Revelation 16:2

And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	Καὶ Kai	G2532	and · conjunction
first	πρῶτος prōtos	G4413	foremost (in time · adjective — nominative singular masculine
went	ἀπῆλθεν apēlthen	G565	to go off (i.e. depart) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
out	ἐξέχεεν execheen	G1632	to pour forth · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
vial	φιάλην phialēn	G5357	a broad shallow cup ("phial") · noun — accusative singular feminine
upon	ἐπὶ epi	G1909	properly · preposition
earth	γῆν, gēn	G1093	soil · noun — accusative singular feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
fell	ἐγένετο egeneto	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
noisome	κακὸν kakon	G2556	worthless (intrinsically · adjective — nominative singular neuter
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
grievous	πονηρὸν ponēron	G4190	hurtful · adjective — nominative singular neuter
sore	ἕλκος helkos	G1668	an ulcer (as if drawn together) · noun — nominative singular neuter
upon	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
men	ἀνθρώπους anthrōpous	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — accusative plural masculine
which	ὁ ho	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular masculine
had	ἔχοντας echontas	G2192	to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active participle, accusative plural masculine
mark	χάραγμα charagma	G5480	a scratch or etching · noun — accusative singular neuter
beast	θηρίου thēriou	G2342	a dangerous animal · noun — genitive singular neuter
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
them	τὴν tēn	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative singular feminine
worshipped	προσκυνοῦντας proskunountas	G4352	to fawn or crouch to · verb — present active participle, accusative plural masculine
his	αὐτοῦ.¶ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular neuter
image	εἰκόνι eikoni	G1504	a likeness · noun — dative singular feminine

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 8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees…
Revelation 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Revelation 13:15-18 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would no…
Exodus 9:8-11 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in th…
Deuteronomy 28:27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be heal…
Luke 16:20-22 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Deuteronomy 7:15 And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will…
1 Samuel 5:6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts there…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 16:1-7

We had in the foregoing chapter the great and solemn preparation that was made for the pouring out of the vials; now we have the performance of that work. Here observe, I. That, though every thing was made ready before, yet nothing was to be put in execution without an immediate positive order from God; and this he gave out of the temple, answering the prayers of his people, and avenging their quarrel. II. No sooner was the word of command given than it was immediately obeyed; no delay, no objection made. We find that some of the best men, as Moses and Jeremiah, did not so readily come in and comply with the call of God to their work; but the angels of God excel not only in strength, but in…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 16:2

went--Greek, "went away." poured out--So the angel cast fire into the earth previous to the series of trumpets (Rev 8:5). upon--so Coptic. But A, B, C, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "into." noisome--literally, "evil" (compare Deu 28:27, Deu 28:35). The very same Greek word is used in the Septuagint as here, Greek, "helkos." The reason why the sixth Egyptian plague is the first here is because it was directed against the Egyptian magicians, Jannes and Jambres, so that they could not stand before Moses; and so here the plague is sent upon those who in the beast worship had practiced sorcery. As they submitted to the mark of the beast, so they must bear the mark of the avenging God. Contrast…

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Adam Clarke on Revelation 16:2

A noisome and grievous sore - This is a reference to the sixth Egyptian plague, boils and blains, Exo 9:8, Exo 9:9, etc.

John Gill on Revelation 16:2

And the first went,.... The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "the first angel", and who undoubtedly is meant, who readily and cheerfully obeyed the orders given him, as did the rest; by this angel cannot be meant Pope Adrian, as Lyra, a Popish interpreter, imagines; for a pope would never hurt the worshippers of the beast, as this angel does; rather some Christian Protestant prince or magistrate is designed, and Brightman applies it to Queen Elizabeth; though a set of kings and princes yet to come seem to be intended: and poured out his vial upon the earth; not upon the whole earth, and the inhabitants of it; not upon the temple or church of God, and the worshippers in it, which are measu…

The Church Fathers

And it became a severe wound, etc. Those who, having forsaken the Lord, worship the devil, will perish spiritually by the grievous wound of the same impiety.
— Bede, Commentary on Revelation

All of these plagues are spiritual, and they occur in the soul. For at that time the whole people of the impious will be unharmed by any plague of the body, because they were undeserving to be chastised in the present age, and it was as though they had received all the power of causing pain. However, spiritually all who are impious and haughty are going to suffer, for their sins of will and their mortal sins are sores in their souls.
— Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:2, HOMILY 12

The bowl here, just as the cup, is to be interpreted as a tormenting activity that, when poured out by the angel, produces an evil sore, which here is symbolic of grief that throbs in the heart even as puss oozes from a sore. This grief occurs in the hearts of apostates, for since they are punished by plagues sent from God, they receive no healing from the antichrist whom they have made their god. Perhaps also their bodies are physically wounded as a reproach to their souls, which have been wounded by the arrows of that deceitful rogue, the devil.
— Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 16:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 16:2

Adam Clarke on Revelation 16:2

John Gill on Revelation 16:2

The Church Fathers

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 16:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 16:2

Adam Clarke on Revelation 16:2

John Gill on Revelation 16:2

The Church Fathers

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Revelation 16:2