The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (302 page)

11:3 two witnesses:
Represent the Church's witness to Israel and, more specifically, her conviction that the Law and the Prophets bear witness to Christ. So understood, the fate of the two witnesses symbolize the rejection of the gospel by unbelieving Israel (11:10), as well as the Church's conformity to Christ in his dying, rising, and exaltation (11:7, 11-12). Some see the witnesses as two historical individuals, either as two unknown martyrs or as two figures from the OT, such as Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah. • The actions of the witnesses recall those of Moses and Elijah: they "shut the sky" (11:6; 1 Kings 17:1); they turn water "into blood" (11:6; Ex 7:20); they are taken up to "heaven" (11:12; 2 Kings 2:11); and they give "testimony" to Jesus (11:7; Lk 9:28-31).
sackcloth:
A coarse garment of goat hair worn as a sign of mourning and repentance (Dan 9:3; Joel 1:13). 
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11:4 two olive trees:
An image drawn from Zech 4:114. • Zechariah saw two olive trees that symbolized the anointed leaders of Israel who helped to rebuild the nation after the Babylonian exile: the royal governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua. Here they represent the twofold mission of the Church to be a royal and priestly witness to the gospel (1:6; 5:10). 
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11:7 the beast:
Later mentioned in 13:1 and 17:8. 
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11:8 the great city:
The city of Jerusalem (Jer 22:8), which crucified the Lord Jesus and took the lives of numerous early Christians (Acts 5:28-30; 7:58-60; 12:2; 26:10). Some interpret this verse figuratively as a reference to the unbelieving world and its hostility toward the Church. This is the first of several references to the "great city" in Revelation (17:18; 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21).
Sodom and Egypt:
Places infamous in the Bible for their moral depravity and oppressive slavery (Gen 18:20; Ex 1:8-14). • Occasionally the Prophets compared the iniquity of Jerusalem to that of Sodom and Egypt (Is 3:9; Jer 23:14; Ezek 23:27). 
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Word Study

Witnesses
(
Rev 11:3
)

Martys
(Gk.): a noun meaning "witness". The term is used in a variety of ways in the NT.
(1)
In a legal sense, a witness is "one who testifies" before a court or panel of authorities (Acts 6:13; 2 Cor 13:1; 1 Tim 5:19).
(2)
A witness can be an "eyewitness", referring to one who has seen or heard something and who may be called upon to vouch for it (Acts 22:15; 1 Thess 2:10). Paul invokes God in this way as a witness to his intentions and interior actions (Rom 1:9; 2 Cor 1:23).
(3)
A witness can be a "messenger". In this sense, the apostles are witnesses who tell the world of the dying and rising of Jesus (Acts 1:8, 22; 10:39).
(4)
In early Christian times, the word acquired the specialized meaning of "martyr", referring to someone who testifies to Christ to the point of death (Acts 22:20). This is the sense of the term in Revelation, where Jesus is the prototype of the martyrs (Rev 1:5; 3:14) who choose to die for him rather than deny him and his gospel (Rev 2:13; 11:3; 17:6).

11:9 men from the peoples:
The Gentiles in general or perhaps Diaspora Jews living among them throughout the Roman world. The world applauds Jerusalem's violent attempt to halt the advance of the gospel. 
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11:11 breath of life:
An allusion to Ezek 37:1-14, where the restoration of faithful Israel is portrayed as a resurrection of bodies by the breath of the Spirit. 
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11:12 in a cloud:
Recalls how Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud (Acts 1:9) and anticipates how the saints, too, will ascend into glory after the general resurrection (1 Thess 4:1617). 
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11:13 earthquake:
The murderous city experiences the first tremor of divine judgment.
tenth of the city:
The figure of 7,000 casualties, indicative of sevenfold judgment, suggests Jerusalem is still in view.
See note on Rev 6:1-8:5
.
gave glory:
This is the only chastisement in Revelation that leads some to repentance (contrast with 9:20-21 and 16:9, 11). 
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11:14 the third woe:
The seventh trumpet (11:15).
See note on Rev 8:13
. 
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11:15-19
The seventh trumpet, which ends the second I series of judgments delayed since 10:1. With this final blast, the kingdom of Christ appears, judgment begins, and destruction overtakes the wicked. • The biblical backdrop is twofold.
(1)
The collapse of Jericho, an event that gave Israel a decisive hold on the Promised Land, likewise followed seven trumpet blasts (Josh 6:1-21).
(2)
The declaration in 11:15 recalls the dream of Nebuchadnezzer (Dan 2:31-36), in which the eternal kingdom of God destroys the godless kingdoms of the world (Dan 2:44-45).
See note on Rev 10:7
. 
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11:17 who are and who were:
A shortened form of the title in 1:4, 8 and 4:8. The omission of the future element "who is to come" here and in 16:5 is deliberate, signaling that God has at last come as King and Judge over the earth (11:15). The manifestation of God's kingdom may be linked with the trampling down of Jerusalem, as in Lk 21:31 (cf. Zech 14:1-9). 
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11:19 ark of his covenant:
The throne of God in the heavenly temple. From its base issue divine judgments symbolized by violent thunderstorms and earthquakes (4:5; 16:17-18). • John sees the heavenly counterpart to the ancient ark where Yahweh sat invisibly enthroned in the sanctuaries of Israel (2 Sam 6:2; Is 37:16). 
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12:1-14:20
A narrative interlude between the judgment of the seven trumpets (8:6-11:19) and the judgment of the seven bowls (15:1-16:21). This central section may be seen as developing around seven spiritual figures (woman, 12:1; dragon, 12:3; male child, 12:5; Michael, 12:7; sea beast, 13:1; land beast, 13:11; the Lamb, 14:1). 
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12:1-6
The
woman
of Revelation 12 is both an individual person and a collective symbol. She is Mary, the Mother of the Messiah and the spiritual mother of his disciples (Jn 19:26-27). But she also represents the faithful of Israel, crying out for the Messiah (Rev 12:2), as well as the Church, attacked by the devil for witnessing to Jesus (12:17) (CCC 501, 507, 1138). • The depiction of the woman is rich in biblical symbolism.
(1)
Antagonism between the woman and the
dragon,
the "ancient serpent" (12:9), recalls Gen 3:15, the first prophecy in Scripture to foretell the demise of the devil through the offspring (Messiah) of a woman (a new Eve).
(2)
Images of the
sun, moon,
and
stars
call to mind Gen 37:9-10, where they symbolize the family of Israel, namely, Jacob, his wife, and his twelve sons.
(3)
The
pangs
and
anguish
of childbirth recall Isaiah's description of Daughter Zion, a maternal figure that represents the holy remnant of Israel groaning for redemption (Is 26:17; Mic 4:9-10).
(4)
Because the woman is a queen who wears a
crown
and a mother who bears a royal
male child,
she is also the Queen Mother of the Davidic kingdom reestablished by Jesus, the Davidic male child (1 Kings 2:19-20; Jer 13:18) (CCC 489). See essay:
Queen Mother
at 1 Kings 2. • The woman is clearly the Church, endowed with the Word of the Father, whose brightness outshines the sun. Like the moon she is adorned with heavenly glory, and her crown of twelve stars points to the twelve apostles who founded the Church (St. Hippolytus,
On the Antichrist
61). The vision speaks of the Mother of our Savior, depicting her in heaven, not on earth, as pure in body and soul, as equal to an angel, as one of heaven's citizens, as one who brought about the Incarnation of God. She has nothing in common with this world and its evils but is exalted and worthy of heaven, despite her descent from our mortal nature (Oecumenius,
Commentary on the Apocalypse
6, 19). 
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