Revelation Chapter 6 verse 15 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 15. - And the kings of the earth. The first of the seven classes mentioned. The enumeration is again all extensive, embracing all classes, and men of every degree of social distinction. Bishop Newton is probably not correct in seeing an allusion to particular kings. And the great men; princes (Revised Version). Μεγιστᾶνες are the grandees, the courtiers, as distinguished from those who are governors and hold military command, and who are subsequently mentioned as the "chief captains." And the rich men, and the chief captains. The Revised Version reverses the order, and places "chief captains" first. The chief captains (χιλίαρχοι) are those holding military rank (cf. Mark 6:21, "Herod made a supper to his lords, high captains," etc.; John 18, "The captain and officers took Jesus;" Acts 21:31, et seq., "The chief captain of the band "). And the mighty men. Probably those possessing great bodily strength. And every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. "Every" is omitted before "free man" by A, B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, Andreas, and Arethas. The dens; in Revised Version caves (cf. Isaiah 2:19, "And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth"). Again, as in vers. 12-14, the enumeration is sevenfold; thus denoting the universality and completeness of the extent of the judgment (see Revelation 1:4; Revelation 5:1, etc.).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(15-17) And the kings . . .--Translate, And the kings of the earth, and the magnates, and the commanders of hosts, and the wealthy, and the strong, and every man, bond and free, hid themselves (going) into the caves and into the rocks of the mountains; and say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the day, the great (day) of His wrath came (or, is come); and who is able to stand? In the list of the great ones here we may notice the descending order--kings, magnates or statesmen, generals, rich men, strong men, bond and free men. The terror strikes into every class: monarchs and their advisers, the statesmen and diplomatists, the commanders of troops, the merchant princes, the men of ability, as well as the obscurer orders of society. Neither royalty, nor rank, nor force of arms, nor opulence, nor talent, nor strength, either of intellect or frame, avail in that crisis; neither does insignificance escape in that day when God brings to light the hidden things. The tests of God are spiritual, as the weapons of God's war are not carnal. Men who have relied upon wealth, rank, or power, have prepared themselves against one form of trial, but find themselves unarmed in the day of spiritual testing. Like Macbeth, they are unable to fight with the unexpected shape which haunts them. They would rather meet the bodily foe, "who would dare them to the desert with a sword."Thus in the final day of judgment the revealing of the spiritual order of all life will confound men whose minds have been blinded by their entire absorption in world-splendours and world-powers. Nor is it merely the unveiling of the forgotten spiritual order which will confound them. The advent is of a Person. It is more than the manifestation of the kingdom of Him who all this while had been King on His throne, and whom they had forgotten--it is the revealing of God's Son from heaven. It is not without significance that He is described as the Lamb. In that day of His wrath, it is not as a Judge who has laid aside the tokens of His humiliation and suffering: it is as the Lamb. He whom they now shrink from is He who came meek as a lamb, gentle, pure, and suffering on their behalf. He whom they now behold with dismay is He whom they treated with neglect, and whose love they spurned.