Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?”
Here we have a description of the honour and happiness of those who have faithfully served the Lord Jesus Christ, and suffered for him. Observe, I. A question asked by one of the elders, not for his own information, but for John's instruction: ministers may learn from the people, especially from aged and experienced Christians; the lowest saint in heaven knows more than the greatest apostle in the world.
Commenting on Revelation 7:13-17
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,.... This elder was not the Apostle Peter, as some Popish interpreters have thought; and still less Pope Silvester, who lived in the times of Constantine; be is much more likely, according to others, to be Constantine himself, the first of the elders, or the chief magistrate when the church sprung out of its troubles, and enjoyed...
Verse 13. And one of the elders. . That is, as there understood, one of the representatives of the church before the throne. Answered. The word answer, with us, means to reply to something which has been said. In the Bible, however, the word is not unfrequently used in the beginning of a speech, where nothing has been said--as if it were a reply to...