connection requires that it should be understood in this sense here, since it is said that “every eye shall see him;” that is, all that dwell on the face of the earth. ¶ _Shall wail because of him._ On account of him; on account of their treatment of him. The word rendered _wail_――κόπτω――means properly to beat, to cut; then {46} to beat or cut one’s self in the breast as an expression of sorrow; and then to lament, to cry aloud in intense grief. The coming of the Saviour will be an occasion of this, (a) because it will be an event which will call the sins of men to remembrance, and (b) because they will be overwhelmed with the apprehension of the wrath to come. Nothing would fill the earth with greater consternation than the coming of the Son of God in the clouds of heaven; nothing could produce so deep and universal alarm. This fact, which no one can doubt, is proof that men _feel_ that they are guilty, since, if they were innocent, they would have nothing to dread by his appearing. It is also a proof that they believe in the doctrine of future punishment, since, if they do not, there is no reason why they should be alarmed at his coming. Surely men would not dread his appearing if they really believed that all will be saved. Who dreads the coming of a benefactor to bestow favours on him? Who dreads the appearing of a jailer to deliver him from prison; of a physician to raise him up from a bed of pain; of a deliverer to knock off the fetters of slavery? And how _can_ it be that men should be alarmed at the coming of the Saviour, unless their consciences tell them that they have much to fear in the future? The presence of the Redeemer in the clouds of heaven would destroy all the hopes of those who believe in the doctrine of universal salvation――as the approach of death now often does. Men _believe_ that there is much to be dreaded in the future world, or they would not fear the coming of Him who shall wind up the affairs of the human race. ¶ _Even so, Amen_――ναὶ, ἁμήν. “A double expression of _so be it_, _assuredly_, _certainly_, one in Greek and the other in Hebrew” (Professor Stuart). Comp. Ro. viii. 16, “Abba, Father”――ἀββᾶ, ὁ πατήρ. The idea which John seems to intend to convey is, that the coming of the Lord Jesus, and the consequences which he says will follow, are events which are altogether _certain_. This is not the expression of a wish that it _may_ be so, as our common translation would seem to imply, but a strong affirmation that it _will_ be so. In some passages, however, the word (ναὶ) expresses _assent_ to what is said, implying approbation of it as true, or as desirable. “_Even so_, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight,” Mat. xi. 26; Lu. x. 21. So in Re. xvi. 7, “_Even so_ (ναὶ), Lord God Almighty.” So in Re. xxii. 20, “_Even so_ (ναὶ), come, Lord Jesus.” The word _Amen_ here seems to determine the meaning of the phrase, and to make it the affirmation of a _certainty_, rather than the expression of a _wish_.