And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The Muster for the Battle of Armageddon, Rev 16:16
16. And he gathered them ] More probably, and they [the unclean spirits] gathered them. The sentence goes on from the end of Rev 16:14, Rev 16:15 being strictly parenthetical.
Armageddon ] The spelling which has the best authority is “Harmagedon.” The meaning, according as we read Ar or Har, is “the City” or “the Mountain of Megiddo.” But the insertion of “in the Hebrew tongue” perhaps indicates, that the meaning of the name Megiddo (which is apparently “cleaving”) is more important than the geographical note. There is some truth (though some exaggeration) in the description of the plain of Esdraelon as “the battle-field of Palestine:” but the only occasions when Megiddo is mentioned in connexion with a battle are Jdg 5:19, 2Ki 23:29 (cf. Zec 12:11). Of course Megiddo or its neighbourhood (“the Mountain of Megiddo” might be Tabor or that conventionally called Little Hermon) may be the destined scene of the gathering and overthrow of the Antichristian powers: but it is hardly to be assumed as certain. In Zec 14:4-5 the Mount of Olives, in Joe 3:12 the Valley of Jehoshaphat (wherever that is: it must be a proper name, though a significant one, but it is a convention, and an improbable one, that identifies it with the gorge of the Kidron) seem to be represented as the scene of the Judgement.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he gathered them together – Who gathered them? Prof. Stuart renders it they gathered them together, supposing that it refers to the spirits – pneumata – in Rev 16:13, and that this is the construction of the neuter plural with a singular verb. So DeWette understands it. Hengstenberg supposes that it means that God gathered them together; others suppose that it was the sixth angel; others that it was Satan; others that it was the beast; and others that it was Christ. See Pooles Synopsis, in loco. The authority of DeWette and Prof. Stuart is sufficient to show that the construction which they adopt is authorized by the Greek, as indeed no one can doubt, and perhaps this accords better with the context than any other construction proposed. Thus, in Rev 16:14, the spirits are represented as going forth into the whole world for the purpose of gathering the nations together to the great battle, and it is natural to suppose that the reference is to them here as having accomplished what they went forth to do. But who are to be gathered together? Evidently those who, in Rev 16:14, are described by the word them – the kings of the earth, and the whole world; that is, there will be a state of things which would be well described by a universal gathering of forces in a central battlefield. It is by no means necessary to suppose that what is here represented will literally occur. There will be a mustering of spiritual forces; there will be a combination and a unity of opposition against the truth; there will be a rallying of the declining powers of paganism, Mohammedanism, and Romanism, as if the forces of the earth, marshalled by kings and rulers, were assembled in some great battlefield, where the destiny of the world was to be decided.
Into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon – The word Armageddon – Armageddon – occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, and is not found in the Septuagint. It seems to be formed from the Hebrew har Megidow Har Megiddo – Mountain of Megiddo. Compare 2Ch 35:22, where it is said that Josiah came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. Megiddo was a town belonging to Manasseh, although within the limits of Issachar, Jos 17:11. It had been originally one of the royal cities of the Canaanites Jos 12:21, and was one of those of which the Israelites were unable for a long time to take possession. It was rebuilt and fortified by Solomon 1Ki 9:15, and thither Ahaziah king of Judah fled when wounded by Jehu, and died there, 2Ki 9:27. It was here that Deborah and Barak destroyed Sisera and his host Jdg 5:19; and it was in a battle near this that Josiah was slain by Pharaoh-Necho, 2Ki 23:29-30; 2Ch 35:20-25.
From the great mourning held for his loss, it became proverbial to speak of any grievous mourning as being like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon, Zec 12:11. It has not been found easy to identify the place, but recent searches have made it probable that the vale or plain of Megiddo comprehended, if it was not wholly composed of, the prolongation of the plain of Esdraelon, toward Mount Carmel; that the city of Megiddo was situated there; and that the waters of Megiddo, mentioned in Jdg 5:19, are identical with the stream Kishon in that part of its course. See Biblical Repository, vol. 1, pp. 602, 603. It is supposed that the modern town called Lejjun occupies the site of the ancient Megiddo (Robinsons Biblical Researches, vol. 3, pp. 177-180). Megiddo was distinguished for being the place of the decisive conflict between Deborah and Sisera, and of the battle in which Josiah was slain by the Egyptian invaders; and hence it became emblematic of any decisive battlefield – just as Marathon, Leuctra, Arbela, or Waterloo is.
The word mountain, in the term Armageddon – Mountain of Megiddo – seems to have been used because Megiddo was in a mountainous region, though the battles were fought in a valley adjacent. The meaning here is, that there would be, as it were, a decisive battle which would determine the question of the prevalence of true religion on the earth. What we are to expect as the fulfillment of this would seem to be, that there will be some mustering of strength – some rallying of forces – some opposition made to the kingdom of God in the gospel, by the powers here referred to, which would be decisive in its character, and which would be well represented by the battles between the people of God and their foes in the conflicts in the valley of Megiddo.
As this constitutes, according to the course of the exposition by which we have been conducted, an important division in the Book of Revelation, it may be proper to pause here and make a few remarks. The previous parts of the book, according to the interpretation proposed, relate to the past, and thus far we have found such a correspondence between the predictions and facts which have occurred as to lead us to suppose that these predictions have been fulfilled. At this point, I suppose, we enter on that part which remains yet to be fulfilled, and the investigation must carry us into the dark and unknown future. The remaining portion comprises a very general sketch of things down to the end of time, as the previous portion has touched on the great events pertaining to the church and its progress for a period of more than one thousand eight hundred years. A few general remarks, therefore, seem not inappropriate at this point:
(a) In the previous interpretations, we have had the facts of history by which to test the accuracy of the interpretation. The plan pursued has been, first, to investigate the meaning of the words and symbols, entirely independent of any supposed application, and then to inquire whether there have been any facts that may be regarded as corresponding with the meaning of the words and symbols as explained. Of this method of testing the accuracy of the exposition, we must now take our leave. Our sole reliance must be in the exposition itself, and our work must be limited to that.
(b) It is always difficult to interpret a prophecy. The language of prophecy is often apparently enigmatical; the symbols are sometimes obscure; and prophecies relating to the same subject are often in detached fragments, uttered by different perseus at different times; and it is necessary to collect and arrange them, in order to have a full view of the one subject. Thus the prophecies respecting the Messiah were many of them obscure, and indeed apparently contradictory, before he came; they were uttered at distant intervals, and by different prophets; at one time one trait of his character was dwelt upon, and at another another; and it was difficult to combine these so as to have an accurate view of what he would be, until he came. The result has shown what the meaning of the prophecies was; and at the same time has demonstrated that there was entire consistency in the various predictions, and that to one who could have comprehended all, it would have been possible to combine them so as to have had a correct view of the Messiah, and of his work, even before he came. The same remark is still more applicable to the predictions in the Book of Revelation, or to the similar predictions in the book of Daniel, and to many portions of Isaiah. It is easy to see how difficult it would have been, or rather how impossible by any human powers, to have applied these prophecies in detail before the events occurred; and yet, now that they have occurred, it may be seen that the symbols were the happiest that could have been chosen, and the only ones that could with propriety have been selected to describe the remarkable events which were to take place in future times.
(c) The same thing we may presume to be the case in regard to events which are to occur. We may expect to find:
(1)Language and symbols that are, in themselves, capable of clear interpretation as to their proper meaning;
(2)The events of the future so sketched out by that language, and by those symbols, that we may obtain a general view that will be accurate; and yet.
(3)An entire impossibility of filling up beforehand the minute details.
In regard, then, to the application of the particular portion now before us, Rev 16:12-16, the following remarks may be made:
(1) The Turkish power, especially since its conquest of Constantinople under Muhammed II. in 1453, and its establishment in Europe, has been a grand hindrance to the spread of the gospel. It has occupied a central position; it has possessed some of the richest parts of the world; it has, in general, excluded all efforts to spread the pure gospel within its limits; and its whole influence has been opposed to the spread of pure Christianity. Compare the notes on Rev 9:14-21. By its laws it was death to a Mussulman to apostatize from his faith, and become a Christian; and examples, not a few, have occurred in recent times to illustrate it. It was not until quite recently, and that under the influence of missionaries in Constantinople, that evangelical Christianity has been tolerated in the Turkish dominions.
(2) The prophecy before us implies that there would be a decline of that formidable power – represented by the drying up of the great river Euphrates. See the notes on Rev 16:12. And no one can be insensible to the fact that events are occurring which would be properly represented by such a symbol; or that there is, in fact, now such a decline of that Turkish power, and that the beginning of that decline closely followed, in regard to time, if not in regard to the cause, the events which it is supposed were designated by the previous vials – those connected with the successive blows on the papacy and the seat of the beast. In reference, then, to the decline of that power, we may refer to the following things:
(a) The first great cause was internal revolt and insurrection. In 1820 Ali Pasha asserted his independence, and by his revolt precipitated the Greek insurrection which had been a long time secretly preparing – an insurrection so disastrous to the Turkish power.
(b) The Greek insurrection followed. This soon spread to the Aegean isles, and to the districts of Northern Greece, Epirus, and Thessaly; while at the same time the standard of revolt was raised in Wallachia and Moldavia. The progress and issue of that insurrection are well known. A Turcoman army of 30,000 that entered the Morea to reconquer it was destroyed in 1823 in detail, and the freedom of the peninsula was nearly completed by the insurgents. By sea the Greeks emulated their ancestors of Salamis and Mycale; and, attended with almost uniform success, encountered and vanquished the superior Turkish and Egyptian fleets. Meanwhile the sympathies of Western Christendom were awakened in behalf of their brother Christians struggling for independence; and just when the tide of success began to turn, and the Morea was again nearly subjected by Ibrahim Pasha, the united fleets of England, France, and Russia (in contravention of all their usual principles of policy) interposed in their favor; attacked and destroyed the Turco-Egyptian fleets in the battle of Navarino (September, 1827), and thus secured the independence of Greece. Nothing had ever occurred that tended so much to weaken the power of the Turkish empire.
(c) The rebellion of the great Egyptian pasha, Mehemet Ali, soon followed. The French invasion of Egypt had prepared him for it, by having taught him the superiority of European discipline, and thus this event was one of the proper results of those described under the first four vials. Mehemet Ali, through Ibrahim, attacked and conquered Syria; defeated the sultans armies sent against him in the great battles of Hems, of Nezib, and of Iconium; and, but for the intervention of the European powers of England, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, by which he was driven out of Syria, and forced hack to his proper pashalic, Egypt, he would probably have advanced to Constantinople and subdued it.
(d) There has been for centuries a gradual weakening of the Turkish power. It has done nothing to extend its empire by arms. It has been resting in inglorious ease, and, in the meantime, its wealth and its strength have been gradually decreasing. It has lost Moldavia, Wallachia, Greece, Algiers, and, practically, Egypt; and is doing nothing to recruit its wasted and exhausted strength. Russia only waits for a favorable opportunity to strike the last blow on that enfeebled power, and to put an end to it forever.
(e) The general condition of the Turkish empire is thus described by Mr. Walsh, chaplain to the British ambassador to Constantinople: The circumstances most striking to a traveler passing through Turkey is its depopulation. Ruins where villages had been built, and fallows where land had been cultivated, are frequently seen with no living thing near them. This effect is not so visible in larger towns, though the cause is known to operate there in a still greater degree. Within the last twenty years, Constantinople has lost more than half its population. Two conflagrations happened while I was in Constantinople, and destroyed fifteen thousand houses. The Russian and Greek wars were a constant drain on the janizaries of the capital; the silent operation of the plague is continually active, though not always alarming; it will be no exaggeration to say that, within the period mentioned, from three to four hundred thousand persons have been swept away in one city in Europe by causes which were not operating in any other – conflagration, pestilence, and civil commotion.
The Turks, though naturally of a robust and vigorous constitution, addict themselves to such habits as are very unfavorable to population – the births do little more than exceed the ordinary deaths, and cannot supply the waste of casualties. The surrounding country is, therefore, continually drained to supply this waste in the capital, which, nevertheless, exhibits districts nearly depopulated. We see every day life going out in the fairest portion of Europe; and the human race threatened with extinction in a soil and climate capable of supporting the most abundant population (Walshs Narrative, pp. 22-26, as quoted in Bush on the Millennium, 243, 244). The probability now is, that this gradual decay will be continued; that the Turkish power will more and more diminish; that one portion after another will set up for independence; and that, by a gradual process of decline, this power will become practically extinct, and what is here symbolized by the drying up of the great river Euphrates will have been accomplished.
(3) This obstacle removed, we may look for a general turning of the princes, and rulers, and people of the Eastern world to Christianity, represented Rev 16:12 by its being said that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. See the notes on that verse. It is clear that nothing would be more likely to contribute to this, or to prepare the way for it, than the removal of that Turcoman dominion which for more than four hundred years has been an effectual barrier to the diffusion of the gospel in the lands where it has prevailed. How rapidly, we may suppose, the gospel would spread in the East, if all the obstacles thrown in its way by the Turkish power were at once removed!
(4) In accordance with the interpretation suggested on Rev 16:13-14, we may look for something that would be well represented by a combined effort on the part of paganism, Mohammedanism, and Romanism, to stay the progress and prevent the spread of evangelical religion. That is, according to the fair interpretation of the passage, we should look for some simultaneous movement as if their influence was to be about to cease, and as if it were necessary to arouse all their energies for a last and desperate struggle. It may be added that, in itself, nothing would be more probable than this; but when it will occur, and what form the aroused enemy will assume, it would be vain to conjecture.
(5) And in accordance with the interpretation suggested on Rev 16:15, we are to suppose that something will occur which would be well represented by the decisive conflicts in the valley of Megiddo; that is, something that will determine the ascendency of true religion in the world, as if these great powers of paganism, Mohammedanism, and Romanism should stake all their interests on the issue of a single battle. It is not necessary to suppose that this will literally occur, and there are no certain intimations as to the time when what is represented will happen; but all that is meant may be, that events will take place which would be well represented by such a conflict. Still, nothing in the prophecy prevents the supposition that these combined powers may be overthrown in some fierce conflict with Christian powers.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. Armageddon.] The original of this word has been variously formed, and variously translated. It is har-megiddon, “the mount of the assembly;” or chormah gedehon, “the destruction of their army;” or it is har-megiddo, “Mount Megiddo,” the valley of which was remarkable for two great slaughters: one of the Israelites, 2Kgs 23:29, the other of the Canaanites, Judg 4:16; Judg 5:19. But Mount Megiddo, that is Carmel, is the place, according to some, where these armies should be collected.
But what is the battle of Armageddon? How ridiculous have been the conjectures of men relative to this point! Within the last twenty years this battle has been fought at various places, according to our purblind seers and self-inspired prophets! At one time it was Austerlitz, at another Moscow, at another Leipsic, and now Waterloo! And thus they have gone on, and will go on, confounding and being confounded.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either the devil brought them together, or God by his providence ordered that they should be gathered together, into the place where God designed to destroy them and their armies, for so the word
Armageddon signifieth, say some; but others make it to signify the mountain of the gospel, or the mountain of apples, or fruits; but the first etymology in this place seems best. The word doth not signify any particular place; but here is an allusion, as some think, to that Megiddo, mentioned Jdg 5:19, where Barak overcame Sisera with his great army, and where Josiah was slain, 2Ki 23:30. Of the issue of this last battle with the enemies of the church of Christ we shall read more, Rev 19:1-21.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. herather, “they (thethree unclean spirits) gathered them together.” If EnglishVersion be retained, “He” will refer to God whogives them over to the delusion of the three unclean spirits; or elsethe sixth angel (Re 16:12).
ArmageddonHebrew,“Har,” a mountain, and “Megiddo” inManasseh in Galilee, the scene of the overthrow of the Canaanitekings by God’s miraculous interposition under Deborah and Barak; thesame as the great plain of Esdraelon. Josiah, too, as the ally ofBabylon, was defeated and slain at Megiddo; and the mourning of theJews at the time just before God shall interpose for them against allthe nations confederate against Jerusalem, is compared to themourning for Josiah at Megiddo. Megiddo comes from a root,gadad, “cut off,” and means slaughter.Compare Joe 3:2; Joe 3:12;Joe 3:14, where “the valleyof Jehoshaphat” (meaning in Hebrew, “judgment ofGod”) is mentioned as the scene of God’s final vengeance on theGod-opposing foe. Probably some great plain, antitypical to thevalleys of Megiddo and Jehoshaphat, will be the scene.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he gathered them together,…. Or rather “they gathered them together”, as the Syriac version renders it; for though the verb is singular, a noun plural goes before it, as in
Re 16:14 and the same spirits that are there said to go forth, to gather the kings gether, these will gather them together; will persuade the Papal, Pagan, and Mahometan powers, the remains of them in the several parts of the world, to join together, and make one effort for the reviving of their declining, and almost ruined interests: for which purpose they will be brought together,
into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon; which may be the same with Har-megiddo, the mountain of Megiddo; for the Hebrew word is read “Ar” by the Greeks; so the city Argarize is interpreted the mountain of the most High d: and this refers either to the slaying of Josiah in the valley of Megiddo, which occasioned such mourning, that it became proverbial for any great sorrow; see 2Ch 35:22 where it is called the valley of Megiddon; or rather to the slaughter of Sisera’s army at the waters of Megiddo, by Barak, Jud 5:19 suggesting that the same would be the fate of these united powers. Some derive the word from
and , which signify “the destruction of their troops”, or “armies”; and so designs not any place, that has been or is, but which will be so called from the issue of this battle; and since it is an Hebrew name that will be given it, it may lead us to conclude it will be somewhere in Judea, and very likely no other than the valley of Jehoshaphat, where all nations will be gathered; and which is called the valley of decision, where will be the day of the Lord, and multitudes will be slain, Joe 3:2 though the name will suit any place where there will be a defeat of these enemies; but this vial only brings them together; the utter destruction of them is reserved for the next.
d Euseb, Prepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 17. p. 419.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They gathered (). Second aorist active indicative of , singular (the three unclean spirits), like in verse 14.
Har-Magedon (H-). John proceeds now after the interruption in verse 15. Perhaps “the mountains of Megiddo” though not certain. Megiddo is in the valley of Esdraelon, and by the waters of Megiddo (the Kishon) Israel gained a decisive victory over Sisera (Jud 5:19), celebrated in Deborah’s song. See also Rev 20:8; Rev 20:4.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Armageddon. The proper Greek form Ar-Magedwn. The word is compounded of the Hebrew Har mountain, and Megiddon or Megiddo : the mountain of Megiddo. On Megiddo standing alone see Jud 1:27; 1Ki 4:12; 1Ki 9:15; 2Ki 9:27. See also Jud 5:19; Zec 12:11; 2Ch 35:22; 2Ki 23:30. “Bounded as it is by the hills of Palestine on both north and south, it would naturally become the arena of war between the lowlanders who trusted in their chariots, and the Israelite highlanders of the neighboring heights. To this cause mainly it owes its celebrity, as the battle – field of the world, which has, through its adoption into the language of Revelation, passed into an universal proverb. If that mysterious book proceeded from the hand of a Galilean fisherman, it is the more easy to understand why, with the scene of those many battles constantly before him, he should have drawn the figurative name of the final conflict between the hosts of good and evil, from the ‘place which is called in the Hebrew tongue Harmagedon'” (Stanley, ” Sinai and Palestine “).
Megiddo was in the plain of Esdraelon, “which has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in Palestine from the days of Nabuchodonozor king of Assyria, unto the disastrous march of Napoleon Buonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian crusaders, and anti Christian Frenchmen; Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors of every nation that is under heaven, have pitched their tents on the plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the banners of their nation wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon” (” Clarke’s Travels, “cit. by Lee). See Thomson’s” Land and Book “(Central Palestine and Phoenicia), p. 208 sqq.; and Stanley,” Sinai and Palestine, “ch. 9 Two great slaughters at Megiddo are mentioned in the Old Testament; the first celebrated in the Song of Deborah (Jud 5:19), and the second, that in which king Josiah fell (2Ki 23:29). Both these may have been present to the seer’s mind; but the allusion is not to any particular place or event.” The word, like Euphrates, is the expression of an idea; the idea that swift and overwhelming destruction shall overtake all who gather themselves together against the Lord ” (Milligan).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he gathered them together,” (kai sunagagen autous) “and he gathered them together,” he assembled them as colleagues of common interest, nature, and ties, Rev 18:19.
2) “Into a place,” (eis ton topon) “into a physical place,” a topographical locality, a specific location, in the plains of Megiddo, (1) where, the stars fought against Sisera, Jdg 5:19; (2) where Josiah was slain 2Ki 23:29; 2Ch 35:22.
3) “Called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon,” (ton kaloumenon hebraisti Armageddon) “that is being called in the Hebrew language Armageddon,” identified as Armageddon, near Megiddo at the west side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, known also as Mount of Slaughter, place of the final struggle of earth’s armies, where armies of the beast assemble to try to dethrone the Lamb, Rev 19:19; Joe 3:2; Joe 3:11-14.
NOTE: Rev 16:13-16 are a parenthetical rest or relief review of earthly activities between the sixth and the seventh or last plague.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(16) And he gathered . . .Better, He gathered them together to the place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon. Armageddon is the mountain of Megiddo. It is the high table-land surrounded by hills which was the great battle-field of the Holy Land. There the fortunes of dynasties and kingdoms have been decided; there the cause of liberty has triumphed; there kings fought and fell; there Gideon and Barak were victorious; there Ahaziah and Josiah were slain. The old battle-ground becomes the symbol of the decisive struggle. It is raised in meaning: it is a type, not a locality. The war of principles, the war of morals, the war of fashion culminates in an Armageddon. The progress of the spiritual struggle in individual men must lead in the same way to a mountain of decision, where the long-wavering heart must take sides, and the set of the character be determined. There is no waving of banners and no prancing of horses hoofs; the warfare is spiritual, so that there is in sight neither camp nor foe. It is that conflict which emerges out of various opinions and diverse principles: the religious tendencies of the times are (as we have been reminded) powers marshalling themselves for the battle of Armageddon. We must not look for great and startling signs: the kingdom and the conflict of the kingdom is within and around us (Luk. 17:20-21).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. And he Rather they, referring to the spirits of devils, Rev 16:14. It is the three demons who go as envoys to the kings of the earth, to form alliance and compact their forces against the divine invasion.
Gathered them The success is gained, the alliance formed, and the armies are gathered.
Armageddon A symbolic name invented by St. John and nowhere else found. Ar is the Greek form of the Hebrew har, mountain; and Mageddon is the Greek form of the Hebrew Megiddo. Megiddo was the scene of the great defeat of Sisera by Deborah and Barak, celebrated in Hebrew poetry by the song of Deborah, and thence traditionally glorious as the scene of a great victory for Jehovah. Our seer elevates it, though a plain, into a mountain, as symbol of the pre-eminence of the future conflict.
All this indicates that the place is symbolical. When the day of this battle comes, the world will include not Europe alone, but America, Asia, and even Africa. The cities of the nations, Rev 16:19, fall in the catastrophe with Babylon. We are not at all required to expect that such a contest will be decided in a single spot on the plain of Esdraelon or anywhere else.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Ver. 16. And he gathered ] God hath an overruling hand in that which the frogs of Rome do at the courts of kings, and ordereth the disorders of the world to his own glory.
Called in the Hebrew Armageddon ] That is, they shall receive such a famous foil, such as Sisera did at the waters of Megiddo, Jdg 5:19 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 16:16 . A double thread of tradition is woven into this strand of prophecy, ( a ) that of a last conflict of the world-powers with God and the messianic people ( cf. Rev 17:14 , Rev 19:19 ) and ( b ) that of Rome’s ruin by the Parthians under Nero redivivus. The two were originally distinct, but the apocalyptist naturally twists them together, although he never clears up their relationship. Here 13 16 is an enigmatic summary of what is variously depicted further on. But, though an erratic block in its present setting, it may have been placed here by the final editor, in his characteristically proleptic manner. Strictly speaking, the sixth plague is confined to Rev 16:12 . , where the messianic Josiah will triumph, is ( a ) either to be located in mythology rather than in geography, as a mount where the final conflict of the gods is to be fought out (so fallen angels in En. vi. 5, 6 at mount Hermon) in which case the phrase is a survival of some apocalyptic myth no longer intelligible to John (Gunkel, Bousset) or ( b ) to be taken as an allusion to the hills near the plain (in the light of Jdg 5:18-19 ; Jdg 4:6 ; Jdg 4:12 ; Jdg 4:14 ; Eze 38:8 ; Eze 38:21 ; Eze 39:2 ; Eze 39:17 ). By gematria the name is equivalent to (Ewald, Hausrath), but neither this nor the proposal to take as a corruption of (city, so Hitzig, Hilgenfeld, Forbes), much less of (Aram. = , Vlter), is natural. Cf. for further etymological and mythological suggestions, Nestle (Hastings, D. B. ii. 304, 305), Cheyne ( E. Bi. i. 310, 311), and Legge and Cheyne in Proc. Society of Bibl. Arch. 1900, ii. 2. Bruston’s interpretation ( = , , cf. Num 14:45 ; Num 21:3 ; Jdg 20:45 ) is far-fetched, but there may be some link between this obscure fragment of tradition and the cycle of Gog and Magog ( cf. Cheyne in E. Bi. ii. 1747, 1748).
17 21: the seventh bowl and plague as the climax of all.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
a = the.
the. Omit.
tongue. Omit.
Armageddon. Greek. harmagedon, as most texts. The word = mount of Megiddo. Therefore in Palestine, not Europe. See Jdg 5:19, &c. In Isa 10:28 the Septuagint reads “Maggedo”, for Migron.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 16:16. , and he gathered them together) We cannot here suppose that a singular verb is used for a plural (as the Syrian Version expresses it), because the neuter noun . precedes by so long an interval, Rev 16:13-14; and in Rev 16:14 itself, the plural verb is used. Who was it therefore that gathered together the kings? The sixth angel. Throughout the whole of this chapter, the noun angel is often understood. Without inconvenience this verse is connected by a leap with Rev 16:12. See Franc. Junius and E. Schmid.-) Thus many MSS.;[184] but some few, , which is also the reading of the Alex. MS. in 2Ch 35:22, . Magedon or Megiddo was a city, of which there is frequent mention in the books of the Old Testament. The copyists, as it appears, had reference to these passages, who took away the first syllable from the word in the Apocalypse: but on account of this very syllable, in particular, the word appears to be used. Armagedon signifies either , the city Megiddo, as Hiller teaches in Syntagmatis, p. 229, or , the mountain Megiddo. for where there is , a valley, as the valley of Megiddo, 2Ch 35:22, there is also a mountain. We do not equally inquire, whence Megiddo itself is derived; for it is used as the proper name of a place in Palestine, very well known, on account of the great occurrences which had there taken place in ancient times. Nor, in a word, is it mentioned with this allusion on account of the mournful slaughter of Josiah, but on account of the slaughter of the Canaanite kings: Jdg 5:19.
[184] Rec. Text, with B, Syr. h read . A Vulg. Memph. read . Fuld. (inferior to Amiat.) MS. of Vulg. has Magedon.-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Armageddon
i.e. Mount of Slaughter.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
he: Rev 17:14, Rev 19:17-21, Jdg 4:7, Joe 3:9-14, Zec 14:2, Zec 14:3
the Hebrew: Rev 9:11, Joh 5:2, Joh 19:13, Joh 19:17, Act 26:14
Armageddon: Jdg 5:19, 2Ki 23:29, 2Ki 23:30, Zec 12:11
Reciprocal: 2Ki 10:21 – And they came 1Ch 7:29 – Megiddo 2Ch 35:22 – Megiddo Eze 38:15 – and many Joe 3:2 – also Joh 19:20 – in Act 21:40 – Hebrew Rev 16:14 – to gather Rev 19:19 – I saw
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 16:16. Armageddon is the Greek word of the original text spelled with English letters. The literal meaning of the word as defined in Thayer’s lexicon is “destruction.” It is the action referred to by “battle” in verse 14 which means war in general, not merely a single fight. This will be commented upon at length at chapter 20-
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 16.
(3) The gathering forces of Armageddon–Rev 16:16. The outpouring of the seventh vial into the air, verses sixteen and seventeen symbolized the sphere of life and influence in contradistinction with the earth as the place of nations, and with the heaven, which denoted the ruling authorities.
In this context the great battle of Armageddon was envisioned: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. The name Armageddon was derived from mount Megiddo, which was located in a valley now known as the plain of Esdraelon. It was the battlefield of nations in Jewish history. It was in this valley of Megiddo that Deborah and Barak overthrew Sisera and annihilated the hosts of Midianite oppressors. (Jdg 5:19) It was in “this valley of Jehoshaphat” where he triumphed over the ambushments of the combined armies of Ammon and Moab and “the fear of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.” (2Ch 20:22-30) In this valley (designated in later history as the plain of Esdraelon) the Jews and the Saracens and the Egyptians, the Druses and the Turks and the warriors of many hostile nations, pitched their battles; and thus the battlefield of mount Megiddo became a universal proverb.
Under the word Armageddon, the original Bible Dictionary of Philip Schaff states that it was “a name used figuratively in Rev 16:16, and suggested by the great battlefield noted in the Old Testament and now known as the Plain of Esdraelon.” This figure in the text of the apocalypse was employed not for the physical location but for the battle imagery. The deepest affliction of Jerusalem could be symbolized in no stronger terms of mourning, as prophesied by Zechariah in Zec 12:11 : “In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”
The personage designated Gog in connection with this battle imagery, was the king of a country that sustained relations of hostility to Israel. The names Gog and Magog were used identically and are associated in Rev 20:7-9 as a type of the enemies of Christ. It becomes evident that the symbolic adaptation of Armageddon rises above the physical slaughter that overwhelmed Jerusalem and Judah to the hostile forces of evil surrounding the church, personified as Gog and Magog. It was therefore symbolic of the battle against Christianity–the forces of Judaism on the one side and of heathenism on the other. But the Rider of the white horse was the Conqueror; the Son of man appearing on the white cloud was the Victor; the saints robed in white garments were the Overcomers; in all of the symbols and imagery of the visions and in surviving the persecutions, the church emerged in victory to make the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15) become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ by the universal sway of the gospel.
This is consistent with the repeated emphasis of the early chapters of the apocalypse in the letters addressed to the seven churches, that the period through which they were passing was the tribulation era of the church.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 16:16. And they gathered them together into the place which is called in the Hebrew tongue Har-Magedon. The they spoken of in these words refers to neither God nor the angel, but to the unclean spirits of Rev 16:14. These spirits had gone forth to gather together all who had submitted themselves to the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They now accomplish their mission, but the conflict does not yet take place. The spot where the hosts assemble is mentioned only by anticipation. The battle itself is that of chap. Rev 19:19-21.
By the mention made of the fact that the name of the place is in the Hebrew tongue Har-Magedon, we are invited to think of the meaning of that compound term, and of the associations connected with it. There can be no doubt as to the composition of the word,Har, a mountain, and Magedon, or Megiddon, or Megiddo, the name of an extensive place in the north of Palestine which has been in all ages the battlefield of the Holy Land, and derived from the Hebrew verb signifying to destroy; so that, apart from any particular associations, the simple meaning of the word is the mountain of destruction. In addition to this, however, we have to recall to mind two great slaughters at Megiddo mentioned in the Old Testament. The first is that celebrated in the Song of Deborah and Barak (Jdg 5:19), and again alluded to in Psa 83:9. The second is that in which King Josiah fell (2Ki 23:29), a fall which produced the striking lamentation described in 2Ch 35:25, and which is afterwards referred to by the prophet Zechariah (chap. Rev 12:11). It is not easy to say which of these two slaughters is most probably present to the mind of St. John in the words before us. In one respect the first may seem most suitable, because there the enemies of Israel were completely overthrown. In another the second appears to be the more appropriate, owing not only to the fact that the mourning is recorded with so much pathos in 2 Chron., but that it becomes in Zechariah the type of mourning on that day when the Lord will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem (chap. Rev 12:9). There is no improbability in the supposition that both slaughters may be in the mind of the Seer; and it is at least evident that Megiddo was a name associated with the thought of the sudden and terrible defeat of the enemies of God. In this sense then the word Har-Magedon is to be understood. No particular place either in Palestine or elsewhere is pointed at; nor is any particular event referred to. The word, like Euphrates, is the expression of an idea,the idea that swift and overwhelming destruction shall overtake all who gather themselves together against the Lord. In Joe 3:2 we have a similar use of the name Jehoshaphat. The meaning of Jehoshaphat is God judges; and, when the heathen are summoned to that valley, they are really summoned to meet God in judgment.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
He, that is, Almighty God, by his permissive providence suffered the kings of the earth to hearken to antichrist’s missionaries, who, like frogs, hop abroad even into kings’ palaces, and persuade them to assemble and gather together, as Jabin and Sisera gathered together against Israel, to their own destruction: and whereas the place of their gathering together is called Armageddon, this is so named from the event of the battle; signifying such a place where the enemies of the church shall be destroyed.
Learn hence, That the event and success of that battle, which the adherents of antichrist shall fight for him, will be desperate destruction to themselves, joyful victories and triumphs to the churches of Christ.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
“Armageddon,” or Har-Magedon, means Mount of Megiddo. The city of Megiddo sat on a hill and this may be the place intended, but it is nowhere else called Mount of Megiddo in the Bible. The Bible speaks of Megiddo which “was at the Wadi Ara, guarding Aruna Pass, a vital connection between Africa and Asia,” according to McCord. Joshua slaughtered the king of Megiddo. ( Jos 12:21 ) Deborah and Barak conquered Sisera there. ( Jdg 5:19-21 ; Jdg 4:13 ) Kings Ohaziah and Josiah died there. ( 2Ki 9:27 ; 2Ki 23:29-30 ; 2Ch 35:22 ) The latter instance came to symbolize a great nation wide grief. ( Zec 12:11 ) This fortress city was on a hill over looking the main road through the Plain of Jezreel, or Esdraelon. The Midianites assembled there when Gideon defeated them. ( Jdg 6:33-40 ; Jdg 7:1-25 ) The battle which led to Saul’s death was also fought there. ( 1 Samuel 29:30 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Verse 16
Armageddon. The meaning of this name is not understood, although various conjectural explanations of it have been attempted.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
16:16 {19} And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue {20} Armageddon.
(19) Namely the angel, who according to the commandment of God, was to do sacrifice: nonetheless that those impure spirits do the same wickedly, as servants not to God, but to the beast that has seven heads.
(20) That is, (to say nothing of other expositions) the mountain itself, or mountain places of Megiddon. Now it is certain by the Holy Scripture, that Megiddon is a city and territory in the tribe of Manasseh, bordering on Issachar and Asher, and was made famous by the lamentable overthrow of king Josias; 2Ch 35:22, Zec 12:11 . In this mountain country God says by figure or type that the kings of the people who serve the beast shall meet together; because the Gentiles did always cast that lamentable overthrow in the teeth of the Church of the Jews, to their great reproach and therefore were persuaded that that place should be most fortunate to them (as they speak) and unfortunate to the godly. But God here pronounces, that that reproach of the Church and confidence of the ungodly, shall by himself be taken away, in the same place where the nations persuaded themselves, they should mightily exult and triumph against God and his Church.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
"And" (Gr. kai) resumes the exposition of the sixth bowl judgment from Rev 16:14. The demons will assemble the kings of the earth and their armies. They will go to what in Hebrew is called "Har-Magedon" (lit. mountain of Megiddo, Megiddo meaning either "place of troops" or "place of slaughter"). John was writing to Greek-speaking readers who were generally unfamiliar with Palestinian geography (cf. Rev 9:11).
This mountain may refer to the small hill on the south-central edge of the Jezreel (Esdraelon) Valley in northern Palestine on which the town of Megiddo stood. Alternatively, "Har-Magedon" may refer to the mountain closest to Megiddo, namely, Mt. Carmel. There God humiliated the host of prophets of Baal who gathered to oppose Him in Elijah’s day (cf. 1Ki 18:16-40). God and Elijah slaughtered them in the Valley of Jezreel. Mt. Tabor is another prominent hill (1,850 feet high) at the east end of this valley. Some believe it is the mountain in view here. [Note: Newell, p. 260.] Probably Har-Magedon refers to the hill country surrounding Megiddo that includes all the mountains that border the approximately 14 by 20-mile Valley of Jezreel. Earlier Deborah and Barak had defeated the Canaanites in this valley (Judges 4-5), and Gideon had routed the Midianites (Judges 7). King Josiah also died there when he opposed Pharaoh Neco (2Ch 35:22-23).
"The plain of Megiddo is admittedly not large enough to contain armies from all over the world, so this must be the assembly area for a much larger deployment that covers a two hundred mile distance from north to south and the width of Palestine from east to west (cf. Rev 14:20). Some decisive battles against this massive force will probably occur around Jerusalem (Zec 14:1-3)." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, pp. 270-71. Cf. Walvoord, The Revelation . . ., pp. 238-39; and William Sanford Lasor, The Truth about Armageddon, p. 146.]
Ironically, the first battle in the history of military warfare took place at Megiddo, and the last one will take place there too. Less literal views see the name standing for an event rather than any single locality. [Note: E.g., Beasley-Murray, p. 246.] Some see it as representing the entire world. [Note: E.g., Beale, p. 838.]