Rev 1:18, 3:14 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 18. I am he that liveth, and was dead ] I am Jesus the Saviour, who, though the fountain of life, have died for mankind; and being raised from the dead I shall die no more, the great sacrifice being consummated. And have the keys of death and the grave , so that I can destroy the living and raise the dead. The key here signifies the power and authority over life, death, and the grave. This is also a rabbinical form of speech. In the Jerusalem Targum , on , are these words: "There are four KEYS in the hand of God which he never trusts to angel or seraph. 1. The key of the rain ; 2. The key of provision ; 3. The key of the grave ; and 4. The key of the barren womb ." In Sanhedrin , fol. 113, 1, it is said: "When the son of the woman of Sarepta died, Elijah requested that to him might be given the key of the resurrection of the dead . They said to him, there are three KEYS which are not given into the hand of the apostle, the key of life , the key of the rain , and the key of the resurrection of the dead ." From these examples it is evident that we should understand αδης, hades , here, not as hell , nor the place of separate spirits , but merely as the grave ; and the key we find to be merely the emblem of power and authority . Christ can both save and destroy , can kill and make alive . Death is still under his dominion, and he can recall the dead whensoever he pleases. He is the resurrection and the life.

‏ Revelation of John 1:18

Verse 18. I am he that liveth, and was dead] I am Jesus the Saviour, who, though the fountain of life, have died for mankind; and being raised from the dead I shall die no more, the great sacrifice being consummated. And have the keys of death and the grave, so that I can destroy the living and raise the dead. The key here signifies the power and authority over life, death, and the grave. This is also a rabbinical form of speech. In the Jerusalem Targum, on Ge 30:22, are these words: "There are four KEYS in the hand of God which he never trusts to angel or seraph. 1. The key of the rain; 2. The key of provision; 3. The key of the grave; and 4. The key of the barren womb."

In Sanhedrin, fol. 113, 1, it is said: "When the son of the woman of Sarepta died, Elijah requested that to him might be given the key of the resurrection of the dead. They said to him, there are three KEYS which are not given into the hand of the apostle, the key of life, the key of the rain, and the key of the resurrection of the dead." From these examples it is evident that we should understand αδης, hades, here, not as hell, nor the place of separate spirits, but merely as the grave; and the key we find to be merely the emblem of power and authority. Christ can both save and destroy, can kill and make alive. Death is still under his dominion, and he can recall the dead whensoever he pleases. He is the resurrection and the life.

‏ Revelation of John 3:14

Epistle to the Church of the Laodiceans.

Verse 14. These things saith the Amen] That is, He who is true or faithful; from aman, he was tree; immediately interpreted, The faithful and true witness. See Re 1:5.

The beginning of the creation of God] That is, the head and governor of all creatures: the king of the creation. See on Col 1:15. By his titles, here, he prepares them for the humiliating and awful truths which he was about to declare, and the authority on which the declaration was founded.