11. they--emphatic in the Greek. "They" in particular.
They and they alone. They were the persons who overcame.
overcame--
(Ro 8:33, 34, 37; 16:20).
him--
(1Jo 2:14, 15).
It is the same victory (a peculiarly Johannean phrase) over
Satan and the world which the Gospel of John describes in the life of
Jesus, his Epistle in the life of each believer, and his Apocalypse in
the life of the Church.
by, &c.--Greek (dia to haima; accusative, not
genitive case, as English Version would require, compare
Heb 9:12),
"on account of (on the ground of) the blood of the Lamb";
"because of"; on account of and by virtue of its having been shed. Had
that blood not been shed, Satan's accusations would have been
unanswerable; as it is, that blood meets every charge. SCHOTTGEN mentions the Rabbinical tradition that Satan
accuses men all days of the year, except the day of atonement. TITTMANN takes the Greek "dia," as it often
means, out of regard to the blood of the Lamb; this was the
impelling cause which induced them to undertake the contest
for the sake of it; but the view given above is good
Greek, and more in accordance with the general sense of
Scripture.
by the word of their testimony--Greek, "on account of the
word of their testimony." On the ground of their faithful testimony,
even unto death, they are constituted victors. Their testimony evinced
their victory over him by virtue of the blood of the Lamb. Hereby they
confess themselves worshippers of the slain Lamb and overcome the
beast, Satan's representative; an anticipation of
Re 15:2,
"them that had gotten the victory over the beast" (compare
Re 13:15, 16).
unto--Greek, "achri," "even as far as." They
carried their not-love of life as far as even unto death.
JFB.
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