Bible Strands
Revelation 14:16
So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records the One seated on a cloud executing a harvest command immediately after an angel declares the earth's crop ripe. This action follows directly from the angelic summons in Revelation 14:15 and precedes the second harvest in Revelation 14:17–19.
The words — The Greek verb ἔβαλεν (ebalen) literally means "threw" or "swung," denoting the downward motion of the sickle. The prepositional phrase ἐπὶ τῆς νεφέλης (epi tēs nephelēs) anchors the actor upon the cloud, matching the throne-room description in Revelation 14:14.
The thread — The cloud-riding figure echoes the Son of Man imagery in Matthew 16:27 and Revelation 14:14, while the sickle harvest parallels the grape-gathering judgment in Revelation 14:19.
Why it lands — The passage presents divine judgment as a completed action triggered by a fixed timetable rather than a conditional warning. It requires the reader to acknowledge that the text treats the harvest as an executed reality, not a symbolic possibility.
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The Greek words
King James Version
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
Cross-references
- Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- Revelation 14:14 And I looked and saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was One like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.
- Revelation 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.
- Revelation 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out on the earth the seven bowls of God’s wrath.”
- John 5:22 Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,