and mountains sunk by earthquakes, they understand the destruction of divers kingdoms. According to another interpretation, (which is very common) all these judgments are to come before the end of the world; and will be in a manner literally executed about antichrist's time. At the first vial, men shall be struck with ulcers and wounds, not unlike to the sixth plague of Egypt. At the second and third vial, the sea and fountains shall be turned into blood, as in Egypt. At the fourth vial shall be excessive scorching heats, tormenting men, and burning every thing for their use. At the fifth vial darkness, like that of Egypt. At the sixth vial, (ver. 12.) the Euphrates dried up, to open a passage for the armies from the East, to come and join the forces of antichrist. And the three unclean spirits like frogs, may signify devils sent by the dragon, or chief of the devils, to excite the wicked to all manner of unclean abominations. They are here said to be gathered together in a place called Armagedon, perhaps with an allusion to Mageddon, in the tribe of Manasses, where the two kings of Israel, Ochozias and Josias, perished. (4 Kings 9:21.) And they are brought in only to signify a place of great destruction. See also Zacharias 12:11. At the seventh vial, a voice, it is done, that is the reign of the wicked in general, and of antichrist, is at an end. (Witham)
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Calmet
And the first. From hence it appears that the first vial was poured out indiscriminately upon the good equally with the wicked. But behold the different consequences that follow: those that have the mark of the beast are afflicted with a sore and grievous wound, which is said in allusion to the madness, fury, and despair with which the wicked were afflicted, whilst St. John's omitting to say any thing of the just, shews that they bore it with resignation and joy. (Calmet)
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Pastorini
And the second. On pouring out the vial follows the divine judgment. There appears blood, like that of a dead man. This passage, Pastorini is of opinion alludes to the Arian heresy, which, like blood, flowed in vigorous circulation whilst in health and strength, gradually retarded its motion, as in a dying man, and was at last totally lost and stopped, like the circulation in a dead man. Hence every living soul died in the sea. (Pastorini)
Calmet interprets it as a prediction of the calamities which befell the Roman empire, during the invasion of the Persians on the east, and the Goths and other barbarous nations on the west.
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Pastorini
Upon the rivers. That is, on the Roman provinces in Italy, and Rome itself. This is the last stroke employed by the Almighty for the total destruction of Rome. The divine judgment being executed, the Angel of the waters, that is, the Angel that presided over the Roman states, cries out, (ver. 5, 6.) thou art just, etc. (Pastorini)
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Pastorini
And the fourth Angel. Here is the punishment of the Greeks during the siege of Constantinople by the Turks, where the fire engines, that were then made use of for the first time, so reduced the Grecian army, that the walls of the city were reduced to ashes, and the whole town to flames. Hence it appears how the Greeks were scorched with great heat; and how they blasphemed the name of God, appears too evident from the history of Notaros, admiral of the Constantinopolitan fleet. (Pastorini)
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Calmet
Calmet explains this passage of Rome the seat of idolatry, which was given up to the pillage of the barbarians under Alaric. (Calmet)
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Pastorini
River Euphrates. That is, a passage is laid open for the potentates of the East to lay their destructive hands upon the countries on this side the Euphrates. For they are the spirits of devils working signs, which are sent forth by the eastern princes, to oblige all to unite in arms against the great day of the Almighty God. (Pastorini)
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Challoner
Armagedon. That is, the hill of robbers. (Challoner)
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The seventh vial is poured out upon the air which lies between the earth and the heavens, to indicate that the judgments of God are going to fall upon the whole creation. After which follow these words, it is done. All is over, time is no more; upon which immediately follow lightnings, etc.
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Witham
Great Babylon came in remembrance before God. The time of God's punishing the wicked world is approaching: for by a third interpretation, Babylon may signify metaphorically all the wicked in general. (Witham)
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Witham
And great hail like a talent came down, etc.[Ver. 21. Et grando magna sicut talentum, os talantiaia, quasi talentaris. The Protestants and Mr. N. translate hail about the weight of a talent, as if every hailstone were of that weight.] Which need not be taken literally, but only metaphorically, to signify the heavy weight of God's judgments upon sinners. (Witham)
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Armagedon.... That is, the hill of robbers.
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The great reuenge that God vvil doe at the later day vpon the persecutors of his Saincts.
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The desperate and damned persons shal blaspheme God perpetually. vvhich shal be such onely as do not repent in this life.
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See chap. 9. v. 20 in the margent.
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The dragon, is the Diuel: the beast, Antichrist, or the societie wherof he is head: the false-prophet, either Antichrist him self, or the companie of Heretikes and seducers that folovv him.
issue forth three
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Concordance Apoc. 3.
Concordance 2 Cor. 5, 3.
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The hil of theaues, by S. Hieroms interpretation.
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The citie or cōmonvvealth of the vvicked deuided into three partes: into infidels, Heretikes, and euil Catholikes. This citie is here called Babylō, vvhereof see the Annorat. vpon the next chapter v. 5.
Concordance Ier. 25, 15.
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 1.40
… There is, we know, no unrighteousness with God; He is a righteous and holy Lord,
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.17
… “He who shall overcome I will give him to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God.” Also in the same place: “Be thou faithful even unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Also in the same place: “Blessed shall they be who shall watch, and shall keep their garments, lest they walk naked, and they see their shame.”
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Verse 1. "And I heard a great voice from the temple," — namely of God, who here commands seven angels to bring seven plagues upon the impious Antichristian peoples. Note: these plagues are similar to and foreshadowed in the plagues of Egypt, Exod. vii and seq. For, as I said above, and must be repeated here, the first plague of Egypt was the conversion of the Nile and waters into blood; the second, frogs; the third, gnats; the fourth, flies, that is every kind of fly; the fifth, pestilence; the sixth, boils; the seventh, hail; the eighth, locusts; the ninth, darkness; the tenth, the slaying of the firstborn; the eleventh, the drying up of the Red Sea, and the drowning of Pharaoh with his followers. These Egyptian plagues therefore were signs and examples of God's vengeance upon sinners, especially upon those contumacious and rebellious against God, such as Pharaoh was with his people: and allegorically they signified the plagues to be inflicted upon the impious and Antichristian peoples at the end of the world, indeed these very same plagues are with those. For the plague of the first angel here is the same as the sixth Egyptian plague; the plague of the second and third angel is the same as the first Egyptian plague; the plague of the fourth angel is the same as the fifth; the plague of the fifth is the same as the ninth; the plague of the sixth is the same as the eleventh and second; the plague of the seventh is the same as the seventh Egyptian plague. Note: these seven angels, bowls and plagues are different from the seven angels, trumpets and plagues, of which account was made in cap. viii and ix. For those in cap. viii and ix were contained in the seventh seal, as is evident from cap. viii, verse 1; but these are contained in the very book sealed with seven seals. Therefore those will precede in time, these will follow; those will send plagues before the Antichrist, these in the time of the Antichrist. Wherefore also the plagues are for the most part different in both places, yet in part either the same or similar, as the trumpet and first plague of hail, cap. viii, verse 7, is in part the same as the seventh plague here verse 21: for among other things which this plague brings, it brings also hail, but immense like a talent. Thus the trumpet and second plague cap. viii, verse 8, is similar to the second plague here verse 3, in that the sea was turned into blood, but dissimilar in that, cap. viii, a great mountain was cast into the sea, here however nothing of the sort is said. Again, cap. viii, only a third part of the sea was turned into blood, and a third part of the fishes died: here however the whole sea was turned into blood, and all the fishes died. The third trumpet and plague cap. viii, verse 10, was made in the rivers, as also the third here verse 4; but cap. viii, the waters were turned into wormwood; here however into blood. The fourth trumpet and plague cap. viii, verse 12, was upon the sun, as also the fourth here verse 8; but cap. viii the sun was smitten with darkness and obscurity, here however with burning and heat. The fifth trumpet and plague cap. ix, verse 2, is of locusts tormenting and bringing darkness; the fifth likewise plague here verse 10, makes the kingdom of the Antichrist dark and miserable, so that men because of pains blaspheme God and eat their tongues. The sixth trumpet and plague cap. ix, verse 15, looses four angels bound in the Euphrates, which being loosed are led into battle two hundred million horsemen; the sixth likewise plague here verse 12, the Euphrates is dried up, so that the way may be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun. The seventh trumpet cap. xi, verse 15, brings about the end and consummation of the world, and sings: "The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." The seventh plague here verse 17, says: "It is done," and soon brings about dreadful lightnings, thunders, earthquakes and hail. From what has been said it is clear that those seven angels with these trumpets are similar, yet different and preceding these, and as it were forerunners: hence also they bring lesser plagues, which these, being later, increase and consummate. Except the seventh cap. xi, verse 15, which brings about the end of all, as I showed there.
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2. "And the first angel went, and poured out his vial." — Note: that the angels are here said to have poured out vials into the sea, rivers, sun, etc., not to be understood literally as it sounds, as if at the end of the world they will in fact pour out their vials, but it is to be understood symbolically. For by this phrase and symbol it is signified that the angels will work and pour out upon the sea, rivers, sun, etc., the wrath and vengeance of God, contained and represented as it were in a vial: for example, they will cause the waters of the sea and rivers to be turned into blood, the sun to burn the impious more fiercely than usual, etc. "And there came a sore" (in Greek helkos, that is, an ulcer. Thus Vatablus and others; it is called a sore, however, because an ulcer, when it opens, becomes a sore) "a grievous" (that is, dire and horrible; again "grievous," that is, raging, afflicting with pain and tormenting the Antichristians) "and malignant," — that is, most foul, shameful and fetid. It alludes to the sixth plague of Egypt, Exod. ix, 10, of which it is said: "And there came a blain of boils upon man and beast;" and to the ulcers with which God smote the Philistines on account of the captured and carried about ark of the Covenant: of which it is said, I Kings v, 6: "The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Ashdodites, and he smote them with emerods in their secret parts, even Ashdod." And soon after, verse 9: "Their emerods were multiplied." Of which it is said also in Psalm lxxvii, verse 66: "He smote his enemies in the hinder parts, he put them to a perpetual reproach." With a similar therefore shameful plague, equally as painful, God will smite at the end of the world those who have the mark of the beast, that is of Antichrist, of which I said cap. xiii, verse 16: namely that he may punish both their other crimes, and the shameful lusts, with which Antichrist and the Antichristians will let loose the reins. Thus even now God punishes the obscene and lustful with obscene and troublesome ulcers and venereal plague, or the French disease, especially in the shameful members, by which they have sinned. For God "so orders the very sins themselves, that those things which were delights to the sinning man, are instruments to the Lord punishing," says St. Augustine in Psalm vii. For these ulcers, and the other plagues plainly seem to be understood literally as they sound: although some expound these mystically, as Alcazar does, whose interpretation of each of these seven plagues I reviewed in the preceding cap., verse 5. I will review others' at the end of the chapter.
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3. "And the second angel poured out his phial into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man," — as if to say: The second angel worked upon the sea, and turned all the water of the sea into blood. But what does "as of a dead man" signify? First, some expound it of dark or congealed blood, which flows from the body of a dead man. But Alcazar rightly refutes this. For it can happen that blood flowing from a dead man is red and bright, as appears in the blood of a kid. Nor is blood of a different color, or less congealed, when it springs from the cut vein of a living man, than gore flowing from a corpse. Second, others think there is an allusion to the Dead Sea, into which Sodom was turned on account of its crimes: for the waters of that sea are bituminous, and hence dark: concerning them Tacitus says, book V: "A liquid dark by nature." In like manner this angel at the end of the world will make the waters of the sea dark, and as it were dead; whence it follows: "And every living soul died." Third, Alcazar refers "of a dead man" to victims, whose blood, when they were sacrificed, was received in a vessel which was half full of water, so that the blood mixed with water would be more fluid, and poured into a pit which was beside the edge of the altar, would flow away more easily, and would not stick near the altar and defile it. But mystically it signified what would flow from Christ on the cross, who was to be the victim of the whole world, namely blood and water. The sense therefore is, as if to say: the water of the sea is turned into blood, just as in a basin into which the blood of the sacrificed animal was put, the water itself was tinged with a bloody color. Moreover Alcazar holds that by this blood is signified the blood of the Martyrs, which reddened the sea of paganism, and turned it into blood, that is, subjected it to itself and to Christ, and sanctified it. Whence St. Isidore in Questions on Exodus, chapter x: "The waters," he says, "turned into blood signify peoples converted to faith in the blood of Christ;" hence the fish, that is the faithful, dead, that is devoted to death by the Emperors persecuting them. Fourth and best, others refer these things to an abundance of blood. For when a man, or any other animal, is killed, much blood flows out, as if to say: the water of the sea is turned into blood, just as if there had been slaughters of men in it, and many had been killed and dead, and therefore all the fish, which in the sea live not on blood but on water, are likewise dead. For the genitive singular nekrou, that is "of a dead man," is put for the plural nekrōn, that is "of dead men," as if to say: the water of the sea became as blood of the slain and dead. Thus it is said, IV Kings iii, 22: "The Moabites saw the waters red as blood, and they said: This is blood; the kings have fought against one another, and they have slain each other mutually." He adds the cause in verse 5, saying: "Thou art just, O Lord," who punishest them in that wherein they have sinned, and what they unjustly inflicted on others, thou justly repayest and remeasurest to them: "Because they have shed the blood of the Saints and of the Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink: for they are worthy." Thus thou didst change the water into blood for the Egyptians, because they themselves had contaminated it with the blood of the Hebrew infants, whom they drowned in the waters, Exod. vii, 19.
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4. "And the third angel poured out his phial upon the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters, and it became blood." — Just as the second angel turned the sea into blood, so this third one likewise turns the rivers and fountains into blood. And so just as in Egypt under Pharaoh, by Moses all water was turned into blood, and all the fish died: so at the end of the world throughout the whole world, the entire sea and all rivers will be turned into blood, and all the fish will die. For what happened once in Egypt was a type and prelude of what is to come at the end of the world. Yet just as in Egypt that conversion did not last more than eight days, lest men perish of thirst, so likewise it seems that this conversion will not last very long, lest all perish, but after some time the sea and rivers are to be restored to their natural state, color and taste, as was done in Egypt. It is also probable that this plague of waters will not harm the faithful, just as it did not harm the Hebrews in Egypt; for this plague will be sent upon the wicked, to avenge the blood of the Saints, which the wicked will then shed. As for the fish, it is not necessary that they revive, because the world will soon end; and perhaps fish will not be lacking in ponds, lakes and fish-ponds: for it is not said of those waters that they will be turned into blood. Thus Father Lessius, book XIII On the Divine Perfections, chapter xviii.
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5. "And I heard the angel of the waters." — Note: from this passage it is clear that certain angels are appointed by God to preside over certain creatures, and each element has its own presiding angel. For if the waters have their own angel, why should not the earth and air equally have theirs? For God distributes these lower things through angels, so that they themselves individually take care of them. Thus Origen teaches, homily 14 on Numbers; St. Augustine, book LXXXIII Questions, Question 79, where he says: "Each visible thing in this world has an angelic power set over it;"; St. Thomas I part., Question 110, article 1; Gabriel Vasquez, I part., vol. II, disputation 245, number 6, where besides Origen and St. Augustine, he cites Andrew and Arethas, and even Plato. For what Alcazar understands by the angel of the waters as Moses, and by the angel of the altar as Elijah, is mystical and symbolic, not literal nor genuine. Furthermore, this angel presiding over the waters praises the justice of God, in that He punished the impious who abused the waters, by changing them into blood. He therefore says: "Thou art just, O Lord, who art, and who wast holy, who hast judged these things; because they have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink." The Syriac version renders: "Just is He who is, and He who was, and merciful (or indulgent), because Thou hast judged these things," etc. For the angels rejoice when the creatures over which they preside commend and praise God and God's justice. Note: in these final plagues of the world there shines forth not only the justice but also the mercy of God; for they are applied gradually and with moderation, so that sinners may be invited by them to repentance and amendment. Hence they do not always last, but one succeeds another, so that they may perceive it to be the hand of God chastising, not natural causes or some fate of the stars.
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7. "And I heard another angel." — Read with the Romans and Greeks: "And I heard another from the altar," namely coming forth from the place of the Martyrs seeking vengeance, and "saying: Yea, O Lord, etc., true and just are Thy judgments;"; "another," understand an angel.
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8. "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun," — namely because he caused the sun to burn the impious more intensely and sharply. Whence it follows: "And it was given to him (to the sun) to afflict men with heat and fire." Where the "and" is explicative; "with heat and fire," that is, with fiery heat, with intense and burning heat like fire. Thus the Poet says: "Gold and bridles," that is, golden bridles "he bit." For it signifies that men will be burned with such heat that this heat will seem to them to be fire, and that they will seem to themselves to be turned in fire and scorched. For in Greek it is kaumatisai anthrōpous en pyri, that is, it was given to him to cause heat, or to burn men in fire. Thus the Poets feign that Phaethon, when he did not know how to guide the chariot of the sun, burned the lands and heaven. Whence Phaethon is said to be apo tou phaous, that is, from light, and alba, that is "I burn," says Servius on that passage of Aeneid V: "The horses of Phaethon now bore Aurora with light." And Cicero, book III of Duties, relates the fable thus: "To Phaethon his son the sun said he would do whatever he wished; he wished to be taken up into his father's chariot: he was lifted up; and before he was settled, he was consumed by a thunderbolt. How much better it would have been that the father's promise not be kept in this matter!" Tropologically St. Gregory, XXXIV Moral., chapter 12: "To pour out the vial," he says, "upon the sun, is to inflict the punishments of persecution upon men shining with the splendor of wisdom. And it was given to him to afflict men with heat and fire, because when wise men overcome by tortures, are touched by the error of evil-doing, the weak, persuaded by their example, are inflamed with temporal desires. For the ruin of the strong provides increase to the perdition of the weak."
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10. "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast," — that is, upon the kingdom and subjects of the Antichrist: whence his kingdom became dark, both properly and symbolically "dark," that is unhappy, wretched and calamitous with plague, famine, diseases, and other miseries and misfortunes, so much so that the Antichristians gnaw, that is bite, their tongues, as if in their madness they wished to gnaw and devour them on account of pains and torments. It is a hyperbole and catachresis; for darkness is a symbol of adversity and misery, just as light is of prosperity and joy; and "to gnaw" is taken for "to bite."
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12. "And the sixth angel poured out his phial upon that great river Euphrates, and dried up the water thereof, that a way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun." — For, as I have said on Daniel, chapter vii and xi, and shall say here on chapter xvii, from those ten kings who shall divide the empire of the world in the time of Antichrist, three shall be slain by Antichrist, and soon the seven remaining, being terrified, shall submit themselves to him; and because some of these shall be in the East, hence the Euphrates shall be dried up by an angel, so that they may easily pass over to Antichrist, and that fighting with him against Christ and the Church, they may be trampled down by God, as is said in verse 14; and therefore this drying up of the Euphrates, which shall be done by a good Angel, shall not be done, nor shall it tend to the good and victory of Antichrist and the Antichristians, such as these kings shall be, but to that of Christ and Christians. He alludes to Darius and Cyrus, kings of the Persians and Medes, who came from the East, that is, from Persia and Media, to the destruction of Babylon, and the Euphrates being diverted into other and many channels, they sent soldiers with dry feet into the city, and thus took it by surprise, as I have said on Daniel v, 30. For this drying up of the Euphrates shall be repeated again at the end of the world, and that not naturally by the work of men, as was done in the time of Cyrus, but miraculously by the work of this sixth angel. Viegas holds here, section III (although in section II he said the contrary), and Genebrardus on Psalm LXVII, 37, that these kings shall come not for, but against Antichrist, and shall fight for Christ and the Church: both because they are sent by a good Angel, who dries up the Euphrates for them; and because Antichrist shall prepare a great army against them. For he adds that the dragon and the beast, that is, the devil and Antichrist, shall send three unclean spirits, who shall call forth all the other kings confederated with them to their aid against these; but all these shall be slain, not so much by the kings coming from the East, as by Christ in verse 16. This opinion appears in appearance probable. Yet the contrary seems more probable, namely that they shall come for Antichrist against the Church. Thus Ribera and others, indeed Viegas himself in section II. For these things pertain to the last year of Antichrist, when he shall already have all the kings of the world subject to him, and shall be a monarch; whence he shall institute a most bitter persecution everywhere against Christians, and shall call together this army against them, so that through it he may search out, assail and exterminate the faithful everywhere. For this shall be the last war, the last persecution of Antichrist, in which he himself shall not be overthrown by kings, but by God and Christ (against whom he shall fight) in a place which shall be called Armageddon, as is said in verses 14 and 16, and chapter xix, 15, and xx, 9. This shall therefore be among the last plagues both of the world and of Antichrist. You will object: To what end so great a number of soldiers to overthrow Christians, when these shall be very few under Antichrist? I answer that they shall be few if compared with the Antichristians; yet in truth they shall be many, especially those who shall hide themselves in mountains, forests and other hiding places. For if the number of Hebrews going out of Egypt amounted to three million, as I have shown on Exodus chapter xii, verse 37, how many millions do we think there shall be of Christians in the whole world? Wherefore, as Pharaoh gathered all the forces of his kingdom to subdue the Hebrews, so Antichrist shall gather all his strength and forces to subdue Christians of the whole world to himself; and as Pharaoh with all his men perished, overwhelmed in the Red Sea, so the army of Antichrist shall perish, overwhelmed in heavenly fire. For this counsel and end God shall cause all these his armies to be gathered together, so that all collected in one place he may strike them down with one blow, and as it were with one thunderbolt, and destroy them; just as he caused Pharaoh to gather all the warriors of Egypt, so that he might destroy them all at once and drown them in the sea. Mystically, Laurentius Justinianus, and from him Alcazar (although he himself thinks this to be literal): The drying up, he says, of the Euphrates is a symbol of earthly happiness failing and abandoning worldly men in its course. For the Euphrates signifies the most rapid torrent of pride, delights, and riches, and perhaps also of human wisdom and eloquence, in which the Romans abounded, and by which they repelled the Gospel of Christ. But God dried this up in the Romans through Darius and Cyrus, that is, through St. Peter and Paul: by which it came to pass that gradually into Babylon, that is Rome, illustrious families broke in and occupied it. Whence also Adam Sasbout, in the Prologue to Isaiah, relates that St. Jerome teaches that in the Medes and Persians the Apostles and their successors are denoted, who overthrew Babylon, that is the confused world. For just as Cyrus and Darius took Babylon not by force, nor by arms, but secretly by diverting the Euphrates in another direction (which the Babylonians, thinking it impossible, had not guarded against): so Christian religion not by force, but secretly creeping in, occupied the senatorial houses of Rome, before the Romans perceived it; so that suddenly one man discovered his own wife to be Christian, another his daughter, another his brothers, another his relatives and kinsmen, and now they saw that Christianity had pervaded all Rome. This mystical sense agrees with Cyrus and Darius taking Babylon, but not with these kings fighting against Christ and the Church.
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13. "And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet" (of which it was said in chapter xiii) "three unclean spirits in the manner of frogs," — supply to come forth, or to go out, as some manuscript codices read. You will ask, who are these? First, Prosper in the Half of the Time, chapter xi, holds them to be three heralds of Antichrist, and adds concerning them: "What was said in Daniel, Examinations shall arise from him, here it is openly said, to go forth as it were three unclean spirits as his heralds, as it were into three parts of the world, Asia, Europe and Africa, who shall persuade that Antichrist is Christ." But I say these three spirits are unclean, and are demons; for St. John asserts this expressly. Viegas holds that these three demons are sent by Antichrist, in the visible form of men, as it were of legates, to gather the nations to him. But this is uncertain, especially since here by John they are compared not to men, but to frogs. That is certain, that these demons go forth from the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, that is, by the command and authority of the demon, Antichrist and his precursor, are sent to solicit and gather the nations and soldiers to Antichrist. They go forth therefore, so that the seven remaining and surviving kings, in war to be waged against Christians with Antichrist, both by persuasion and by signs and wonders, whether by themselves or through their magicians, they may induce and stir up, as follows. Wherefore John adds: "For they are spirits of demons doing signs." Where the for gives the reason for what precedes, as if to say, lest anyone thinking all spirits to be pure and good, and to be holy angels, should wonder at what I said, that they are "unclean spirits"; for they are truly such among spirits, and are spirits of demons (for not all spirits are good angels), and these make signs and wonders. Furthermore these spirits are compared to frogs, on account of uncleanness, foulness, loquacity and contumacy, by which with great, but vain and feeble noise, they will stir all to arms against Christians. For the frog utters a hoarse, troublesome and importunate cry, but weak, ineffectual and feeble: wherefore the frog is called by the Greeks batrachos, from the harsh cry; for to the frog applies that Laconian saying: "It is a voice, nothing besides." Hence John, as it were deriding them, and showing their foolish counsel to make noise against and resist Christ, asserts that there will be no other end of such a gathering and conspiracy, than that all kings shall be gathered to battle on the great day of the Almighty God, and there all together shall be struck down and destroyed by him, and thus in them shall be fulfilled that of Psalm ii, 2: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together against the Lord, and against his Christ: he that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall deride them." And that of Isaiah viii, 9: "Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome." This therefore shall be as it were a gigantomachia. For as the proud giants Titans, waging war against Jupiter, were driven by him with thunderbolt into Tartarus: so God shall do to these kings warring against him. Wherefore all this their conspiracy shall profit nothing else, than that the Almighty God shall correct them all gathered together, and shall give the clearest proof of his strength in their destruction, and shall do this by the same way and counsel by which they themselves attempted to assail and exterminate his Christ and Christians. For he shall gather them with Antichrist into one place, whose name shall be Armageddon, so that there, all gathered together, he may destroy and slay them with one as it were blow and weapon. Hence in chapter xvii, verse 14, it is said: "These shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them." Hence the day of such power and victory is called here the great day of the Almighty God, on which namely God shall make such slaughter, that he shall call all the birds of the heaven to the great supper, as it is said in chapter xix, verse 17. Mystically, Alcazar (though he himself presents it as if literal): By these three, he says, frogs are signified the three enemies of the faithful: demon, world, flesh; or rather their speech and suggestion, concerning which our Bernardinus Rossignolius treats extensively and learnedly, book III On the Discipline of Perfection, chapter xv. For this threefold speech and suggestion of theirs, namely to pursue honors, riches and delights, proceeds from the mouth of the dragon, and the beast of the sea, and the beast of the earth, of which in chapter xiii, that is, from the mouth of the devil, world and flesh; and they are as it were their breath, or breathing, indeed a sneeze, as that one says the cat is the lion or tiger's sneeze. For this symbol is suited by the foulness, obscenity and form of the frog. For in that very mud in which it is both born and always wallows, lust and base desire are wonderfully represented. In the spots by which it is distinguished as it were by certain eyes everywhere, the concupiscence of the eyes is hinted at. In the stubborn elevation of importunate clamor, pride is shadowed forth. On which account there exists a fable among Aesop, of a frog comparing itself to the great bulk of an ox through swelling. Three therefore frogs are threefold troublesome and clamorous suggestions of the devil, world and flesh, or of pride, avarice and lust. Hence also the frogs are threefold, namely first, common and marsh frogs; second, toads, which are terrestrial and venomous; and third, calamites, which dwell among reeds and shrubs, as Pliny testifies, book VIII, chapter xxxi, and book XXXII, chapter x. The first you would not badly adapt to flesh, the second to the devil, the third to the world. Thus far Alcazar, but mystically. For according to the letter John says these frogs to be three unclean spirits, and to be three demons. Symbolically, the frog is shameless, clamorous, curious, obscene, stupid, and therefore talkative; whence the proverb: "A round frog is wiser." Concerning which Plato in the Theaetetus: "We," he says, "admired him as a god on account of wisdom; he excelled in prudence no more than a round frog." It is called round, from the shape of the body, because it curves into a circle, so that it can easily bend and turn in any direction. Hence the frog signifies heresy and heretics stupid, talkative, curious and clamorous. Wherefore Frederick Staphylus, book On the Concord of the Lutherans, and Gabriel Prateolus in the Catalogue of Heretics, aptly adapt these three frogs to three sects which proceeded from Luther. The first is that of the Anabaptists, whose father is Rothmannus. The second is that of the Sacramentarians, whose author is Carolstadius, from whom Zwingli and Calvin are descended. The third is that of the Protestants, whose leader is Melanchthon. Again, Alcazar by these three frogs understands Judaism, Gentilism and heresy. See what I said concerning frogs at Exodus viii, 3 and following.
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15. "Behold I come as a thief," — both to the universal judgment, and to the battle and ruin of the Antichrist and Antichristians, which will be prior to the judgment, and "as a thief," that is secretly, unexpectedly and suddenly. Whence Varro, book XIV, derives the name thief from dark, that is black, because he steals through darkness and dark nights; others from fraud; others from carrying, that is, taking away the property of others; others from the Greek phōr, that is thief. Thus Gellius, book I, chapter xviii. By this comparison of a thief Scripture often designates the unexpected, secret and sudden coming of Christ to judgment, Matthew xxiv, 43; I Thessalonians v, 2; II Peter iii, 10; Apocalypse iii, 3, so that by continual and constant expectation and fear of him it may hold men in suspense; and thus they themselves on each day, indeed on each hour and moment, studiously and with the whole effort of their mind prepare themselves for him. For, as St. Hilary says, commentary 27 on Matthew, at the end: "It behooves us to be prepared, because ignorance of the day agitates the intent solicitude of suspended expectation." "Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments," — namely the grace of God and virtues, by which as it were by garments the soul is adorned, lest its shame appear, that is its nakedness, namely the concupiscence innate to it and the stain of original sin, and other vices and sins sprung from it.
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16. "And he gathered them together into a place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon." — Thus the Roman and Greek texts read, not Armageddon, but Armagedon, with the penultimate syllable short. The Arabic also reads Armachadon. You will ask first, what it signifies in Hebrew, and where Armagedon is. First, St. Jerome in the Hebrew Names: "Armagedon," he says, "is interpreted the resurrection of the roof, or resurrection in former times" (because when the Antichrist is overthrown, the roof of the Church will again rise to its former glory); "but better, a mountain and a robber, or a globular mountain," namely because the Antichristians, who will be thieves and robbers, will gather there; for they will wish to steal God's honor from Him, and to despoil the Saints of life. Viegas adds that Armagedon signifies a mountain of apples, or fruits: for meged indeed signifies an apple. Second, Ticonius, homily 43, and Ribera think that Armagedon is Megiddo, which is a field and city in the tribe of Manasseh, near Jezreel, where Josias, king of Judah, was struck down and killed by Pharaoh Necho, II Paralipomenons xxxv, 22. Nor is this indeed absurd: for the Septuagint favors it, which in Zacharias xii, 11, where we read: "As the lamentation of Adadremmon in the field of Megiddon," translates: "As a field of pomegranate which is cut down in the field," as if in Megiddo the letter m were servile and heemantica, and its root were gada, that is, he cut down, which is also the root and etymology of Armagedon, as I shall presently say. But, because Ar is added here to Megiddo, which signifies not a field but a mountain, and it is not called Megiddo but Armagedon; and because nowhere else in Scripture, nor among cosmographers, is there mention of a place called Armagedon, hence it is likely that Armagedon is a new name of a place, which will be imposed upon it by the event in the time of the Antichrist. For Armagedon signifies in Hebrew the deceit of the gathering of the army, or snares, or the deceit of destruction. For it is derived from the root aram, that is, he acted deceitfully, he was cunning (whence orme is deceit or cunning), and gadad, whence by crasis becomes gad, that is, he gathered an army, or from gada, that is, he cut down, whence gidon is a cutting down; thus he was called Gideon, because he cut down the altar of Baal, and from there he was to cut down the Midianites. For the Hebrew gidon, the Greeks say gaden, because they cannot express the middle letter ain, which is in gidon. This place is therefore called Armagedon, because God will cunningly, and as it were by deceit, gather these kings with the Antichrist into it, so that He may destroy them all in one day: see chapter xix, verses 11 and seq. Or certainly Armagedon signifies anathema, or destruction of destruction, because namely God will there destroy the Antichrist with his own with complete destruction even to utter annihilation; for cherem, or chorma, or as we say horma (of which Numbers xxi, 3) in Hebrew signifies anathema, or a thing devoted to destruction and accursed; gidon signifies a cutting down and destruction: for the letter chet, which is the first in cherem and chorma, because it is guttural, and is pronounced more harshly, because it is of deep aspiration, hence among the Greeks and Latins it becomes liquid and perishes, so that for chorma we say horma. The same happens in the names Orch, Enoch, Ezechias, etc., in which the first letter chet perishes and vanishes. Furthermore, it is familiar to the Hebrews to impose a name from an event, especially a warlike one. For thus the place in which the Canaanites were slain by the Hebrews was called herma, Numbers xxi, 3 (to which perhaps St. John alludes here). Thus another place in which the Philistines were slain by the Jews was called the Stone of Help, I Kings vii, 12. Another was called Baal Perazim, II Kings v, 20. Another where Samson with the jawbone slew a thousand Philistines, from there it was named Ramath Lechi, that is, the elevation of the jawbone, Judges xv, 17. It is likely that Armagedon will be near Jerusalem and the valley of Josaphat, both because, as I said in chapter xi, and shall say again in chapter xvii, the kingdom of the Antichrist will be there; and because in the valley of Josaphat the judgment will take place, as is clear from Joel iii, 2; and because Armagedon is a Hebrew name: it will therefore be in Palestine and Judaea. Moreover, here the nations and kings gather in Armagedon, but gradually, the nearer ones more quickly, the more distant ones more slowly. Meanwhile the destruction of Babylon takes place, which is described in chapters xvii and xviii, then chapter xix, verse 11. Christ with his own goes forth into battle, and he strikes them in Armagedon. Therefore there is no hysteron proteron here, as Ribera wishes, but the direct series and order of the things to be done.
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17. "And the seventh angel poured out his phial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple, saying: It is done." — That is to say, here is the end of the seven phials and the last plagues, and therefore likewise the end of the world and the day of judgment is at hand. Moreover, he poured out his phial into the air, because God was about to show His wrath in the air, producing in it lightnings, and voices and thunders. Viegas takes these voices as articulate, as if they were the voices of specters, namely of armies running through the air, and crying out slaughter and carnage; just as before the siege of Jerusalem, armed hosts appeared in the air, and a voice from the temple "Let us depart hence," as Josephus testifies, book VII of the War, chapter xii. It can secondly be a hendiadys, "voices and thunders," that is, thundering voices, or vocal thunders. If anyone third prefers to take other voices here as terrible ones from heaven, I will not object.
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18. "And earthquakes." — According to that in Psalm xvii, verse 8: "The earth was moved and trembled: the foundations of the mountains were troubled, and were moved, because he was angry with them."
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19. "And the great city was divided into three parts." — Alcazar understands by this great city Babylon, which city is called great in chapter xvii, verse 18, that is Rome, which was divided into three parts when Constantine became Christian, namely into Christians, Pagans and neutrals. By the voice proceeding from the throne he understands the knowledge which St. Sylvester the Pontiff delivered to the whole Church concerning the decree of the Emperor Constantine, by which he publicly professed himself a Christian, and commanded temples to be erected in honor of Jesus Christ. Thus he himself, in his customary mystical and pious manner, applies it to the Roman Church. I say therefore according to the letter that this city is not Babylon, that is Rome, because John will soon treat of it under the proper name of Babylon; but that it is Jerusalem: for this is called a great city in chapter xi, verse 8, and this will be greatest in the time of Antichrist: for it will be his royal seat, as I have taught in chapter xi, verse 8. Thus Aretas, Viegas, Ribera and others. The sense therefore is, as if to say, by this earthquake Jerusalem will be split into three parts, both as to buildings and as to walls: for it will be so great that even islands and mountains will be moved from their place, as follows; wherefore not only will the city be thus split so as to have crevasses and gaps interspersed, but also it will be so divided that the parts themselves will be separated and divided from one another: which Pliny relates happened formerly elsewhere, lib. II, cap. lxxxiii. Mystically, many understand by the great city the assembly and multitude of the impious, which will go into three, that is, various parts and schisms, and will be divided, both in this world and in hell. Whence Richard understands by the three parts paganism, Judaism and false Christianity. Again, others think these three parts are those of which St. John says, epistle I, chapter ii, verse 16: "All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life." "And great Babylon came in remembrance before God." — What this Babylon is, I will say in the following chapter. Note: these things were shown to John at the same time, although they were not to be executed at the same time.
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20. "And every island fled, and the mountains were not found." For since the element of earth after the day of judgment is to be constituted in another more perfect mode and form, it is no wonder that it should first begin to be moved in that unusual and stupendous manner, and as it were in a universal motion of all the earth. Whence it preceded: "And the cities of the Gentiles fell." By which also it will come to pass that a great part of mankind perishes, and those who remain as survivors will be shaken with great fear, says Francis Suarez, III part., Question lix, art. 6, disp. 56, sect. iv.
16:21
21. "And there fell upon men a great hail like a talent." — In Greek hōs talantiaia, that is, as it were talentary, that is, of great mass and vast magnitude, says Erasmus; for the Greeks call this talantiaion, that is, talentary, even if it does not precisely equal the magnitude and weight of a talent. Alcazar, however, thinks that this hail precisely has the mass and weight of a talent. For it is hateful and unheard of in all ages. Whence "men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail, because it was exceeding great." Moreover, the Attic talent contained 60 minas, that is, Roman pounds 62 and a half, which make up 750 ounces. The ancient Hebrew talent, however, was double the Attic, of which the Greeks and Latins sometimes speak, and of which John also seems to speak here, says Alcazar. Talent is said to be derived from talanton, that is, a balance, a scale, a weighing-beam. Hence by metonymy the weight which is placed upon it to be weighed and measured, and properly that immense weight (which we call a talent) is named by this term. Thus Nonius calls balistas talentarias, which are indeed machines that would hurl stones of the weight of a talent. Moreover, I have recounted examples of immense and portentous hail and stones in Exodus chapter viii, verse 18, and Ezekiel chapter xxxviii, verse 22. These therefore are the seven final plagues, which will confound the whole world, and almost overturn it. The Gentiles and Poets saw these things in shadow. Whence Lucan, at the beginning of book I of the Pharsalia, thus sings: "Thus, when the framework is loosened, when the final hour of so many ages shall have compelled the world, repeating ancient chaos again, all stars shall clash with stars, fiery stars shall seek the sea, the earth shall not wish to extend its shores, and shall shake the strait; contrary to her brother Phoebus shall go, and indignant at driving her chariot obliquely through the orb, she shall demand the day for herself, and the whole discordant machine shall disturb the bonds of the sundered world." And Ovid, in the first book of the Metamorphoses: "He remembers also that it is in the fates that there shall come a time when the sea, when the earth, and the captured kingdom of heaven shall burn, and the laborious mass of the world shall toil." And Seneca in the Hercules Oetaeus: "Now, now when laws are buried, when the day shall come to the world, the southern pole shall bury whatever lies through Libya: the arctic pole shall bury whatever lies beneath the axes. The Titan, trembling, cast out from the pole, shall shake the lost day. The kingdom of heaven shall fall, and certain death shall draw it: and death shall lose all the gods equally, and chaos, and death, the final fates, shall establish itself in itself." Mystically, Richard and others understand by the talentary hail the hardening of the damned in hell: this is a most grievous punishment, and equally most just. Alcazar, however, understands the hardening by which certain of the Gentiles were punished, when Constantine and Rome were converted to Christ. More generally you may understand the hardening of the wicked, concerning which the saying of St. Augustine is to be noted, sermon 3 On the Holy Innocents, volume X: "The sinner is struck by this punishment, so that dying he may forget himself, he who while living forgot God." The same, sermon 88 On the Seasons: "When," he says, "they have begun to persist in their sins, from the multitude of sins despair is born, from despair hardening is generated." Whence suggesting a remedy against it: "Whenever," he says, "some sins have crept upon us, without any delay let us hasten to provide the remedy of almsgiving or penance for the wounds of our souls." Finally, Aureolus, following the thread of his chronology, adapts these seven angels, phials and plagues to events and deeds from Charlemagne down to Henry IV the Emperor. Thus he thinks the first Angel to be Adrian I the Pontiff, who in the Second Council of Nicaea condemned the Iconoclasts; by the second Angel, he understands the cruelty of certain Romans toward Leo the Pontiff, in the year of Christ 797; by the third, the punishment of those same Romans by Charlemagne; by the fourth, the rebellion of Crescentius the Roman patrician against Gregory V the Pontiff, and against Otto III the Emperor; by the fifth, the punishment of Crescentius by Otto the Emperor; by the sixth, the constancy of Gregory VII the Pontiff against Henry IV the Emperor, and the lay investitures of princes in ecclesiastical benefices, in the year of Christ 1073; by the seventh, the expedition of Christians against Turks and Saracens, or the crusade, when all soldiers were signed with the cross, and under the leadership of Godfrey of Bouillon they received Jerusalem and the holy land, and made Godfrey the first king of Jerusalem in the year of Christ 1096; for there came together as it were a talentary hail six million Christians, although not all penetrated, nor in fact arrived in the holy land. Mystically, Primasius, Richard, Ansbert and Haymo (although they themselves bring forward this as it were in a literal sense): The first, they say, Angel signifies the Apostles, who threatened the Jews with the earthly wrath of God; whence it came to pass in them that there was "a grievous wound," that is, a grave sin of infidelity, and a grave blindness, because they were unwilling to receive Christ. The second Angel signifies Preachers, who threatened the sea, that is the Gentiles, with the wrath of God: whence also they, on account of infidelity, were reprobated and condemned to blood, that is, to eternal death. The third Angel signifies Preachers, who in like manner and sense denounce the wrath and "blood" of God against heretics. The fourth Angel threatens the sun, that is, wicked Prelates, with the wrath of God. These burn and afflict the people: whence the afflicted and despairing people blaspheme God. The fifth Angel pours out the wrath of God "upon the seat of the beast," that is, upon the impious adhering to Antichrist. The sixth signifies Preachers, who will threaten the wrath of God against demons acting in this air, because they have aided Antichrist and his followers. Jerusalem and Babylon signify the reprobate; the division into three parts signifies three kinds of the unfaithful, namely Pagans, Jews and false Christians, who will be punished differently and in different ways according to each one's merits. Symbolically, the seven capital vices are signified here. The first Angel therefore pours out the phial upon the earth, that is upon the envious, who are of an earthy and muddy colour from envy. Whence in these there is a grievous wound of sadness and anguish of mind. For the envious man is consumed with sorrow, and wastes away at the goods of others. The second Angel pours out the phial upon the sea, that is upon the slothful, who fluctuate like the sea; for they know not what they ought to do. For these are a sea on account of the bitterness and weariness by which all virtues die. The third pours out the phial upon the rivers, that is upon the gluttonous, who like rivers devour and absorb all things; but they are turned into blood, because like the rich man Dives in hell they will ask for a drop of water, and will not obtain it, but will drink their own blood. The fourth, who kindles the sun, is wrath, which kindles the mind, and stimulates the wrathful man to cursing and blaspheming. The fifth, who touches the seat of the beast, is pride: for this is the seat of the demon and Antichrist. The sixth, who touches the Euphrates, is lust, which like the Euphrates delights, and sweeps away and carries off many men with it: but the Euphrates is dried up, because this pleasure is turned into present and eternal torments. The seventh, who touches the air, is avarice, which like a chameleon feeds on air: for it does not dare to use or enjoy its own goods.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
16:12
… Among the cities once bathed by it, Charcamia (cf. Jer. 46, 2) and Babylon (cf. Apoc. 9, 14; 16, 12) were famous. …
16:13
… But in I Io. the pseudo-prophet (4:1-3) is identified with the A. (2:22: identical features); cf. Apoc. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10. The Fathers apply Io. 5:43 b directly to the A.; e.g. Origen (Tractatus de libris ss. Scripturarum, ed. Batiffol, Paris 1900, p. 116).
16:14
… of Megiddo") of the place where, after the Angel has poured out the sixth bowl, the "kings of all the earth," allies of the "Beast," will gather on the great day of God to fight the Almighty (Rev. 16:16), driven on by three unclean spirits like frogs (ibid. 16:14).
… p. of the Antichrist in II Thess. 2:9), by Jas. 5:7, 8, by II Pt. 1:16; 3:4, 12, by I Jn. 2:28, and by Mt. 24:3, 27, 37, 39. Equivalent to it are the terms: "day [of the Lord or Christ]" (17 times in St. Paul: Acts 2:20; I Pt. 3:10, 12; Apoc. 16:14), "manifestation" (ἐπιφάνεια: 5 times in the pastoral epistles), "revelation" (ἀποκάλυψις: I Cor. 1:7; II Thess. 1:7; I Pt. 1:7, 13; 4:13). It is also called "visitation" (ἐπισκοπή: …
16:15
… In the New Testament similar beatitudes occur: Mt. 11:6; 13:16; 16:17; 24:46; Lk. 11:28; 12:37 f., 43; 14:15; Jn. 20:29; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 3:14; 4:14; Rev. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14. To this day the Christians of the East call the beatitudes "macarisms." The Arabic Diatessaron interprets the initial adjective "blessed" in an adverbial sense: …
… Like Jesus, the Apostles refuse to concern themselves with the time of the supreme parousia, and take advantage of every question on the matter to recommend vigilance and persevering action, over the long term (Acts 1:6-8; I Thess. 5:1-11; II Pt. 3:4-14; Apoc. 3:3; 16:15); like Jesus, St. Paul describes the "signs" that precede the parousia, which must strengthen moral resistance (Mt. 24:21-27; II Thess. 2:3-12). The apostolic charge is ascetical ("to …
… "night" no one can work any longer (cf. Jn. 9, 4). The same thought and the same exhortations are found in the Apostles (cf. Gal. 6, 9-10; I Cor. 9, 24 ff.; II Cor. 5, 1-10; I Thess. 5, 2-3; I Pt. 1, 3-8; II Pt. 3, 10; Jas. 4, 13-15; Apoc. 11, 10-11; 16, 15). Especially St. Paul teaches clearly (I Cor. 15, 24-28) that with the judgment the economy of salvation is closed for all, without any possibility of an "eternal return" or of a universal …
16:16
… the Vulgate Hermagedon or Magedon). - Hebrew name ("mount of Megiddo") of the place where, after the Angel has poured out the sixth bowl, the "kings of all the earth," allies of the "Beast," will gather on the great day of God to fight the Almighty (Rev. 16:16), driven on by three unclean spirits like frogs (ibid. 16:14).
Armageddon, battlefield of the kings of the earth against the Almighty (Rev. 16:16).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.