And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
17. the woman the remnant of her seed ] Gen 3:15. The sense must be, that the Devil attempts to frustrate God’s counsels, not now by attacking the old Israel, but the new “Israel of God.” Titus, we are told, resolved to destroy the Temple, “in order that the religion of the Jews and Christians might be more completely abolished” (Sulp. Sev. ii. 30, supposed to embody a quotation from Tacitus). Hadrian, on the contrary, seeing that the Christians had separated their cause from that of the rebel Jews, extended to them a tolerance not merely contemptuous. But thenceforward the best and ablest emperors, from M. Aurelius to Diocletian, recognising the independent power of the Church, thought it necessary to persecute it. At last, Julian completely reversed the policy of Titus, seeking to discredit the Gospel by patronage to the Jews. This policy, apparently, will be carried out by Antichrist: but will be baffled when the Jews, whom he has restored to their land as unbelievers, are converted by the martyrdom and resurrection of the two prophets (see notes on the preceding chapter).
which keep the commandments ] Rev 14:12.
have the testimony ] Rev 6:9. The word “Christ” should be omitted.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the dragon was wroth with the woman – This wrath had been vented by his persecuting her Rev 12:13; by his pursuing her; and by his pouring out the flood of water to sweep her away Rev 12:15; and the same wrath was now vented against her children. As he could not reach and destroy the woman herself, he turned his indignation against all who were allied to her. Stripped of the imagery, the meaning is, that as he could not destroy the church as such, he vented his malice against all who were the friends of the church, and endeavored to destroy them. The church, as such, he could not destroy; therefore he turned his wrath against individual Christians, to bring as many of them as possible to death (DeWette).
And went to make war with the remnant of her seed – No mention is made before of his persecuting the children of the woman, except his opposition to the man child which she bore, Rev 12:1-4. The woman represents the church, and the phrase the remnant of her seed must refer to her scattered children, that is, to the scattered members of the church, wherever they could be found. The reference here is to persecutions against individuals, rather than a general persecution against the church itself, and all that is here said would find an ample fulfillment in the vexations and troubles of individuals in the Roman communion in the dark ages, when they evinced the spirit of pure evangelical piety; in the cruelties practiced in the Inquisition on individual Christians under the plea that they were heretics; and in the persecutions of such men as Wycliffe, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague. This warfare against individual Christians was continued long in the papal church, and tens of thousands of true friends of the Saviour suffered every form of cruelty and wrong as the result.
Which keep the commandments of God – Who were true Christians. This phrase characterizes correctly those who, in the dark ages, were the friends of God, in the midst of abounding corruption.
And have the testimony of Jesus Christ – That is, they bore a faithful testimony to his truth, or were real martyrs. See Rev 2:13.
The scene, then, in this chapter is this: John saw a most beautiful woman, suitably adorned, representing the church as about to he enlarged, and to become triumphant in the earth. Then he saw a great red monster, representing Satan, about to destroy the church: the pagan power, infuriated, and putting forth its utmost energy for its destruction. He then saw the child caught up into heaven, denoting that the church would be ultimately safe, and would reign over all the world. Another vision appears, It is that of a contest between Michael, the protecting angel of the people of God, and the great foe, in which victory declares in favor of the former, and Satan suffers a discomfiture, as if he were cast from heaven to earth. Still, however, he is permitted for a time to carry on a warfare against the church, though certain that he would be ultimately defeated. He puts forth his power, and manifests his hostility, in another form – that of the papacy – and commences a new opposition against the spiritual church of Christ. The church is, however, safe from that attempt to destroy it, for the woman is represented as fleeing to the wilderness beyond the power of the enemy, and is there kept alive. Still filled with rage, though incapable of destroying the true church itself, he turns his wrath, under the form of papal persecutions, against individual Christians, and endeavors to cut them off in detail.
This is the general representation in this chapter, and on the supposition that it was designed to represent the various forms of opposition which Satan would make to the church of Christ, under paganism and the papacy, it must be admitted, I think, that no more expressive or appropriate symbols could have been chosen. This fact should be allowed to have due influence in confirming the interpretation suggested above; and if it be admitted to be a correct interpretation, it is conclusive evidence of the inspiration of the book. Further details of this opposition of Satan to the church under the papal form of persecution are made in the subsequent chapters.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C.
Verse 17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman] The heathen party, foiled in their subtle attempt to destroy Christianity, were greatly enraged, and endeavoured to excite the hatred of the multitude against the religion of Jesus. “They alleged that before the coming of Christ the world was blessed with peace and prosperity; but that since the progress of their religion everywhere, the gods, filled with indignation to see their worship neglected and their altars abandoned, had visited the earth with those plagues and desolations which increased every day.” See Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, cent. V., part 1, and other works on this subject.
Went to make war with the remnant of her seed] The dragon , departed, i.e., into the wilderness, whither the woman had fled; and in another form commenced a new species of persecution, directed only against the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. See on verse 13 of the following chapter for an illustration of this remarkable passage. “Re 13:13“
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And the dragon was wroth with the woman: the devil hath been defeated in two designs against the whole church; he could not wholly root it out by the ten persecutions under the Roman emperors, nor by the water thrown out of his mouth, pestilent doctrines which he influenced some to broach; but he was angry still, his rage was not extinguished.
And went to make war with the remnant of her seed; he gives over his design to ruin the whole church, as not practicable, but resolves to do all the mischief he could to the remnant of her seed, to particular Christians; those especially, which kept closest to the doctrine of faith, called here
the testimony of Jesus Christ, and to the rule of a holy life, which is meant by keeping
the commandments of God. Hence antichrists rage hath not been against Christians in general, as was the pagans, but only against such Christians as he hath not been able to bring over to him, in a compliance with his corruptions in doctrine, worship, and discipline.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. wroth withGreek,“at.”
wentGreek,“went away.”
the remnant of herseeddistinct in some sense from the woman herself. Satan’sfirst effort was to root out the Christian Church, so that thereshould be no visible profession of Christianity. Foiled in this, hewars (Rev 11:7; Rev 13:7)against the invisible Church, namely, “those who keep thecommandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus” (A, B, andC omit “Christ”). These are “the remnant,” orrest of her seed, as distinguished from her seed, “theman-child” (Re 12:5), onone hand, and from mere professors on the other. The Church, in herbeauty and unity (Israel at the head of Christendom, the wholeforming one perfect Church), is now not manifested, but awaiting themanifestations of the sons of God at Christ’s coming. Unableto destroy Christianity and the Church as a whole, Satan directs hisenmity against true Christians, the elect remnant: the othershe leaves unmolested.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the dragon was wroth with the woman,…. The devil was very angry with the church, because he could not destroy her by the Arian persecution he had raised; and because he could not carry her away with the flood, either of errors and heresies, or of the barbarous nations; and because he could not, by any means, come at her, and indeed did not well know where she was, a place being prepared for her of God in the wilderness, where she was taken care of: wherefore he took another method as follows,
and went to make war with the remnant of her seed; which refers to the war the beast, to whom he gave his power, seat, and authority, is said to make with the saints; and which was entered into and carried on by his instigation, of which there is an account in the following chapter: the persons with whom he went to make war are described as “her seed”; the seed of the church, her spiritual offspring, the sons and daughters she brought forth to Christ; between which seed, and Satan and his seed, there always was an enmity: and these are “the remnant” of her seed, a few persons scattered up and down, a remnant according to the election of grace; who were not in bodies, or in church states, regularly formed, as heretofore, but in private families, and some here, and some there; and who were called out to bear a testimony for Christ in corrupt times: and these are further described as such
who keep the commandments of God: and not the traditions of men: nor are the commands of the moral law of God so much designed, though it is true that these were kept by the seed of the church; but rather the ordinances of the Gospel, the commands of God our Saviour, such as baptism and the Lord’s supper; which were kept by these faithful ones, as they had been delivered, when they began now to be sadly corrupted by the antichristian party:
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ; the Gospel, which is a testimony concerning him; [See comments on Re 1:2]. This they had in their hearts, a spiritual knowledge and saving experience of it; and this they had in their hands, they made a profession of it, they held it forth, and held it fast; all which was the reason of Satan’s enmity against them, and war with them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Waxed wroth (). First aorist (ingressive) passive indicative of , “became angry.”
With the woman ( ). “At the woman,” “because of the woman.”
Went away (). “Went off” in his rage to make war with the scattered followers of the Lamb not in the wilderness, perhaps an allusion to Ge 3:15. The devil carries on relentless war with all those “which keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” ( ). These two marks excite the wrath of the devil then and always. Cf. Rev 1:9; Rev 6:9; Rev 14:12; Rev 19:10; Rev 20:4.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Jesus Christ. Omit Christ.
The best texts add to this chapter the opening words of ch. 13 (A. V.), “And I stood upon the sand of the sea.” Some, however, change ejstaqhn I stood, to ejstaqh he stood, referring to the dragon. So Rev.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
5) (The Jewish Remnant – War with the Dragon) v. 17
1) “And the dragon was wroth with the woman,” (kai orgisthe ho drakon epi te gunaiki) “and the dragon serpent was enraged with the woman,” Israel , who escaped his rage by fleeing to and hiding in her place in the desert or wilderness, perhaps in the rock-city Petra, Rev 12:6; Rev 12:14; Isa 26:20.
2) “And went to make war,” (kai apelthen poiesai polemon) “and went away (from) her,” the 144,000 he had driven into the wilderness or desert to their hiding place for 42 months. He turned from her to reek war upon the remnant of apostate natural Israel, Dan 9:27.
3) “With the remnant of her seed,” (meta ton loipon tou spermatos autes) “with the rest, loitering, remainder of her seed (family seed-line),” of natural Israel who had not been sealed against death, in the sealing of the 144,000, who evidently had been saved while making morning and evening sacrifices and oblations for the previous 42 months, Dan 9:26-27; Rev 7:3-8.
4) “Which keep the commandments of God,” (ton terounton tas entolas tou theou) “those keeping or guarding the commandments of God,” in a cold, lifeless form, but having yet rejected the Messiah, unsaved, like the pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees of our Lord’s day, Mat 5:20; Rom 10:14; Luk 18:11-12.
5) “And have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” (kai echonton ten marturian iesou) “and having or holding in charge the witness or testimony of Jesus.” Let it be recalled that the primary purpose of the 70th week of Jacob’s trouble is a time when God is primarily dealing in judgment against Israel for her rejection of Jesus Christ, of whom the law (of which they were custodians) spoke in word and in ceremony and sacrifice; Gal 3:19-24; Rom 3:1-2; Rom 11:1-2.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(17) And the dragon . . .Translate, And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and departed (not merely went, but departed, as one baffled in his attempt to carry the woman away by the river) to make war with the rest of her seed, who Keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus. Omit the word Christ. The attempt to sweep away the Christian Church is vain. The wrath of man has always been found to turn to Gods praise; the earth has always helped the woman; out of a thousand seeming defeats the Church of Christ has arisen; the banner of the Lord has been lifted up over every flood. But the foe will not give up his attacks. He can make war upon individual Christians; he may cease to assail the collective Church of Christ, but he can assail Christians by a thousand discomforts, by petty opposition, by undermining their morals, by making them unpopular, not as Christians, but as very particular Christians: for those thus assailed are they who keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. It is the old combination of a holy life and a fidelity to their Master which is the test of true loyalty. They take heed to themselves; they abide in Christ; they take heed to the teaching, that Christs word may abide in them. They keep His word, and they witness to Him in lip and life.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Dragon was wroth Paganism long maintained an angry and desperate struggle for supremacy.
War with seed Who maintained the testimony of Jesus himself over wafer-worship and Mariolatry during the beast-period.
Dusterdieck denies that the woman is symbol of the Church; maintaining that this whole scene of chapter 12 is a picture showing who are the true adversaries of Christ, namely, Satan and his hosts. The woman, he argues, cannot be the Jewish Church, for, besides her apostolic twelve stars she laps over into the Christian ages even to the time of Constantine. Nor can she be the Christian Church; for who then are the remnant of her seed? To this argument Alford seems to succumb, and accept Dusterdieck’s view, and thereby enfeebles and disconcerts his whole scheme of interpretation.
Our answer to Dusterdieck’s dilemma is, that the woman is the anti-dragon or anti-pagan Church; the remnant of her seed is the anti-bestial or anti-papal Church. The woman, therefore, inclusively represents the ancient Jewish Church, from which Christ sprung, continued into the Christian Church in all its anti-pagan history and character. While the pagan dragon hoped, in his own undisguised person, to conquer her, he fought; but when he saw defeat before him he evoked the sea-beast (chap. 13) to be his substitute, and through him to war with the remnant of her seed the opponents of the pseudo-Christian beast until he reappears in his own person, Rev 20:1. The Church, the woman, is, in successive generations, truly her own seed. The Church of to-day is the Church’s seed, and the Church of a later day is the remnant or rest of her seed. The seed against which paganism warred through the beast were the anti-papal successors to the anti-pagan Church.
We have a striking proof that the dragon was paganism in the opinion of Constantine himself. Eusebius gives us Constantine’s words: “That dragon has been expelled from the government of the world by the good providence of the supreme God and my instrumentality.” And before the vestibule of his own palace the emperor placed a cross over his own head, and the dragon beneath, thrust down into the abyss.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the monster waxed wroth with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus, and he stood on the sand of the sea.’
The mention of ‘the commandments of God’ may be intended to connect this situation with the Exodus and Mount Sinai, although ‘commandments’ is in fact a favourite word of John having also in mind the commandments of Jesus (Joh 14:15; Joh 14:21; Joh 15:10; 1Jn 2:4; 1Jn 3:22; 1Jn 3:24; 1Jn 5:2-3 ; 2Jn 1:6; Rev 14:12; Rev 22:21).
The anger of the monster, unable to snatch his prey, is now turned against ‘the rest of her seed’, i.e. the remainder other than ‘the son, the male child’. This refers to those who have become part of the children of Israel by submission to Christ. They ‘keep the commandments of God’ thus demonstrating that they have been brought within the covenant of grace of Sinai.
We must remember that what we call the ten commandments was in fact a covenant of grace whereby Yahweh, having delivered His people, declared His overlordship and what He had done for them through grace, and outlined His requirements from them as His subject people. It is in the form of a typical suzerainty treaty of that time.
Combined with keeping His commandments these ‘children’ of the true Israel also ‘hold the testimony of Jesus’, declaring their loyalty to Him because of what He has done for them as well as obeying His commandments. As they are the seed of the woman they are ‘true’ children of Israel.
‘And he stood on the sand of the sea’. Now is to be outlined the monster’s activity against the people of God through those who dwell on earth. He has failed in the wilderness sands, which proved his enemy and swallowed up his wrath, for the wilderness is never his friend and, as the place of solitude and waiting on God, always protects the people of God. So now he will attack from another position. Now he stands on the sandy shore of the great sea to see emerge from there the instruments of his wrath. The basic idea comes from Dan 7:3. The great sea is the Mediterranean which appeared as a great sea to Israel (Num 34:6 and often).
To Israel the sea was an enemy. It was always seeking to break its bounds and overwhelm them, although tightly controlled by God. But unlike in other ancient literature the sea is never depicted in the Bible as out of God’s control or battling with God. He always has overwhelming mastery of it (Job 38:8-11; Psa 65:7). Its battle is with the world.
They remembered how the sea had swallowed up the Egyptian armies (Exo 15:10; Jos 24:7 and often), and how it was depicted as overwhelming Babylon (Jer 51:42). The psalmist also likened the sea to a proud enemy whom God controlled, symbolic of the enemies of God, who were seen in the guise of a great sea monster, probably there representing Egypt (Psa 89:9-10 compare Eze 32:2). The sea roars, like the roaring of a lion and thus again symbolises the enemies of Israel (Isa 5:29-30 compare Jer 31:35). Psa 65:7 compares the roaring of the seas and the waves to ‘the tumult of the peoples’ (compare Isa 17:12; Eze 26:3). Indeed ‘the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt’ (Isa 57:20). So the sea symbolises destructive power, the powerful threatening of the people of God, and tumult and restlessness among peoples.
‘The sand of the sea’ is also an Old Testament phrase and signifies a number beyond counting (Gen 32:12; Gen 41:49; Psa 78:27; Isa 10:22; Jer 15:8; Jer 33:22; Hos 1:10 see also 1Sa 13:5; 2Sa 17:11; 1Ki 4:20). Here therefore it is intended to bring to mind the innumerable numbers of peoples who will be used by him to try to overwhelm the people of God.
‘He stood on the sand of the sea’ is in direct contrast with the strong angel who ‘was standing on the sea and on the earth’ in Rev 10:5. The strong angel declares the total dominion of God, Satan’s is only partial.
The sand of the sea, however, is also the impregnable barrier that the sea cannot pass (Jer 5:22). Possibly there is therefore here also the idea that the dragon is standing there with a view to breaking that barrier down.
So sand and sea together can be seen as representing the nations and peoples of the world in tumult and as threatening the people of God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 12:17 . The dragon, inflamed only to greater rage ( ) against the fleeing woman (Rev 12:16 ), because of the frustration of his last attack, applies himself to a conflict with “the rest of her seed which keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus.”
For the correct explanation of the expression . , . . ., and also for the determination thence, according to the context, of the idea of the , we must first of all maintain, against Ebrard, that the is not a seed from which also the woman springs, but only the seed springing from the woman, i.e., born of her, can be designated; so that the . could in no way be those “who belong to the same seed with the woman.” In violation of the context, Auberlen [3187] further judges the . . . . to be “the disciples of the Lord who have survived the earlier persecutions” (Rev 12:13-16 ); for if the hostility described in Rev 12:13-16 is directed against the woman herself, not her seed, that hostility remains entirely unsuccessful, [3188] so that the subject here cannot be “survivors” in general. This also against Hengstenb., who concedes two different references: “The rest are they who survive the hostile inundation in Rev 12:15 , or are not touched by it.”
A guide to the more specific determination of the . . . is contained in the words
, if the sense be correctly stated by Ewald, whom Zll. follows: “Of those uniting with the more eager and wholesome study of Mosaic laws firm faith in Jesus the Messiah;” but the expression is entirely too general, [3189] than that thereby merely Jewish Christians be designated.
The relation, especially presented by the context, of the statement . . , viz., to the man-child which, according to Rev 12:5 , belongs to the seed of the woman as the firstborn, has been acknowledged with complete definiteness only by Zull.; [3190] yet while he has correctly explained only the form, but not, at the same time, the subject, he enables us to recognize the occasion because of which this most simple contrast of “the rest” of the seed of the woman, and that firstborn brother, the Messiah himself, [3191] has not been obvious to expositors, viz., the difficulty of correctly conceiving of the woman in the relation as well to the man-child (Rev 12:5 ) as also to “the rest of her seed.” The herself, her , and the , are three ideas so essentially connected that the misunderstanding of one necessarily hinders the correct explanation of the rest. In general, there is no doubt possible as to the fact that the son of the woman is the Messiah; but, nevertheless, that the Virgin Mary is not on this account to be understood by the woman, even though the ideal contemplation of the writer of the Apoc. always gives the historical person of the Virgin a certain support,
Andr., in agreement with Methodius, has already noted. Any such reference to the person of Mary is rendered impossible, on the one hand, by the ideal description of the herself, and the events pertaining to her; on the other, by her relation to “the rest of her seed.” By the latter statement as the . . . is designated not only by the final clause of Rev 12:17 , but also by what succeeds in ch. 13, as, at all events, believers in Christ the expositors are led with essential unanimity to recognition of the fact that the designates the “Church,” in analogy with the mode of contemplation, according to which, in the O. T., the congregation of God’s people appears as the wife of Jehovah, and in the Apoc. itself [3192] as the bride of the Lord. If now the question be as to the more specific comprehension of this, in general, obvious idea of the , as well according to the measure of significant features in the description of the herself, [3193] as also in relation to her man-child, and the rest of her seed; in the first place, all the expositors err who, in the , wish to recognize the Christian Church, whether they expressly distinguish it from the Jewish or O. T. Church, [3194] and limit the description to the antichristic period at the end of the world, [3195] or regard the N. T. Church in essential connection with that of the O. T., the latter not without its N. T. continuation, and both as one inseparable comprehensive Church. [3196] A characteristic sign that these two modifications of the exposition essentially cohere, lies in the fact that men like Vitringa and Auberlen share the error that the twelve stars (Rev 12:1 ) refer to the twelve apostles. [3197] But the view that the woman is the N. T. Church, inevitably miscarries in Rev 12:5 ; for it is impossible [3198] to refer the birth of the Messiah to Christ’s attaining life and form in believers . [3199] For this reason, [3200] the reference to the O. T. Church has been received; but, on the one hand, the difficulty concerning the original exposition arising from Rev 12:5 [3201] is not properly removed, and, on the other, a new difficulty is developed. For, if the be the O. and N. T. Church universal, who are then the . . . ., Rev 12:17 ? The opinion of Bleek, De Wette, and Hengstenb., also of Klief., according to which an actual distinction could not be made between the woman and the rest of her seed, since the woman herself is nothing but the sum of her children, and by the whole, while by . . . . the particular members of the whole, are designated, [3202]
Auberlen [3203] defends upon the ground that only in this way can it be explained why the dragon who was enraged with the woman turns against her seed. But the text does directly the opposite in offering a distinction between the woman and her seed. The woman (Rev 12:16 ) is hidden from injury on the part of the dragon; just because he sees that he cannot reach the woman herself, he inflicts his wrath, which undoubtedly is directed against the woman, upon another subject still within reach, viz., the rest of the woman’s children. Is it not very readily to be understood, if the dragon wishes now to distress the mother by injuring her children?
The who bore the Messiah (Rev 12:5 ), and has still other seed (Rev 12:17 ), can be only the O. T. Church of God, the true Israel. [3204] John was taught already by the ancient prophetic representation, to ascribe seed to this Church, and to regard her as mother of her children, the believing and godly; [3205] the description, also, in Rev 12:2 ; Rev 12:5 , has originated not without an allusion to Mic 5:1 sqq. But nevertheless, in the writer of the Apocalypse, the view, with all its analogy to the ancient prophetic types, appears peculiarly defined, viz., because he represents heathen Christians (the . . . ., Hofm., Ebrard), as belonging to the seed of the woman, and in so far the brethren of the Messiah. [3206] Here John would have a very suitable model in Mic 5:3 , as the [3207] designates the growth of the Church from the heathen, who are added to the mother Church as though born of her seed. For the evangelical-prophetical fundamental view, cf. Isa 2:2 sqq.; Zec 8:20 sqq.; Joh 4:22 , etc. Against this conception, it dare not be said, that nevertheless not only believers from the heathen are brethren of the Messiah, that consequently beneath the acknowledgment of the reference of . . . , to the child of the woman mentioned in Rev 12:5 the are, in any case, to be regarded Jewish and heathen Christians; for the ordinary view, according to which all believers are brethren of the Lord, is not presented here as certainly as is the ideal person of the , the mother of the Messiah, the O. T. Church of God, in whose complete unity Jewish Christians are regarded as the genuine Israelites. [See Note LXIX., p. 359.]
[3187] p. 298.
[3188] Cf. Rev 12:17 .
[3189] Cf. Rev 14:12 , Rev 22:14 . Concerning the correct meaning of . . . ., cf., against Ewald especially, Rev 6:9 , Rev 19:10 .
[3190] “The rest of her seed, the Zionites on earth, in contrast with the child above removed.”
[3191] Cf. Mat 28:10 ; Heb 2:11-12 .
[3192] Rev 22:17 .
[3193] Cf. Rev 12:1 .
[3194] Beda, N. de Lyra, Aret., Hammond, Calov., Vitr., Beng., etc.
[3195] C. a Lap., Stern.
[3196] Victorin., Andr., De Wette, Hengstenb., Auberien, Christiani: “The Church of the last time.” Cf. also the inconsistencies of Coccejus, who, in Rev 12:14 , suddenly speaks of the N. T. Church, although he had referred what preceded to the O. T.; of Eichh., who already, in Rev 12:5 , inserts “the Christian Church which proceeded from Judaism,” etc.
[3197] “The apostolic Church” (Vitr., p. 566).
[3198] To say nothing as to the proposition that the “birth” of Christ may be his return to judgment, as the result of the course of the Christian Church through time, as Klief. ( Zeitschr. , a. a. O. S., 547) indicates by understanding by the the people of God in Christendom. Cf. on Rev 12:11 .
[3199] Against Beda, Stern, etc.
[3200] Cf., e.g., Auberlen, p. 277: “By the woman who bore Jesus, we are naturally to understand the Church of God in its O. T. form;” on the other hand, p. 280: “The Church also in its N. T. form.”
[3201] For, the more earnestly the essential unity of the O. and N. T. Church of God is asserted, the less proper is it to ascribe that exclusively to the first part of this Church which cannot be ascribed to the second part.
[3202] Cf., on the other hand, Ewald.
[3203] p. 289.
[3204] Cf. Herder, Heinr., Ewald, Zll., Hofm., Ebrard; also Bleek, Vorles., Volkm., Hilgenf.: “The original Church in Palestine.”
[3205] Cf. Isa 54:1 ; Isa 54:13 ; Isa 66:8 .
[3206] Volkm., who indorses this explanation, attempts, however, to harmonize this passage with the assumed Judaism of the Apoc. by requiring us to regard heathen Christians as metics subordinate to the citizens of the kingdom of God. Hilgenf. prefers to keep clear of this distinction here, and to think only of the daughter-congregation in general contrast with that of the Palestinian mother-church. Both are unsuitable to this passage, since here the opposition to the received anti-Pauline Judaism of the Apoc. is presented.
[3207] “ The rest of his [the Messiah’s] brethren.” LXX., incorrectly: .
Only now [3208] is the purpose of what is described in Rev 12:1-17 , with respect to what follows, to be clearly recognized. In Rev 12:17 ( , . . . ), this distinctly comes to light. By the vision of ch. 12, Satan himself is designated as the proper exciter of the (Rev 12:17 ) of the , which believers have yet to expect before the coming of their Lord. And, besides, a specific determination of the , whose description is here introduced, lies in the fact, that, on the one hand, Satan appears in the form which he had attained in the Roman Empire (Rev 12:3 ), as, then, on the other hand, those Christians are designated as the goal of the dragon’s rage who came from the Gentiles to the sonship of Israel (Rev 12:17 ), and are to be found within the bounds of that empire. But how Satan now excites war, and what instruments he puts in motion, is made manifest directly afterwards, viz., in ch. 13, which begins with the words that in the later editions form the close of ch. 12 (Rev 12:18).
[3208] Cf. on Rev 12:5-6 .
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LXIX. Rev 12:17 .
Alford: “Note, as important elements for the interpretation: 1. That the woman has seed besides the man-child who was caught up to God’s throne, those who are not only distinct from herself, but who do not accompany her in her flight into the wilderness. 2. That those persons are described as being they who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus. 3. That during the woman’s time of her being fed in the wilderness, the dragon is making war, not against her, but against this remnant of her seed. 4. That by the form of expression here, these present participles, descriptive of habit, and occurring at the breaking-off of the vision, as regards the general description of the dragon’s agency, it is almost necessarily implied that the woman, while hidden in the wilderness from the dragon’s wrath, goes on bringing forth sons and daughters thus described.” These facts he regards fatal to the view of the flight as the withdrawal of God’s true servants from open recognition. So Beck, who also finds its solution in the doctrine of the invisible Church, and refers to the parallel in Gal 4:27 . In fact, the entire passage (Gal 4:22 sqq.) affords an answer to an objection which Dsterdieck derives from the ; for here, as there, the Church, as an institution regenerating and perpetuating through the word and sacraments a spiritual seed, is a mother; while the individuals belonging to the Church, as the congregation of believers, are the children. Our author ignores the well-known principle, Omne simile claudicat .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
REFLECTIONS
READER! if the Church appeared as a great wonder in heaven, when beheld clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of stars, shall not you and I wonder as we behold her also? Oh! what a lovely sight is the Church, the spouse of Jesus! And what a wonder, that the Son of God should choose for himself such an one, when all the Angels of God were at his command! Yea, Reader! what a greater wonder still, if so be you and I are of Christ’s members, in this mystical body! A child of God is the wonder of heaven, the wonder of angels! and oh! how much more a wonder to himself, that while meriting hell, he should be preserved for heaven.
And, Reader! let us look also to the other wonder in heaven, and behold this great red dragon. Let us look at him without fear, while looking to, and depending upon Jesus for help. Jesus hath conquered him for us, and in us; and we know, that the God of peace, will bruise Satan under our feet shortly. Oh! what a world of wonders are we in, that the worm Jacob shall thresh the mountains! But, Reader! never lose sight in whose strength it is, we are made strong. The armies of heaven, overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Yes! there can be salvation in no other. No other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved!
Lord Jesus! cause the earth to help the woman, thy Church, now in the flood of heresies, the Serpent hath belched out of his month with a view to destroy her, in this present sinful and spiritual adulterous generation. And while hell in such numberless directions, is making war with the true remnant of thy seed, oh! for the Lord to give that seed to see that more is with us, than all that are against us. Remember, precious Jesus, thine own gracious words, and make them particularly sweet and refreshing to thine own, in the present day of rebuke and blasphemy: My seed (thou hast said), shall serve him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness, unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Ver. 17. Was wroth with the woman ] Who yet had done him no wrong; but he and his are mad with malice (when their designs miscarry especially), and are ready to sue the Church, as he in Cicero did another, quod totum telum corpore non recepieset, because he had not taken into his body the whole dagger wherewith he had stabbed him. (Orat. pro C. Rab. Posth.)
To make war ] That war which is mentioned Rev 13:7 .
With the remnant of her seed ] As a little seed grain is reserved out of a great heap for store, which is nothing to the whole crop; so is the small number of true believers reserved by grace, nothing to the whole field and crop of the world.
Which keep the commandments ] A just description of a godly Christian. Boni catholici sunt qui et fidem integram sequuntur et bonos mores. To be sound in faith and holy in life, this is the kernel of Christianity. (Aug.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 12:17 . The baffled adversary now widens his sphere of operations. . . an apocalyptic term = the derelicti or relicti of 4 Esdras ( cf. Volz, 319). These represent to the Christian editor the scattered Christians in the Empire; by adding this verse (or at least . ) to the source, he paves the way for the following saga of 13. which depicts the trying situation of Christians exposed to the attack of the devil’s deputies. The devil keeps himself in the background. He works subtly through the Roman power. This onset on the faith and faithfulness of Christians by the enforcement of the Imperial cultus is vividly delineated in Ep. Lugd. which incidentally mentions the experience of Biblias who, like Cranmer, repented of a recantation. “The devil, thinking he had already swallowed up [918] ., one of those who had denied Christ, desired to condemn her further by means of blasphemy, and brought her to the torture [ i.e. , in order to force false accusations from her lips]. But she, reminded by her present anguish of the eternal punishment in Gehenna [ cf. Rev 14:9 f.], contradicted the blasphemous slanderers, confessed herself a Christian, and was added to the order of the martyrs.” Blandina, the heroic slave-girl, survived several conflicts .
[918] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
The keynote of the situation hinted in Rev 12:17 f. is struck in Rev 13:2 . The dragon has given his authority to the beast ; what God’s people have now to contend with is no longer the O.T. Satan merely (Rev 12:9-10 ) but his powerful and seductive delegate on earth. In the Imperial cultus the Christian prophet could see nothing except a supreme and diabolically subtle manuvre of Satan himself ( cf. on Rev 13:1 ; Rev 13:5 ). The Danielic prophecy was at last on he verge of fulfilment! Mythological and cosmological elements ( S. C. 360 f.) were already present in the Danielic tradition, but the prophet (or the source which he edits) readapted them to the historical situation created by the expectation of Nero’s return from the under world and the enforcement of the Imperial cultus. For the hypothesis of a Caligula-source in this chapter, cf. Introd 6.
Rev 12:17 to Rev 13:18 : the saga of the woman and the red dragon (a war in heaven) is followed by the saga of the two monsters from sea and land (a war on earth), who, with the dragon, form a triumvirate of evil. First (Rev 12:17 to Rev 13:10 ) the monster from the sea, i.e. , the Roman Empire.
Rev 12:18. The scene is the sea-shore, ex hypothesi , of the Mediterranean ( Phdo , 109 b , 111 a , etc.), i.e. , the West, the whole passage being modelled on Dan 7:2-3 ; Dan 7:7-8 ; Dan 7:19-27 , where the stormy sea from which the monsters emerge is the world of nations ( cf. 4 Esd. 11:1: ecce ascendebat de mari aquila, also 4 Esd. 13:1)
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 12:17 to Rev 13:6
Rev 12:17 bAnd the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Rev 13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:1 “the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore” NASB, NKJV and NJB begin Revelation 13 with this phrase (i.e., Rev 12:17 b), while TEV concludes Revelation 12 with it.
There is a manuscript variant related to the verb in Rev. 12:18 and Rev 13:1, “stood”
1. “he stood,” referring to the beast/dragon which relates to Revelation 12 MSS P47, , A, C, (NASB, NRSV, TEV, REB, NET, NIV)
2. “I stood,” referring to John which relates forward to Revelation 13 MSS P, 046, 051 (NKJV, NJB)
The UBS4 gives option #1 a “B” rating (almost certain).
The “sea” may be an allusion to Dan 7:2-3. It was a symbol of
1. the whole of humanity (cf. Isa 17:12-13; Isa 57:20; Rev 17:15)
2. the forces of chaos (cf. Genesis 1; Isa 51:9-10)
“Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea” The wild beast (cf. Rev 13:14-15; Rev 15:2; Rev 16:13; Rev 15:8) is first mentioned without fanfare in Rev 11:7 as coming out of the abyss (cf. Rev 17:8). It seems to refer to “the Antichrist” of 1Jn 2:18 a,22; Rev 4:3; 2Jn 1:7, also known as “the man of lawlessness” in 2Th 2:3. The same description of this beast is found in Rev 12:3; Rev 17:3; Rev 17:8.
The phrase “coming out of the sea” has been interpreted in several ways.
1. literally, as in intertestamental Jewish apocalyptic literature as Leviathan and in Rev 12:11 as Behemoth
2. an allusion to Daniel 7, where the beast comes up out of the sea in Rev 13:3 and out of the earth in Rev 13:17, which in Daniel 7 are synonymous, but John has separated the last beasts into two separate end-time evil personalities: the sea beast, Rev 13:1 and the land beast, Rev 13:11
3. a symbol of fallen humanity (cf. particularly Rev 17:15, but also Dan 7:2-3; Isa 17:12-13; Isa 57:20)
The reason that the two beasts of chapter 13 are mentioned as coming out of the sea and the land is (1) because this chapter follows Daniel 7 so closely or (2) because they combine to represent the whole earth. It is also possible that these two beasts plus Satan form an evil parody of the Trinity.
“Ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems” This is not exactly like the dragon (cf. Rev 12:3) but it is very similar (cf. Rev 17:3; Rev 17:7-12). The ten horns speak of complete power; the seven heads represent a perfect manifestation of evil, and the ten diadems are a claim to royalty. Evil is often a counterfeit of good. This is the first of several parodies of Christ.
“blasphemous names” The Greek manuscripts are equally divided between the plural (MS A) “names” (NRSV, NJB) and singular (MSS P47, , C, P) “name” (NKJV, TEV). UBS4 cannot decide which is original. Whichever is true, this is obviously an allusion to Dan 7:8; Dan 7:11; Dan 7:20; Dan 7:25 or Dan 11:36. These blasphemous titles are connected with the (1) claim of deity or (2) evil titles (cf. Rev 17:3).
Rev 13:2 “the beast which I saw was like a leopard. . .a bear. . .a lion” This combination of several beasts is another allusion to Dan 7:4-6, where it refers to a series of kings, but here the symbolism has been changed into a composite of all the anti-God world systems personified in one leader (cf. Dan 7:24).
“And the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority” This is parallel to 2Th 2:9, which speaks of a Satanically-inspired power. The beast is not Satan, but a supernaturally empowered human manifestation or incarnation of him (cf. Rev 13:4; Rev 13:12). This is another parody of Christ (cf. Rev 5:6).
Rev 13:3 “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain” This is a perfect passive participle, which is syntactically parallel to the Lamb of Rev 5:6. This is another parody of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
“and his fatal wound was healed” Does Satan have the ability to resurrect this person, or is this trickery, deception, and mimicking (cf. Rev 13:15)? Satan is parodying the power of God in raising Christ.
This may be a historical allusion to the “Nero redivivus” myth, which asserted that Nero would come back to life, and return with a large eastern army (Parthians), and attack Rome (cf. Sibylline Oracles, books III-V).
“And the whole world was amazed and followed after the beast” Satan will use miracles to convince the unbelieving world to follow him (cf. Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; 2Th 2:9; Rev 13:5; Rev 17:8), which is another parody of Christ. The world was impressed by the power of the two witnesses in Rev 11:13; now their fickleness is seen in their worshiping the beast.
Rev 13:4 “they worshiped the dragon. . .and they worshiped the beast” Evil desires not only political power, but religious worship (cf. Rev 13:8). Satan wants worship (cf. Rev 13:12; Rev 14:9; Rev 14:11; Rev 16:2; Rev 19:20; Mat 4:8-9). He wants to be like God (cf. possibly Isa 14:12-15). Implicitly, this is related to the Serpent’s lie in Gen 3:5 and in Mat 4:9; Luk 4:5-7.
“Who is like the beast” There have been three suggested origins for this phrase. Some see it as
1. a parody for the title of YHWH found in Exo 15:11; Psa 35:10; Psa 113:4
2. a parody of YHWH in Isa 40:18-22; Isa 43:11; Isa 44:6; Isa 44:8; Isa 44:9-20; Isa 45:6
3. a reference to Leviathan and Behemoth in Jewish apocalyptic literature (one example in the OT is Job 41, especially Job 41:33-34)
Rev 13:5 In Rev 13:5-7 and Rev 13:14-15 there are several passive verbs which imply that permission was given by Satan and ultimately by God (cf. Job). God is using Satan for His own purposes! Evil reveals its own motives by its words and actions.
“a mouth speaking arrogant words” This is an allusion to:
1. “the beast” in Dan 7:8; Dan 7:11; Dan 7:20; Dan 7:25; Dan 11:36
2. Antiochus IV Epiphanes in Daniel 8; 1Ma 1:24
3. “the man of sin” in 2Th 2:4
4. the abomination of desolation of Mat 24:15, which refers to the invasion and destruction of Jerusalem under the Roman general, and later Emperor, Titus, in A.D. 70
This is a good example of how the historical focus of these symbols changes. In Daniel 8 it refers to Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the interbiblical period; in Matthew 24 it refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and in Daniel 7 (and possibly Dan 11:36-39) it refers to the activity of the end-time Antichrist.
“to act for forty-two months” This is a direct allusion to Dan 7:25. It was first mentioned in Rev 11:2-3. It is a metaphor which denotes a period of persecution. See Special Topic at Rev 11:2 and notes at Rev 12:6.
Rev 13:6 “he opened his mouth in blasphemies” There is either a two or three-fold blasphemy in this verse against God’s name, God’s tabernacle, and God’s people. It depends on how one translates this Greek phrase.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
went = went away, as in Joh 11:46.
remnant. App-124.
seed. Believers, Jew and Gentile, who are seen Rev 7:9.
and have = holding.
Jesus. App-98.
Christ. The texts omit. They add here the first clause of Rev 13:1, altering to “he stood”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 12:17. , with the remnant) These are the faithful scattered in the lands of the unfaithful.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the dragon: Rev 12:12, Joh 8:44, 1Pe 5:8
to make: Rev 11:7, Rev 13:7, Rev 17:6, Rev 17:14, Rev 18:20, Rev 19:19, Rev 20:8, Rev 20:9, Gen 3:15, Dan 7:23-26, Dan 11:36
which: Rev 14:12, Rev 22:14, Mat 28:20, 1Jo 5:2
and have: Rev 12:11, Rev 1:2, Rev 1:9, Rev 6:9, Rev 20:4, 1Co 2:1, 1Jo 5:10
Reciprocal: Neh 4:7 – then Eze 29:3 – the great Joh 8:40 – now Joh 15:19 – because 1Co 1:6 – the 2Th 2:9 – is 1Jo 2:5 – whoso Rev 12:3 – a great Rev 13:11 – and he spake Rev 19:10 – the testimony Rev 20:2 – the dragon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 12:17. If the devil fails to make a wholesale destruction of the church, he will work on as many of the individual members as he can contact. This is the only explanation I can see that will harmonize the parts of this verse which might seem to be in difficulty. The woman (the church) is made up of individual disciples, and to attack one is to attack the other. Yet there is a distinction between the church as a whole and the individual members thereof. Paul said “ye are the body of Christ, and member in particular” (1Co 12:27).
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 17.
10. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ–Rev 12:17. Because his strategy to destroy the church within Jerusalem, by the woman’s flight and the help she received from the earth, the dragon’s wrath, mentioned in verse 12, was intensified in the persecution of the remnant of her seed–or as otherwise translated, the rest of her seed. By the phrases remnant, or rest of her seed was meant that part of the church which did not dwell in Jerusalem and Judea and was not of the martyred number.
The woman’s seed was composed of two classes–first, the man child, represented collectively as firstfruits, who were caught up unto God, symbolizing the martyrs; second, the remnant or rest of her children who were not martyrs, but remained on the earth to pass through the tribulation. The word man child is an aggregate term which could not have referred to a single person, anymore than the collective phrase rest of her seed could have had singular meaning.
The text will not yield to the view that the woman’s man child was Christ. There is no principle of exegesis which can represent the church as the mother of Christ. But there are numerous examples that represent both the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament collectively as composed of the same ones who are separately called the children, as a part of the whole. Hos 4:6 referred to Israel as a whole, and then mentioned them as “thy children.”
Isa 66:7-8 prophesied of the nation that brings forth children. Jer 31:15 had “Rachel (the nation of Israel) weeping for her children.” (Also Mat 2:18) Dan 12:1 made reference to Israel as a people, but as “thy children.” Mat 13:38 refers to the “children of the kingdom.” The kingdom is composed collectively of them all, as a whole, yet they were children of it. Gal 4:26 calls the spiritual Jerusalem “the mother of us all”–it is composed of us all collectively, but the mother of us all separately. Heb 12:23 refers to the general assembly and church of the first born. The word firstborn is in the plural number in the Greek text and means the firstborn ones. The general assembly and church are collective, but the firstborn are the children of it. So it is in Revelation with the woman–the church; and her seed, children composed of the two classes–the man child (martyrs) caught up unto God; and the rest of her seed, throughout the empire, against which the dragon “went to make war,” and who, with the plaudit of the seer, kept “the commandments of God” and had “the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The commandments mentioned here pertained to their fidelity in the tribulation; and the expression the testimony of Jesus Christ referred to the witness or testimony that He had borne to them concerning the outcome of the period of trial through which they were passing, as in Rev 3:20 : “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (trial) which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell in it.” The world referred to the Roman world, and them that dwell on the earth referred to Christians in every kingdom, nation or tributary, in every place or part of the empire.
(3) The summary of the symbols.
The context of chapter twelve yields three major points which must be classified and discriminated in order:
First, the woman was a symbol of the Jerusalem church –represented as “the new Jerusalem,” in chapter 21:2 at the close of the Revelation, and stands for the whole church.
Second, the man child referred to the martyred souls as “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb.” (Rev 6:10-11 Rev 14:4 Rev 20:4) The woman’s seed “caught up unto God and to his throne,” who thereby entered into a state of victory over the dragon and his wrath in a distinctive sense. (Rev 12:5)
Third, the remnant or rest of the woman’s seed were distinguished from the man child, as being that part of the woman’s seed who suffered the trials of the great tribulation but were not slain or beheaded as were the martyrs. (See Rev 6:9-11 and Rev 20:4)
The woman of this chapter, therefore, must be considered as the organic body of the church–the totality of its members; distinguished from her seed, or children–the constituent members of it, in the two classes mentioned. The text and context will sustain this analysis, and these viewpoints can be maintained.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 12:17, and chap. Rev 13:1 a. Defeated in his purpose the dragon breaks forth into a paroxysm of rage. The important expression in this verse, the rest of her seed, is difficult, and it has been very variously interpreted. These interpretations it is impossible to examine, and it must suffice to say that the rest of her seed, as appears from the immediately following description of their character, can only mean that portion of the womans seed which remained faithful to its trust. They are the saints of chap. Rev 13:7. We have here, in short, one of those anticipatory indications, like that of the measuring in chap. Rev 11:1, of a separation between the Church as a whole and a part of the members, between the vine as a whole and its fruit-bearing branches, which prepare us for the further manifestation of this mystery in later chapters of the book. The expression the rest seems to correspond to the remnant referred to by St. Paul in Rom 9:27; Rom 11:5, and it is used in Rev 2:24 in a similar sense.
The first great enemy of the Church has been described. One thing more is necessary that, ready for the conflict, he shall take up his position on the field. Accordingly it is to be observed that the first clause of chap. Rev 13:1 ought to form a part of the last verse of this chapter, and that the true reading of the clause is not that of the Authorised Version I stood but he stood or took his stand. The dragon took his stand upon the sand of the sea, upon the margin of that earth and sea in which he finds his prey (Rev 12:12).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The rest of the woman’s seed would be individual Christians. We need to beware of Satan because he is like a lion looking for the weak, young or stray. ( 1Pe 5:8 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
12:17 {22} And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
(22) Being set on fire by this means, he began to be more mad, and because he perceived that his purpose against the Christian Church of the Jewish remnant was come to nothing, he resolved to fall on her seed, that is, the Church of the Gentiles, gathered by God and the holy members of the church. This is that other part, as is said in Rev 12:13 in which the purpose of Satan is shown in Rev 12:17 and his attempt, in Rev 13:1 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Enraged because of his lack of success in completely annihilating all fleeing Jews, Satan will proceed to concentrate his attack on those who do not flee. Jews who believe in Jesus Christ become his special target, those who hold fast to the truth that God and Christ revealed. Specifically this group seems to be, or perhaps includes, the 144,000 (Rev 7:1-8; Rev 14:1-5). [Note: See Stephen L. Homcy, "’To Him Who Overcomes’: A Fresh Look at What ’Victory’ Means for the Believer According to the Book of Revelation," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 38:2 (June 1995):193-201.] Some less literal interpreters view these two groups of people as the heavenly church and the earthly church. [Note: E.g., Beckwith, pp. 619-20; and Beale, pp. 676-77.] Ladd believed "the rest of her offspring" are real Christians in contrast to the mass of professing Christians (i.e., Christendom). [Note: Ladd, p. 174.]
"Granting the continuity of Rev 12:1 to Rev 14:5, one must see the portrayal of the victorious 144,000 in Rev 14:1-5 as a sequel to the battle of the dragon’s two emissaries with ’the rest of her seed’ in chapter 13. The extended section is a connected sequence from this point on with the mention of the dragon’s animosity toward that seed here, his stationing of himself on the sands of the sea in Rev 12:18 (Rev 13:1), the appearance of the earthly agents he will use to inflict his damage in Rev 13:1; Rev 13:11, and the proleptic scene of the victorious victims of his persecution after the conflict is over in Rev 14:1-5. This sequence says rather plainly that ’the rest of her seed’ is none other than the 144,000." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, p. 142.]