Revelation 11:1-14

The Two Witnesses

1 Then I was given ¹a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,

2 but do not measure ²the court outside the temple; leave that out, for ³it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ⁴forty-two months.

3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ,260 days, ⁵clothed in sackcloth. ”

4 These are ⁶the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

5 And if anyone would harm them, ⁷fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ⁸this is how he is doomed to be killed.

6 They have the power ⁹to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ¹⁰to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.

7 And when they have finished their testimony, ¹¹the beast that rises from ¹²the bottomless pit^{[a] 13}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,

8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically^[b] is called ¹⁴Sodom and ¹⁵Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ¹⁶refuse to let them be placed in a tomb,

10 and ¹⁷those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ¹⁸exchange presents, because these two prophets ¹⁹had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days ²⁰a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ²¹“Come up here! ” And ²²they went up to heaven ²³in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

13 And at that hour there was ²⁴a great earthquake, and ²⁵a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ²⁶gave glory to ²⁷the God of heaven.

14 ²⁸The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

Revelation 11:1-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 11

This chapter contains the order to measure the temple of God; an account of the two witnesses, their prophesying: and power, their slaying, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, with what followed upon it; and the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the effects of that. A measuring rod is given to John, with an order to rise and measure the temple, altar, and worshippers, and to leave out the outer court, which was to be given to the Gentiles, who tread the holy city under foot forty and two months, Re 11:1,2, the same date with the 1260 days the witnesses prophesy in sackcloth, Re 11:3, who are compared to two olive trees and to two candlesticks, and are said to stand before God, Re 11:4, and who are further described by their power to destroy those that hurt them with fire that proceeds out of their mouths; to shut the heaven, that it rain not during their prophecy; to turn water into blood, and smite the earth with all manner of plagues at pleasure, Re 11:5,6; but when the time of their prophecy and testimony is expired, their enemies will have the advantage of them; the antichristian beast of Rome, described by the place of his ascent, the bottomless pit, will fight against them, overcome, and kill them; their dead bodies will be exposed publicly within the Roman jurisdiction, and not suffered to be interred; and their enemies will make a public and general rejoicing over them, Re 11:7-10; but after a short space of time they will revive, and stand upon their feet, to the surprise of all spectators; and being invited by a voice from heaven, will ascend thither, in the sight of their enemies; upon which will be an earthquake, in which the tenth part of the city of Rome will fall, and seven thousand men be slain; which will cause consternation in the rest, and put them upon giving glory to God, Re 11:11-13; and this will put an end to the second woe, and the third will quickly follow, Re 11:14, which is the sounding of the seventh trumpet; the effects of which are, voices heard in heaven, declaring that the kingdoms of the world are become Christ's, and that he shall reign for ever and ever, Re 11:15; upon which the four and twenty elders, that sat on their seats before God, congratulate him, worship, and give thanks unto him, at the Lord God Almighty and eternal; partly because of his visible power and kingdom he now takes to himself; and partly because the time of avenging his people that had suffered for him upon the nations, which makes them angry, was now come; as also because now would be given rewards to all his prophets, saints, and those that feared him, as well as antichrist and his followers would be destroyed, Re 11:16-18; and other effects of this trumpet are, the opening of the temple of God in heaven, a sight of the ark of the testament, lightnings, voices, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail, Re 11:9.

Cross References

• 1. 11:1 ch. 21:15, 16; Ezek. 40:3; Zech. 2:1
• 2. 11:2 Ezek. 40:17, 20
• 3. 11:2 See Luke 21:24
• 4. 11:2 ch. 12:6; 13:5
• 5. 11:3 [See ver. 2 above]
• 6. 11:3 Isa. 20:2
• 7. 11:4 Zech. 4:3, 11, 14; [Ps. 52:8; Jer. 11:16]
• 8. 11:5 [2 Kgs. 1:10, 12; Jer. 5:14]
• 9. 11:5 [Num. 16:29, 35]
• 10. 11:6 [1 Kgs. 17:1; Luke 4:25; James 5:17]
• 11. 11:6 [Ex. 7–10; 1 Sam. 4:8]
• 12. 11:7 ch. 17:8; [ch. 13:1]
• 13. 11:7 See ch. 9:1
• 14. 11:7 Dan. 7:21
• 15. 11:8 Isa. 1:10; 3:9
• 16. 11:8 [Ezek. 23:3, 8, 19, 27]
• 17. 11:9 Ps. 79:2, 3
• 18. 11:10 [John 16:20]; See ch. 3:10
• 19. 11:10 Neh. 8:10, 12; Esth. 9:19, 22
• 20. 11:10 [1 Kgs. 18:17]
• 21. 11:11 Gen. 2:7; Ezek. 37:5, 9, 10, 14
• 22. 11:12 ch. 4:1
• 23. 11:12 [ch. 12:5; 2 Kgs. 2:11]
• 24. 11:12 [Acts 1:9]
• 25. 11:13 ch. 6:12
• 26. 11:13 [ch. 16:19]
• 27. 11:13 ch. 14:7; 16:9; 19:7; Josh. 7:19
• 28. 11:13 2 Chr. 36:23
• 29. 11:14 [ch. 8:13; 9:12]

Footnotes

• [a] 11:7 Or 'the abyss'
• [b] 11:8 Greek 'spiritually'