Revelation 7:2

Ascend (anabainonta). Present active participle of anabainw, "ascending," "going up," picturing the process. From the sun-rising (apo anatolh hliou). Same phrase in Acts 16:12 . From the east, though why is not told. Swete suggests it is because Palestine is east of Patmos. The plural apo anatolwn occurs in Matthew 2:1 without hliou (sun). The seal of the living God (spragida qeou zwnto). Here the signet ring, like that used by an Oriental monarch, to give validity to the official documents. The use of zwnto with qeou accents the eternal life of God ( Matthew 1:18 ; Matthew 10:6 ; Matthew 15:7 ) as opposed to the ephemeral pagan gods. To whom it was given (oi edoqh autoi). For edoqh see on "Rev 6:2",4, etc. The repetition of autoi in addition to oi (both dative) is a redundant Hebraism (in vernacular Koin to some extent) often in the Apocalypse ( Matthew 3:8 ). The angels are here identified with the winds as the angels of the churches with the churches ( Matthew 1:20 ). To hurt (adikhsai). First aorist active infinitive of adikew, subject of edoqh, common use of adikew in this sense of to hurt in the Apocalypse ( Matthew 2:11 ; Matthew 6:6 already), in Luke 10:19 also. The injury is to come by letting loose the winds, not by withholding them.