6. And hath--rather as Greek, "And (He) hath."
made us kings--The oldest manuscripts read, "a kingdom." One
oldest manuscript reads the dative, "for us." Another reads "us,"
accusative: so Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and
ANDREAS. This seems preferable, "He made us (to
be) a kingdom." So
Ex 19:6,
"a kingdom of priests";
1Pe 2:9,
"a royal priesthood." The saints shall constitute peculiarly a
kingdom of God, and shall themselves be kings
(Re 5:10).
They shall share His King-Priest throne in the millennial kingdom. The
emphasis thus falls more on the kingdom than on priests:
whereas in English Version reading it is equally distributed
between both. This book lays prominent stress on the saints'
kingdom. They are kings because they are priests: the priesthood
is the continuous ground and legitimization of their kingship; they are
kings in relation to man, priests in relation to God, serving Him day
and night in His temple
(Re 7:15; 5:10).
The priest-kings shall rule, not in an external mechanical manner, but
simply in virtue of what they are, by the power of attraction and
conviction overcoming the heart [AUBERLEN].
priests--who have pre-eminently the privilege of near access to
the king. David's sons were priests (Hebrew),
2Sa 8:18.
The distinction of priests and people, nearer and more remote
from God, shall cease; all shall have nearest access to Him. All
persons and things shall be holy to the Lord.
God and his Father--There is but one article to both in the
Greek, therefore it means, "Unto Him who is at once God and His
Father."
glory and dominion--Greek, "the glory and the
might." The fuller threefold doxology occurs,
Re 4:9, 11;
fourfold,
Re 5:13;
Jude 25;
sevenfold,
Re 7:12;
1Ch 29:11.
Doxology occupies the prominent place above, which prayer does below.
If we thought of God's glory first (as in the Lord's Prayer),
and gave the secondary place to our needs, we should please God and
gain our petitions better than we do.
for ever and ever--Greek, "unto the ages."
JFB.
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