“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.”
And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth — the earth-dwellers (katoikountes epi tēs gēs, those aligned with worldly values) rejoice, exchange gifts (like gifts on the feast of Esther, Esther 9:22), celebrating the witnesses' defeat. The prophets had tormented (basanizo) the wicked through their testimony; their apparent death brings relief to the unrepentant.
Church Fathers on Revelation 11:10
“And their dead bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.” But He calls Jerusalem Sodom and Egypt, since it had become the heaping up of the persecuting people. Therefore it behooves us diligently, and with the utmost care, to follow the prophetic announcement, and to understand what the Spirit from the Father both announces and anticipates, and how, when He has gone forward to the last times, He again repeats the former…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!