And again they said, Alleluia
Or a "second time" they said it; they began and ended their solemn worship and service with it; so some psalms begin and end with this word, translated in the Old Testament by the words "Praise ye the LORD", as in ( Psalms 106:1 Psalms 106:48 ) ( Psalms 113:1 Psalms 113:9 ) &c. and the repeating of the word shows how hearty, arnest, and constant they were in the work of praise on this account:
and her smoke rose up for ever and ever;
they repeated their hallelujah, or gave one spiritual "huzza" more at the burning of Rome, and this followed: or the words may be rendered, "for her smoke rose" and so are a reason for the second "hallelujah": it looks as if Rome, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, would sink into a sulphurous burning lake, and continue so: respect is had to the everlasting punishment of antichrist and his followers in hell, and to the everlasting burnings that will follow Rome's temporal destruction, which was an example and symbol of the vengeance of eternal fire; see ( Revelation 14:11 ) so the Jews F15 say of the burning of Rome, that its fire shall not be quenched for ever, and that "its smoke shall rise up for".