Revelation 16:17 Notes

Greek (SBLGNT): Καὶ ὁ ἕβδομος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν ἀέρα — καὶ ἐξῆλθεν φωνὴ μεγάλη ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου λέγουσα · Γέγονεν —

Καὶ ὁ ἕβδομος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ-With the seventh bowl (vial" KJV) being poured out, John now uses another resumptive Καὶ ("then").

ἐπὶ τὸν ἀέρα-the "air" is one of the four classical elements (Aune). I would submit that the "air" likely is metaphorical or symbolic: G.K. Beale invokes Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 9:2, Philo, et al. He associates the "air" with the ten plagues imagery of Revelation and possibly with the demonic air of Ephesians. On the other hand, Robert H. Mounce sees no reason to link the "air" in Revelation 16:17 with the demonic sphere. See Robert Thomas, Revelation 8-22, page 272: Thomas makes some noteworthy and interesting observations on Revelation 16:17, but some of his information is suspect due to the age of his sources and how we now understand verbal aspect.

καὶ ἐξῆλθεν φωνὴ μεγάλη ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου-Aune thinks this part of the verse could be alluding to Isaiah 66:6 (compare Rev. 16:1) and he treats the construction as a potential epexegetical genitive.

The perfect tense of γέγονεν, “it is finished,” suggests a contrast with the previous use of aorist tenses and points to the climactic end of the series of plagues that God has inflicted on the world (Lambrecht, “Structuration,” in L’Apocalypse, ed. J. Lambrecht, 94 n. 45).

Aune, Dr. David. Revelation 6-16, Volume 52B (Word Biblical Commentary) (p. 903). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

See Revelation 7:15; 8:5; 11:1, 19; 17:1; 21:3-4.

Robertson's Word Pictures:

A great voice (φωνὴ μεγάλη ). The voice of God as in Revelation 16:1.

It is done (Γέγονεν). Perfect active indicative of γίνομαι. Like Γέγοναν in Revelation 21:6. The whole series of plagues is now complete.

Gregory K. Beale: "The voice is either Christ’s, God’s, or that of the four cherubim (א  pc 2027 identify the voice explicitly as God). If it comes from the cherubim, they merely convey the divine decree. Probably, on analogy with 16:1, it is either God’s or Christ’s voice, especially since the voice comes from the throne itself."

R.H. Mounce quotes Moffatt's translation, "All is over."

Ian Paul (Revelation, Tyndale NTC): "Instead of pouring out his bowl on some part of the earth, the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. The ‘air’ was known in Greek and Roman mythology as the lowest level of the heavens, and in the New Testament refers to the spiritual realm as it affects human life (as in ‘the prince of power of the air’, Eph. 2:2, AT). The voice comes once more from the temple; having first commissioned the angels to pour out the bowls in verse 1, it now declares that It is done! ⁷ The phrase is repeated in 21:6, confirming both that this is a circumlocution for the voice of God in his covenant faithfulness (see comment on 16:1) and that the end of this sequence, like the ends of the previous two, is an anticipation of the End that is more fully described in Revelation 21 – 22."

Contrast Revelation 16:17 with John 19:30.