The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University

By not suffering the dead bodies of the witnesses to be put in graves [Revelation 11:8–10] must be understood a mocking, reviling, and venting hatred and malice against them after dead; for they could not satisfy their rage and cruelty upon them by only killing them. And we know that thus the Papists used always to do, very often venting their rage like fools upon their dead bodies, tearing and burning [them], sometimes digging them out of the earth on purpose to do those things to them, citing them to their bar after dead, and such like; also sometimes in not suffering any to bury them. Their anger and malice always used to be expressed so, that they used to curse and excommunicate them after dead, etc.