ACC ~ Revelation 17 v10

THE SEVEN KINGS ARE THE TIMES FROM ADAM. HIPPOLYTUS: The times are noted from the foundation of the world and are reckoned from Adam. … For the first appearance of our Lord in the flesh took place in Bethlehem, under Augustus, in the year 5500; and he suffered in the thirty-third year. And it is necessary that six thousand years be accomplished, in order that the sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day “on which God rested from all his works.” For the sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they “shall reign with Christ,”when he comes from heaven, as John says in the Apocalypse: “For a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.” Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that six thousand years must be fulfilled. And they are not yet fulfilled, as John says, “five are fallen; one is,” that is, the sixth; “the other is not yet come.” In mentioning the “other,” moreover, he specifies the seventh, in which there is rest. COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 2.4-5.

THE CAESARS FROM GALBA TO NERVA. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: This must be understood in terms of the time when the Apocalypse was written, for Domitian was Caesar at that time. However, before him there was Titus, his brother, and Vespasian, their father, also Otho, Vitellius and Galba. These are the five who have fallen. “One is,” it says. This is Domitian, in whose reign the Apocalypse was written. “The other has not yet come.” This refers to Nerva, who “when he comes, he must remain only a little while,” for he did not complete even two years [as Caesar]. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 17.2.

THE SEVEN KINGS ARE SEVEN PERSECUTING EMPERORS. OECUMENIUS: It is appropriate that he recognizes kings in the heads, for the kings exercise the fullness of Roman hegemony. However, why, when so many kings have ruled for Rome, did he mention only seven heads on the beast? He mentions these seven only, since they especially have represented the beast, that is, the devil and have caused it to raise its head against the Christians by initiating persecutions against the church. Of these the first was Nero, the second was Domitian, then Trajan, after him Severus, Decius, Valerian and Diocletian. Of those who ruled Rome, these constantly persecuted the church, as Eusebius reports in his Chronicle. He says that five of these seven have fallen by death—Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Severus, Decius—while one is, namely, Valerian. “The other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while.” He identifies the “other” as Diocletian, after whom the government seated in Rome ceased and was transferred to the city named for pious Constantine when Constantine moved the seat of government there. All these things were with great accuracy announced to the Evangelist, especially the information about Diocletian that “when he comes he must remain only a little while.” By “remain” he means the persecution directed against the Christians. For although he reigned for twenty years, he instigated his persecution in the final two years and then forfeited his imperial power. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 17.9-14.

LEADERS, KINGS AND SUBJECTS. PRIMASIUS: As we have said frequently, in each member of a species the whole genus is indicated. Hence when we indicate what the whole beast is, there are the seven heads, and again the heads are called seven mountains and seven kings. That is to say, they are the entire reality of wicked people, which consists in the leaders as well as in kings and their subjects. It is called by the various names on account of the different actions by which it either exercises force or deceives by fraud. For whenever it creeps with smooth movements, it seizes people by the delights of sensual things. As we read in the Scripture, “Death has entered through our windows.” And I think that this can rightly be understood to refer to our fivefold senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. And for that reason, the Lord said to the Samaritan woman, “You have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband.” What there is called “husbands,” understand here as the “kings,” by whose governance, as we know, the basic realities of human life are guided and administered. And the beasts appear to have these things in common with us. And what is said there, “And he whom you now have is not your husband,” namely, that she was not living with a legitimate husband, that is, [she was living with] error, here is expressed in this way, “Five have fallen, one remains.” And when it says, “Another has not yet come,” he means that there remains outstanding another part of that same evil body that will succeed the generation that is passing away, and … it will similarly possess the same malignant spirit that we have noted consists in a sevenfold form. For it says that five have fallen, and that one still is, and that another is yet to come, and that makes seven in all. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 17.9.

THOSE WHO RULED FIRST IN THE SEVEN SUCCESSIVE KINGDOMS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: We think that the seven kings display the same idea [as the seven mountains], for the change of peoples in no way damages the identity of the notion, even though there the seven heads are shown in the form of a woman and the seven mountains in a neutral way. Here he showed seven kings. For often in the Scripture male names indifferently are given in the place of female names, and vice versa. For example, “Ephraim is a heifer made mad,” or again, “Ephraim is a dove having no heart.” According to the theologian, “There are three who witness to Christ, the blood and the water and the Spirit,” and according to Solomon, “There are three, the goat and the rooster and a king who is speaking publicly.”Therefore, through the seven heads he shows the cities after the manner of a woman, and through the seven mountains he depicts in neutral form seven majestic powers that at various times rise up over the rest of the earth, not by any geographical placement among the nations but because of their position of glory. And, as we said, we have interpreted the kings to be either those places made glorious by their royal prominence, or those kings who have ruled first in each of the aforementioned kingdoms, by periphrasis each standing for the entire kingdom—so, Nines for Assyria, Arbakes for Media, Nebuchanezzar for the Babylon, Cyrus for Persia, Alexander for Macedonia, Romulus for old Rome and Constantine for new Rome. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 17.10.

A SHORT PERIOD OF AFFLICTION. BEDE: It says that the heads of the beast are kings of the world. For because of the swelling of their pride, they are compared with high mountains on which wanton ungodliness rests, so that they oppress by force and deceive by fraud. … Since the number seven indicates the full [duration] of earthly dominion, whose final period, that of the kingdom of the antichrist, has not yet come; it accordingly indicates that five have passed away, the sixth now exists, and the seventh is yet to come. “When he comes, he must remain only a little while.” Since the Lord considers us, both the proud and the weak, it says that those days that he will inflict on us and that will be especially evil will be made short for mercy’s sake. [This will be] so that he might terrify their arrogance by the adversities of that time yet might revive their weakness because of its brevity. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 17.10.

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