SEV Biblia, Chapter 12:10
Y oí una grande voz en el cielo que decía: Ahora es hecha en el cielo salvacin, y virtud, y Reino de nuestro Dios, y potencia de su Cristo; porque el acusador de nuestros hermanos es ya derribado, el cual los acusaba delante de nuestro Dios día y noche.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Revelation 12:10
Verse 10. The accuser of our brethren] There is scarcely any thing more common in the rabbinical writings than Satan as the accuser of the Israelites. And the very same word kathgorov, accuser, or, as it is in the Codex Alexandrinus, kathgwr, is used by them in Hebrew letters, rwgyfq katigor; e. gr., Pirkey Eliezer, c. 46, speaking of the day of expiation; "And the holy blessed God hears their testimony from their accuser, rwgyfqh m min hakkatigor; and expiates the altar, the priests, and the whole multitude, from the greatest to the least." In Shemoth Rabba, sec. 31, fol. 129, 2, are these words; "If a man observes the precepts, and is a son of the law, and lives a holy life, then Satan stands and accuses him."Every day, except the day of expiation Satan is the accuser of men." - Vayikra Rabba, sec. 21, fol. 164. "The holy blessed God said to the seventy princes of the world, Have ye seen him who always accuses my children?" - Yalcut Chadash, fol. 101, 3.
"The devil stands always as an accuser before the King of Israel."- Sohar Levit., fol. 43, col. 171. See much more in Schoettgen. Verse 10. And I heard a loud voice, saying,-Now is come salvation, &c.] This is a song of triumph of the Christian Church over the heathen idolatry, and is very expressive of the great joy of the Christians upon this most stupendous event. The loud voice of triumph is said to be heard in heaven, to show that the Christian religion was now exalted to the heaven or throne of the Roman. empire. "It is very remarkable," as Bishop Newton observes, "that Constantine himself, and the Christians of his time, describe his conquests under the image of a dragon, as if they had understood that this prophecy had received its accomplishment in him.
Constantine himself, in his epistle to Eusebius and other bishops concerning the re-edifying and repairing of the churches, saith that 'liberty being now restored, and that the dragon being removed from the administration of public affairs, by the providence of the great God and by my ministry, I esteem the great power of God to have been made manifest to all.' Moreover, a picture of Constantine was set up over the palace gate, with the cross over his head, and under his feet the great enemy of mankind, who persecuted the Church by means of impious tyrants, in the form of a dragon, transfixed with a dart through the midst of his body, and falling headlong into the depth of the sea." See Eusebius de Vita Constantini, lib. ii. c. 46; and lib. iii. c. 3, and Socratis Hist. Eccles., lib. i. c.
9. Constantine added to the other Roman ensigns the labarum, or standard of the cross, and constituted it the principal standard of the Christian Roman empire. To this labarum Prudentius refers, when speaking of the Christian soldiers, in his first hymn peri stefanwn, Caesaris vexilla linquunt, eligunt SIGNUM CRUCIS, Proque ventosis Draconum, quae gerebant, palliis, Proferunt INSIGNE LIGNUM, quod Draconem subdidit.
"They leave the ensigns of Caesar; they choose the standard of the cross; and instead of the dragon flags which they carried, moved about with the wind, they bring forward the illustrious wood that subdued the dragon." When the apostle saw the woman in heaven, well might he call it, in the spirit of prophecy, a great wonder.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven , etc.] Which was a song of praise on account of the victory obtained by Michael and his angels over the dragon and his, or for the overthrow and downfall of Paganism in the Roman empire; for by heaven is meant the empire, now become Christian, or the Christian church state in it; and the loud voice heard in it by John shows that there was a great number in it, who rejoiced on this occasion, and that they were full of affection and fervency, and therefore expressed themselves in such manner, and in form following: now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ ; salvation was come when Christ obtained it by his sufferings and death, and comes to particular persons in the effectual calling, and it will only be fully come when it is perfectly enjoyed in heaven: but here it designs a deliverance from Satan, as the god of this world, who was now dethroned, and cast down from his power, authority, and influence in the empire; and from Pagan idolatry and superstition, and from the ten days of tribulation, the cruel and bloody persecutions under the Heathen emperors; and denotes that safety and security, comfort, peace, and happiness, the churches enjoyed under the government of a Christian emperor: and now was come strength; not the strength of Christ personal, displayed in the redemption of his people; but rather of Christ mystical, of his church and interest, which had been very weak and low, and under oppression and persecution, but was now exalted, and in a flourishing condition, and was become strong and mighty; or it may design the strength and power of Christ, shown in destroying his enemies, in casting the dragon out of heaven down to the earth, and in bringing to confusion and destruction the Heathen emperors, princes, and others, who fled to the rocks and mountains for fear of him, and because of his great wrath: also now came the kingdom of our God, the Gospel of the kingdom was preached everywhere and Gospel churches were set up in all parts of the empire, both which are sometimes signified by the kingdom of God; here was now an illustrious appearance of the kingdom of God in the world, such as had never been before; and which was a pledge and presage of the greatness of the kingdom, or of that everlasting kingdom which will be set up hereafter, when all other kingdoms will be at an end: to which is added the power of his Christ; or his authority as Lord and Christ, which took place at his resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of God, and which will more fully appear at the last day, when he shall come in glory, and exercise his authority in judging the quick and dead, of which there was some resemblance at this time, in dethroning Satan, destroying Paganism, and putting an end to the power of the Heathen emperors and empire; and which is expressed in such language as the day of judgment is, ( Revelation 6:12-17); for to the opening of the sixth seal does this passage belong: a further account is given of the matter of this song, and the reason of it: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down ; hence it appears that this is not a song of the angels in heaven, since the saints are never called their brethren, nor the angels theirs, but their fellow servants; rather it may be thought to be the song of the saints in heaven, acknowledging those on earth to be their brethren, as they are, for there is but one family in heaven and in earth, and the saints on earth are called the of the souls under the altar, ( Revelation 6:9,11); but as this refers to the state of the church in Constantine's time, it must be the song of the saints in that state, who call the martyrs, that had been slain under the former persecutions, their brethren; for that they are the persons meant is clear from the following verse, whom Satan is an accuser of, for he is designed here; the word rendered devil signifies an accuser, and a false one, and is so translated ( Titus 2:3); this is a name frequently given to Satan by the Jews, and have adopted into their language the very Greek word that is here used; and often say of him that he accuses Israel, and particularly that he accuses Israel above, that is, in heaven; and that he stands and dymt grjqm f330 , continually accuses them, the very phrase used in the next clause: when Israel came out of Egypt, they say the angel Samael (the devil) stood and accused them; the first day of the month Tisri, according to them f332 , is appointed a day for blowing of trumpets, to confound Satan, who comes to accuse at that time; so they say that Satan stood and accused Abraham, and others; and indeed he was an accuser from the beginning, both of God to men, and of men to God; we have instances in Job and Joshua the high priest, ( Job 1:8-11) ( Zechariah 3:1); but here it refers to the accusations brought against the Christians in the primitive times, during the ten persecutions, which were very horrid ones indeed; as that they had their private suppers, at which they ate their own infants, and their nightly meetings, for the gratifying of their lusts, in which they committed adultery, incest, and all manner of uncleanness; if ever a fire happened in a city, they were charged with it; and whenever there were any famine, or pestilence, or wars, or any public calamity, they were accused as the cause and occasion of it; as appears from the apologies for them written by Justin, Tertullian, Cyprian, Minutius Felix, etc. so that Satan at this time was remarkably the accuser of the brethren; but now this father of lies was cast down, he was cast out of heaven, and deprived of that power and authority he had in the empire, and lost his influence over men, and could not spread his lies, and get his false charges and accusations credited and received as before; he was not indeed wholly destroyed, nor even shut up in the bottomless pit, but he was cast down to the earth; he was in a low condition, his power was greatly diminished, and he was conquered by Christ, and cast down and bruised under the feet of the saints, which accused them before our God day and night ; so the evil spirit in Ahab's time, and Satan in Job's time, are said to stand before the Lord: and this shows the malice, and also the insolence of the devil, that he should stand and accuse the saints before God, who he knew was their God, and was on their side, and therefore his accusations could be of no avail; and though Christ appears in the presence of God for them, and is their advocate with the Father, yet he is constant and indefatigable in going about, and picking up charges against them, and carrying them to God.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-11 - The attempts of the dragon proved unsuccessful against the church, an fatal to his own interests. The seat of this war was in heaven; in the church of Christ, the kingdom of heaven on earth. The parties wer Christ, the great Angel of the covenant, and his faithful followers and Satan and his instruments. The strength of the church is in havin the Lord Jesus for the Captain of their salvation. Pagan idolatry which was the worship of devils, was cast out of the empire by the spreading of Christianity. The salvation and strength of the church are only to be ascribed to the King and Head of the church. The conquered enemy hates the presence of God, yet he is willing to appea there, to accuse the people of God. Let us take heed that we give his no cause to accuse us; and that, when we have sinned, we go before the Lord, condemn ourselves, and commit our cause to Christ as ou Advocate. The servants of God overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb as the cause. By the word of their testimony: the powerful preaching of the gospel is mighty, through God, to pull down strong holds. By their courage and patience in sufferings: they loved not their lives so wel but they could lay them down in Christ's cause. These were the warrior and the weapons by which Christianity overthrew the power of paga idolatry; and if Christians had continued to fight with these weapons and such as these, their victories would have been more numerous an glorious, and the effects more lasting. The redeemed overcame by simple reliance on the blood of Christ, as the only ground of their hopes. In this we must be like them. We must not blend any thing els with this.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 ηκουσα 191 5656 φωνην 5456 μεγαλην 3173 λεγουσαν 3004 5723 εν 1722 τω 3588 ουρανω 3772 αρτι 737 εγενετο 1096 5633 η 3588 σωτηρια 4991 και 2532 η 3588 δυναμις 1411 και 2532 η 3588 βασιλεια 932 του 3588 θεου 2316 ημων 2257 και 2532 η 3588 εξουσια 1849 του 3588 χριστου 5547 αυτου 846 οτι 3754 κατεβληθη 2598 5681 ο 3588 κατηγορος 2725 των 3588 αδελφων 80 ημων 2257 ο 3588 κατηγορων 2723 5723 αυτων 846 ενωπιον 1799 του 3588 θεου 2316 ημων 2257 ημερας 2250 και 2532 νυκτος 3571
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. Saying in heaven (legousan en tw ouranw). The correct reading joins in heaven with great voice. So Rev. I heard a great voice in heaven. Now (arti). See on John xiii. 33.
Is come (egeneto). Lit., came to pass. Alford says: "It is impossible in English to join to a particle of present time, such as arti now, a verb in aoristic time. We are driven to the perfect in such cases."
Salvation, power, the kingdom. All have the article: the salvation, etc. So Rev. The phrase, now is come the salvation, etc., means that these are realized and established. Some, less correctly, render, now is the salvation, etc., become our God's Compare Luke iii. 6.
Power (exousia). See on Mark ii. 10. Rev., authority.
The accuser of our brethren (o kathgorov twn adelfwn hmwn). The correct form of the Greek for accuser is a transcript of the Rabbinical Hebrew, kathgwr. The Rabbins had a corresponding term sunhgwr for Michael, as the advocate of God's people. The phrase is applied to Satan nowhere else in the New Testament.
Is cast down (kateblhqh). The aorist tense. Once and for all. Compare John xii. 31; xvi. 8, 11.
Which accuseth (o kathgorwn). Lit., the one. The article with the present participle expresses what is habitual.
