Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
There was war in heaven (egeneto polemov en tw ouranw). "There came to be war in heaven" (egeneto, not hn). "Another tableau, not a shmeion (vv. Revelation 12:1, Revelation 12:3), but consequent upon the two shmeia which precede it. The birth and rapture of the Woman's Son issue in a war which invades the epourania" (Swete). The reference is not to the original rebellion of Satan, as Andreas held. As the coming of Christ brought on fresh manifestations of diabolic power (Mark 1:13; Luke 22:3, Luke 22:31; John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11), just so Christ's return to heaven is pictured as being the occasion of renewed attacks there. We are not to visualize it too literally, but certainly modern airplanes help us to grasp the notion of battles in the sky even more than the phalanxes of storm-clouds (Swete). John even describes this last conflict as in heaven itself. Cf. Luke 10:18; I Kings 22:1 ff.; Job 1, 2; Zechariah 3:1 ff.
Michael and his angels (o Mixahl kai oi aggeloi autou). The nominative here may be in apposition with polemov, but it is an abnormal construction with no verb, though egeneto (arose) can be understood as repeated. Michael is the champion of the Jewish people (Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:21; Daniel 12:1) and is called the archangel in Judges 1:9.
Going forth to war (tou polemhsai). This genitive articular infinitive is another grammatical problem in this sentence. If egeneto (arose) is repeated as above, then we have the infinitive for purpose, a common enough idiom. Otherwise it is anomalous, not even like Acts 10:25.
With the dragon (meta tou drakontov). On the use of meta with polemew see Revelation 2:16; Revelation 13:4; Revelation 17:14 (nowhere else in N.T.). The devil has angels under his command (Matthew 25:41) and preachers also (II Corinthians 11:14 f.).
Warred (epolemhsen). Constative aorist active indicative of polemew, picturing the whole battle in one glimpse.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Revelation 12:7:
Luke 1:19
Hebrews 2:14
Jude 1:9
Revelation 2:16
Revelation 17:14
Revelation 19:14
Revelation 19:19
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