11:1. “…measure the Temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein….”
From the traditions we have that the exposition of the law was ‘a measure’: “…He that is conversant in the textual exposition of the law, hath a measure, which is not a measure. He that is conversant in Misna, hath a measure, from whence they receive a reward: but if he be conversant in the Talmud, there is not a greater measure than this. Always betake yourself to the Misna rather than the Talmud. But R. Jose Ben R. Bon saith, This which thou sayest, obtained before the Rabbi had mixed with it manifold traditions: but from the time that he mixed with it manifold traditions, always have recourse to the Talmud rather than to the Misna.’
“Now, I pray, who is he that, according to this tradition, merits most the title of a doctor of law,…? He that is conversant … in the exposition and interpretation of the written law, and the context of it, alas! he doth but little; and for all the oil and labour he hath spent, hath only a measure, which is not a measure. But he that is conversant in the Misna and Talmud, in the traditional doctrine or exposition of the traditional law, he bears away the bell…; he hath some reward for his pains, and is dignified with the title of doctor.” [3:126]
11:2. “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.”
“…Nor did the Gentiles only send their gifts and sacrifices, but came themselves personally sometimes to the Temple, and there worshipped. Hence the outward court of the Temple was called the Court of the Gentiles, and … the Common Court; to which that in the Book of the Revelation alludes, chap.xi.2, ‘But the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles.’ And of those there shall innumerable numbers come and worship. ‘And the holy city shall they tread forty and two months.’ It is not katapatηsousin, they shall tread it under foot as enemies and spoilers, but patηsousi, they shall tread it as worshippers. So Isa. 1.12.” [3:380-1]
“…They {the Jews} teach us, that the nations of the world are not only not to be redeemed, but to be wasted, destroyed, and trodden underfoot….” {In contrast to this teaching, Revelation 11:2 shows that it is not the Gentiles, but rather the earthly Temple and city that are to be trodden down.} [3:268]
11:2-3. (TIME:) “…a thousand two hundred and threescore days…”
See also Revelation 12:6, 14, (time, times, and half a time); and 13:5, (forty and two months).
The intercalation of the year was the sacred duty of the priests and elders. It involved the study of the intricate details of the motions of the apparent heavens and probably involved a period of several years of observations. There is mention of seven-year periods and of half seven-year periods, or three and one-half years by the Talmudists. They mention “a devout disciple…(who) learned the intercalation of the year before his master, three years and a half: he came and intercalated for Galilee: but he could not intercalate for the south, that is, for Judea.” (Lightfoot, [1:31]
FORTY-TWO MONTHS = THREE AND A HALF YEARS= A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND THREESCORE DAYS=TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME.
The period of three and a half years is often used in the writings of the Rabbis in regard to the intercalation of the year. Lightfoot reports that their tradition said that: “…the Messias shall converse very much in this mountain [Olivet]:…For when they think his primary seat shall be at Jerusalem, they cannot but believe some such thing of that mount. R. Janna saith …[Shekinah] the Divine Majesty stood three years and a half in mount Olivet, and preached, saying, ‘Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found; call upon him, while he is near.” [1:88-9, quoting Midras Tillin]
When Antiochus Epiphanes, in the time of the Maccabees, profaned the Temple and offered unholy sacrifices on the altar, he caused the daily sacrifice to cease for “‘a thousand and three hundred days,’ Dan. viii.14, or ‘one thousand two hundred and ninety days, chap. xii.11: a round number for ‘a time, and times, and half a time,’ chap. vii.25, xii.7; that is, ‘three years and a half.'”
Many of the atrocities committed by the Greeks under antiochus are also said of Titus, when he destroyed the Temple in AD 70 Of the desecrations caused by Antiochus, Lightfoot says: “…this waste and profanation of sacred things lasting for three years and a half, so stuck in the stomachs of the Jews, that they retained that very number as famous and remarkable; insomuch that they often make use of it when they would express any thing very sad and afflictive.
“There came one from Athens to Jerusalem, and stayed here three years and a half, to have learnt the language of wisdom but could not learn it. Vespasian besieged Jerusalem for three years and a half; and with him were the princes of Arabia, Africa, Alexandria, and Palestine, &c. Three years and a half did Hadrian besiege Betar. The judgment of the generation of the deluge was twelve months: the judgment of the Egyptians twelve months; the judgment of Gog and Magog was twelve months: the judgment of the wicked in hell twelve months. But the judgment of Nebuchadnezzar was three years and a half. Nebuchadnezzar stayed in Daphne of Antioch, and sent Nebuzar-adan to destroy Jerusalem. He continued there for three years and a half.
“There are many other passages of that kind, wherein they do not so much design to point out a determinate space of time, as to allude to that miserable state of affairs they were in under Antiochus. And perhaps it had been much more for the reputation of the Christian commentators upon the Book of the Revelations, if they had looked upon that number, and the ‘forty-and-two months,’ and the ‘thousand two hundred and sixty days’ as spoken allusively, and not applied it to any precise or determinate time.” [1:372-4]
Regarding the phrase “three years and six months” Lightfoot says that it is “much used both in the Holy Scriptures and in Jewish writings;…” and that it is often used allusively, that is, alluding to the event under Antiochus, etc. [1:374 also See also [3:72]
11:3. “And I will give power unto my two witnesses….”
In commentary on Matt. 23:35, Lightfoot shows how that “Zacharias the son of Barachias” is interpreted by the Talmudists from Isaiah 8:2 as being the same as “Zacharias the son of Jeberechiah,” simply using a standard and well known variant of the word ‘Jeberechiah.’
Using the same Scripture, Uriah and Zechariah are referred to as “faithful witnesses.” The prophecy that Isaiah had given was of the destruction of Damascus, Samaria, and Judea. God then said to write “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens” (RSV). To confirm the Word, Isaiah takes two witnesses, Uriah and Zachariah, son of Jeberechiah, i.e. ‘the blessed’.
Lightfoot interprets it thus: “‘And moreover (saith God), I will raise up to myself two faithful martyrs,’ (or witnesses,), who shall testify and seal the same thing with their words and with their blood, namely, Uriah the priest, who shall hereafter be crowned with martyrdom for this very thing, Jer. xxvi.20, 23, and Zechariah the son of Barachiah, or Jehoiada, who is lately already crowned: he, the first martyr under the first Temple; this, the last. Hear, thou Jew, who taxest Matthew in this place: your own authors assert, that Uriah the priest is to be understood by that Uriah who was killed by Jehoiakim; and that truly. We also assert, that Zechariah the son of Jehoiadah is to be understood by Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah; and that Matthew and Christ do not at all innovate in this name of Barachias, but did only pronounce the same things concerning the father of the martyr Zacharias, which God himself had pronounced before them by the prophet Isaiah.” [2:306-8]
See also 2 Chron. 24:17-26 on this subject. See also my comments on Revelation 18:21.
11:8. “And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city….”
This verse is most obviously spoken of the literal city of Jerusalem, “where our Lord was crucified”. Jerusalem was considered to be the most holy of cities and there were many traditions about how to preserve its purity. One was that no dead body should be allowed to remain in the city overnight. The above verse no doubt has reference to this fact. Although they were so ceremonially pure, they allowed the dead bodies of the two witnesses to remain unburied in that city for three days and a half.
11:9. “…the people…shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.”
The impenitent who died in his sins was most disrespected when his body lay for three days without burial. [3:173] The fact that these ‘witnesses’ were not buried showed the extent of the disrespect of the people.
In contrast see also 21:27-22:3: there can be nothing in the New Jerusalem “that defiles, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” And “there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve Him.”
11:8. “…the great city which is allegorically called Sodom…”
The Talmudists used the term ‘Sodom‘ as a perjorative word. The ‘sea of Sodom’ was also called ‘the salt sea’ or the ‘bituminous sea’ or ‘the lake Asphaltitis.’ They consider it to be the place of all that is to be cursed and rejected and is totally unfit for use. [1:15]
“…’proselytes and Sodomites hinder the coming of the Messias…” [2:296]
“…he speaks of the kingdom of God in that sense, as it signifies that dreadful revenge he would ere long take of that provoking nation and city of the Jews. The kingdom of God will come when Jerusalem shall be made like Sodom, ver. 29, {Luke 17}, when it shall be made a carcase, ver. 37. [3:181]
11:10. “…because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” (See 6:10 above.)
11:12. “…and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud…“ (See also 12:5.)
The superstitions of the Talmudists is revealed when they tell of trying eighty witches at one time. By a ruse, they arranged to have eighty young men lift them off the ground at once so that their magical powers would perish. Having thus disabled their powers, they tried them one by one and hung them all.
This is relevant to the Scripture where Jesus said: “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me.” (John 12:32). The Jews accused Him of witchcraft and that He did His miracles by the power of Beelzebub. However, this was disproven by their own traditions, because when He was lifted up on the cross, His power did not diminish for He raised up from the dead after that.
The two witnesses of Revelation 11:3 ascended up to heaven, and the Manchild of 12:5 also ascended up to heaven. When Jesus was caught up to heaven in the cloud, in Acts 1:9, His power did not diminish, for He fulfilled His promise to send the Holy Spirit upon His disciples and to give them power over sin, sickness, and demons. [1:35]