Revelation 10:6

Sea - Large basin.

By him that liveth for ever and ever - The eternal, self-existent Jehovah, the Maker of all things.

That there should be time no longer - That the great counsels relative to the events already predicted should be immediately fulfilled, and that there should be no longer delay. This has no reference to the day of judgment.

And sware by him that liveth forever and ever - By the ever-living God: a form of an oath in extensive use now. The essential idea in such an oath is an appeal to God; a solemn reference to Him as a witness; an utterance in the presence of Him who is acquainted with the truth or falsehood of what is said, and who will punish him who appeals to him falsely. It is usual, in such an oath, in order to give to it greater solemnity, to refer to some attribute of God, or something in the divine character on which the mind would rest at the time, as tending to make it more impressive. Thus, in the passage before us, the reference is to God as "ever-living"; that is, he is now a witness, and he ever will be; he has now the power to detect and punish, and he ever will have the same power.

Who created heaven, and the things that therein are, ... - Who is the Maker of all things in heaven, on the earth, and in the sea; that is, throughout the universe. The design of referring to these things here is what is just specified to give increased solemnity to the oath by a particular reference to someone of the attributes of God. With this view nothing could be more appropriate than to refer to him as the Creator of the universe - denoting his infinite power, his right to rule and control all things.

That there should be time no longer - This is a very important expression, as it is the substance of what the angel affirmed in so solemn a manner; and as the interpretation of the whole passage depends on it. It seems now to be generally agreed among critics that our translation does not give the true sense, inasmuch:

(a) as that was not the close of human affairs, and

(b) as he proceeds to state what would occur after that.

Accordingly, different versions of the passage have been proposed. Prof. Stuart renders it, "that delay shall be no longer." Mr. Elliott, "that the time shall not yet be; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, whensoever he may be about to sound, then the mystery of God shall be finished." Mr. Lord, "that the time shall not be yet, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel," etc. Andrew Fuller (Works, vol. vi. p. 113), "there should be no delay." So Dr. Gill. Mr. Daubuz, "the time shall not be yet." Vitringa (p. 432), tempus non fore amplius, "time shall be no more." He explains it (p. 433) as meaning, "not that this is to be taken absolutely, as if at the sounding of the seventh trumpet all things were then to terminate, and the glorious epiphany - ἐπίφανεια epiphaneia (or manifestation of Jesus Christ) - was then to occur, who would put an end to all the afflictions of his church; but in a limited sense - restricte - as meaning that there would be no delay between the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the fulfillment of the prophecies." The sense of this passage is to be determined by the meaning of the words and the connection:

(a) The word "time" - χρόνος chronos - is the common Greek word to denote time, and may be applied to time in general, or to any specified time or period. See Robinson, Lexicon sub voce, (a, b). In the word itself there is nothing to determine its particular signification here. It might refer either to time in general, or to the time under consideration, and which was the subject of the prophecy. Which of these is the true idea is to be ascertained by the other circumstances referred to. It should be added, however, that the word does not of itself denote delay, and is never used to denote that directly. It can only denote that because delay occupies or consumes time, but this sense of the noun is not found in the New Testament. It is found, however, in the verb χρονίζω chronizō, to linger, to delay, to be long in coming, Matthew 25:5; Luke 1:21.

(b) The absence of the article - "time," not "the time" - would naturally give it a general signification, unless there was something in the connection to limit it to some well-known period under consideration. See the notes on Revelation 8:2; Revelation 10:3. In this latter view, if the time referred to would be sufficiently definite without the article, the article need not be inserted. This is such a case, and comes under the rule for the omission of the article as laid down by Dr. Middleton, part i. ch. 3: The principle is, that when the copula, or verb connecting the subject and predicate, is the verb substantive, then the article is omitted. "To affirm the existence," says he, "of that of which the existence is already assumed, would be superfluous; to deny it, would be contradictory and absurd." As applicable to the case before us, the meaning of this rule would be, that the nature of the time here referred to is implied in the use of the substantive verb (ἔσται estai), and that consequently it is not necessary to specify it. All that needs to be said on this point is, that, on the supposition that John referred to a specified time, instead of time in general, it would not be necessary, under this rule, to insert the article. The reference would be understood without it, and the insertion would be unnecessary. This is substantially the reasoning of Mr. Elliott (vol. ii. p. 123), and it is submitted for what it is worth. My own knowledge of the usages of the Greek article is too limited to justify me in pronouncing an opinion on the subject, but the authorities are such as to authorize the assertion that, on the supposition that a particular well-known period were here referred to, the insertion of the article would not be necessary.

(c) The particle rendered "longer" - έτι eti - "time shall be no longer" - means properly, according to Robinson (Lexicon), "yet, still"; implying:

(1) duration - as spoken of the present time; of the present in allusion to the past, and, with a negative, no more, no longer;

(2) implying accession, addition, yet, more, further, besides. According to Buttmann, Grammatical section 149, vol. i. p. 430, it means, when alone, "yet still, yet further; and with a negative, no more, no further." The particle occurs often in the New Testament, as may be seen in the Concordance. It is more frequently rendered "yet" than by any other word (compare Matthew 12:46; Matthew 17:5; Matthew 19:20; Matthew 26:47; Matthew 27:63; Mark 5:35; Mark 8:17; Mark 12:6; Mark 14:43 - and so in the other Gospels, the Acts , and the Epistles); in all, 50 times. In the Book of Revelation it is only once rendered "yet," Revelation 6:11, but is rendered "more" in Revelation 3:12; Revelation 7:16; Revelation 9:12; Revelation 12:8; Revelation 18:21-22 (three times), Revelation 18:23 (twice); Revelation 20:3; Revelation 21:1, Revelation 21:4 (twice); "longer" in Revelation 10:6; "still" in Revelation 22:11 (four times). The usage, therefore, will justify the rendering of the word by "yet," and in connection with the negative, "not yet" - meaning that the thing referred to would not occur immediately, but would be hereafter. In regard to the general meaning, then, of this passage in its connection, we may remark:

(a) That it cannot mean, literally, that there would be time no longer, or that the world would then come to an end absolutely, for the speaker proceeds to disclose events that would occur after that, extending far into tim future Revelation 10:11, and the detail that follows Revelation 11 before the sounding of the seventh trumpet is such as to occupy a considerable period, and the seventh trumpet is also yet to sound. No fair construction of the language, therefore, would require us to understand this as meaning that the affairs of the world were then to terminate.

(b) The connection, then, apart from the question of grammatical usage, will require some such construction as that above suggested - "that the time," to wit, some certain, known, or designated time, "would not be yet," but would be in some future period; that is, as specified, Revelation 10:7, "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound." Then "the mystery of God would be finished," and the affairs of the world would be put on their permanent footing.

(c) This would imply that, at the time when the angel appeared, or in the time to which he refers, there would be some expectation or general belief that the "mystery was then to be finished, and that the affairs of the world were to come to an end. The proper interpretation would lead us to suppose that there would be so general an expectation of this, as to make the solemn affirmation of the angel proper to correct a prevailing opinion, and to show that the right interpretation was not put on what seemed to be the tendency of things.

continued...

10:6 And sware - The six preceding trumpets pass without any such solemnity. It is the trumpet of the seventh angel alone which is confirmed by so high an oath. By him that liveth for ever and ever - Before whom a thousand years are but a day. Who created the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the things that are therein - And, consequently, has the sovereign power over all: therefore, all his enemies, though they rage a while in heaven, on the sea, and on the earth, yet must give place to him. That there shall be no more a time - "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the mystery of God shall be fulfilled:" that is, a time, a chronos, shall not expire before that mystery is fulfilled. A chronos (1111 years) will nearly pass before then, but not quite. The period, then, which we may term a non - chronos (not a whole time) must be a little, and not much, shorter thanthis. The non - chronos here mentioned seems to begin in the year 800, (when Charles the Great instituted in the west a new line ofemperors, or of "many kings,") to end in the year 1836; and to contain, among other things, the "short time" of the third woe, the "three times and a half" of the woman in the wilderness, and the "duration" of the beast.