And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Ver. 10. And they cried] When God intends deliverance to his people, he poureth out upon them "the spirit of grace and supplication," Zechariah 12:9,10 .
How long, O Lord] Calvin had this speech always in his mouth, breathing out his holy desires in the behalf of the afflicted Churches, with whose sufferings he was more affected than with anything that befell himself. (Beza in Vita.)
Dost thou not judge and avenge] The glorified souls cannot be properly said to desire revenge; but the cry which they make must be understood to be the provocation of God to vengeance which their sufferings produce in the same sort as Abel's blood is said to cry. (Thorndike.)
That dwell on the earth] In opposition to the inhabitants of heaven. As names written in heaven stand opposed to those that are written in the earth, Luke 10:20; Jeremiah 17:13 .