Revelation 14:11

11 "And the ¹smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; ²they have no rest day and night, those who ³worship the beast and his ⁴image, and whoever * receives the ⁵mark of his name."

Revelation 14:11 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 14:11

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and
ever
That is, the smoke of that fire which torments them will for ever arise; or, in other words, there will be no end of their torment; hence their misery is called everlasting fire, everlasting punishment, and everlasting destruction, ( Matthew 25:41 Matthew 25:46 ) ( 2 Thessalonians 1:9 ) and smoke being very troublesome and distressing, is mentioned to set forth the very uncomfortable state of the wicked; and so it is used by Jewish writers: hence we read of (Mnhg Nnt) , "the smoke of hell" {r}, with which the eyes of the wicked will be filled in the world to come: and they have no rest, day nor night;
the fire of divine wrath which tortures them is never quenched, and the worm of conscience which gnaws them never dies: this is directly contrary to a notion of the Jews, that the wicked in hell have rest sometimes; they talk of angels blowing away the smoke from them, so that they have rest an hour and a half; and which they say they have three times a day, and whenever Israel says Amen, let his great name be blessed ^F19; and particularly that hell fire never burns on the sabbath day, nor does the smoke of it ascend then, and that the wicked have always rest on that days ^F20; though sometimes they contradict themselves, and say they never have any rest ^F21, which is the truth: who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the
mark of his name;
that is, whoever are the followers of antichrist, or the professors of the Popish religion; so far is salvation from being in the church of Rome, and only there, that there is none in it; and whoever live and die in the profession of Popery, shall surely be damned as this passage is true.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Targum in Psal. xxxvii. 20. T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 75. 1. Caphtor, fol. 109. 1.
F19 Zohar in Gen. fol. 47. 4.
F20 Zohar in Exod. fol. 36. 4. & in Lev. fol. 45. 3. & in Deut. fol. 115. 3. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 65. 2. Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 149. 1. Nishmat Chayim, fol. 39. 1.
F21 Zohar in Exod. fol. 62. 3. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 152. 2.

Revelation 14:11 In-Context

9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."

12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 34:8-10; Revelation 18:9, 18; Revelation 19:3
• 2. Revelation 4:8
• 3. Revelation 13:12; Revelation 14:9
• 4. Revelation 13:12; Revelation 14:9
• 5. Revelation 13:17

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "if anyone"