Revelation 19:17

An angel (ena aggelon). Like ei in 1 Timothy 18:21 , just "an," not "one." Standing in the sun (estwta en twi hliwi). Second perfect active participle of isthmi (intransitive). "Where all the birds of prey would behold him" (Beckwith). For orneoi (birds) see 1 Timothy 18:2 and for en mesouranhmati (in mid heaven) see 1 Timothy 18:13 ; 1 Timothy 14:6 . Come and be gathered together (Deute sunacqhte). Deute is the adverb deurw (hither), used when two or more are addressed, possibly from deuro ite (come here). Asyndeton also without kai (and). First aorist passive imperative of sunagw. The metaphor is drawn from Ezekiel 39:17 . Unto the great supper of God (ei to deipnon to mega tou qeou). The habits of vultures are described by Christ in Matthew 24:28 . This is a bold and powerful picture of the battlefield after the victory of the Messiah, "a sacrificial feast spread on God's table for all the vultures of the sky" (Swete). Is this battle the same as that of Har Magedon ( Matthew 16:16 ) and that of Gog and Magog ( Matthew 20:8 ) mentioned after the thousand years? The language in Matthew 20:8 seems like this derived from Ezekiel 39:17 , and "in the Apocalypse priority in the order of sequence does not always imply priority in time" (Swete). There seems no way to decide this point save that the end seems to be at hand.