--- title: "Revelation 12 - Study King James Bible with barnes notes on the whole bible" description: "Read Revelation 12 with barnes notes on the whole bible commentary. 1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12" --- [ Read](/kjv/revelation/12)[ Commentary](/study/revelation/12)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/revelation/12) Audio 1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and *to* his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred *and* threescore days. 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, *ye* heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man *child*. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. [Revelation 11](/study/revelation/11) [Revelation 13](/study/revelation/13) ## Commentary To verse 1 **And there appeared a great wonder in heaven -**In that heavenly world thus disclosed, in the very presence of God, he saw the impressive and remarkable symbol which he proceeds to describe. The word “wonder” - σημεῖον sēmeion - properly means something extraordinary, or miraculous, and is commonly rendered “sign.” See [Matthew 12:38-39](/kjv/matthew/12/38-39); [Matthew 16:1](/kjv/matthew/16/1), [Matthew 16:3-4](/kjv/matthew/16/3-4); [Matthew 24:3](/kjv/matthew/24/3), [Matthew 24:24](/kjv/matthew/24/24), [Matthew 24:30](/kjv/matthew/24/30); [Matthew 26:48](/kjv/matthew/26/48); [Mark 8:11-12](/kjv/mark/8/11-12); [Mark 13:4](/kjv/mark/13/4), [Mark 13:22](/kjv/mark/13/22); [Mark 16:17](/kjv/mark/16/17), [Mark 16:20](/kjv/mark/16/20); in all which, and in numerous other places in the New Testament, it is rendered “sign,” and mostly in the sense of “miracle.” When used in the sense of a miracle, it refers to the fact that the miracle is a sign or token by which the divine power or purpose is made known. Sometimes the word is used to denote “a sign of future things” - a portent or presage of coming events; that is, some remarkable appearances which foreshadow the future. Thus in [Matthew 16:3](/kjv/matthew/16/3); “signs of the times”; that is, the miraculous events which foreshadow the coming of the Messiah in his kingdom. So also in [Matthew 24:3](/kjv/matthew/24/3), [Matthew 24:30](/kjv/matthew/24/30); [Mark 13:4](/kjv/mark/13/4); [Luke 21:7](/kjv/luke/21/7), [Luke 21:11](/kjv/luke/21/11). This seems to be the meaning here, that the woman who appeared in this remarkable manner was a portent or token of what was to occur. **A woman clothed with the sun -**Bright, splendid, glorious, as if the sunbeams were her raiment. Compare [Revelation 1:16](/kjv/revelation/1/16); [Revelation 10:1](/kjv/revelation/10/1); see also [Song of Solomon 6:10](/kjv/song-of-solomon/6/10) - a passage which, very possibly, was in the mind of the writer when he penned this description: “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?” **And the moon under her feet -**The moon seemed to be under her feet. She seemed as if she stood on the moon, its pale light contrasted with the burning splendor of the sun, heightening the beauty of the whole picture. The woman, beyond all question, represents the church. See the notes on [Revelation 12:2](/kjv/revelation/12/2). Is the splendor of the sunlight designed to denote the brightness of the gospel? Is the moon designed to represent the comparatively feeble light of the Jewish dispensation? Is the fact that she stood upon the moon, or that it was under her feet, designed to denote the superiority of the gospel to the Jewish dispensation? Such a supposition gives much beauty to the symbol, and is not foreign to the nature of symbolic language. **And upon her head a crown of twelve stars -**A diadem in which there were placed twelve stars. That is, there were twelve sparkling gems in the crown which she wore. This would, of course, greatly increase the beauty of the vision; and there can be no doubt that the number twelve here is significant. If the woman here is designed to symbolize the church, then the number twelve has, in all probability, some allusion either to the twelve tribes of Israel as being a number which one who was born and educated as a Jew would be likely to use (compare [James 1:1](/kjv/james/1/1)), or to the twelve apostles - an allusion which, it may be supposed, an apostle would be more likely to make. Compare [Matthew 19:28](/kjv/matthew/19/28); [Revelation 21:14](/kjv/revelation/21/14). ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12","name":"Revelation 12 - Study King James Bible with barnes notes on the whole bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Revelation 12 with barnes notes on the whole bible commentary. 1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible","name":"barnes notes on the whole bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation","name":"Revelation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/12","name":"12"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```