Revelation - 14:18



18 Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Send forth your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the earth's grapes are fully ripe!"

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Explanation and meaning of Revelation 14:18.

Differing Translations

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And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire; and he cried with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying: Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vineyard of the earth; because the grapes thereof are ripe.
And another angel came out of the altar, having power over fire, and called with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send thy sharp sickle, and gather the bunches of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripened.
and another messenger did come forth out from the altar, having authority over the fire, and he called with a great cry to him having the sharp sickle, saying, 'Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, because come to perfection have her grapes;'
And another angel came out from the altar - he who had power over fire - and he spoke in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Use your sharp sickle, and gather the bunches from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are now quite ripe."
And another angel came out from the altar, who has power over fire; and he gave a loud cry to him who had the sharp curved blade, saying, Put in your sharp blade, and let the grapes of the vine of the earth be cut; for her grapes are fully ready.
Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Send forth your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for it's grapes are fully ripe.'
And another Angel went forth from the altar, who held power over fire. And he cried out in a great voice to him who held the sharp sickle, saying: "Send out your sharp sickle, and harvest the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have matured."
Then another angel came out of the altar; he had power over fire, and he called in a loud voice to the angel that had the sharp sickle – 'Take your sharp sickle, and gather the bunches from the vine of Earth, for its grapes are ripe.'

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

And another angel - The sixth in order. He came, like the angel in Revelation 14:15, with a command to him who had the sickle to go forth and execute his commission.
Came out from the altar - This stood in the front of the temple (see the notes on Matthew 21:12; compare the notes on Matthew 5:23-24), and was the place where burnt-sacrifices were made. As the work now to be done was a work of destruction, this was an appropriate place in the representation.
Which had power over fire - As if he kept the fire on the altar. Fire is the usual emblem of destruction; and as the work now to be done was such, it was proper to represent this angel as engaged in it.
And cried with a loud cry, - See Revelation 14:15. That is, he came forth, as with a command from God, to call on him who was appointed to do the work of destruction, now to engage in performing it. The time had fully come.
Thrust in thy sharp sickle - Revelation 14:15.
And gather the clusters of the vine of the earth - That portion of the earth which might be represented by a vineyard in which the grapes were to be gathered and crushed. The image here employed occurs elsewhere to denote the destruction of the wicked. See the very beautiful description in Isaiah 63:1-6, respecting the destruction of Edom, and the notes on that passage.
For her grapes are fully ripe - That is, the time has come for the ingathering; or, to apply the image, for the winding up of human affairs by the destruction of the wicked. The time here, as in the previous representation, is the end of the world; and the design is, to comfort the church in its trials and persecutions, by the assurance that all its enemies will be cut off.

Power over fire - Probably meaning the same angel which is mentioned, Revelation 8:3; Revelation 9:13, who stood by the altar of burnt-offering, having authority over its fire to offer that incense to God which represents the prayers of the saints.

And another angel came out from the altar,.... Where are the souls of the martyrs of Jesus, Revelation 6:9 and whom this angel is thought by some to represent, in his address to him that had the sharp sickle, crying for vengeance on the wicked of the earth, who had shed their blood: the allusion seems to be to the altar of burnt offerings, where the sacrifices were slain, and on which they were burnt with fire; and which was an emblem of the strict justice of God, showing, that those persons, for whom these sacrifices were offered, deserved to be treated in like manner; and here the angel coming from thence signifies, that he came on the behalf of the justice of God, treating that he, to whom vengeance belonged, would execute it upon all the ungodly, who were ripe for judgment: and hence it is further said of him,
which had power over fire; whether the angels, as they have presided over particular kingdoms and states, Daniel 10:20 preside over the elements, since this angel had power over fire, and another angel is called the angel of the waters, Revelation 16:5 may be considered. According to the Jews (c) there are , "angels of fire", and , "angels of the waters"; particularly it is said (d), that Gabriel is , "the prince of fire", or "that has power over fire", and Jurkemo is , "prince of hail", or has power over it: however, fire is to be taken here, not for the Spirit, and his gifts, which not a created angel, but Christ only, has a power over, to baptize with; nor the Gospel, nor martyrdom, but rather the wrath of God, which in Scripture is often compared to fire, of which this angel was an executioner: and indeed here it may be referred, both literally to the burning of the world, and the wicked in it, in which the angels may be concerned, who will descend with Christ in flames of fire, taking vengeance on the wicked; and figuratively to hell fire, and the destruction of the wicked in it, who will be cast into it by the angels of God.
And cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, as in Revelation 14:15 expressing like vehemence and importunity,
saying, thrust in thy sharp sickle: not commanding or directing, but entreating as before:
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; not the vine of God's planting, the vineyard of the Lord of hosts, the church of Christ; but the vine of the earth, of wicked and earthly men, whose vine is the vine of Sodom, &c. Deuteronomy 32:32 and which is spread over the whole earth; a wild vine, whose grapes are gall, clusters bitter, and their wine the poison of dragons; and to such a vine the wicked are compared, for their emptiness and unfruitfulness, their uselessness and unprofitableness, and for their being fit fuel for everlasting burnings; see Ezekiel 15:2. And the clusters of it may denote the great multitude of the wicked now to be cut down, gathered in, and destroyed, the reason given,
for her grapes are fully ripe; their wickedness very great, their iniquity full, the measure of their sins filled up, and they fitted for destruction, and ripe for ruin; see Joel 3:13. Some understand this of the degenerate church of Rome, and the destruction of it; see Revelation 19:15.
(c) Sepher Raziel, fol. 39. 2. Targum in 1 Reg. xix. 11. (d) T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 118. 1.

from the altar--upon which were offered the incense-accompanied prayers of all saints, which bring down in answer God's fiery judgment on the Church's foes, the fire being taken from the altar and cast upon the earth.
fully ripe--Greek, "come to their acme"; ripe for punishment.

And another angel from the altar - Of burnt offering; from whence the martyrs had cried for vengeance. Who had power over fire - As "the angel of the waters," Revelation 16:5, had over water. Cried, saying, Lop off the clusters of the vine of the earth - All the wicked are considered as constituting one body.

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