John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 4. And the third angel poured his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters , etc.] Which also is not to be literally understood of a stagnation of them, before the burning of the world; nor of the destruction of Popish fleets and navies, such as the Spanish armada in 1588, and others since; but rather of Popish writings, of the most learned and subtle men among them, who like rivers and fountains, which supply and fill the sea, support and keep up the Romish jurisdiction and hierarchy; and of the confutation of them by Protestant writers; and of the utter destruction of their principal orders, and chief men among them, as cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, Jesuits, etc. though it seems chiefly to design the places near to Rome, such as Italy and Savoy; for as the third trumpet affects the rivers and fountains, ( Revelation 8:10) and brings in the Huns into Italy, and issued in the destruction of the empire; so the third vial affects the same, and brings terrible wars, and great effusion of blood, where so much of the blood of the saints have been shed: hence it follows, and they became blood; these countries will be covered with blood, and a reformation will ensue upon it; the allusion is to ( Exodus 7:19-21).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-7 - We are to pray that the will of God may be done on earth as it is don in heaven. Here is a succession of terrible judgments of Providence and there seems to be an allusion to several of the plagues of Egypt The sins were alike, and so were the punishments. The vials refer to the seven trumpets, which represented the rise of antichrist; and the fall of the enemies of the church shall bear some resemblance to their rise. All things throughout their earth, their air, their sea, their rivers, their cities, all are condemned to ruin, all accursed for the wickedness of that people. No wonder that angels, who witness of execute the Divine vengeance on the obstinate haters of God, of Christ and of holiness, praise his justice and truth; and adore his awfu judgments, when he brings upon cruel persecutors the tortures they mad his saints and prophets suffer.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ ο 3588 T-NSM τριτος 5154 A-NSM αγγελος 32 N-NSM εξεχεεν 1632 5656 V-AAI-3S την 3588 T-ASF φιαλην 5357 N-ASF αυτου 846 P-GSM εις 1519 PREP τους 3588 T-APM ποταμους 4215 N-APM και 2532 CONJ εις 1519 PREP τας 3588 T-APF πηγας 4077 N-APF των 3588 T-GPN υδατων 5204 N-GPN και 2532 CONJ εγενετο 1096 5633 V-2ADI-3S αιμα 129 N-NSN
Vincent's NT Word Studies
4. The third angel. Omit angel.They became (egeneto). There is no necessity for rendering the singular verb in the plural. We may say either it became or there came.
