Revelation 6:15

“And the king's of the earth, and the great men, etc.] The Roman emperors, and other principal magistrates, governors of provinces and cities: and the rich men; among the commonalty; these three may design perhaps more particularly the emperors, nobles, and senate of Rome: and the chief captains; or captains of thousands, that had the command of the Roman legions and the mighty men; the soldiers that were under them, men of strength, courage, and valour; and every bondman, and every freeman; which takes in all the inhabitants of the Roman empire, of every state and condition, and which was an usual distinction among the Romans: these hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the…”

“kings . . . hid themselves--Where was now the spirit of those whom the world has so greatly feared? [BENGEL]. great men--statesmen and high civil officers. rich men . . . chief captains--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, transpose thus, "chief captains . . . rich men." mighty--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, and C read, "strong" physically (Psa 33:16). in--literally "into"; ran into, so as to hide themselves in. dens--"caves."”

“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…”

“And the kings of the earth - They who had been so in their day. And the great men and chief captains - The generals and nobles. Hid themselves - So far as in them lay. In the rocks of the mountains - There are also rocks on the plains; but they were rocks on high, which they besought to fall upon them. Revelation 6:16”

“6:15-17 hid themselves: In the face of God’s judgment, unredeemed people will be terrified and seek a safe hiding place, but in vain (Isa 2:19-21; Ezek 38:20; Hos 10:8; Luke 23:30). The prophets repeatedly warned that the great day would be a day of wrath and judgment (Isa 13:6-11; Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18; Zeph 1:14-15). • The ultimate question concerning God’s judgment is, who is able to survive? (Mal 3:2). God’s children will rejoice to see him (Rev 5:13-14; 14:3-5) because they understand God’s response to the martyrs’ cry for vengeance (6:9-11), and they themselves have nothing to fear from God’s judgment (Acts 10:34-36; Rom 5:1-2). Those who have persecuted God’s people, however, will…”

“the kings: Rev 18:9-11, Rev 19:13-21; Job 34:19, Job 34:20; Psa 2:10-12, Psa 49:1, Psa 49:2, Psa 76:12, Psa 110:5, Psa 110:6; Isa 24:21, Isa 24:22 hid: Jos 10:16, Jos 10:17; Jdg 6:2; Sa1 13:6; Isa 2:10, Isa 2:19, Isa 42:22; Mic 7:17; Heb 11:38 Revelation 6:16”