Rev 9:20-21, 16:11, 21 | JFB | STEP | 20. the rest of the men-- that is, the ungodly. yet-- So A, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic. B and Aleph read, "did not even repent of," namely, so as to give up "the works," &c. Like Pharaoh hardening his heart against repentance notwithstanding the plagues. of their hands-- ( ). Especially the idols made by their hands. Compare , , "the image of the beast" . that they should not-- So B reads. But A, C, and Aleph read "that they shall not": implying a prophecy of certainty that it shall be so. devils-- Greek, "demons" which lurk beneath the idols which idolaters worship.

‏ Revelation of John 9:20-21

20. the rest of the men--that is, the ungodly.

yet--So A, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic. B and Aleph read, "did not even repent of," namely, so as to give up "the works," &c. Like Pharaoh hardening his heart against repentance notwithstanding the plagues.

of their hands--(De 31:29). Especially the idols made by their hands. Compare Re 13:14, 15, "the image of the beast" Re 19:20.

that they should not--So B reads. But A, C, and Aleph read "that they shall not": implying a prophecy of certainty that it shall be so.

devils--Greek, "demons" which lurk beneath the idols which idolaters worship.

21. sorceries--witchcrafts by means of drugs (so the Greek). One of the fruits of the unrenewed flesh: the sin of the heathen: about to be repeated by apostate Christians in the last days, Re 22:15, "sorcerers." The heathen who shall have rejected the proffered Gospel and clung to their fleshly lusts, and apostate Christians who shall have relapsed into the same shall share the same terrible judgments. The worship of images was established in the East in A.D. 842.

fornication--singular: whereas the other sins are in the plural. Other sins are perpetrated at intervals: those lacking purity of heart indulge in one perpetual fornication [Bengel].

‏ Revelation of John 16:11

11. sores--This shows that each fresh plague was accompanied with the continuance of the preceding plagues: there was an accumulation, not a mere succession, of plagues.

repented not--(Compare Re 16:9).

‏ Revelation of John 16:21

21. fell--Greek, "descends."

upon men--Greek, "the men."

and men blasphemed God--not those struck who died, but the rest. Unlike the result in the case of Jerusalem (Re 11:13), where "the remnant ... affrighted ... gave glory to the God of heaven."

was--Greek, "is."