Revelation 11:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Revelation 11:7
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertain… · conjunction
finished
τελέσωσινtelesōsin
G5055
to end · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
their
αὐτῶν,autōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
testimony
μαρτυρίανmarturian
G3141
evidence given (judicially or genitive case) · noun — accusative singular feminine
beast
θηρίονthērion
G2342
a dangerous animal · noun — nominative singular neuter
ascendeth
ἀναβαῖνονanabainon
G305
to go up (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, nominative singular neuter
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
pit
ἀβύσσουabussou
G12
depthless · noun — genitive singular feminine
make
ποιήσειpoiēsei
G4160
to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
war
πόλεμονpolemon
G4171
warfare (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine
against
μετ᾽met᾽
G3326
properly · preposition
them
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
overcome
νικήσειnikēsei
G3528
to subdue (literally or figuratively) · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτοὺςautous
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
kill
ἀποκτενεῖapoktenei
G615
to kill outright · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτούς.autous
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nat…
Daniel 8:23-24 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark s…
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: an…
Daniel 7:21-22 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Luke 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall b…
John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Zechariah 14:2-21 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and h…
Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, whi…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Revelation 11:3-13
In this time of treading down, God has reserved to himself his faithful witnesses, who will not fail to attest the truth of his word and worship, and the excellency of his ways. Here observe,
I. The number of these witnesses: it is but a small number and yet it is sufficient. 1. It is but small. Many will own and acknowledge Christ in times of prosperity who will desert and deny him in times of persecution; one witness, when the cause is upon trial, is worth many at other times. 2. It is a sufficient number; for in the mouth of two witnesses every cause shall be established. Christ sent out his disciples two by two, to preach the gospel. Some think these two witnesses are Enoch and Elias, wh…
finished their testimony--The same verb is used of Paul's ending his ministry by a violent death.
the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit--Greek, "the wild beast . . . the abyss." This beast was not mentioned before, yet he is introduced as "the beast," because he had already been described by Daniel (Dan 7:3, Dan 7:11), and he is fully so in the subsequent part of the Apocalypse, namely, Rev 13:1; Rev 17:8. Thus, John at once appropriates the Old Testament prophecies; and also, viewing his whole subject at a glance, mentions as familiar things (though not yet so to the reader) objects to be described hereafter by himself. It is a proof of the unity that pervades all Scripture.…
The beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit - This may be what is called antichrist; some power that is opposed to genuine Christianity. But what or whence, except from the bottomless pit, i.e., under the influence and appointment of the devil, we cannot tell; nor do we know by what name this power or being should be called. The conjectures concerning the two witnesses and the beast have been sufficiently multiplied. If the whole passage, as some think, refer to the persecution raised by the Jews against the Christians, then some Jewish power or person is the beast from the bottomless pit. If it refer to the early ages of Christianity, then the beast may be one of the persecuting heath…
The Church Fathers
And will overcome them and kill them. He will overcome those who succumb and kill those who are slain for the name of Christ with praiseworthy patience. Or if he overcomes and kills spiritually, we will understand a part of the witnesses. As the Lord says in the Gospel: They will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you (Matthew XXIV). Which the evangelist Luke suggests in part by saying: They will kill some of you (Luke XI).
And when they have finished their testimony, the beast, etc. He openly shows that all these things happen before the final persecution by saying, When they have finished their testimony, that is, the testimony they bear up to the revelation of the beast, which is to emerge in the hearts of the impious. Not that they will not continue to bear the same testimony then, strongly resisting the enemy, but that at that time the Church is believed to be deprived of the grace of virtues, while the adversary openly dazzles with signs of deceit. For want will precede his face, as the Lord says (Job XLI).
After [the two witnesses] have witnessed and urged escape from this deceit, the beast, that is, the antichrist, comes forth from the dark and deep recesses of the earth to which the devil had been condemned. And, with God's allowance, he will kill them and leave their unburied bodies in Jerusalem itself, no doubt the ancient one which is now in ruins and in which the Lord also suffered. As it seems, he will establish his kingdom in Jerusalem in imitation of David, whose son is Christ, our true God, who is come in the flesh. In this way [the antichrist] intends to prove that he is the Christ who is fulfilling the prophetic word that says, "I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and rebuild its ruins." And having been deceived at his coming, the Jews will accept this.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Deep — Used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Rom. 10:7; Luke 8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Ps. 69:15); (3) the chaos mentioned in Gen. 1:2; (4) the bottomless pit, hell (Rev. 9:1, 2; 11:7;…
Martyrdom · 13:3; — 13:3;
Pit · .The bottomless pit — .The bottomless pit
War · Illustrative of: The contest between Antichrist and the Church — Illustrative of: The contest between Antichrist and the Church
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And when they shall have finished their testimony,.... For Christ, his truths and ordinances; when they are about to finish it, and almost concluded it, even towards the close of the 1260 days or years, in which they must prophesy in sackcloth: or else their testimony and their prophesying may be considered as two distinct things, and the one be finished before the other; their open public testimony, as witnesses, so as to be heard, attended to, and received, will be finished before the last war of the beast against them, in which they will be killed; but their prophesying will continue to the end of the beast's reign, these two being contemporary, of equal date, beginning and ending togethe…
When the witnesses finish their testimony, the scene changes dramatically. The beast (cp. 13:1) is introduced for the first time; it is associated with the bottomless pit. Like all enemies of God, the beast engages in war against God’s witnesses, and he kills them.
