Revelation 19:13

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:11-21 Christ, the glorious Head of the church, is described as on a white horse, the emblem of justice and holiness. He has many crowns, for he is King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is arrayed in a vesture dipped in his own blood, by which he purchased his power as Mediator; and in the blood of his enemies, over whom he always prevails. His name is The Word of God; a name none fully knows but himself; only this we know, that this Word was God manifest in the flesh; but his perfections cannot be fully understood by any creature. Angels and saints follow, and are like Christ in their armour of purity and righteousness. The threatenings of the written word he is going to execute on his enemies. The ensigns of his authority are his name; asserting his authority and power, warning the most powerful princes to submit, or they must fall before him. The powers of earth and hell make their utmost effort. These verses declare important events, foretold by the prophets. These persons were not excused because they did what their leaders bade them. How vain will be the plea of many sinners at the great day! We followed our guides; we did as we saw others do! God has given a rule to walk by, in his word; neither the example of the most, nor of the chief, must influence us contrary thereto: if we do as the most do, we must go where the most go, even into the burning lake.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood - Red, as if dipped in blood - emblem of slaughter. The original of this image is probably Isaiah 63:2-3. See the notes on that passage.

And his name is called The Word of God - The name which in Revelation 19:12, it is said that no one knew but he himself. This name is Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ Ho logos tou Theou, or "the Logos of God." That is, this is his unique name; a name which belongs only to him, and which distinguishes him from all other beings. The name "Logos," as applicable to the Son of God, and expressive of his nature, is found in the New Testament only in the writings of John, and is used by him to denote the higher or divine nature of the Saviour. In regard to its meaning, and the reason why it is applied to him, see the notes on John 1:1. The reader also may consult, with great advantage, an article by Prof. Stuart in the Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. vii. pp. 16-31. The following may be some of the reasons why it is said Revelation 19:12 that no one understands this but he himself:

(1) No one but he can understand its full import, as it implies so high a knowledge of the nature of the Deity;

(2) no one but he can understand the relation which it supposes in regard to God, or the relation of the Son to the Father;

(3) no one but he can understand what is implied in it, regarded as the method in which God reveals himself to his creatures on earth;

(4) no one but he can understand what is implied in it in respect to the manner in which God makes himself known to other worlds.

It may be added, as a further illustration of this, that none of the attempts made to explain it have left the matter so that there are no questions unsolved which one would be glad to ask.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. vesture dipped in blood—Isa 63:2 is alluded to here, and in Re 19:15, end. There the blood is not His own, but that of His foes. So here the blood on His "vesture," reminding us of His own blood shed for even the ungodly who trample on it, is a premonition of the shedding of their blood in righteous retribution. He sheds the blood, not of the godly, as the harlot and beast did, but of the blood-stained ungodly, including them both.

The Word of God—who made the world, is He also who under the same character and attributes shall make it anew. His title, Son of God, is applicable in a lower sense, also to His people; but "the Word of God" indicates His incommunicable Godhead, joined to His manhood, which He shall then manifest in glory. "The Bride does not fear the Bridegroom; her love casteth out fear. She welcomes Him; she cannot be happy but at His side. The Lamb [Re 19:9, the aspect of Christ to His people at His coming] is the symbol of Christ in His gentleness. Who would be afraid of a lamb? Even a little child, instead of being scared, desires to caress it. There is nothing to make us afraid of God but sin, and Jesus is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. What a fearful contrast is the aspect which He will wear towards His enemies! Not as the Bridegroom and the Lamb, but as the [avenging] judge and warrior stained in the blood of His enemies."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; either to denote that he was he who redeemed us by his blood; or rather, to signify that he was now coming forth to shed the blood of his enemies, both in vindication of his own honour and glory, or of his people; in which notion it also agrees with Isaiah’s vision of him, Isaiah 63:1-3: Their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

And his name is called The Word of God:

See Poole on "John 1:1". He is also called the Word, Revelation 1:2, a name given him hardly by any except this apostle.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood,.... Either in his own, by which he became the Saviour of his church and people; or else in the blood of his saints, he now comes to avenge; or rather in the blood of his enemies, with which he appears as stained, before the battle is fought, the victory being sure, and their slaughter unavoidable: the metaphor is taken from persons treading in a winepress, whose garments are stained with blood of grapes; see Revelation 19:15. Here may be also an allusion to the Roman general's vesture, which was sometimes purple or scarlet, in which he fought, as did Lucullus (s).

And his name is called the Word of God; the name of Christ, often used by John in his Gospel, epistles, and in this book, John 1:1 1 John 1:1. Of the signification, reason, and import of this name; see Gill on John 1:1. The reason why he is called by it here may be partly to express his greatness, glory, and majesty, this being a name which principally belongs to him, is a person, as the Creator of all things, and as previous to his incarnation; and partly because all the promises of God in his word, and which are all yea, and amen in Christ, will be now shortly fulfilled.

(s) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 1. c. 20.

Geneva Study Bible

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Revelation 19:13. “Dipped in blood” (i.e., the blood of his foes): from the “crimsoned garments” of Yahveh in Isaiah 63.; cf. also Revelation 19:15 with “I have trodden the wine-press.… Yea, I trod them in mine anger (κατεπάτησα αὐτοὺς ἐν θυμῷ μου), and trampled them in my fury,” etc. Add Targ. Palest, on Genesis 49:11, “How beauteous is the King Messiah! Binding his loins and going forth to war against them that hate him, he will slay kings with princes, and make the rivers red with the blood of their slain, and his hills white with the fat of their mighty ones, his garments will be dipped in blood, and he himself like the juice of the wine-press.” The secret name denotes his superiority to all appeals; it indicates that the awful and punitive vigour of his enterprise made him impervious to the invocations of men. This is no Logos who dwells among men to give light and life; it is a stern, militant, figure of vengeance attacking the rebellious. Hence his name is mysterious; for “the identity, or at least the close connection between a thing and its name, not only makes the utterance of a holy name an invocation which insures the actual presence of the deity invoked, it also makes the holy name too sacred for common use or even for use at all” (Jevons’ Introd. Hist. Relig. 361). The passage reflects certain phases of later messianic belief in Judaism, which had been tinged by the Babylonian myth of Marduk, Ea’s victorious son, to whom divine authority was entrusted. Marduk’s triumph was explained by Babylonian theologians as caused by the transference to him of the divine Name (so Michael, En. 69:14). 13b may be a Johannine gloss upon the unknown name of Revelation 19:12 (cf. Php 2:9-10), under the influence of passages like Hebrews 4:15, Sap. 18. (“Thine all-powerful Logos leapt from heaven out of the royal throne, as a stern warrior into the midst of the doomed land, bearing the sharp sword of Thine unfeigned commandment”), and Enoch xc. 38 (cp. however Beer, ad loc).—κέκληται, perf. of existing state, “the past action of which it is the result being left out of thought” (Burton, 75). If the above explanation of the mysterious name be correct, the author’s idea was evidently forgotten or ignored by some later editor or copyist of the Johannine school, who inserted this gloss in order to clear up the obscure reference, and at the same time to bring forward the transcendent name widely appropriated by that school for Christ in a pacific and religious sense (so nearly all critical editors). In any case the two conceptions of the Apocalypse and the Fourth gospel have little or nothing in common except the word. But the introduction of this apparently illogical sequence between 12 and 13 might be justified in part by E. B. D. 94, “I am he that cometh forth, advancing, whose name is unknown; I am Yesterday, and Seer of millions of years is my name”. The application of such titles to Jesus certainly gives the impression that these high, honourable predicates are “not yet joined to his person with any intrinsic and essential unity” (Baur); they are rather due to the feeling that “Christ must have a position adequate to the great expectations concerning the last things, of which he is the chief subject”. But their introduction is due to the semi-Christianised messianic conceptions and the divine categories by which the writer is attempting to interpret his experience of Jesus. Backwards and forwards, as pre-existent and future, the redeemer is magnified for the prophet’s consciousness.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. vesture] Or, cloak: it is the outer garment that is so described.

dipt in blood] There is almost equal authority for this reading, “dipped,” or “dyed,” and for “sprinkled.” Either is almost equally supported by the language of Isaiah 63:1; Isaiah 63:3, “With dyed garments … their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments.” The reference to that passage is unquestionable, and so the primary meaning must be, as there, to describe the Conqueror as stained with the blood of His enemies. But no doubt it is legitimate for the Christian to remember, in interpreting both passages, that the way that Christ overcomes His enemies is by shedding, not their blood, but His own.

The Word of God] The only place in Scripture (unless Hebrews 4:12 be so interpreted, which is not probable) where this exact phrase is used of the personal Word, the Son of God. But of course the use of “the Word” in St John 1:1 is the same in principle and meaning.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and he [is] arrayed in a garment, etc. The idea here is evidently derived from Isaiah 63:3, "I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury: and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment" (cf. ver. 15). Probably the similarity of this passage has caused the reading, "sprinkled with blood," which is found in a few manuscripts. In the original passage in Isaiah, the blood is doubtless the blood of his enemies; but it is possible that there is here a reference to the blood of Christ himself, which he shed in his warfare with Satan. And his Name is called The Word of God. Only in St. John's writings does this title appear - a strong argument in favour of his authorship of the Apocalypse (cf. John 1:1; 1 John 1:1). This cannot be the "name" of ver. 12, which, as there explained, is unknown. This Name, the Word of God, is appropriately used when he is going forth to judgment. Revelation 19:13

Vincent's Word Studies

Dipped (βεβαμμένον)

The readings differ; some giving ῥεραντισμένον sprinkled, others περιρεραμμένον sprinkled round. Rev., sprinkled. Compare Isaiah 63:2, Isaiah 63:3.

The Word of God (ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ)

This name for our Lord is found in the New Testament only in the writings of John. It is one of the links which connects Revelation with John's other writings. Compare John 1:1-14; 1 John 1:1. Some object to this on the ground that, in the Gospel of John, the term is used absolutely, the Word, whereas here it is qualified, the Word of God, which the Evangelist nowhere employs, and in 1 John 1:1, the Word of life. But, as Alford observes: "It may be left to any fair-judging reader to decide whether it be not a far greater argument for identity that the remarkable designation ὁ Λόγος the Word is used, than for diversity, that, on the solemn occasion described in the Apocalypse, the hitherto unheard adjunct of God is added." The idea of God which is represented here, underlies the absolute term the Word in John 1:1. It is further urged that in the Gospel ὁ Λόγος is applied to the prehistoric Christ, while in this passage it is applied to the historic Christ. But the name of the historic Christ is that referred to in Revelation 19:12, not in Revelation 19:13. It is the name "which no one knoweth but He Himself," expressing the character of His whole redeeming work. The name in Revelation 19:13 is that which belongs originally and essentially to Him.