Revelation 6:15

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15-17) And the kings . . .—Translate, And the kings of the earth, and the magnates, and the commanders of hosts, and the wealthy, and the strong, and every man, bond and free, hid themselves (going) into the caves and into the rocks of the mountains; and say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the day, the great (day) of His wrath came (or, is come); and who is able to stand? In the list of the great ones here we may notice the descending order—kings, magnates or statesmen, generals, rich men, strong men, bond and free men. The terror strikes into every class: monarchs and their advisers, the statesmen and diplomatists, the commanders of troops, the merchant princes, the men of ability, as well as the obscurer orders of society. Neither royalty, nor rank, nor force of arms, nor opulence, nor talent, nor strength, either of intellect or frame, avail in that crisis; neither does insignificance escape in that day when God brings to light the hidden things. The tests of God are spiritual, as the weapons of God’s war are not carnal. Men who have relied upon wealth, rank, or power, have prepared themselves against one form of trial, but find themselves unarmed in the day of spiritual testing. Like Macbeth, they are unable to fight with the unexpected shape which haunts them. They would rather meet the bodily foe, “who would dare them to the desert with a sword.”

Thus in the final day of judgment the revealing of the spiritual order of all life will confound men whose minds have been blinded by their entire absorption in world-splendours and world-powers. Nor is it merely the unveiling of the forgotten spiritual order which will confound them. The advent is of a Person. It is more than the manifestation of the kingdom of Him who all this while had been King on His throne, and whom they had forgotten—it is the revealing of God’s Son from heaven. It is not without significance that He is described as the Lamb. In that day of His wrath, it is not as a Judge who has laid aside the tokens of His humiliation and suffering: it is as the Lamb. He whom they now shrink from is He who came meek as a lamb, gentle, pure, and suffering on their behalf. He whom they now behold with dismay is He whom they treated with neglect, and whose love they spurned.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:12-17 When the sixth seal was opened, there was a great earthquake. The foundations of churches and states would be terribly shaken. Such bold figurative descriptions of great changes abound in the prophecies of Scripture; for these events are emblems, and declare the end of the world and the day of judgment. Dread and terror would seize on all sorts of men. Neither grandeur, riches, valour, nor strength, can support men at that time. They would be glad to be no more seen; yea, to have no longer any being. Though Christ be a Lamb, he can be angry, and the wrath of the Lamb is exceedingly dreadful; for if the Redeemer himself, who appeases the wrath of God, be our enemy, where shall we find a friend to plead for us? As men have their day of opportunity, and their seasons of grace, so God has his day of righteous wrath. It seems that the overthrow of the paganism of the Roman empire is here meant. The idolaters are described as hiding themselves in their dens and secret caves, and vainly seeking to escape ruin. In such a day, when the signs of the times show those who believe in God's word, that the King of kings is approaching, Christians are called to a decided course, and to a bold confession of Christ and his truth before their fellowmen. Whatever they may have to endure, the short contempt of man is to be borne, rather than that shame which is everlasting.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal - See the notes at Revelation 5:1; Revelation 6:1.

And, lo, there was a great earthquake - Before endeavoring to ascertain to what the sixth seal was designed to refer, it is proper, as in the previous cases, to furnish a particular explanation of the meaning of the symbols. All the symbols represented in the opening of this seal denote consternation, commotion, changes; but still they are all significant, and we are to suppose that something would occur corresponding with each one of them. It cannot be supposed that the things here described were represented on the part of the roll or volume that was now unfolded in any other way than that they were pictures, or that the whole was a species of panoramic representation made to pass before the eyes. Thus understood, it would not be difficult to represent each one of these things in a painting: as the heaving ground - the agitated forests - the trembling hills - the falling cities and houses - the sun blackened, and the moon turned to blood:

(a) The earthquake, Revelation 6:12; "There was a great earthquake." The word used here denotes a shaking or agitation of the earth. The effect, when violent, is to produce important changes - opening chasms in the earth; throwing down houses and temples; sinking hills, and elevating plains; causing ponds and lakes to dry up, or forming them where none existed; elevating the ocean from its bed, rending rocks, etc. As all that occurs in the opening of the other seals is symbolical, it is to be presumed that this is also, and that for the fulfillment of this we are not to look for a literal earthquake, but for such agitations and changes in the world as would be properly symbolized by this. The earthquake, as a symbol, would merely denote great agitations or overturnings on the earth. The particular character of those changes must be determined by other circumstances in the symbol that would limit and explain it.

There are, it is said, but three literal earthquakes referred to in the Scripture: that mentioned in 1 Kings 19:11; that in Uzziah's time, Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5; and what took place at the Saviour's death. All the rest are emblematical or symbolical-referring mostly to civil commotions and changes. Then in Haggai 2:6-7; "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." That is, there would be great agitations in the world before he came. See the notes on Hebrews 12:26-28. So also great changes and commotions are referred to in Isaiah 24:19-20; "The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage." An earthquake, if there were no other circumstances limiting and explaining the symbol, would merely denote great agitation and commotion - as if states and empires were tumbling to ruin. As this is here a mere symbol, it is not necessary to look for a literal fulfillment, or to expect to find in history actual earthquakes to which this had reference, anymore than when it is said that "the heavens departed as a scroll" we are to expect that they will be literally rolled up; but if, in the course of history, earthquakes preceded remarkable political convulsions and revolutions, it would be proper to represent such events in this way.

(b) The darkening of the sun: "And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair." Sackcloth was a coarse black cloth, commonly, though not always, made of hair. It was used for sacks, for strainers, and for mourning garments; and as thus worn it was not an improper emblem of sadness and distress. The idea here is, that the sun put on a dark, dingy, doleful appearance, as if it were in mourning. The general image, then, in this emblem, is that of calamity - as if the very sun should put on the robes of mourning. We are by no means to suppose that this was literally to occur, but that some great calamity would happen, of which this would be an appropriate emblem. See the Isaiah 13:10 note; Matthew 24:29 note; Compare Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 34:4; 1, 3; Isaiah 60:19-20; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15-16; Amos 8:9. What is the particular nature of the calamity is to be learned from other parts of the symbol.

(c) The discoloration of the moon: "And the moon became as blood." Red like blood - either from the smoke and vapor that usually precedes an earthquake, or as a mere emblem. This also would betoken calamity, and perhaps the symbol may be so far limited and modified by this as to denote war, for that would be most naturally suggested by the color - red. Compare the notes on Revelation 6:4 of this chapter. But any great calamity would be appropriately represented by this - as the change of the moon to such a color would be a natural emblem of distress.

(d) The falling of the stars, Revelation 6:13; "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth." This language is derived from the poetic idea that the sky seems to be a solid concave, in which the stars are set, and that when any convulsion takes place, that concave will be shaken, and the stars will be loosened and fall from their places. See this language explained in the notes on Isaiah 34:4. Sometimes the expanse above us is spoken of as a curtain that is spread out, and that may be rolled up; sometimes as a solid crystalline expanse in which the stars are fixed. According to either representation the stars are described as falling to the earth. If the expanse is rolled up, the stars, having nothing to support them, fall if violent tempests or concussions shake the heavens, the stars, loosened from their fixtures, fall to the earth. Stars, in the Scriptures, are symbols of princes and rulers (see Daniel 8:10; Revelation 8:10-11; Revelation 9:1); and the natural meaning of this symbol is, that there would be commotions which would unsettle princes, and bring them down from their thrones - like stars falling from the sky.

Even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs - Mart., "green"; Greek, ὀλύνθους olunthous. This word properly denotes "winter-figs," or such as grow under the leaves, and do not ripen at the proper season, but hang upon the trees during the winter (Robinson, Lexicon). This fruit seldom matures, and easily falls off in the spring of the year (Stuart, in loco). A violent wind shaking a plantation of fig-trees would of course cast many such figs to the ground. The point of the comparison is, the ease with which the stars would seem to be shaken from their places, and hence, the ease with which, in these commotions, princes would be dethroned.

(e) The departing of the heavens, Revelation 6:14; "And the heaven departed as a scroll." That is, as a book or volume - βιβλίον biblion - rolled up. The heavens are here described as spread out, and their passing away is represented by the idea that they might be rolled up, and thus disappear. See the notes on Isaiah 34:4. This, too, is a symbol, and we are not to suppose that it will literally occur. Indeed it never can literally occur; and we are not, therefore, to look for the fulfillment of this in any physical fact that would correspond with what is here said. The plain meaning is, that there would be changes as if such an event would happen; that is, that revolutions would occur in the high places of the earth, and among those in power, as if the stars should fall, and the very heavens were swept away. This is the natural meaning of the symbol, and this accords with the usage of the language elsewhere.

(f) The removal of mountains and islands, Revelation 6:14; "And every mountain and island were moved out of their places." This would denote convulsions in the political or moral world, as great as would occur in the physical world if the very mountains were removed and the islands should change their places. We are not to suppose that this would literally occur; but we should be authorized from this to expect that, in regard to those things which seemed to be permanent and fixed on an immov able basis, like mountains and islands, there would be violent and important changes. If thrones and dynasties long established were overthrown; if institutions that seemed to be fixed and per manent were abolished; if a new order of things should rise in the political world, the meaning of the symbol, so far as the language is concerned, would be fulfilled.

(g) The universal consternation, Revelation 6:15-17; "And the kings of the earth, etc." The design of these verses Revelation 6:15-17, in the varied language used, is evidently to denote universal consternation and alarm - as if the earth should be convulsed, and the stars should fall, and the heavens should pass away. This consternation would extend to all classes of people, and fill the world with alarm, as if the end of all things were coming.

The kings of the earth - Rulers - all who occupied thrones.

The great men - High officers of state.

And the rich men - Their wealth would not secure them from destruction, and they would be alarmed like others.

continued...

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. kings … hid themselves—Where was now the spirit of those whom the world has so greatly feared? [Bengel].

great men—statesmen and high civil officers.

rich men … chief captains—The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, transpose thus, "chief captains … rich men."

mighty—The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, and C read, "strong" physically (Ps 33:16).

in—literally "into"; ran into, so as to hide themselves in.

dens—"caves."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

A terror shall fall upon all sorts of men, high and low; and, like men affrighted, they shall seek for themselves hiding places, where they can think themselves most secure: see Isaiah 2:19.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the king's of the earth, and the great men,.... The Roman emperors, and other principal magistrates, governors of provinces and cities:

and the rich men; among the commonalty; these three may design perhaps more particularly the emperors, nobles, and senate of Rome: and

the chief captains; or captains of thousands, that had the command of the Roman legions

and the mighty men; the soldiers that were under them, men of strength, courage, and valour;

and every bondman, and every freeman; which takes in all the inhabitants of the Roman empire, of every state and condition, and which was an usual distinction among the Romans: these

hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains; where, through their cruel persecutions, they had forced multitudes of Christians to flee, and therefore, "lex talionis", the law of retaliation was righteously inflicted on them; and not to take notice of any other, this was remarkably true of their kings or emperors Dioclesian and Herculius Maximianus, who were emperors together, in the height of their imperial glory and grandeur, the one being at Nicomedia, and the other at Milan, did, on one and the same day, of their own accord, abdicate the empire, and divested themselves of their imperial crown and government, and retired to a private life; pretending in public, that old age, and the weight of business, were the cause, but to their friends they owned, that it was through despair, because they could not extinguish the Christian religion (p). Some ascribed this to frenzy and madness (q); but the true reason was, that the wrath of the Lamb was let into their consciences, and which they could not bear, and which obliged them to take this step, to the amazement of the whole world. Maximinus, who succeeded them, being overcome by Licinius, laid aside his imperial habit, and hid himself among the common people, and skulked about in fields and villages (r). Maxentius, another emperor, fled from Constantine, the instrument of the wrath of the Lamb, and the pouring it out upon his enemies, and fell into the river Tiber, from the Mylvian bridge, where he perished; and which was the very place in which he had laid snares for Constantine (s).

(p) Contur. Magd. cent. 4. c. 16. p. 909. Vid. Eutrop. l. 9. (q) Euseb. Hist. l. 8. c. 13. & de Vita Constantin. l. 5. c. 25. (r) lb. l. 9. c. 10. (s) Ib. c. 9. & de Vita Constant. l. 1. c. 38. Vid. Aurel. Victor. de Caesaribus.

Geneva Study Bible

{10} And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

(10) The event of the sign before: that there is no man who will not be amazed at that worldwide upheaval, fly away in fear and hide himself in this verse, and wish to die, because of the exceeding horror of the wrath of God, and of the Lamb, at which before he was amazed. Now this confusion is not on the part of the godly but of the wicked, whose portion is in this life; Ps 17:14. Not that sorrow which is according to God, which works repentance to salvation, of which a man shall never repent him, but that worldly sorrow that brings death; 2Co 7:9 as their wishes declare: for this history of the whole world, is separated from the history of the Church, as I have showed before. See Geneva Re 4:1

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Revelation 6:15-17. Note the sevenfold description of the effect produced on humanity (Revelation 19:18, cf. Revelation 13:16), the Roman χιλίαρχοι (= tribuni), the riches and rank of men (ἰσχ. a dramatic touch = defiant authority, like Mrs. Browning’s Lucifer: “strength to behold him and not worship him, Strength to be in the universe and yet Neither God nor God’s servant”; see especially Ps. Sol. 15:3, 4), the distinction of slaves and free as a pagan, never as an internal Christian, division; also the painting of the panic from O.T. models (reff.). Those who are now the objects of dread, cower and fly to the crags and caves—a common sanctuary in Syria (cf. Introd. § 8). Mr. Doughty describes a meteoric shock in Arabia thus: “a thunder-din resounded marvellously through the waste mountain above us; it seemed as if this world went to wrack.… The most in the mejlis were of opinion that a ‘star’ had fallen” (Ar. Des. i. 462, 463). The Hosean citation (cf. Jeremiah 8:3) here, as in Luke, gives powerful expression to the dread felt by an evil conscience; even the swift agony of being crushed to death is preferable to being left face to face with the indignation of an outraged God. To stand (cf. Luke 21:36) is to face quietly the judgment of God (1 John 2:28), which is impossible except after a life which has resolutely stood its ground (Ephesians 6:13) amid reaction and served God (Revelation 6:10-11). The panic of kings, etc., is taken from the description of the judgment in Enoch 62–63, where before the throne of messiah “the mighty and the kings” in despairing terror seek repentance in vain; “and one portion of them will look on the other, and they will be terrified, and their countenance will fall, and pain will seize them,” at the sight of messiah. In Apoc. Bar. xxv. also the approach of the end is heralded by stupor of heart and despair among the inhabitants of the earth, while a similar stress falls (in Sap. 6:1-9) on kings, etc., and (in En. xxxvii.–lxxi. generally) on the earth’s rulers. There is no need to suspect καὶ … ἀρνίου (16) as an editorial gloss (Vischer, Spitta, Weyland, de Faye, Völter, Pfleiderer, von Soden, Rauch, J. Weiss, Briggs); it may be a characteristic touch designed to point the O.T. citation (for αὐτοῦ in 17 or in Revelation 22:3 cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17), rather than a scribal or editorial insertion in what was originally a Jewish source.

The great day of God’s wrath has come, but the action is interrupted by an entre-acte in 7, where as in Revelation 10:1 to Revelation 11:13, the author introduces an intermezzo between the sixth and the seventh members of the series. A change comes over the spirit of his dream. But although this oracle is isolated by form and content from its context, it is a consoling rhapsody or rapture designed to relieve the tension by lifting the eyes of the faithful over the foam and rocks of the rapids on which they were tossing to the calm, sunlit pool of bliss which awaited them beyond. They get this glimpse before the seventh seal is opened with its fresh cycle of horrors. The parenthesis consists of two heterogeneous visions, one (Revelation 6:1-8) on earth and one (Revelation 6:9-17) in heaven. The former (and indeed the whole section, cf. the ἑστῶτες of 9) is an implicit answer to the query of Revelation 6:17, τίς δύναται σταθῆναι; it is an enigmatic fragment of apocalyptic tradition, which originally predicted (cf. Ezekiel 9:1 f.) God’s safeguarding of a certain number of Jews, prior to some catastrophe of judgment (“Cry havoc, and let slip the winds of war!”) upon the wicked. The chapter is not a literary unit with editorial touches (Weyland, Erbes, Bruston, Rauch), nor is 9–17 a continuation of 6. (Spitta). Revelation 6:1-8 are a Jewish fragment incorporated ay the author, who writes 9–17 himself (so, e.g., Vischer, Pfleiderer, Schmidt, Porter, Bousset, von Soden, Scott, Wellhausen). The fact that a selection, and not the whole, of the Jews are preserved, does not (in view of 4 Esdras) prove that a Jewish Christian (Völter, J. Weiss) must have written it. The scenery is not organic to John’s proper outlook. After Revelation 6:8 he shows no further interest in it. The winds are never loosed. The sealing itself is not described. The sealed are not seen. An apparent allusion to this remnant does occur (Revelation 16:1), but it is remote; John makes nothing of it; and the detached, special character of Revelation 7:1-8 becomes plainer the further we go into the other visions. The sealed are exempted merely from the plague of the winds, not from martyrdom or persecution (of which there is no word here); one plague indeed has power to wound, though not to kill, them (Revelation 9:4-5). The collocation of the fragment with what precedes is probably due in part to certain similarities like the allusions to the wind (Revelation 6:13), numbering (Revelation 6:11), and the seals (Revelation 6:1 f.). The real problem is, how far did John take this passage literally? This raises the question of the relationship between 1–8 and 9–17; either (a) both are different forms of the same belief, or (b) two different classes of people are meant. In the former event (a) John applies the Jewish oracle of 1–8 to the real Jews, i.e., the Christians, who as a pious remnant are to be kept secure amid the cosmic whirl and crash of the latter days (Revelation 6:12-17, cf. Revelation 3:10 and the connexion of Nahum 1:5-7). The terror passes and lo the saints are seen safe on the other side (Revelation 6:9-17). This interpretation of Christians as the real Israel or twelve tribes is favoured not only by early Christian thought (cf. 1 Peter 1:1, Jam 1:1, Herm. Sim. ix. 17), but by the practice of John himself (e.g., Revelation 18:4). Here as elsewhere he takes the particularist language of his source in a free symbolic fashion; only, while the archaic scenery of 1–8 suffices for a description of the safeguarded on earth, he depicts their beatified state (Revelation 6:9-17) in ampler terms. The deeper Christian content of his vision implies not deliverance from death but deliverance through death. His saints are not survivors but martyrs. Hence the contrast between 1–8 and 9–17 is one of language rather than of temper, and the innumerable multitude of the latter, instead being a supplement to the 144,000, are the latter viewed after their martyr-death under a definitely Christian light. The O.T. imagery of 1–8 mainly brings out the fact that the true Israel (Galatians 6:16) is known and numbered by God; not one is lost. The alternative theory (b) holds that in taking over this fragment and adding another vision John meant Jewish Christians by the 144,000. The latter identification (so, e.g., Prim., Vict., Hausrath, Vischer, Spitta, Hirscht, Forbes, Bousset) is less probable, however, in view of the general tenor of the Apocalypse (cf. Introd. § 6), for the usual passages cited as proof (cf. notes on Revelation 14:1 f., Revelation 21:12; Revelation 21:24) are irrelevant, and while John prized the martyrs it is incredible that 9–17 was meant to prove that martyrdom was required to admit Gentile Christians even to a second grade among the elect (Weizsäcker, Pfleiderer). A Jewish Christian prophet might indeed, out of patriotic pride, regard the nucleus of God’s kingdom as composed of faithful Jews, without being particularist in his sympathies. Paul himself once held this nationalist view (Romans 9-11.), but it is doubtful if it represented his final position, and in any case the general conception of the Apocalypse (where Christians are the true Jews, and where particularist language is used metaphorically, just because literally it was obsolete) tells on the whole in favour of the view that 9–17 represents 1–8 read in the light of Revelation 5:9 (so, e.g., de Wette, Bruston, Porter, Wellhausen, and Hoennicke: das Judenchristentum, 194 f.). Only, the general description of redeemed Christians in Revelation 5:9 is specifically applied in Revelation 7:14 to the candidatus martyrum exercitus. Here as elsewhere John apparently conceives the final trial to be so searching and extensive that Christians will all be martyrs or confessors. The wonderful beauty of 9–17, whose truth rises above its original setting, requires no comment. It moved Renan (479, 480), after criticising “le contour mesquin” of the Apocalypse in general, to rejoice in the book’s “symbolical expression of the cardinal principle that God is, but above all that He shall be. No doubt Paul put it better when he summed up the final goal of the universe in these words, that God may be all in all. But lor a long while yet men will require a God who dwells with them, sympathises with their trials, is mindful of their struggles, and wipes away every tear from their eyes.”

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. chief captains] Should be transposed with “rich men.” The word means lit. “captains of thousands,” and was in St John’s time the recognised equivalent (as e.g. Acts 21:31, &c.) for the tribunus of the Roman army. Probably St John is thinking of Isaiah 3:2-3.

in the dens, &c.] Isaiah 2:19; Isaiah 2:21.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - And the kings of the earth. The first of the seven classes mentioned. The enumeration is again all extensive, embracing all classes, and men of every degree of social distinction. Bishop Newton is probably not correct in seeing an allusion to particular kings. And the great men; princes (Revised Version). Μεγιστᾶνες are the grandees, the courtiers, as distinguished from those who are governors and hold military command, and who are subsequently mentioned as the "chief captains." And the rich men, and the chief captains. The Revised Version reverses the order, and places "chief captains" first. The chief captains (χιλίαρχοι) are those holding military rank (cf. Mark 6:21, "Herod made a supper to his lords, high captains," etc.; John 18, "The captain and officers took Jesus;" Acts 21:31, et seq., "The chief captain of the band "). And the mighty men. Probably those possessing great bodily strength. And every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. "Every" is omitted before "free man" by A, B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, Andreas, and Arethas. The dens; in Revised Version caves (cf. Isaiah 2:19, "And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth"). Again, as in vers. 12-14, the enumeration is sevenfold; thus denoting the universality and completeness of the extent of the judgment (see Revelation 1:4; Revelation 5:1, etc.). Revelation 6:15

Vincent's Word Studies

Of the earth

See on Revelation 6:10.

Great men (μεγιστᾶνες)

Rev., princes. See on high captains, Mark 6:21.

Chief captains (χιλίαρχοι)

See on Mark 6:21, and see on centurion, Luke 7:2.

The mighty (οἱ δυνατοὶ)

The best texts read οἱ ἰσχυροὶ. Rev., the strong. For the difference in meaning, see on the kindred words δύναμις and ἰσχύς might and power, 2 Peter 2:11.

Every free man

Omit every, and read as Rev., every bondman and free man.

In the dens (εἰς τὰ σπήλαια)

Rev., caves. The preposition εἰς into implies running for shelter into.

Rocks (πέτρας)

See on Matthew 16:18.