Revelation 6:14

New Testament Apocalyptic ASV (1901)

What does Revelation 6:14 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Revelation 6:14 — American Standard Version

Context — Revelation 6

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
14And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, etc.] The manner of writing formerly was on rolls of parchment; hence the word volume is used for a book, which, when rolled up, the writing within could not be seen, not a syllable nor letter of it. In like manner the Roman empire, as Pagan, which was like a large sheet, or rather like the expanse or firmament of the heaven, stretched out over all the earth, was now, as to the Paganism of it, rolled up together, so that there were no more Heathen gods, nor Heathen priests; no more idolatry, and idolatrous worship of that kind were to be seen, and not so much as the names of Heathen gods to be heard of in the empire. And every…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“departed--Greek, "was separated from" its place; "was made to depart." Not as ALFORD, "parted asunder"; for, on the contrary, it was rolled together as a scroll which had been open is rolled up and laid aside. There is no "asunder one from another" here in the Greek, as in Act 15:39, which ALFORD copies. mountain . . . moved out of . . . places-- (Psa 121:1, Margin; Jer 3:23; Jer 4:24; Nah 1:5). This total disruption shall be the precursor of the new earth, just as the pre-Adamic convulsions prepared it for its present occupants.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal - See the notes at Revelation 5:1; Revelation 6:1. And, lo, there was a great earthquake - Before endeavoring to ascertain to what the sixth seal was designed to refer, it is proper, as in the previous cases, to furnish a particular explanation of the meaning of the symbols. All the symbols represented in the opening of this seal denote consternation, commotion, changes; but still they are all significant, and we are to suppose that something would occur corresponding with each one of them. It cannot be supposed that the things here described were represented on the part of the roll or volume that was now unfolded in any other way than that they…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“And the heavens departed as a book that is rolled together - When the scripture compares some very great with a little thing, the majesty and omnipotence of God, before whom great things are little, is highly exalted. Every mountain and island - What a mountain is to the land, that an island is to the sea. Revelation 6:15”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“the heaven: Psa 102:26; Isa 34:4; Heb 1:11-13; Pe2 3:10 and every: Rev 16:20; Isa 2:14-17; Jer 3:23, Jer 4:23-26, Jer 51:25; Hab 3:6, Hab 3:10 Revelation 6:15”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification