Two witnesses

The two witnesses (Ancient Greek: δύο μάρτυρες, romanized: duo martyres) are two literary figures who are mentioned in Revelation 11:1-14.

In attempting to interpret Revelation 11, commentators have generally understood the two witnesses in one of four ways or as a combination of two or more of these ways: The early Christian writer, Hippolytus of Rome, concluded that the two witnesses would be Enoch and Elijah, the two individuals who did not experience death according to other biblical passages (Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:10-11; Hebrews 11:5).

They will lay down the flesh of the world, and they will receive their spiritual flesh.Others have proposed Moses, for his ability to turn water into blood and the power to send plagues on the earth (Exodus 7:17-21; 9:13-14; Revelation 11:6).

[5] His companion would be Elijah the prophet, predicted to return (Malachi 4:5-6) and who prevented it from raining in Israel in the days of Ahab (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 4:25; James 5:17; Revelation 11:6).

[6] Therefore, the earliest known espousal of the Moses-Elijah view appears to be in Hilary of Poitiers's Latin commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.

[12] Four notable defenses of this view of the two witnesses are those by Donatus Haugg (1900-1943),[13] James Henthorn Todd,[14] Isbon T. Beckwith (1843-1936),[15] and Christine Joy Tan.

[20] John Gill's Exposition of the Bible interprets the two witnesses as the true Church in counterdistinction to the "antichrist system" of Roman Catholicism.

These two prophets will represent both the ancient Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel (the two olive trees) and be descendants of the two covenant sons from the tribes of Judah and Joseph (as the two lampstands).

[32][33] The Bahá'í Faith identifies the two witnesses as Muhammed, the founder of Islam, and Ali, the son of Abú Tálib.

They interpret "clothed in sackcloth" to mean that they initially appeared to be of no consequence and without a new revelation because the spiritual principles of Islam would correspond closely with those promulgated in Christianity and Judaism.

[34][35] Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles (Do and Ti), the leaders of the UFO religious cult Heaven's Gate, initially claimed to be the two witnesses in the 1970s.

The first witness is Ichabod Crane, a Revolutionary War soldier who, after battling with the Horseman of Death (whom he causes to be headless), awakens in Sleepy Hollow in 2013.

The second witness is Lieutenant Abbie Mills, a contemporary woman in law enforcement who helps Crane adjust to the 21st century and aids him in battling dæmonic forces.

Not long thereafter, Molly's older self, going by the name Lara, comes from the future to aid Crane in his battles, thereby assuming the mantle of the witness from her younger self.

The two witnesses, as depicted in the Bamberg Apocalypse , an 11th-century illuminated manuscript .
"These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth." Revelation 11:4
Elijah and Enoch, 17th century icon