The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.
Parallel Translations
-
The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.
-
And the dragon was wroth with the woman: and went and made warre with the remnaunt of hyr sede which kepe the commaundmentes of god and have the testimony of Iesus Christe. And I stode on the see sonde.
-
Then the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went and made warre with the remnant of her seede, which keepe the comaundements of God, and haue the testimonie of Iesus Christ.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Revelation 12:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Revelation 14:12 Here is the perseverance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
- Genesis 3:15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
- Revelation 19:10 I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, “Look! Don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.”
- Revelation 1:2 who testified to God’s word and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw.
- Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.
- Revelation 11:7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.
- Revelation 13:7 It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him.
- Daniel 7:23-26 “Thus he said, ‘The fourth animal will be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth, and will tread it down, and break it in pieces. As for the ten horns, ten kings will arise out of this kingdom. Another will arise after them; and he will be different from the former, and he will put down three kings. He will speak words against the Most High, and will wear out the saints of the Most High. He will plan to change the times and the law; and they will be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. “ ‘But the judgment will be set, and they will take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end.
- John 8:44 You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
- 1 John 2:3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
- 1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.
- 1 John 5:10 He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.
- Revelation 1:9 I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 12:11-12 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death. Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”
- Revelation 17:14 These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful.”
- Daniel 11:36 “The king will do according to his will. He will exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and will speak marvelous things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the indignation is accomplished; for that which is determined will be done.
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
- Revelation 17:6 I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.
- Revelation 18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
- Revelation 19:19 I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army.
- Revelation 20:4 I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
- Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
- Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Revelation 20:8-9 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Being set on fire by this means, he began…
Being set on fire by this means, he began to be more mad, and because he perceived that his purpose against the Christian Church of the Jewish remnant was come to nought, he resolved to fall upon her seed, that is, the Church gathered also by God of the Gentiles, and the holy members of the same. And this is that other branch, as I said upon verse 13, in which the purpose of Satan is showed, verse 17, and his attempt, verse 18.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman,…
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Ver. 17. Was wroth with the woman] Who yet had done him no wrong; but he and his are mad with malice (when their designs miscarry especially), and are ready to sue the Church, as he in Cicero did another, quod totum telum corpore non recepieset, because he had not taken into his body the whole dagger wherewith he had stabbed him. (Orat. pro C. Rab. Posth.)
Read full note →
To make war] That war which is mentioned Rev 13:7.
With the remnant of her seed] As a little seed grain is reserved out of a great heap for store, which is nothing to the whole crop; so is the small number of true believers reserved by grace, nothing to the whole field and crop of the world.
Which keep the commandments] A just description of a godly Christian. Boni catholici sunt qui et fidem integram sequuntur et bonos mores. To be sound in faith and holy in life, this is the kernel of Christianity. (Aug.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain And the dragon was wroth with the woman: the…
And the dragon was wroth with the woman: the devil hath been defeated in two designs against the whole church; he could not wholly root it out by the ten persecutions under the Roman emperors, nor by the water thrown out of his mouth, pestilent doctrines which he influenced some to broach; but he was angry still, his rage was not extinguished.
And went to make war with the remnant of her seed; he gives over his design to ruin the whole church, as not practicable, but resolves to do all the mischief he could to the remnant of her seed, to particular Christians; those especially, which kept closest to the doctrine of faith, called here
Read full note →
the testimony of Jesus Christ, and to the rule of a holy life, which is meant by keeping
the commandments of God. Hence antichrist’s rage hath not been against Christians in general, as was the pagans’, but only against such Christians as he hath not been able to bring over to him, in a compliance with his corruptions in doctrine, worship, and discipline.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the dragon was wroth with the woman,.... The…
And the dragon was wroth with the woman,.... The devil was very angry with the church, because he could not destroy her by the Arian persecution he had raised; and because he could not carry her away with the flood, either of errors and heresies, or of the barbarous nations; and because he could not, by any means, come at her, and indeed did not well know where she was, a place being prepared for her of God in the wilderness, where she was taken care of: wherefore he took another method as follows,
and went to make war with the remnant of her seed; which refers to the war the beast, to whom he gave his power, seat, and authority, is said to make with the saints; and which was entered into and carried on by his instigation, of which there is an account in the following chapter: the persons with whom he went to make war are described as "her seed"; the seed of the church, her spiritual offspring, the sons and daughters she brought forth to Christ; between which seed, and Satan and his seed, there always was an enmity: and these are "the remnant" of her seed, a few persons scattered up and down, a remnant according to the election of grace; who were not in bodies, or in church states, regularly formed, as heretofore, but in private families, and some here, and some there; and who were called out to bear a testimony for Christ in corrupt times: and these are further described as such
Read full note →
who keep the commandments of God: and not the traditions of men: nor are the commands of the moral law of God so much designed, though it is true that these were kept by the seed of the church; but rather the ordinances of the Gospel, the commands of God our Saviour, such as baptism and the Lord's supper; which were kept by these faithful ones, as they had been delivered, when they began now to be sadly corrupted by the antichristian party:
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ; the Gospel, which is a testimony concerning him; See Gill on Rev 1:2. This they had in their hearts, a spiritual knowledge and saving experience of it; and this they had in their hands, they made a profession of it, they held it forth, and held it fast; all which was the reason of Satan's enmity against them, and war with them.
Next: Revelation Chapter 13
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And the dragon was wroth - Anew, because he…
And the dragon was wroth - Anew, because he could not cause her to be carried away by the stream. And he went forth - Into other lands. To make war with the rest of her seed - Real Christians, living under heathen or Turkish governors.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. And the dragon was wroth with the…
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C.
Verse 17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman] The heathen party, foiled in their subtle attempt to destroy Christianity, were greatly enraged, and endeavoured to excite the hatred of the multitude against the religion of Jesus. "They alleged that before the coming of Christ the world was blessed with peace and prosperity; but that since the progress of their religion everywhere, the gods, filled with indignation to see their worship neglected and their altars abandoned, had visited the earth with those plagues and desolations which increased every day." See Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, cent. V., part 1, and other works on this subject.
Read full note →
Went to make war with the remnant of her seed] The dragon απηλθε, departed, i.e., into the wilderness, whither the woman had fled; and in another form commenced a new species of persecution, directed only against the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. See on verse 13 of the following chapter for an illustration of this remarkable passage. "Re 13:13"
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And the dragon was wroth with the woman -…
And the dragon was wroth with the woman - This wrath had been vented by his persecuting her Rev 12:13; by his pursuing her; and by his pouring out the flood of water to sweep her away Rev 12:15; and the same wrath was now vented against her children. As he could not reach and destroy the woman herself, he turned his indignation against all who were allied to her. Stripped of the imagery, the meaning is, that as he could not destroy the church as such, he vented his malice against all who were the friends of the church, and endeavored to destroy them. “The church, as such, he could not destroy; therefore he turned his wrath against individual Christians, to bring as many of them as possible to death” (DeWette).
And went to make war with the remnant of her seed - No mention is made before of his persecuting the children of the woman, except his opposition to the “man child” which she bore, Rev 12:1-4. The “woman” represents the church, and the phrase “the remnant of her seed” must refer to her scattered children, that is, to the scattered members of the church, wherever they could be found. The reference here is to persecutions against individuals, rather than a general persecution against the church itself, and all that is here said would find an ample fulfillment in the vexations and troubles of individuals in the Roman communion in the dark ages, when they evinced the spirit of pure evangelical piety; in the cruelties practiced in the Inquisition on individual Christians under the plea that they were heretics; and in the persecutions of such men as Wycliffe, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague. This warfare against individual Christians was continued long in the papal church, and tens of thousands of true friends of the Saviour suffered every form of cruelty and wrong as the result.
Read full note →
Which keep the commandments of God - Who were true Christians. This phrase characterizes correctly those who, in the dark ages, were the friends of God, in the midst of abounding corruption.
And have the testimony of Jesus Christ - That is, they bore a faithful testimony to his truth, or were real martyrs. See Rev 2:13.
The scene, then, in this chapter is this: John saw a most beautiful woman, suitably adorned, representing the church as about to he enlarged, and to become triumphant in the earth. Then he saw a great red monster, representing Satan, about to destroy the church: the pagan power, infuriated, and putting forth its utmost energy for its destruction. He then saw the child caught up into heaven, denoting that the church would be ultimately safe, and would reign over all the world. Another vision appears, It is that of a contest between Michael, the protecting angel of the people of God, and the great foe, in which victory declares in favor of the former, and Satan suffers a discomfiture, as if he were cast from heaven to earth. Still, however, he is permitted for a time to carry on a warfare against the church, though certain that he would be ultimately defeated. He puts forth his power, and manifests his hostility, in another form - that of the papacy - and commences a new opposition against the spiritual church of Christ. The church is, however, safe from that attempt to destroy it, for the woman is represented as fleeing to the wilderness beyond the power of the enemy, and is there kept alive. Still filled with rage, though incapable of destroying the true church itself, he turns his wrath, under the form of papal persecutions, against individual Christians, and endeavors to cut them off in detail.
This is the general representation in this chapter, and on the supposition that it was designed to represent the various forms of opposition which Satan would make to the church of Christ, under paganism and the papacy, it must be admitted, I think, that no more expressive or appropriate symbols could have been chosen. This fact should be allowed to have due influence in confirming the interpretation suggested above; and if it be admitted to be a correct interpretation, it is conclusive evidence of the inspiration of the book. Further details of this opposition of Satan to the church under the papal form of persecution are made in the subsequent chapters.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain wroth with--Greek, "at."
wroth with--Greek, "at."
went--Greek, "went away."
Read full note →
the remnant of her seed--distinct in some sense from the woman herself. Satan's first effort was to root out the Christian Church, so that there should be no visible profession of Christianity. Foiled in this, he wars (Rev 11:7; Rev 13:7) against the invisible Church, namely, "those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus" (A, B, and C omit "Christ"). These are "the remnant," or rest of her seed, as distinguished from her seed, "the man-child" (Rev 12:5), on one hand, and from mere professors on the other. The Church, in her beauty and unity (Israel at the head of Christendom, the whole forming one perfect Church), is now not manifested, but awaiting the manifestations of the sons of God at Christ's coming. Unable to destroy Christianity and the Church as a whole, Satan directs his enmity against true Christians, the elect remnant: the others he leaves unmolested.
Next: Revelation Chapter 13
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. Dragon was wroth—Paganism long maintained an angry and…
17. Dragon was wroth—Paganism long maintained an angry and desperate struggle for supremacy.
War with… seed—Who maintained the testimony of Jesus himself over wafer-worship and Mariolatry during the beast-period.
Read full note →
Dusterdieck denies that the woman is symbol of the Church; maintaining that this whole scene of chapter 12 is a picture showing who are the true adversaries of Christ, namely, Satan and his hosts. The woman, he argues, cannot be the Jewish Church, for, besides her apostolic twelve stars she laps over into the Christian ages even to the time of Constantine. Nor can she be the Christian Church; for who then are the remnant of her seed? To this argument Alford seems to succumb, and accept Dusterdieck’s view, and thereby enfeebles and disconcerts his whole scheme of interpretation.
Our answer to Dusterdieck’s dilemma is, that the woman is the anti-dragon or anti-pagan Church; the remnant of her seed is the anti-bestial or anti-papal Church. The woman, therefore, inclusively represents the ancient Jewish Church, from which Christ sprung, continued into the Christian Church in all its anti-pagan history and character. While the pagan dragon hoped, in his own undisguised person, to conquer her, he fought; but when he saw defeat before him he evoked the sea-beast (chap. 13) to be his substitute, and through him to war with the remnant of her seed—the opponents of the pseudo-Christian beast—until he reappears in his own person, Rev_20:1. The Church, the woman, is, in successive generations, truly her own seed. The Church of to-day is the Church’s seed, and the Church of a later day is the remnant or rest of her seed. The seed against which paganism warred through the beast were the anti-papal successors to the anti-pagan Church.
We have a striking proof that the dragon was paganism in the opinion of Constantine himself. Eusebius gives us Constantine’s words: “That dragon has been expelled from the government of the world by the good providence of the supreme God and my instrumentality.” And before the vestibule of his own palace the emperor placed a cross over his own head, and the dragon beneath, thrust down into the abyss.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. the woman … the remnant of her seed]…
17. the woman … the remnant of her seed] Gen_3:15. The sense must be, that the Devil attempts to frustrate God’s counsels, not now by attacking the old Israel, but the new “Israel of God.” Titus, we are told, resolved to destroy the Temple, “in order that the religion of the Jews and Christians might be more completely abolished” (Sulp. Sev. ii. 30, supposed to embody a quotation from Tacitus). Hadrian, on the contrary, seeing that the Christians had separated their cause from that of the rebel Jews, extended to them a tolerance not merely contemptuous. But thenceforward the best and ablest emperors, from M. Aurelius to Diocletian, recognising the independent power of the Church, thought it necessary to persecute it. At last, Julian completely reversed the policy of Titus, seeking to discredit the Gospel by patronage to the Jews. This policy, apparently, will be carried out by Antichrist: but will be baffled when the Jews, whom he has restored to their land as unbelievers, are converted by the martyrdom and resurrection of the two prophets (see notes on the preceding chapter).
which keep the commandments] Rev_14:12.
Read full note →
have the testimony] Rev_6:9. The word “Christ” should be omitted.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) And the dragon . . .—Translate, And the…
(17) And the dragon . . .—Translate, And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and departed (not merely “went,” but departed, as one baffled in his attempt to carry the woman away by the river) to make war with the rest of her seed, who Keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus. Omit the word Christ. The attempt to sweep away the Christian Church is vain. The wrath of man has always been found to turn to God’s praise; the earth has always helped the woman; out of a thousand seeming defeats the Church of Christ has arisen; the banner of the Lord has been lifted up over every flood. But the foe will not give up his attacks. He can make war upon individual Christians; he may cease to assail the collective Church of Christ, but he can assail Christians by a thousand discomforts, by petty opposition, by undermining their morals, by making them unpopular, not as Christians, but as “very particular” Christians: for those thus assailed are they who “keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus.” It is the old combination of a holy life and a fidelity to their Master which is the test of true loyalty. They take heed to themselves; they abide in Christ; they take heed to the teaching, that Christ’s word may abide in them. They keep His word, and they witness to Him in lip and life.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and…
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed; waxed wroth... went away to make, etc. (Revised Version). Having failed to prevent the mission of" the man child Christ Jesus and having been foiled in his attempts to overwhelm the Church of God, Satan proceeds to attack the individual members of the Church the seed of the woman. The method by which he endeavours to do this is related in the following chapters. Wordsworth points out an analogy between the means which Satan employs to destroy the Church as described here, and those described in the seals. The "rest of her seed" (Revised Version) signifies all the children of the woman, excluding the man child of ver. 5. All members of the Church of God are thus referred to, those who are brethren of Christ. (cf. Heb_2:11, "For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren Which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (nearly all manuscripts omit "Christ"); hold the testimony (Revised Version). This plainly points out who are the "rest of the seed they are those who are God"s faithful servants. We may see in the description a reference to the Church of God, both Jewish and Christian. The members of the Jewish Church were they to whom "the commandments of God" were specially revealed, and Christians are they who specially "hold the testimony of Jesus." (For an explanation of the latter phrase, see on Rev_1:2)
We have now reached another stage in the history of the warfare carried on by the devil against God. Vers. 7-12 of this chapter describe the origin of the hostility of Satan towards God; vers. 4 and 5 relate the attempts of the devil to destroy Christ and to thwart his mission; vers. 13-16 refer to the attacks of Satan upon the Church of God, by which he hoped to destroy it as a whole, before there was time for the "seed" to spring up. Having failed in every attempt, the dragon now sends other agents by whom he hopes to destroy the individual members of the Church the other seed of the woman the brethren of Christ.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 17. And the dragon waxed wroth. Was angry at…
17. And the dragon waxed wroth. Was angry at his defeat. He continued the warfare by asking to destroy the woman's seed. I believe that this vision reveals the persecution of the true Church, first by Pagan, and then by Papal Rome, a persecution that results in the apparent disappearance of the true Church from the earth. Though not visible to the eye of the historian during this period, yet the true Church, fed of God, survives in the hearts of the hidden and persecuted saints. The period of her exile began about 533, in the reign of Justinian, and ends about the beginning of the nineteenth century. Before the end of the period, the Divine measure, the reed of the apostles, was used to measure the temple, altar and worshipers, and, as the result, over three-fourths of a century ago, the true Church began to appear as a visible body, once more in the world.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:17 The dragon turns his hostility against the woman’s…
12:17 The dragon turns his hostility against the woman’s children (believers) who keep God’s commandments and continue in their testimony for Jesus.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.