Revelation 19:18

18 in order that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of military tribunes, and the flesh of the powerful, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all [people], both free and slave, and small and great!"

Revelation 19:18 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 19:18

That ye may eat the flesh of kings
Of the earth, and of the whole world, who will fall in the battle at Armageddon; see ( Revelation 16:14 ) ( 19:19 ) and design either those antichristian kings and states, which have drunk of the wine of Rome's fornication, and will bewail the downfall of Babylon, ( Revelation 18:3 Revelation 18:9 ) or those Pagan kings which will be drawn in by the pope and Turk, to aid and assist in this war, or both, when, upon the defeat of them, the Christian princes will seize upon, possess, and enjoy their kingdoms and dominions, which is meant by eating their flesh; (See Gill on Revelation 17:16).

And the flesh of captains;
of their generals, and officers under them:

and the flesh of mighty men;
the common soldiers, who are so called, ( Jeremiah 46:5 ) who will be rifled and plundered:

and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them;
whose rich trappings and clothes will be taken away from them:

and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great;
that is, the substance of all the inhabitants of the antichristian empire, both eastern and western, of whatsoever rank, state, and condition they be, ( Revelation 13:16 ) . The metaphors are taken from, and there is a manifest allusion to, ( Ezekiel 39:17-20 ) and the whole denotes the entire slaughter and utter ruin of the whole antichristian army, and the certainty of Christ's victory over it before hand; and also the destruction of all that are the followers of antichrist, throughout his dominions, which will now wholly fall into the hands of the saints, and be enjoyed by them.

Revelation 19:18 In-Context

16 And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: "King of kings and Lord of lords."
17 And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly {directly overhead}, "Come! Assemble for the great banquet of God,
18 in order that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of military tribunes, and the flesh of the powerful, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all [people], both free and slave, and small and great!"
19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with the one who is seated on the horse and with his army.
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.