Revelation 19:16

14 ^aAnd the armies in heaven, ^bclothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

15 Now ^aout of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And ^bHe Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. ^cHe Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And ^aHe has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: ^bKING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The Beast and His Armies Defeated

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ^a“Come and gather together for the¹ supper of the great God,

18 ^athat you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people,¹ free and slave, both small and great.”

19 ^aAnd I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

20 ^aThen the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and ^bthose who worshiped his image. ^cThese two were cast alive into the lake of fire ^dburning with brimstone.

21 And the rest ^awere killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. ^bAnd all the birds ^cwere filled with their flesh.

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

<< Revelation 19:15

Revelation 19:17 >>

Revelation 19:16

And he hath on his vesture - That is, this name was conspicuously written on his garment - probably his military robe.

And on his thigh - The robe or military cloak may be conceived of as open and flowing, so as to expose the limbs of the rider; and the idea is, that the name was conspicuously written not only on the flowing robe, but on the other parts of his dress, so that it must be conspicuous whether his military cloak were wrapped closely around him, or whether it was open to the breeze. Grotius supposes that this name was on the edge or hilt of the sword which depended from his thigh.

A name written - Or a title descriptive of his character.

King of kings, and Lord of lords - As in Revelation 17:5, so here, there is nothing in the original to denote that this should be distinguished, as it is, by capital letters. As a conspicuous title, however, it is not improper. It means that he is, in fact, the sovereign over the kings of the earth, and that all nobles and princes are under his control - a rank that properly belongs to the Son of God. Compare the notes on Ephesians 1:20-22. See also Revelation 19:12 of this chapter. The custom here alluded to of inscribing the name or rank of distinguished individuals on their garments, so that they might be readily recognized, was not uncommon in ancient times. For full proof of this, see Rosenmuller, Morgenland, vol. iii. pp. 232-236. The authorities quoted there are, Thevenot' s Travels, vol. i. p. 149; Gruter, p. 989; Dempster' s Etruria Regalis , t. ii. tab. 93; Montfaucon, Antiq. Expliq. t. iii. tab. 39. Thus Herodotus (vol. ii. p. 196), speaking of the figures of Sesostris in Ionia, says that, "Across his breast, from shoulder to shoulder, there is this inscription in the sacred characters of Egypt, ' I conquered this country by the force of my arms.' " Compare Cic. Verr. iv. 23; LeMoyne a.d. Jeremiah 23:6; Munter, Diss. a.d. Revelation 17:5, as referred to by Prof. Stuart, in loco.

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Revelation 19:16:**

Psalms 89:27
Psalms 136:3
Daniel 2:37
Malachi 3:1
Matthew 25:34
2 Corinthians 6:18
Revelation 1:5
Revelation 1:13
Revelation 6:2
Revelation 17:14

<< Revelation 19:15

Revelation 19:17 >>

DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.