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J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Revelation 6:17
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The great day for their anger has come. No one can stand against it."
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?"
for the grete daye of hys wrath ys come And who can endure it.
for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?"
for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
The great day for their anger has come, and who can stand against it?"
for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who will be able to stand?
for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?"
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
for the day of His anger--that great day--has come, and who is able to stand?"
for the greet dai of her wraththe cometh, and who schal mowe stonde?
for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?
For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?"
That terrible day has come! God and the Lamb will show their anger, and who can face it?"
for the great day of their wrath and vengeance and retribution has come, and who is able to [face God and] stand [before the wrath of the Lamb]?"
for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?
For the great day of their wrath is come, and who may keep his place?
For the Great Day of their fury has come, and who can stand?"
because the great day of his wrath is come, and who is able to stand?
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to endure it?"Psalm 76:7; Isaiah 13:6; Zephaniah 1:14; Revelation 16:14;">[xr]
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand ?
For the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?
For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?"
because the special day of Their anger has come! Who is able to stand against it?"
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
For the great day of his wrath is come, and who can stand?
For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?
For the great day of their wrath is come. And who shall be able to stand?
For the great day of his wrath is come: and who is able to endure?
The terrible day of their anger is here, and who can stand up against it?"
because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
because the great day of His wrath has come; and who is able to stand?
because come did the great day of His anger, and who is able to stand?
for the grete daye of his wrath is come. And who can endure it?
for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to subsist?"
because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?"
For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Nobody can bear their anger."
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the great: Revelation 11:18, Revelation 16:14, Isaiah 13:6-22, Jeremiah 30:7, Joel 2:31, Zephaniah 1:14-18, Romans 2:5, Jude 1:6
who: Psalms 76:7, Psalms 130:3, Psalms 130:4, Joel 2:11, Malachi 3:2
Reciprocal: Exodus 11:6 - General Joshua 2:24 - all the inhabitants 2 Kings 22:13 - great Esther 1:12 - was the king Job 21:30 - day Job 24:17 - in the terrors Psalms 2:12 - when Psalms 21:9 - in his Psalms 45:4 - right Psalms 47:2 - is terrible Psalms 50:22 - I tear Psalms 68:2 - as wax Psalms 68:35 - terrible Psalms 88:7 - Thy wrath Psalms 88:16 - fierce Psalms 90:11 - General Isaiah 22:5 - crying Jeremiah 11:11 - which Jeremiah 49:19 - that shepherd Ezekiel 13:5 - the day Ezekiel 25:14 - and they shall know Ezekiel 30:3 - the day is Joel 1:15 - the day of Nahum 1:6 - can stand Zephaniah 1:15 - is Zechariah 14:5 - the Lord Malachi 4:5 - great Matthew 3:7 - flee John 3:36 - but Romans 4:15 - Because Romans 9:22 - willing Ephesians 6:13 - to stand 2 Thessalonians 1:8 - taking Hebrews 2:3 - How Revelation 7:1 - after
Cross-References
So then Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life - and man became a living soul.
And Yahweh said - My spirit shall not rule in man to times age - abiding, for that, he also, is flesh, - Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
The giants, were in the each in these days, and also, after that, when the sons of God began to go in unto the daughters of men, and sons were born to them, the same, were the heroes that were from age-past times the men of renown.
And Yahweh said - I must wipe off man whom I created from off the face of the ground, from man unto beast unto creeping thing, and unto the bird of the heavens, - for I am grieved that I made them.
And God beheld the earth, and lo! it had corrupted itself, - surely all flesh had corrupted its way, on the earth.
So God said unto Noah: the end of all flesh, hath come in before me, for, filled, is the earth with violence, because of them, - behold me, then, destroying them with the earth.
Make for thee an ark of timbers of gopher, Grooms, shalt thou make with the ark, - and - thou shalt cover it within and without with pitch.
Of the bird after its kind and of the beast after its kind, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of each, shall come in unto thee. for keeping alive.
But thou, take to thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it unto thee, - and it shall be for thee and for them for food.
And Noah did so , - according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
For the great day of his wrath is come,.... The Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, "of their wrath"; both of him that sits upon the throne, and of the Lamb, against the Heathen gods and Heathen persecutors, in answer to the cry of the martyrs in Revelation 6:9.
And who shall be able to stand? against either of them, or in their presence, and so as to bear their wrath and displeasure; all which expresses guilt, shame, fear, and despair.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal - See the notes at Revelation 5:1; Revelation 6:1.
And, lo, there was a great earthquake - Before endeavoring to ascertain to what the sixth seal was designed to refer, it is proper, as in the previous cases, to furnish a particular explanation of the meaning of the symbols. All the symbols represented in the opening of this seal denote consternation, commotion, changes; but still they are all significant, and we are to suppose that something would occur corresponding with each one of them. It cannot be supposed that the things here described were represented on the part of the roll or volume that was now unfolded in any other way than that they were pictures, or that the whole was a species of panoramic representation made to pass before the eyes. Thus understood, it would not be difficult to represent each one of these things in a painting: as the heaving ground - the agitated forests - the trembling hills - the falling cities and houses - the sun blackened, and the moon turned to blood:
(a) The earthquake, Revelation 6:12; âThere was a great earthquake.â The word used here denotes a shaking or agitation of the earth. The effect, when violent, is to produce important changes - opening chasms in the earth; throwing down houses and temples; sinking hills, and elevating plains; causing ponds and lakes to dry up, or forming them where none existed; elevating the ocean from its bed, rending rocks, etc. As all that occurs in the opening of the other seals is symbolical, it is to be presumed that this is also, and that for the fulfillment of this we are not to look for a literal earthquake, but for such agitations and changes in the world as would be properly symbolized by this. The earthquake, as a symbol, would merely denote great agitations or overturnings on the earth. The particular character of those changes must be determined by other circumstances in the symbol that would limit and explain it.
There are, it is said, but three literal earthquakes referred to in the Scripture: that mentioned in 1 Kings 19:11; that in Uzziahâs time, Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5; and what took place at the Saviourâs death. All the rest are emblematical or symbolical-referring mostly to civil commotions and changes. Then in Haggai 2:6-7; âYet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.â That is, there would be great agitations in the world before he came. See the notes on Hebrews 12:26-28. So also great changes and commotions are referred to in Isaiah 24:19-20; âThe earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage.â An earthquake, if there were no other circumstances limiting and explaining the symbol, would merely denote great agitation and commotion - as if states and empires were tumbling to ruin. As this is here a mere symbol, it is not necessary to look for a literal fulfillment, or to expect to find in history actual earthquakes to which this had reference, anymore than when it is said that âthe heavens departed as a scrollâ we are to expect that they will be literally rolled up; but if, in the course of history, earthquakes preceded remarkable political convulsions and revolutions, it would be proper to represent such events in this way.
(b) The darkening of the sun: âAnd the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.â Sackcloth was a coarse black cloth, commonly, though not always, made of hair. It was used for sacks, for strainers, and for mourning garments; and as thus worn it was not an improper emblem of sadness and distress. The idea here is, that the sun put on a dark, dingy, doleful appearance, as if it were in mourning. The general image, then, in this emblem, is that of calamity - as if the very sun should put on the robes of mourning. We are by no means to suppose that this was literally to occur, but that some great calamity would happen, of which this would be an appropriate emblem. See the Isaiah 13:10 note; Matthew 24:29 note; Compare Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 34:4; Isaiah 1:3; Isaiah 60:19-20; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15-16; Amos 8:9. What is the particular nature of the calamity is to be learned from other parts of the symbol.
(c) The discoloration of the moon: âAnd the moon became as blood.â Red like blood - either from the smoke and vapor that usually precedes an earthquake, or as a mere emblem. This also would betoken calamity, and perhaps the symbol may be so far limited and modified by this as to denote war, for that would be most naturally suggested by the color - red. Compare the notes on Revelation 6:4 of this chapter. But any great calamity would be appropriately represented by this - as the change of the moon to such a color would be a natural emblem of distress.
(d) The falling of the stars, Revelation 6:13; âAnd the stars of heaven fell unto the earth.â This language is derived from the poetic idea that the sky seems to be a solid concave, in which the stars are set, and that when any convulsion takes place, that concave will be shaken, and the stars will be loosened and fall from their places. See this language explained in the notes on Isaiah 34:4. Sometimes the expanse above us is spoken of as a curtain that is spread out, and that may be rolled up; sometimes as a solid crystalline expanse in which the stars are fixed. According to either representation the stars are described as falling to the earth. If the expanse is rolled up, the stars, having nothing to support them, fall if violent tempests or concussions shake the heavens, the stars, loosened from their fixtures, fall to the earth. Stars, in the Scriptures, are symbols of princes and rulers (see Daniel 8:10; Revelation 8:10-11; Revelation 9:1); and the natural meaning of this symbol is, that there would be commotions which would unsettle princes, and bring them down from their thrones - like stars falling from the sky.
Even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs - Mart., âgreenâ; Greek, οÌÎ»Ï ÌÎ½Î¸Î¿Ï Ï olunthous. This word properly denotes âwinter-figs,â or such as grow under the leaves, and do not ripen at the proper season, but hang upon the trees during the winter (Robinson, Lexicon). This fruit seldom matures, and easily falls off in the spring of the year (Stuart, in loco). A violent wind shaking a plantation of fig-trees would of course cast many such figs to the ground. The point of the comparison is, the ease with which the stars would seem to be shaken from their places, and hence, the ease with which, in these commotions, princes would be dethroned.
(e) The departing of the heavens, Revelation 6:14; âAnd the heaven departed as a scroll.â That is, as a book or volume - βιβλιÌον biblion - rolled up. The heavens are here described as spread out, and their passing away is represented by the idea that they might be rolled up, and thus disappear. See the notes on Isaiah 34:4. This, too, is a symbol, and we are not to suppose that it will literally occur. Indeed it never can literally occur; and we are not, therefore, to look for the fulfillment of this in any physical fact that would correspond with what is here said. The plain meaning is, that there would be changes as if such an event would happen; that is, that revolutions would occur in the high places of the earth, and among those in power, as if the stars should fall, and the very heavens were swept away. This is the natural meaning of the symbol, and this accords with the usage of the language elsewhere.
(f) The removal of mountains and islands, Revelation 6:14; âAnd every mountain and island were moved out of their places.â This would denote convulsions in the political or moral world, as great as would occur in the physical world if the very mountains were removed and the islands should change their places. We are not to suppose that this would literally occur; but we should be authorized from this to expect that, in regard to those things which seemed to be permanent and fixed on an immov able basis, like mountains and islands, there would be violent and important changes. If thrones and dynasties long established were overthrown; if institutions that seemed to be fixed and per manent were abolished; if a new order of things should rise in the political world, the meaning of the symbol, so far as the language is concerned, would be fulfilled.
(g) The universal consternation, Revelation 6:15-17; âAnd the kings of the earth, etc.â The design of these verses Revelation 6:15-17, in the varied language used, is evidently to denote universal consternation and alarm - as if the earth should be convulsed, and the stars should fall, and the heavens should pass away. This consternation would extend to all classes of people, and fill the world with alarm, as if the end of all things were coming.
The kings of the earth - Rulers - all who occupied thrones.
The great men - High officers of state.
And the rich men - Their wealth would not secure them from destruction, and they would be alarmed like others.
And the chief captains - The commanders of armies, who tremble like other men when God appears judgment.
And the mighty men - Men of great prowess in battle, but who feel now that they have no power to withstand God.
And every bondman - Servant - Î´Î¿Ï ÍÎ»Î¿Ï doulos. This word does not necessarily denote a slave (compare the Ephesians 6:5 note; 1 Timothy 6:1 note; Philemon 1:16 note), but here the connection seems to demand it, for it stands in contrast with freeman. There were, in fact, slaves in the Roman empire, and there is no objection in supposing that they are here referred to. There is no reason why they should not be filled with consternation as well as others; and as this does not refer to the end of the world, or the day of judgment, the word here determines nothing as to the question whether slavery is to continue on the earth.
And every freeman - Whether the master of slaves or not. The idea is, that all classes of people, high and low, would be filled with alarm.
Hid themselves in the dens - Among the caves or caverns in the mountains. See the notes on Isaiah 2:19. These places were resorted to for safety in times of danger. Compare 1 Samuel 13:6; 1 Samuel 24:0; Judges 6:2; Jeremiah 41:9; Josephus, Antiq. book 14, chapter 15; Jewish Wars, book 1, chapter 16.
And in the rocks of the mountains - Among the crags or the fastnesses of the mountains - also natural places of refuge in times of hostile invasion or danger. See the notes on Isaiah 2:21.
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, ... - Revelation 6:16. This language is found substantially in Hosea 10:8; âAnd they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.â It is also used by the Saviour as denoting the consternation which would occur at his coming: âThen shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us,â Luke 23:30. It is language denoting consternation, and an awful fear of impending wrath. The state of mind is that where there is an apprehension that God himself is coming forth with the direct instruments of his vengeance, and where there is a desire rather to be crushed by falling rocks and hills than by the vengeance of his uplifted arm.
From the face of him that sitteth on the throne - The face of God - for he seems to be coming forth with the displays of his vengeance. It is not said that God would actually come forth in a visible form, lint their consternation would be as great as if he were to do this; the state of mind indicated by this was an apprehension that it would be so.
And from the wrath of the Lamb - The Lamb of God; the Lord Jesus. See the notes on Revelation 5:6. There seems to be an incongruity between the words âwrath,â and âLambâ; but the word âLambâ here is so far a proper name as to be used only to designate the Redeemer. He comes forth to execute wrath, not as a Lamb, but as the Son of God, who bore that name. It would seem from this that they who thus dreaded the impending terrors were aware of their source, or had knowledge enough to understand by whom they were to be inflicted. They would see that these were divine judgments, and would apprehend that the end of the world drew near.
For the great day of his wrath is come - Revelation 6:17. The threatening judgments would be so severe and awful that they would suppose that the end of the world was coming.
And who shall be able to stand? - To stand before him, or to withstand his judgments.
It is unnecessary to say that there has been, in this case, as in reference to every other part of the Book of Revelation, a great diversity of opinion respecting the events symbolized by this seal. Grotius applied it to the wars between the Jews and Romans under Nero and Vespasian; Dr. Hammond supposed that the defeat of the Jewish leaders in those wars was particularly symbolized; Mr. Brightman referred these symbols to the persecution under Diocletian; Mr. Mede, Dr. Cressner, Dr. More, Mr. Whiston, Mr. Jurien, Mr. Daubuz, Mr. Lowman, Dr. Newton, Mr. Elliott, and others, refer it to the defeat of the pagan powers, and the final suppression of those powers as opposed to Christianity; Vitringa regarded it as foreshadowing the overthrow of the anti-Christian powers of the western Roman empire; Cocceius explains it of the wars of the Emperor Frederick against the German princes in the sixteenth century; Dr. Woodhouse, of the day of vengeance at the end of the world; Mr. Cunninghame, of the same period as the seventh trumpet, commencing with the French revolution, and to be consummated by the visible advent of the Son of God; Prof. Stuart, of the destruction of Jerusalem; and Mr. Lord, of a series of events, part of which are fulfilled, three of them corresponding with the first three vials - the first expressive of the revolution of France, the second of despotism extending through several rears, and the third of the overthrow of that violent dynasty, at the fall of Bonaparte, in 1815.
It is not my purpose to examine these views; but, amidst this great variety of opinion, it seems to me that the obvious and natural application of the opening of the seal has not been adverted to. I shall suggest it because it is the most natural and obvious, and seems to be demanded by the explanations given of the previous seals. It is, in one word, the impending judgments from the invasions of the northern hordes of Goths and Vandals, threatening the breaking up of the Roman empire - the gathering of the storm, and the hovering of those barbarians on the borders of the empire; the approaches which they made from time to time toward the capital, though restrained as yet from taking it; the tempest of wrath that was, as it were, suspended yet on the frontiers, until the events recorded in the next chapter should occur, then bursting forth in wrath in successive blasts, as denoted by the first four trumpets of the seventh seal Revelation 8:1-13, when the empire was entirely overthrown by the Goths and Vandals. The precise point of time which I suppose this seal occupies is that succeeding the last persecution.
It embraces the preparatory arrangements of these hordes of invaders - their gathering on the frontiers of the empire - their threatened approaches toward the capital - and the formation of such vast armies as would produce universal consternation. A brief notice of these preparatory scenes, as adapted to produce the alarm referred to in the opening of the sixth seal, is all that will be necessary here; the more complete detail must be reserved for the explanation of the four trumpets of the seventh seal, when the work of destruction was consummated. These preparations and threatened invasions were events sufficiently important in their relation to the church, to what preceded, and to the future history of the world, to be symbolized here; and they are events in which all the particulars of the symbol may find a fulfillment. Anyone has only to took on a chart of history to see how appropriately this application of the symbol follows, if the previous explanations have been correct. In the illustration of this, in order to show the probability that these events are referred to by the symbols of the sixth seal, I would submit the following remarks:
(1) The time is what would be naturally suggested by this seal in its relation to the others. If the fifth referred to the persecutions under Diocletian - the last great persecution of the pagan powers in attempting to extinguish the Christian name - then we should naturally look for the fulfillment of the opening of the next in some event, or series of events, which would succeed that at no very distant interval, and that pertained to the empire or power that had been the prominent subject of the predictions in the previous seals. It would also be natural to look for some events that might be regarded as conveying an expression of the divine feeling in regard to that power, or that would present it in such an aspect that it would be seen that its power to persecute was at an end. This natural expectation would be answered either by some symbol that would refer to the complete triumph of the Christian system, or by such a series of judgments as would break the persecuting power itself in pieces. Now the threatened irruption of the northern barbarians followed the series of events already described with sufficient nearness to make it proper to regard that series of events as referred to.
(2) The events were of sufficient importance in the history of the empire to deserve this notice in the foreshadowing of what would occur. They were connected with the breaking up of that mighty power, and the complete change of the aspect of the world, in a political and religious point of view. A new order of things arose in the worldâs history. A new religion became established. New kingdoms from the fragments of the once-mighty Roman empire were founded, and the affairs of the world were put on a new footing. These mighty northern hordes not only spread consternation and alarm, as if the world were coming to an end, but they laid the foundations of kingdoms which continue to this day. In fact, few more important events have occurred in history.
(3) This series of events was introduced in the manner described in the opening of the sixth seal. I have already said that it is not necessary to suppose, in the fulfillment of the symbol, that there would be a literal earthquake; but nothing in the symbol forbids us to suppose that there might be, and if there were we could not but consider it as remarkable. Now it so happens that the series of events pertaining to the Gothic invasions is introduced by Mr. Gibbon in the following language: â365 a.d. In the second year of the reign of Valentinian and Valens, on the morning of the twenty-first day of July, the greatest part of the Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake. The impression was communicated to the waters; the shores of the Mediterranean were left dry by the sudden retreat of the sea; great quantities of fish were caught with the hand; large vessels were stranded on the mud; and a curious spectator amused his eye, or rather his fancy, by contemplating the various appearances of valleys and mountains which had never before, since the formation of the globe, been exposed to the sun. But the tide soon returned, with the weight of an immense and irresistible deluge, which was severely felt on the coasts of Sicily, of Dalmatia, of Greece, and of Egypt; large boats were transported, and lodged on the roofs of houses, or at the distance of two miles from the shore; the people, with their habitations, were swept away by the waters; and the city of Alexandria annually commemorated the day on which fifty thousand persons had lost their lives in the inundation.
This calamity, the report of which was magnified from one province to another, astonished and terrified the subjects of Rome; and their affrighted imagination enlarged the real extent of the momentary evil. They recollected the preceding earthquakes which had subverted the cities of Palestine and Bithynia; they considered these alarming strokes as the prelude only of still more dreadful calamities, and their fearful vanity was disposed to confound the symptoms of a declining empire and a sinking world,â vol. ii. pp. 115, 116. Mr. Gibbon then proceeds to detail the evils of war, as greatly surpassing the calamities produced by any natural causes, and adds (p. 116), âIn the disastrous period of the fall of the Roman empire, which may be justly dated from the reign of Valens, the happiness and security of each individual was personally attacked; and the arts and labors of ages were rudely defaced by the barbarians of Scythia and Germany.â He then proceeds with an exceedingly interesting description of the origin, the habits, and the movements of the Tartar nations, particularly the Huns, as they moved to the West, and precipitated the Gothic nations on the provinces of the Roman empire, until Rome itself was thrice besieged, was taken, and was sacked (ii. 116-266).
The earthquake referred to occurred in 365 a.d. The movements of the Huns from their territories in the neighborhood of China had commenced about 100 a.d., and in 375 a.d. they overcame the Goths lying along the Danube. The Goths, pressed and overcome by these savage invaders, asked permission of the Romans to cross the Danube, to find protection in the Roman empire, and to cultivate the waste lands of Thrace (Gibbon, ii. 129, 130). In the year 376 they were transported over the Danube, by the permission of the Roman emperor Valens; an event which, according to Mr. Gibbon, in its ultimate result, was the cause of the downfall of the empire; for they learned their own strength; they were attracted by the riches of the capital and the hope of reward, until they finally drew the Western emperor to Ravenna, sacked Rome, and took possession of Italy.
(4) A slight reference to the series of events in these periods of consternation and conquest may show more closely the nature of the alarms which would be caused by the prospect of these dreadful invasions, and may prepare us for a better understanding of the successive calamities which occurred under these invaders, when the empire fell, as described by the four first trumpets of the seventh seal. I shall copy from the tables of contents of Mr. Gibbonâs history, under the twenty-sixth, thirtieth, and thirty-first chapters:
| âad | |
| 365 | Earthquakes. |
| 376 | The Huns and Goths. |
| 100 | The emigration of the Huns. |
| 375 | Their victories over the Goths. |
| 376 | The Goths implore the protection of Valens. |
| 376 | They are transported over the Danube into the Roman Empire. |
| 376 | They penetrate into Thrace. |
| 377 | Union of the Goths with Huns, Alani, etc. |
| 378 | Battle of Hadrianople. |
| 378 | The defeat of the Romans. |
| 383-395 | The settlement of the Goths in Thrace and Asia. |
| 395 | Revolt of the Goths. |
| 396 | Alaric marches into Greece. |
| 398 | Is proclaimed king of the Visigoths. |
| 400-403 | He invades Italy. |
| 406 | Radagaisus invades Italy. |
| 406 | Besieges Florence. |
| 406 | Threatens Rome. |
| 406 | The remainder of the Germans invade Gaul. |
| 407 | Desolation of Gaul. |
| 408 | Alaric marches to Rome. |
| 408 | First siege of Rome by the Goths. |
| 408 | Famine, plague, superstition. |
| 409 | Alaric accepts a ransom and raises the siege. |
| 409 | Fruitless negotiations for peace. |
| 409 | Second siege of Rome by the Goths. |
| 410 | Third siege and sack of Rome by the Goths. |
| 410 | Respect of the Goths for the Christian religion. |
| 410 | Pillage and fire of Rome. |
| 410 | Captives and fugitives. |
| 411-416 | Fall of the usurpers Jovinus, Sebastian, and Attalus. |
| 409 | Invasion of Spain by the Suevi, Vandals, Alani, etc. |
| 415-418 | The Goths conquer and restore Spain.â |
(5) This would coincide, in the effects produced on the empire, with the consternation and alarm described in the passage before us. The symbols are such as would be employed on the supposition that these are the events referred to; they are such as the events are suited to suggest. The mighty preparations in the East and North - the report of which could not but spread through the empire - would be appropriately symbolized by the earthquake, the darkened sun, the moon becoming like blood, the stars falling, the departing heavens, and the kings and great men of the earth fleeing in alarm to find a place of safety, as if the end of the world were drawing near. Nothing could have been so well adapted to produce the consternation described in the opening of the sixth seal, as the dreaded approach of vast hosts of barbarians from the regions of the North. This alarm would be increased by the fact that their numbers were unknown; that their origin was hidden; and that the advancing multitudes would sweep everything before them.
As in other cases, also, rumour would increase their numbers and augment their ferocity. The sudden shock of an earthquake, the falling stars, the departing heavens, the removal of mountains and islands, and the consternation of kings and all classes of people, would be the appropriate emblems to represent these impending calamities. In confirmation of this, and as showing the effect produced by the approach of the Goths, and the dread of the Gothic arms, in causing universal consternation, the following extracts may be adduced from Mr. Gibbon, when describing the threatened invasion of Alaric, king of the Visigoths. He quotes from Claudian. ââFame,â says the poet,â encircling with terror her gloomy wings, proclaimed the march of the barbarian army, and filled Italy with consternation.ââ Mr. Gibbon adds, âthe apprehensions of each individual were increased in just proportion to the measure of his fortune; and the most timid, who had already embarked their valuable effects, meditated their escape to the island of Sicily, or to the African coast. The public distress was aggravated by the fears and reproaches of superstition. Every hour produced some horrid tale of strange and portentous accidents; the pagans deplored the neglect of omens and the interruption of sacrifices; but the Christians still derived some comfort from the powerful intercession of the saints and martyrs,â ii. 218, 219. See further illustrations in the notes on Revelation 8:7-13.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Revelation 6:17. For the great day of his wrath — The decisive and manifest time in which he will execute judgment on the oppressors of his people.
Who shall be able to stand? — No might can prevail against the might of God. All these things may literally apply to the final destruction of Jerusalem, and to the revolution which took place in the Roman empire under Constantine the Great. Some apply them to the day of judgment; but they do not seem to have that awful event in view. These two events were the greatest that have ever taken place in the world, from the flood to the eighteenth century of the Christian era; and may well justify the strong figurative language used above.
Through I do not pretend to say that my remarks on this chapter point out its true signification, yet I find others have applied it in the same way. Dr. Dodd observes that the fall of Babylon, Idumea, Judah, Egypt, and Jerusalem, has been described by the prophets in language equally pompous, figurative, and strong. See Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 34:4, concerning Babylon and Idumea; Jeremiah 4:23; Jeremiah 4:24, concerning Judah; Ezekiel 32:7, concerning Egypt; Joel 2:10; Joel 2:31, concerning Jerusalem; and our Lord himself, Matthew 24:29, concerning the same city. "Now," says he, "it is certain that the fall of any of these cities or kingdoms was not of greater concern or consequence to the world, nor more deserving to be described in pompous figures, than the fall of the pagan Roman empire, when the great lights of the heathen world, the sun, moon, and stars, the powers civil and ecclesiastical, were all eclipsed and obscured, the heathen emperors and Caesars were slain, the heathen priests and augurs were extirpated, the heathen officers and magistrates were removed, the temples were demolished, and their revenues were devoted to better uses. It is customary with the prophets, after they have described a thing in the most symbolical and figurative manner, to represent the same again in plainer language; and the same method is observed here, Revelation 6:15-17: And the kings of the earth, c. That is, Maximin, Galerius, Maxentius, Licinius, c., with all their adherents and followers, were so routed and dispersed that they hid themselves in dens, &c. expressions used to denote the utmost terror and confusion. This is, therefore, a triumph of Christ over his heathen enemies, and a triumph after a severe persecution so that the time and all the circumstances, as well as the series and order of the prophecy, agree perfectly with this interpretation. Galerius, Maximin, and Licinius, made even a public confession of their guilt, recalled their decrees and edicts against the Christians, and acknowledged the just judgments of God and of Christ in their own destruction." See Newton, Lowman, &c., and Dr. Dodd on this chapter, with the works of several more recent authors.
