SEV Biblia, Chapter 14:13
¶ Y oí una voz del cielo que me decía: Escribe: Bienaventurados son los muertos, que de aquí en adelante mueren en el Seor. Sí, dice el Espíritu, que descansan de sus labores; y sus obras los siguen.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Revelation 14:13
Verse 13. I heard a voice from heaven] As the information now to be given was of the utmost importance, it is solemnly communicated by a voice from heaven; and the apostle is commanded to write or record what is said. Blessed are the dead] Happy are they. They are happy in two respects: 1.
They do not see the evil that shall come upon the world, and are exempted from any farther sufferings. 2. They actually and conscientiously enjoy happiness in a state of blessedness.
In the first sense, Happy are the dead! is a proverb frequently to be met in the Greek and Roman poets. Ex. gr.
triv makarev danaoi kai tetrakiv, oi tot olonto troih en eureih, carin atreidhsi ferontev.
wv dh egwg ofelon qaneein kai potmon epispein hmati tw, ote moi pleistoi calkhrea doura trwev eperriyan peri phleiwni qanonti. ODYSS., lib. v. ver. 306.
Happy, thrice happy; who, in battle slain, Press'd, in Atrides' cause, the Trojan plain: O, had I died before that well fought wall; Had some distinguished day renown'd my fall, Such as was that when showers of javelins fled, From conquering Troy, around Achilles dead. POPE.
Thus imitated by the prince of the Roman poets:- Extemplo AEneae solvuntur frigore membra.
Ingemit, et, duplices tendens ad sidera palmas, Talia voce refert: O terque quaterque beati, Queis ante ora patrum Trojae sub moenibus altis Contigit oppetere! O Danaum fortissime gentis Tydide, mene Iliacis occumbere campis Non potuisse? tuaque animam hanc effundere dextra? Saevus ubi AEacidae telo jacet Hector, ubi ingens Sarpedon: ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis Scuta virum, galeasque, et fortis corpora volvit. VIRG., AEN. i., ver. 93.
"In horror fix'd the Trojan hero stands, He groans, and spreads to heaven his lifted hands.
Thrice happy those whose fate it was to fall, Exclaims the chief, before the Trojan wall! O, 'twas a glorious fate to die in fight! To die so bravely in their parents' sight! O, had I there, beneath Tydides' hand, That bravest hero of the Grecian band, Pour'd out this soul, with martial glory fired, And in the plain triumphantly expired, Where Hector fell, by fierce Achilles' spear, And great Sarpedon, the renown'd in war; Where Simois' stream, encumber'd with the slain, Rolls shields and helms and heroes to the main." PITT.
Which die in the Lord] These are the only glorious dead. They die, not in the field of battle, in either what are called lawful or unlawful wars against their fellow men; but they die in the cause of God, they die under the smile and approbation of God, and they die to live and reign with God for ever and ever.
From henceforth] aparti? From this time; now; immediately. This word is joined to the following by many MSS. and some versions. It was a maxim among the Jews, that as soon as the souls of the just departed from this life they ascended immediately to heaven.
Yea, saith the Spirit] The Holy Spirit confirms the declaration from heaven, and assigns the reasons of it.
That they may rest from their labours] Have no more tribulation and distress.
And their works do follow there.] erga autwn akolouqei met autwn? And their works follow WITH them. They are in company. Here is an elegant prosopopoeia or personification; their good works, sufferings, &c., are represented as so many companions escorting them on their way to the kingdom of God.
There are some good and pertinent things in the Jewish writers on this subject. "Rabbi Jonathan taught, If a man perform one righteous action in this life, it goes before him into the world to come. But if a man commit one crime, it cleaves to him, and drags him to the day of judgment." Sota, fol. 3, 2. Avoda Sara, fol. 5, 1.
"Come and see, If any man observe a precept, that work ascends to God, and says, Such a one performed me. But if a man transgress the law, that sin ascends to the holy blessed God, and says, I came from such a one, who has performed me." Sohar Levit., fol. 34, col. 136. Here the same personification is observed as that in the text.
"In that hour in which a man passes from this life into eternity, all his works precede him; and there they say unto him, 'This and that thou hast done in such a place on such a day.' This he shall acknowledge. They shall require that he shall subscribe this with his own hand, as it is written, Job xxxvii. 7; each man shall subscribe with his own hand; and not only this, but he shall acknowledge that the sentence brought against him is most just." Taanith, fol. 11, 1.
The following elegant similitude Schoettgen gives from Sepher Hachayim, Part II., fol. 47, 1, 2. "A certain man had three friends, two of whom he loved; but the third he did not highly esteem. On a time the king commanded him to be called before him; and being alarmed, he sought to find an advocate. He went to that friend whom he loved most, but he utterly refused to go with him. The second offered to go with him as far as the door of the king's palace, but refused to speak a word in his behalf.
The third, whom he loved least, not only went with him, but pleaded his cause so well before the king that he was cleared from all blame. In like manner, every man has three friends, when he is cited by death to appear before God. The first friend, whom he loved most, viz., his money, cannot accompany him at all. His second, viz., his relations and neighbours, accompanied him only to the grave, and then returned; but could not deliver him from the Judge. The third friend, whom he held but in little esteem, viz., the law and his good works, went with him to the king, and delivered him from judgment." The meaning of this most plainly is, that nothing except the deeds of good and evil men shall accompany them to the judgment-seat of God, and that a man's lot will be in the other world as his conduct has been in this; Their works follow with them.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 13. And I heard a voice from heaven , etc.] Like that which was heard at Christ's baptism and transfiguration, certifying the truth of what follows, so that that may be depended upon as an undoubted verity: saying unto me, write ; which is a further confirmation of the following sayings being true and faithful; (see Revelation 1:9 19:9 21:5) blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth ; merely to die is not an happiness, for death is common to all, good and bad; it is a disunion of soul and body, and cannot be in itself desirable; it is the fruit of sin, and has something in it awful and terrible; and though it is the privilege of believers, as its sting is removed by Christ, yet not as simply and absolutely considered; but to die in the Lord is a blessedness: some render the words, which die for the Lord; so the Arabic version, which die for the faith of the Lord; and the Ethiopic version, which die for God; and so restrain them to the martyrs of Jesus: to suffer death for the sake of Christ and his Gospel is a gift and an honour, and what glorifies Christ; and there is a glory consequent upon it, which such shall enjoy; but then in the spiritual reign of Christ, to which this passage refers, and after the destruction of antichrist, there will be no more suffering for Christ, no more martyrdoms; wherefore this cannot be the sense of the words: nor do they mean dying in the lively exercise of faith and hope in the Lord; for though it is a happiness so to die, both to persons themselves, and to their friends and relations, yet these are not the only persons that are blessed; there are some who all their lifetime are subject to bondage, and go off in the dark, and yet are happy; but to die in the Lord is to die interested in him, in union to him; which union is not dissolved by death, and which preserves from all condemnation, at death or at judgment, and secures the soul's immediate entrance into happiness, and the resurrection of the body at the last day, and therefore such must be blessed: the phrase, from henceforth, is differently placed; the Ethiopic version connects it with the word write, rendering it, write now; and the Vulgate Latin version reads it with the next clause, hereafter, yea, saith the Spirit; and so the Latin interpreter of the Syriac version, though that itself seems rather to place it as ours does, and which is most correct; and is to be understood not of the time of John's writing, thenceforward to the resurrection; for those that died before his time were as happy as those who died after; nor of the time of death, though it is a truth, that from the time of the saints' death, and from the very moment of their separation, they are blessed, and are in a state of happiness until the resurrection; but of that period of time which the declarations made by the three preceding angels refer to, from thenceforward, and after the destruction of antichrist, and during the spiritual reign of Christ: and the sense is, that happy will those persons be that die in Christ within that time, and before the Laodicean church state takes place; when coldness, lukewarmness, and carnal security will seize upon men, and Christ will come upon them at an unawares; and those sharp and severe times will commence, signified by the harvest and vintage of the earth in the following verses, and which seem to be no other than the end of the world, and the destruction of it; wherefore happy will they be that are going to heaven before that time comes; (see Ecclesiastes 4:1,2 Isaiah 57:1,2) yea, saith the Spirit ; the third witness in heaven, who sets his seal to the truth of what the voice declares, and shows wherein this blessedness will consist: that they may rest from their labours ; both of body and soul; from all toil of body, and laborious work, from all diseases and distempers of body, and all outward sorrows and calamities men labour under, and are fatigued with in this life; and from all inward troubles, from a body of sin, from the temptations of Satan, and from all doubts and fears, from their present warfare state, and all conflicts with their spiritual enemies: and their works do follow them ; they do not go before them, to prepare heaven and happiness for them; nor do they take them along with them, and use them as pleas for their admission into the heavenly glory; but they will follow them, and will be found to praise, and honour, and glory, and will be taken notice of by Christ, and graciously rewarded by him, at his appearing and kingdom. This is directly opposite to the notions of the Jews, who say, that when a man departs this life, his works go before him, and say unto him, thou hast done so and so, in such a place, and on such a day f358 ; and that whoever does a good work in this world, it shall go before him in the world to come f359 ; and so they represent good works as saying to a man when he is about to die, go in peace; before thou gettest thither, twa ymydqm wna , we will go before thee, as it is said, ( Isaiah 48:8) thy righteousness shall go before thee.
Sometimes they say f361 , they go along with him at the time of a man's departure: neither gold, nor silver, nor precious stones and pearls accompany him, but the law and good works, as it is said, ( Proverbs 6:22) when thou goest it shall lead thee, etc.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 6-13 - The progress of the Reformation appears to be here set forth. The fou proclamations are plain in their meaning; that all Christians may be encouraged, in the time of trial, to be faithful to their Lord. The gospel is the great means whereby men are brought to fear God, and to give glory to him. The preaching of the everlasting gospel shakes the foundations of antichrist in the world, and hastens its downfall. If an persist in being subject to the beast, and in promoting his cause, the must expect to be for ever miserable in soul and body. The believer is to venture or suffer any thing in obeying the commandments of God, an professing the faith of Jesus. May God bestow this patience upon us Observe the description of those that are and shall be blessed: such a die in the Lord; die in the cause of Christ, in a state of union with Christ; such as are found in Christ when death comes. They rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution; for there the wicke cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. Their works follo them: do not go before as their title, or purchase, but follow them a proofs of their having lived and died in the Lord: the remembrance of them will be pleasant, and the reward far above all their services an sufferings. This is made sure by the testimony of the Spirit witnessing with their spirits, and the written word.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ ηκουσα 191 5656 V-AAI-1S φωνης 5456 N-GSF εκ 1537 PREP του 3588 T-GSM ουρανου 3772 N-GSM λεγουσης 3004 5723 V-PAP-GSF μοι 3427 P-1DS γραψον 1125 5657 V-AAM-2S μακαριοι 3107 A-NPM οι 3588 T-NPM νεκροι 3498 A-NPM οι 3588 T-NPM εν 1722 PREP κυριω 2962 N-DSM αποθνησκοντες 599 5723 V-PAP-NPM απαρτι 534 ADV ναι 3483 PRT λεγει 3004 5719 V-PAI-3S το 3588 T-NSN πνευμα 4151 N-NSN ινα 2443 CONJ αναπαυσωνται 373 5672 V-AMS-3P εκ 1537 PREP των 3588 T-GPM κοπων 2873 N-GPM αυτων 846 P-GPM τα 3588 T-NPN δε 1161 CONJ εργα 2041 N-NPN αυτων 846 P-GPM ακολουθει 190 5719 V-PAI-3S μετ 3326 PREP αυτων 846 P-GPM
