is fully explained presently at verses 7 and 8. The third part is an expression used in the Jewish theme to denote a considerable part. The dragon is represented as watching over the birth of Christianity with the intention of devouring it at its birth. At the birth of Christ, Satan inspired Herod who "killed all the men-children that were in Bethlehem and in all the confines thereof, from two years old and under" (Matt. ii. 16). He inspired the Jews to crucify Christ, and murder and persecute His followers. In every age, wherever the dragon prevails by means of revolutions or otherwise, his children stand before the Woman-i.e., the Church-bent on destroying her.

5. Καὶ ἔτεκεν υἱόν ἄρρενα ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ· καὶ ἡρπάσθη τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς πρὸς tò τὸν Θεὸν καὶ πρὸς τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ.

5. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod; and her son was taken up to God and to his throne.

(S. = ἄρσεν. See verse 13, τὸν ἄρσενα.)

Ὣς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν, "ns μérei Topaivew, "who was (about) to rule all nations with an iron rod." The man child is Jesus Christ. The reference is to Psalm ii. "The Lord hath said to me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance. . . . Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron" (Ps. ii. 7, 8, 9). He is the Conqueror who shall rule the Gentiles with a rod of iron, see R. xix. 15.

"Her son was taken up to God" indicates the Ascension. (See Jhn. xx. 17.) "And to his throne" refers back to R. iii. 21: "As I also have overcome and have sat with my Father in his throne." Jesus Christ is represented, symbolically, as the first begotten of His Church.

6. Καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἔφυγεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, ὅπου ἔχει ἐκεῖ τόπον ἡτοιμασμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα ἐκεῖ τρέφωσιν αὐτὴν ἡμέρας χιλίας διακοσίας ἑξήκοντα.

6. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred and sixty days.

The Woman is shown to be Mother Church in this passage. The Nazarene Church, which was the Mother Church of

Christendom, escaped the dragon at the siege of Jerusalem by fleeing to the highlands of Pella. This place in the rocky mountains of Moab was a "desert" compared to Jerusalem. That she had a place prepared by God where they should feed her 1,260 days, carries out the symbolism of the Church as a woman. The 1,260 days, we have seen, denote the period of the Jewish war. It was the period when the Nazarene Church fled from Jerusalem. See R. xi. 2, 3.

Thu epnuov" the desert"-from which the word hermit is derived, is translated above "the wilderness." But in the connecting passage at R. xii. 14, referring to the same episode, it is translated "the desert." In like manner Tρépwow, which is translated "to feed" here, is translated "to nourish" in the corresponding verse, xii. 14; thus missing the verbal concordance put for our guidance by S. John.

7. Καὶ ἐγένετο πόλεμος ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ Μιχαὴλ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ τοῦ πολεμῆσαι μετὰ τοῦ δράκοντος, καὶ ὁ δράκων επολέμησεν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ.

7. And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels.

It looks as if Satan seeing "the man child," whom he wished to devour, "taken up to God and to his throne," followed Him, ignorant of His Divinity. He tempted our Lord in the desert, not knowing Him to be the Son of God (Matt. iv. 3 f.). S. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his angels, and overcame them (next verse). Michael, according to the prophet Daniel, is one of the chief princes of heaven (x. 13, 21). S. Jude calls him "Michael the Archangel" (9). This symbolism of the dragon and the woman goes back to Genesis to the serpent and the woman, "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed" (Gen. iii. 15). The seed of the woman is the Church. That S. John has Genesis in view will appear directly.

8. Καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσεν, οὐδὲ τόπος εὑρέθη αὐτῶν ἔτι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.

8. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9. Καὶ ἐβλήθη ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὁ καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ σατανᾶς, ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκου μένην ὅλην, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ ἐβλήθησαν.

9. And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth and his angels were thrown down with him.

The identity of the great dragon is now made manifest. He is the old serpent of Genesis, who is called the Devil and Satan; Διάβολος in Greek and Σατανᾶς in Hebrew. The Seer, as usual, gives the Greek and Hebrew names. S. Michael and his angels cast down Lucifer and the rebel angels, εἰς τὴν γῆν, to the earth. I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven (Luke x. 18). His power is now limited to the wicked children of the earth, who are his horns. Satan's place in heaven was taken from him. See also next verse.

10. Καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν μεγάλην ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λέγουσαν ̓́Αρτι ἐγένετο ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐβλήθη ὁ κατήγωρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν, ὁ κατηγορῶν αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός.

Io. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying. Now is come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ ; because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God, day and night.

(S. = κατηγορῶν αὐτους.)

The loud voice is put for the combined voices of heaven, as at R. v. II, where thousands of thousands say " with a loud voice”“ φωνῇ μεγάλῃ.” They proclaim the establishment of the Kingdom of our God. So, when the Lamb had opened the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, and said: "And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests" (R. v. 10). In the doxology of the Lamb, "strength" and "power" occur (R. v. 12), and "salvation to God" and "to the Lamb," at R. vii. 10. Similar rejoicings take place in heaven now, "because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth." "Brethren" in the O.T. and generally in the N.T. denote the children of Israel. The saints of heaven were, at the time of the Ascension, of Hebrew origin. Satan appears as the accuser in the Book of Job. He appears moreover with the “sons of God,” standing before the Lord. The sons of God represent Hebrews (see Gen. vi. 2; Job i. 6 f. ; Osee i. 1o ; I Jhn. iii. 1). Day and night” means ceaselessly-ceaseless accusations.

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11. Καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐνίκησαν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἠγάπησαν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν ἄχρι θανάτου.

II. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death.

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'Evíknoav occurs at R. v. 5, when the root of David "hath conquered " to open the book. The verb νικάω, “ to conquer, generally connotes martyrdom in this Book (see R. ii. 7, iii. 21). Τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν, “ of their testimony,” also connotes martyrdom (see vi. 9 notes). And they loved not their lives unto death,” conveys the same meaning. "He that shall lose his life for me shall find it" (Matt. x. 39). And "He that loveth his life shall lose it ” (Jhn. xii. 25).

In this preface to the Roman theme, which goes back to the Nazarene Church, the martyrs are Hebrews, SS. Peter, Paul, Stephen, James, and many others. They "overcame" by the merits of the blood of the Lamb, without which they would have shed their blood in vain. They "washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (R. vii. 14). They exemplify the sufferings of the Woman-the early Church.

12. Διὰ τοῦτο εὐφραίνεσθε, οὐρανοὶ καὶ οἱ ἐν αὐτοῖς σκηνοῦντες· οὐαὶ τῇ γῇ καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ὅτι κατέβη ὁ διάβολος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχων θυμὸν μέγαν, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὀλίγον καιρὸν ἔχει.

12. Therefore rejoice O heavens and you that dwell therein. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.

(S. = τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν.)

Dr. Swete notices σκηνοῦντες applied to heaven dwellers as opposed to κατοικοῦντες, the earth dwellers (see R. xi. 10). The former word is used of God's dwelling with the martyrsσκηνώσει ἐπ' αὐτούς at R. vii. 15 (see R. xiii. 6, τοὺς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ σκηνοῦντας). This is Jewish symbolism from σκηνή, "a tent," or tabernacle. The saints of heaven rejoice, and warn the earth—“ τῇ γῇ ”—that is the Roman Empire, and the sea, mankind generally (R. viii. 8-10), that the devil is coming upon them in great wrath. Because he has been cast down from heaven to earth, and knows that he has but a short time. He knows that the earth will perish, and that at the day of judgment he and his angels will be cast into everlasting fire (Matt. xxv. 41; see also R. xx. 9).

13. Καὶ ὅτε εἶδεν ὁ δράκων ὅτι ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, eis ἐδίωξεν τὴν γυναῖκα ἥτις ἔτεκεν τὸν ἄρσενα.

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the male child.

Here the meaning of the Woman is further explained. It is the Church Militant. The mind of the Seer is still on the Mother Church of Jerusalem, which contained all the living relatives of our Lord and His Apostles. We go back again to the history of the Nazarene Church, begun at R. xii. 6, when the Woman fled into the desert and was fed 1,260 days. Tov aporeva, "the male child," does not agree with appeva, the

man child," at R. xii. 5. Considering the Seer's care in the choice of concordant words to explain his meaning, Dr. Swete is probably right in putting apσev at xii. 5 (Codices A.C.). The same "child" is clearly in view in both verses.

14. Καὶ ἐδόθησαν τῇ γυναικὶ δύο πτέρυγες τοῦ ἀετοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου, ἵνα πέτηται εἰς τὴν ἔρημον εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, ὅπου τρέφεται ἐκεῖ καιρὸν καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὄφεως.

14. And there was given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

The Seer is careful to show that he refers to the Woman of verse 6-Mother Church. He practically repeats the wording of verse 6. But instead of saying that she was fed for 1,260 days, in the desert, he says that she was fed for a time-a year, and times-two years, and half a time-half a year. In all three and a half years, or forty-two months, or 1,260 days. The Jews counted thirty days to a month. The prophet Daniel referring to the fall of Jerusalem, symbolises the same period, in the same words, "It should be unto a time and times and half a time" (xii. 7).

The verbal system of the Seer is not followed in the translation, for a desert is a place devoid of vegetation, whereas a wilderness may mean overgrowth or rank vegetation (see R. xii. 6, notes). The Woman is given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the serpent-Toû opews. Dragons had wings, but serpents had none; hence the change of symbolism. Wings enabled the Woman to escape the wingless serpent. So in Exodus, after the flight of Israel from Egypt, God says, "I have carried you upon the wings of eagles "(xix. 4). The woman fled to the highlands of Pella, across the Jordan, where