The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924076060676 ./^^^x CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 924 076 060 676 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN O/L•//^! <2 8a_5' /9/7z MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA • MADRAS MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO ' DALLAS * SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO • THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN . THE GREEK TEXT WITH . INTRODUCTION NOTES AND INDICES BY HENRY BARCLAY SWETE, D.D., F.B.A., EON. LITT.D. OXFORD AND DUBLIN HON. CD. GLASGOW SOMETIME BEBITJS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY AND FELLOW OF GONVILLK AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE HON. CANON OF ELT THIRD EDITION MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1917 COPYRIGHT First Edition, September 1906. Second Edition, April 1907. Third Edition, 1909. Reprinted 191 1, 1917. VIRO • ADMODVM • REVERENDO • FREDERICK) • HENRICO • CHASE • S-T-P- EPISCOPO • ELIENSI ■ APVD ■ CANTABRIGIENSES • NVPER ■ PROFESSORI • NORRISIAN ■: OBSERVANTIAE • ERGO- AMICITIAEQVE • STVDIA • HAEC ■ APOCALYPTICA • QVALIACVMQVE ■ • DEDICO PEEFACE TO THE THIED EDITION. The publication in the present year of Dr Hort's lecture-notes upon the Apocalypse has rendered necessary a few additions both to the introduction and to the notes of this volume. Until my first edition had been published I was not aware that Dr Hort had lectured upon" the subject, and the announcement that his notes were being prepared for the press came as a further and welcome surprise.' Their value has been justly estimated by Dr Sanday in his preface to the work, and I need only add the hope that all readers of the present book may be able to consult Dr Hort's fresh and suggestive pages. In regard to the unity of the Apocalypse I am rejoiced to find that I have the support of his great authority. On the other hand he inclines decidedly to the earlier date, and upon some important points of exegesis his conclusions differ from those to which I had come. To the latter it has been impossible to do more than refer ; upon the date of the book I have added a postscript to the chapter of my intro- duction which deals with that question, briefly stating the grounds upon which I am unable to abandon the traditional view. Besides these additions a few corrections, supplied by reviews or received from private friends, have been made in this edition, and the pagination has undergone some necessary changes. H. B. S. Cambridge, 3 Septe?nber 1908. - PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. An unexpected call for a reissue of this book within a few- months after its publication compels me to pass it through the press again before it has been reviewed by some of the chief organs of English theological opinion. I have, however, received much help in the way of coiTections and suggestions of various • kinds both from the notices and reviews which have appeared and from the letters of friends. Among correspondents to whom I am indebted I would mention the Bishop of Ely, the Dean of St Patrick's, Professor Gwynn and Professor Lawlor of Dublin, Dr Nestle, the Rev. C. Plummer, Professor W. Emery Barnes and Professor Burkitt, and especially Professor J. Ε. B. Mayor, whose stores of learning have supplied not a few fresh references and illustrations. . In preparing for this reprint I have read both the Introduction and Notes again, and have revised them freely Wherever it seemed possible to remove an ambiguity by a verbal change; from the judgements passed and the principles advocated in the first edition I have seen no cause to depart. The apparatus criticus remains unaltered, except that the readings of the Coptic and Armenian versions have been corrected to some extent with the help of the new editions of those versions lately published by Mr Horner and Mr Conybeare. The references in the Index to the Introduction and Notes have been brought into agreement with the slightly altered paging, which, as the book has been electrotyped, will now, I trust, be permanent. Cambridge, 23 March 1907. PEEFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Eight years ago I was permitted to finish a commentary on the earliest of the four Gospels. As a sequel to it, I now offer a commentary on the Revelation of St John. The Apocalypse discloses the heavenly life of our Lord, as the Gospels paint His life in Galilee and Jerusalem. In the Gospels, He is seen teaching and working in His mortal flesh; in the Apocalypse, He belongs to another and a higher order. But the ascended life is a continuation of the life in the flesh ; the Person is the same yesterday and to-day, in Palestine and in Heaven. Thus the Apocalypse carries forward the revelation of the Gospels. It carries it, however, into a region where the methods of the biographer and historian avail nothing. We are in the hands of a prophet, who sees and hears things that elude the eyes and ears of other men; the simple narrative of the Evangelist has given place to a symbolism which represents the struggle of the Apocalyptist tp express ideas that lie in great part beyond the range of human thought. Yet the life which St John reveals is not less real than that which is depicted by St Mark, nor are its activities less amazing. No miracles meet us here, but we are in the presence of spiritual processes which are more wonderful than the healing of the sick or the raising of the dead: a supervision of all the Churches, which surpasses the powers of any earthly pastor ; an ordering of nature and life, which bears witness to the investment of the risen Lord with all authority in heaven and on earth ; a perfect knowledge of men, and a prescience which reads the issues of history. The revelation of the Lord's heavenly life becomes, as we proceed, a revelation of the things which are and the things which shall come to pass x PREFACE. hereafter ; we see the glorified life in its bearing upon the course of events, until the end has been attained and the whole creation has felt its renovating power. To comment on this great prophecy is a harder task than to comment on a Gospel, and he who undertakes it exposes himself to the charge of presumption. I have been led to venture upon what I know to be dangerous ground by the conviction that the English student needs an edition of this book which shall endeavour to take account of the large accessions to knowledge made in recent years, and shall be drawn upon a scale commensurate with that of the larger commentaries on other books of the New Testament. More especially I have had in view the wants of the English clergy, who, scholars at heart by early education or by the instincts of a great tradition, are too often precluded from reaping the fruits of research through inability to procure or want of leisure to read a multitude of books. It is my belief, and the belief has grown in strength as my task has proceeded, that the Apocalypse offers to the pastors of the Church an unrivalled store of materials for Christian teaching, if only the book is approached with an assurance of its prophetic character, chastened by a frank acceptance of the light which the growth of knowledge has cast and will continue to cast upon it. The Apocalypse is well- worked ground. It would not be difficult tp construct a commentary which should be simply a catena of patristic and mediaeval expositions, or an attempt to compare and group the views of later writers. Such an under- taking would not be without interest or value, but, it lies outside -the scope of the present work. In this commentary, as in the commentary, on St Mark, it has been my endeavour, in the first instance, to make an independent study of the text, turning to the commentaries afterwards for the purpose of correcting or supplementing my own conclusions. As a rule, the interpretations which are offered here are those which seemed to arise out of the writer's own words, viewed in connexion with the circumstances under which he wrote, and the general purpose of his work, without reference to the various schools of Apocalyptic exegesis. There are those to whom the results will appear bizarre, and a medley of heterogeneous elements ; but the syncretism, if it be such, PBEFACE. χϊ has been reached, not by the blending of divergent views, but through the guidance of definite principles, which are stated in the introduction. Here it may be briefly explained that I have sought to place each passage in the light of the conditions under which the book was composed, and to interpret accordingly ; not forgetting, however, the power inherent in all true 'prophecy of fulfilling itself in circumstances remote from those which called it forth. But, with this reservation, I have gladly used the labours of predecessors in the field, especially the pregnant remarks of the patristic writers. Of modern commentators, Bousset has helped me most, and though I differ profoundly from his general attitude towards the book, and from not a few of his interpretations, I gladly acknowledge that I. have greatly benefited by the stores of knowledge with which his book abounds. The Jewish Apocalypses edited by Professor Charles, and other apocalyptic writings, Jewish and Christian, have been always at. my side. For geographical and archaeological details I am deeply indebted to the works of Professor "W. M. Ramsay, the article on Asia Minor by Dr Johannes Weiss in Hauck's recast of Herzog's RealencyMopadie, and the admirable monograph on Proconsular Asia contributed by Monsieur Victor Chapot to the Bibliotheque de l'£col& des Hautes iZtudes. During my preparations for the press, I have been unable to make a personal use of the University Library ; and though my difficulty has been partly overcome in the past year through the kindness of the Syndics of the Library, the loss has been serious, and I fear that it will be felt by readers who look for fulness of detail and the use. of the latest editions. From gross inaccuracies my work has been saved, as I trust, by the ready help of many friends. My warm thanks are due to the Rev. J. H. Srawley, of Gonville and Caius and Selwyn Colleges, and to the Rev. H. C. 0. Lanchester, Fellow of Pembroke College, who have read the proofs of the introduction, text, and notes. Mr Srawley has verified nearly all the references in the notes; the indices and the Biblical references in the introduction have been corrected by the care of a relative. My colleagues, Professor Reid and Professor Ridgeway, have allo\ved me to submit to them the proofs of portions of my book in which •Ι had xii PREFACE. occasion to enter upon ground which they have severally made their own. To the Rev. A. S. Walpole, editor of a volume of Latin Hymns which is shortly to . appear in Cambridge Patristic Texts, I owe my knowledge of the splendid stanzas which precede the introduction. Other debts of various kinds call for acknowledgement here. Messrs T. and T. Clark, of Edinburgh, with the ready consent of Professor Ramsay, have permitted me to adapt to my own use . the map of Asia Minor which accompanies the article on Roads . and Travel (in the New Testament) -in the supplementary volume of Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. The Rev. T. C. Fitzpatrick, President of Queens' College, supplied the negative from which the engraving of Patmos has been produced; and the specimen of MS. 186 came from a photograph of the entire MS. kindly taken for me by Professor Lake, of Oxford and Leyden. For the page of coins illustrating the life and worship of pagan Asia in the age of the Apocalypse I have to thank Dr M. R. James, Director of' the Fitzwilliam Museum, who helped me to select them from Colonel Leake's famous collection, and his assistant, Mr H. A. Chapman, to whose skill the casts were due. Lastly, it is a pleasure once again to say how much I owe to the unfailing attention of the workmen and readers and the ready assistance of the officials of the University Press. I part with the work which has occupied the leisure of some years under a keen sense of the shortcomings that are apparent even when it is judged by the standard of my own expectations, yet not without an assured hope that it may help some of my fellow-students to value and understand a book which is in some respects the crown of the New Testament canon. In letting it go from me, I can only repeat Augustine's prayer., which stood / at the end of the preface to St Mark, and is even more necessary here. Domine Deus. . .quaecumqiie died in hoc libro de tuo, agnoscant et tui ; si qua de meo, et Tu ignosce et tui. Η. B. S. ' Cambridge, F. of the Transfiguration, 1906. CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction : I. Prophecy in the Apostolic Church .... xvii II. Apocalypses, Jewish and Christian .... xxii III. Contents and plan of the Apocalypse of John . .* ' xxxiii -IV. Unity of the Apocalypse . ... xlvi V. Destination " . lv VI. Christianity in, the Province of Asia -. lxvi VII. Antichrist in the Province of Asia . . lxxviii VIII. Purpose of the Apocalypse . . . . ' . . xciv IX. Date .......... xcix X. Circulation and reception cvii ■ XL Vocabulary, Grammar, and Style . cxx XII. Symbolism . . cxxxi XIII. Use of the Old Testament and of other literature . cxI XIV. Doctrine clix XV. Authorship - clxxiv XVI. Text clxxxvi XVII. Commentaries cxcvii XVIII. History and methods of Interpretation . . . ccvii Text and Notes . ι Index of Greek "Words used in the Apocalypse . . . 315 Index to the Introduction and Notes 328 ILLUSTKATIONS. •' Coins of the Apocalyptic cities facing page lx Bust op Nero . „ „ lxxsii Statue of Domitian „ „ lxxxvi Patmos „ „ clxxvii Cod. Apoc. ι 86 (Athos, Pantocrator 44) .*,..„ „ cxcix Map of Asia Minor in the time of- Domitian . at the end of the volume IOHANNES APOCALYPTISTA Caelum transit, veri rotam solis uidit, ibi totam mentis figens aciem : speculator spiritalis quasi seraphim sub alis Dei uidit faoiem. audiit in gyro sedis quid psallant cum citharoedis quater seni proceres : ν de sigillo Trinitatis nostrae nummo ciuitatis impressit characteres. uolat auis sine meta quo nee uates nee propheta euolauit altius : tarn implenda quam impleta numquam uidit tot secreta purus homo purius. ECCLESIAM TVAW, QVABSVMVS, DOMINE, BENIGNVS ILLVSTRA, VT BEATI IOHANNIS...ILLVUINATA D0CTRIN1S AD BONA PBRVENIAT SBMPITBRNA. PER DOMIlfUX. CONCEDE, QVAESUMUS, OXNIPOTBNS DBVS, VT QOI...UNieENITUM TVVX REDBMPTORBH NOSTRUM AD OAELOS ASCENDISSE CREDIMUS, IPSr QUOQUE MENTE IN CAELESTJBVS HABITBUVS. PER EUNDEM. BXOITAy QVAESUMUS, DOMINE, POTENTIAL TUAX ET VENT, ET MAGNA NOmS VIRTUTB SUCCURRB, VT AUXILIUM ORATIAB TVAB QUOD NOSTRA PECCATA PRAEPEDIVNT lNDULQBNTIA TVAB PROPITI- ATIONIS AUCELERET. ftDI VIVIS. INTRODUCTION. I. PKOPHECY IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. i. The Christian era opened with a revival of Prophecy. In the Maccabean age and the times that followed it the prophetic order was believed to be dead, or in a state of suspended vitality ; in matters pertaining to God men acted provisionally^ " till there should arise a faithful prophet 1 " to interpret the Divine Will. Whether this impression was correct or not 2 , it is certain that the Advent was marked by an outburst of prophetic utterance to which the two centuries before Christ can offer no parallel. Prophetic gifts were exercised by the priest Zacharias, by Simeon of Jerusalem, by Hannah of the tribe of Asher 3 . As for John, the son of Zacharias, he was not only universally accounted a prophet, but pronounced by Christ to be " much more," since the prophet who was the Lord's immediate forerunner had greater honour than thqse who from a distance foresaw His coming 4 - 2. Christian prophecy begins with the Ministry of Christ. The crowds which hung upon His lips both in Galilee and at Jerusalem, and even the Samaritan woman who at first resented His teaching, recognized in Him a Prophet, — perhaps a propheta redivivus, a Jeremiah restored to life 5 . Nor did the Lord hesitate to accept this view of His missiqn"; if it was inadequate, yet it correctly described one side of His work. A Prophet Himself, He came to inaugurate a new line of prophets; He undertook to endow His new Israel with the prophetic Spirit which had been 1 -i Mace, iv. 46, ix. 27, xiv. 41 ; see 4 Mt. xi. 9 ft., Mc.xi. 32, Lo. vii. 26 ff. -also Ps. lxxiv. 9. 5 Mt. xvi. 14, Mc. vi. 15, Jo. iv. 19, 2 SeeHainack, Mission u.Aiisbreitung, vi. 14, vii. 40, ix. 17. i. p. 240 f. (E. tr. i. p. 414 £.). 6 Mo. vi. 4, Jo. iv. 44; of. Acts iii. 22, 3 Lo. i. 07, ii. 25, 36. vii. 37. S. R. - δ χνπι PROPHECY IN THE APOSTOLIC CHUECH the glory of the ancient people of God 1 . The Church was to possess not only "scribes," whose task it would be to interpret the Christian tradition, but inspired teachers, able through the Spirit to guide believers into new fields of thought and action 2 . 3. The earliest history of the Church shews the fulfilment of these hopes and promises. On the Day of Pentecost, in a speech attributed to St Peter, the words of Joel are applied to the future Israel : your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. . .yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days will I pour forth of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy 1 . How soon a recog- nized order of prophets arose in the Church of Jerusalem there is no evidence to shew, but about the year 43 — 4* Christian prophets from" Jerusalem, Agabus and others, made their way to Antioch, and shortly afterwards resident prophets ministered there in the congregation 5 . After the conference at Jerusalem (a.d. 49) the hands of the Antiochian prophets were strengthened by the coming of two other prophets from the mother Church, Judas Barsabbas and Silas 6 . Seven years later, the daughters of Philip the Evangelist are found exercising prophetic gifts at Caesarea; and on the same occasion St Paul's arrest at Jerusalem is foretold by a prophet from Judaea, one Agabus 7 , probably the person who had predicted the Claudian famine. His prophecy came as no surprise to the Apostle, who had received similar warnings from Christian prophets' in the cities through which he had passed on his way to Palestine 8 . Prophets were to be found everywhere in the Churches planted by St Paul. 4. From what has been said it appears that the new prophecy began at Jerusalem, and spread from Jerusalem to Antioch, and from Antioch to Asia Minor and Greece. The Epistles of St Paul bear witness to its presence at Thessalonica, at Corinth, at Ephesus, 1 Lo. xi. 49, Jo. xvi. 12 ff. (Hastings, D.B. i. p. 415 ft.). 2 Mt. xiii. 52, xxiii. 34, Lo. xi. 49. 6 Acts xi. 27, xiii. 1 f. 8 Acts ii. 17 f.(Joelii. 28 f.). On the 6 Thompson,- Greek and -γημένου. Eph. iii. 3 κατά αποκάλυψα/ Latin Palaeography, p. 57 f . ; Kenyon, έ-γνωρίσθη μοι τό μυστήριοι/. Pal. of Greek papyri, p. 22. δ Eph. i. 17. 2 Seecc. ix, x. _ 3 Seep. 1. « 1 Cor. xiv. 6, 26,-2 Cor.xii. 1 (where 4 See e.g. Mt. xi. 25 (κρυψαί ταΰτα αποκάλυψα! are coupled with όπτασίαί), άποσοφων καΐ συνιτων,καΐ άπεκάλυψαι 7> the verb is similarly used in 1 Cor. αυτά νηπίοις. Rom. xvi. 25 κατά άπο- xiv. 30. APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN xxiii gift of revelation took its place as an instrument of edification by the side of the gift of prophecy ; it was in fact a particular manifestation of the prophetic Spirit, in which the spirit of the prophet seemed to be carried up into a higher sphere, endowed for the time with new powers of vision, and enabled to. hear words which cpuld not be reproduced in the terms of human thought, or could be reproduced only through the medium of symbolical imagery 1 . While the prophets normally dealt with human life in its relation to God, reading and interpreting the thoughts of men, and thus convicting, exhorting, or consoling them according to their several needs, he, who 'had an apocalypse' strove to express his personal realization of the unseen or of the distant future. . 3. The ' apocalypses ' which in St Paul's day might be heard at times in the Christian assemblies were unpremedi- tated utterances, flashes of light which suddenly illumined the consciousness of the men who spoke, and as suddenly vanished 2 . Of these revelations no trace remains, nor were they ever, so far as we know, committed to writing. The Revelation of John is the only written apocalypse, as it is the onjy prophetic book of the Apostolic age. Yet it was not by any means the earliest literary product of the apocalyptic movement. A written apocalypse was no novelty. in Jewish pre-Christian literature; there are examples of this class of writing within the canon of the Old Testament, and besides these, eight or nine extant apocalyptic works may be enumerated which are wholly or in part of Jewish provenance. 1 1 Cor. xii. 4 ηρπάγη els rhv παρά- which were heard in Montanist assem- Ζεισον καΐ ήΊίουσεν άρρητα j /ήματα. This Mies at Carthage in his own day ; de was however no ordinary occasion; cf. anima a " nam quia spiritalia charismata J).'7 τη υπερβολή των αποκαλύψεων. The agnoscimus, post Ioannem quoque pro- anti-Montanist writer in Kus. Η. E. phetiam meruimus consequi. est hodie v. 1 7 contends μη δεΐν προψήτην 4v έκ• soror apud nos revelationum charismata στάσει\αλεΐν, which agrees with St Paul's ( sortita, quae in ecclesia inter dominica doctrine : πνεύματα, προφητών προφήταιι solemnia per ecsta'sin in spiritu patitur; υποτάσσεται. Such an apocalypse, how- conversaturcumangelis,aliquandoetiam ever, as that of John implies a state of cumDomino,etvidetetauditsacramenta 'ecstasy' at the time when it occurred et quorundamcordadinoscit,"etc. The (cf. e.g. i. 10 ff., iv. 1, and passim), picture may be taken, mutatis mutandis, although the message may well have been as descriptive of the αποκάλυψαν which written afterwards. broke the order of more primitive con- 2 Tertullian describes the revelations gregatious at Corinth in St Paul's time. xxiv APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN Of these the greater number were earlier than the Apocalypse of John ; a few were nearly contemporary with it. Within the canon of the Old Testament apocalyptic passages occur even in the Pentateuch (Gen. xv., xlix., Num. xxiii., xxiv.) and historical books (i Kings xxii.) ; in the Prophets they form a considerable element, especially in Isaiah (Isa. xiii. ff., xxiv. ff., lxv. f.), Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah ; Ezekiel's prophecy- in par- ticular is almost wholly of an apocalyptic character'. But it is in the Book of Daniel that the later conception of the literary apocalypse is first realized. Thougli reckoned among the Kethu- bim of the Hebrew Bible, a class in which it usually stands eighth, ninth, or tenth of eleven writings 2 , in the Greek Old Testa- ment,Daniel secured a place among the Prophets 3 , doubtless because the second half of the book (cc. vii. — xii.) is of the nature of an apocalyptic prophecy 4 Judging by its place in the Hebrew canon, and by historical and other considerations, this book seems to belong to the interval B.C. 168 — 165, the years during which the hand of Antiochus Epiphanes lay heavy on the Jewish people. The writer's purpose is to strengthen the religious section of the nation under this supreme test of their faith and loyalty. He is carried back in the Spirit to the days of the Exile, and identifies himself with Daniel, a Jewish captive at Babylon, who is represented as fore- seeing in a series of great visions the course of events that culminated in the troubles of the Maccabean age. From the standpoint of the writer all events later' than the age of Daniel are ex hypothesi future ; but the book is not without actual predic- tions : the author, who writes while the persecution is still going on, foresees the issue with a confidence which comes from the sense of a Divine gift.' Next in importance to Daniel among Jewish apocalypses 5 is the Book of Enoch", a composite work of which the several portions are variously dated by scholars. It must suffice here to quote an eminent German and an eminent English authority. Schurer' regards cc. i. — xxxvi. and cc. lxxii.— cv. as belonging to the time of John Hyrcanus, and places the "Similitudes " (cc. xxxvii. — 1 A. B. Davidson, Ezekiel, Introd. literature.'' p. xxv. : " there are three things in « The following sketch of the non- particular -which are characteristic of canonical apocalypses is added for the the Book : symbolical figures, sym- sake of readers to whom this literature, bohcal actions, and visions." much of which until recent years has Introduction to the 0. T. in Greek, been diffioult of access, may be almost Ρ• ?°°- -,,,.. , unk nown. Further particulars may be lb. p. 201 ff. ; cf. Mt. xxiv. 25 ri found in Schurer, Geschichte des jiid.- ρηθόν διά Αανή\ του προφήτου. Volkes 3 iii., p. 181 ff [= Ε Τ π iii «, t ? f • Driver.Baniei, In ty° d • P- Ixxvii,: p. 54 ff .] ; Kautzsch, Die Apokr'uphen u. , "both the symbolism and the veiled pre- Pseudepigraphen des A Τ • Encyclo- dictions are characteristic of a species paedia Biblica, art. "ApooalvptioLitera- of literature which was now beginning ture." to spring up, and which is known com- β Ed: Charles (Clarendon Press 1801I. monly by modern writers as Apocalyptio 1 6eschichte a iii., p. 1Q 6 ff. ' APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN xxv lxxi.) at the earliest in. the reign of Herod the Great. According to Charles, cc. lxxxiii. — xc. are Maccabean (b.c. 166 — 161), and cc. i. — xxxvi. pre-Maccabean, "at latest before 170 B.C. 1 ," while cc. xxxvii. — lxxi. belong to B.C. 94 — 79, or to B.C. 70 — 64. As the uncertainty which attends the dating of the sections indicates, allusions to events or persons are rare in Enoch ; the book in all its parts is visionary and eschatological, dealing with angels and spirits, with the secrets of Nature and the mysteries of the unseen world and its rewards and punishments; and less often and in a vague and general way with the course of human history and its great' issues. The apocalyptic imagery of Enoch anticipates that of the Apocalypse of John in not a few particulars ; both books, e.g., know of the Tree of life and the Book of life ; both represent heavenly beings as clothed in white; in both stars fall from heaven, horses wade through rivers of blood; the winds and the waters have, their presiding spirits ; a fiery abyss awaits notorious sinners 2 . The Book of the Secrets of Enoch 3 , another survival of the pre-Christian Enoch literature, has been recently given to the world in an English translation by Dr Charles. According to its editor it belongs to the half century a.d. ι — 50, but contains earlier fragments which have had a Hebrew original. In this attractive little book Enoch relates his travels into the unseen world ; in the seventh heaven he sees the vision of God ; he receives instructions from God, and is then sent back to the world for 30 days to teach his children, after which he is carried back by angels into the Divine Presence. As. in the Book of Enoch, there are anticipations of the Johannine imagery. A great sea is above the clouds; in the third heaven there is a paradise stocked with fruit-trees bearing' all manner of ripe fruits, and in the midst of it the Tree of Life. Faces are seen shining like the sun, and eyes as lamps of fire ; there are angels set "over seasons and years... over rivers and the sea... over all the souls of men " ; " six-winged creatures overshadow all the Throne... singing, Holy, Holy, Holy"; the world-week is of seven thousand years ; Hades is a fortress whose keys are committed to safe keeping. The Apocalypse of Baruch 4 is probably later than the fall of Jerusalem 5 . Like the Book of Daniel its aim is to console and build up the Jewish people at a time of great depression. " For this purpose the writer identifies himself with Baruch, the contemporary of Jeremiah, who is represented as foreseeing the coming troubles, and looking beyond them to their issue. He finds comfort in the prospect of the Messianic reign, and speaks of its glories in terms 1 Book of Enoch, p. 25 ff. Cf. Dr s Ed. Charles (Clarendon Press, 1896). Charles' article in Hastings' Dictionary * Ed. Charles (A. & C. Black, 1896). of the Bible and Encycl. Biblica (" Apooa- / So Solmrer, Geschichte* iii. , p. 227; lyptic Literature "). Charles (Apoc. Baruch, p. vii. ) prefers 2 These coincidences are noted in the to say that it is "a composite work commentary as they occur. On the written in the latter half of the first question of John's indebtedness to century." Enoch see c. xiii. in this introduction. >xxvi APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN (c. xxix.) which stirred the enthusiasm of Christian millenarians, and were even attributed to our Lord 1 . He foresees also the fall of Rome (c. xxxix.), and the rise of a new' Jerusalem (c. iv.). Thus the Apocalypse of Baruch approximates to the nearly contemporary Christian Apocalypse not merely in verbal coincidences and the use of similar imagery, but in some important lines of thought. The Fourth Book of Esdras* contains (ce. iii.— xiv.) a Jewish apocalypse which is now generally recognized as a work of the time of Domitian 3 , to whose reign the Apocalypse of St John, according to Irenaeus, also belongs. The Jewish portion of 4 Esdras is marked by a pessimism which contrasts strongly with the hopefulness of the older Jewish apocalypses, and of the con- temporary Christian apocalypse. The writer, who personates Ezra, arranges his matter in seven visions; the first two (iii. ι — v. 20, v. 21 — vi. 34) deal with the general problem of evil; the third vision (vi. 35 — ix. 25) depicts the Messianic reign, the judgement, and the intermediate state; the fourth (ix. 26 — x. 60) represents the mourning of Zion for the fallen city, and the building of a new Jerusalem, whose glories, however, are not revealed ; in the fifth (xi. ι — xii. 39) Bome, represented by an eagle, receives its sentence from the Messiah, who appears under the form of a lion ; the sixth (xiii. 1 — 58) shews the Messiah rising from the sea to destroy His enemies and gather the scattered tribes of Israel ; the seventh (xiv. 1 — 47) has to do with Ezra's personal history. Even this bare summary is enough to reveal the strong contrasts which, amidst much that is similar, distinguish the Jewish from the Christian apocalypse. . Other Jewish books, which either in Kterary form or in their general purpose are further removed from the Apocalypse of John, ' can only be mentioned here. Such are the Book of Jubilees*, an haggadic commentary on Genesis ; the Assumption of Moses', which together with the oldest Enoch was used by the Christian writer of the Epistle of Jude ; ; the Martyrdom of Isaiah, incorporated in the Ascension of Isaiah (cc. ii., iii., v. 6 ); the Psalms of Solomon'', written in the interests of the Pharisees between b.o. 70 and 40 ; the Apocalypses of Adam, Elijah, and Zeplianiah; the Testament of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the more important Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 8 , all of which have been more or less worked over by Christian hands. More serviceable than any of the above for illustrating St John's Apocalypse are the Sibylline Oracles 9 . Of the Jewish Sibyllines Bk iii. 97 — 829 is assigned to the time of Ptolemy Physcon (b.c. 145 — 117), while Bks iv. and v. are said to 1 Cf. Iren. v. 33. 3. 6 Ed. Charles (1000). " Ed. Bensly and James in Texts and ' Ed. Byle and James (Camb. Univer- Studies iii. 1 (Camb. University Press, sity Press, 1891). i8p5). 8 An account of these works with J Eor the grounds of this conclusion bibliographical materials is given in see Schfirer, Geschichte 3 iii., p. 24 1 if., line. Biblica, s.w. Apooalyptic litera- and cf. Mr Thackeray's art. Second ture, Apoorypha. Book of Esdras in Hastings' D. B. " Ed. A. Rzach (Vienna, 1891); 4 Ed. Charles (A. & C. Black, 1902). Geffcken (Leipzig, 1002). 5 Ed. Charles (1897). APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN xxvii belong severally to the reigns of Domitian and Hadrian. The points of contact between this strange conglomerate of Jewish and Christian oracles and the Apocalypse have been noted in the commentary as they occur. 4. The whole of this Jewish apocalyptic literature, it will be seen, belongs to times when prophecy in the stricter sense was believed to be in suspense. In no single instance do the non- canonical apocalyptists write in their own names ; their message is delivered under the assumed personality of some one of the saintly or inspired teachers of the past. Moreover, their attitude differs from that of the Hebrew Prophets. The- older 'prophecy had been concerned primarily with the moral and religious needs of the nation ; it was a call to repentance and to faith in God. The prophet of the canon had been the authorized interpreter of ■ the Divine Mind to a theocratic people ; if he had foretold the •future, it was "the prediction of, dissatisfaction, the prediction of hope, of anticipation, of awakened thoughts, of human possibility and Divine nearness 1 ," rather than 'a formal announcement of coming events. To this role the apocalyptists did not wholly succeed. With the Greek conquests a new order began which was unfavourable to prophecy of the older type. Relief from the pressure of heathen domination or from the distasteful presence of heathen surroundings was henceforth sought in efforts to pierce the veil of the future, and . to discover behind it the coming triumphs of the righteous. The Pharisaic movement offered salvation to the Jewish race partly in the way of an exact observance of the Law, partly by opening wider hopes to those who obeyed, and painting in darker colours the doom of the transgressor; and the earlier non -canonical apocalypses gave literary expression to these new hopes and fears. ' Another cause contributed to the growth of apocalyptic literature. With the coming of the Romans and the subsequent rise of the Herodian dynasty, the political outlook changed, and a fresh impulse was given to the expectation of a Messianic reign. In the first .century the habits of thought which produced apocalyptic writing 1 Davidson, Ο. T. Prophecy, p. go. xxviii APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN were so firmly rooted in the Jewish mind that even the destruc- tion of the City and Temple did not at once eradicate them; unable any longer to connect a glorious future with the Herodian buildings, the writers of the apocalypses of Baruch and Ezra looked for a Messiah who should crush the enemies of Israel, restore the nation, and realize the vision of an ideal Jerusalem. Despondent as the writer of the Ezra-apocalypse manifestly' is, he does not formally relinquish the national hope, though in his case it is indefinitely deferred. 5. The first Christian apocalypse came on the crest of this long wave" of apocalyptic effort. Compositions more or less similar both in form and in substance to the work of St John had been in circulation among Palestinian and Alexandrian Jews for two centuries and a half before he took ■ up his pen to write the "Revelation of Jesus Christ." It may be claimed for St Paul that he created the Epistle, as we find it in the New Testament 1 ; and the "memoirs of the Apostles," which from Justin's time have been known as "Gospels," have no exact literary parallel in pre-Christian literature. This cannot be said of the writer of the New Testament Apocalypse; he had models to follow, and to some extent he followed them. The apocalyptic portions of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel are continually present to his mind ; and though it is less certain that he made use of Enoch or any other post-canonical apocalypse 2 , he could scarcely have been ignorant of their existence and general character. But while it cannot be claimed that the author of the Apocalypse originated a type of literature, he is far from being a mere imitator of previous apocalyptic writing. The Apocalypse of John is in many ways a new departure. (1) The Jewish apocalypses are without exception pseudepigraphic ; the Christian apocalypse bears the author's name 3 . This abandon- ment of a long-established tradition is significant ; by it John claims for himself the position of a prophet who, conscious that he draws his inspiration from Christ or His angel and not at second hand, has no need to seek shelter under the name of a Biblical 1 See Bamsay, Letters to the Seven 2 See c. xiii. Churches, p. 24 f. 3 See c. xv. APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN xxix saint. (2) How hard' it is to determine the date and provenance of Jewish apocalypses is clear from the wide differences which divide the best scholars on these points. The fictitious names under which they pose suggest dates which are no less fictitious, and any evidence which these books can be made to yield as to the conditions under which they were written, is wrung from them, as it were, against the will of their authors. The Apoca- lypse of John, on the contrary, makes no secret of its origin and destination ; it is the work of a Christian undergoing exile in one of the islands of the Aegean ; and it is addressed to the Christian congregations in seven of the chief cities, of the adjacent conti- nent, under circumstances which practically determine its date. (3) But it is not only in regard to his abandonment of pseudo- nymity and in matters of literary form that our Apocalyptist differs from his Jewish predecessors ; the cleavage goes deeper. What- ever view may be taken of his indebtedness to Jewish sources, there can be no doubt that he has produced a book which, taken as a whole, is profoundly Christian, and widely removed from the field in which Jewish apocalyptic occupied itself. The narrow sphere of Jewish national hopes has been exchanged for the life and aims of a society whose field is the world and whose goal is the conquest of the human race. The Jewish Messiah, an un- certain and unrealized idea, has given place to the historical, personal Christ, and the Christ of the Christian apocalypse is already victorious, ascended, and glorified. The faith and the hope of the Church had diverted apocalyptic thought into new channels and provided it with ends worthy of its pursuit. The tone of St John's book presents a contrast to the Jewish apocalypses which is not less marked. It breathes a religious spirit which is not that of its predecessors ; it is marked with the sign of the Cross, the note of patient suffering, unabashed faith, tender love of the brethren, hatred of evil, invincible hope; and, notwith- standing the strange forms which from time to time are seen to move across the stage, the book as a whole is pervaded by a sense of stern reality and a solemn purpose which forbid the approach of levity. The Apocalypse of John is differentiated from the xxx APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN Apocalypse of Baruch or of Ezra just as the Book of Daniel is differentiated from the Book of Enoch. However the fact may be explained, the two canonical apocalypses possess the notes of insight and foresight which suggest inspiration; the attentive reader becomes conscious of something in them both which is better than the unchastened imaginings of the mere mystic who conceives himself to possess a key to the secrets of life. In the Apocalypse of John the presence of the Spirit of revelation is un- mistakably felt, and the Christian student may be pardoned if he recognizes in this book a fulfilment of the promise of a Paraclete who shall declare... the ,thiivgs that are to come. , 6. If it were asked with what subjects a Christian apoca- lyptist, writing towards the .close of the Apostolic age, might be expected to occupy himself, it is not difficult to conjecture the answer. As the first century advanced, two topics filled the field of Christian thought when it turned its gaze on the unseen and the future. Behind the veil of phenomena the human life of Jesus Christ was believed to be enshrined in the glory of God. To reveal this hidden life, to represent to the imagination the splendour of the Divine Presence in which it exists, to translate into human words or symbols the worship of Heaven, to exhibit the ascended Christ in His relation to these unknown surround- ings: this would be the first business of the Christian seer. But a second great theme is inseparable from it. With the life of the glorified Lord the life of His Body, the Church, was identified in primitive Christian belief. In the last years of the first century the Church, which had begun her course with the promise of a rapid success, was reeling under the blows dealt her by the world. The two empires, the Kingdom of God and the World- power, Were -already at open Avar 1 . Men were asking what the end would be; which of the two forces would prevail. A Christian in those days who was conscious of possessing the spirit of revela- tion could not but endeavour to read the signs of the times and, so far as it was given him, to disclose the course and outcome of 1 On this subject see Bp Westoott's essay on the Church and the World {Epistles of St John). APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHEISTIAN xxxi the struggle which had begun between the Empire and the Church. On some such lines we might have sought to reconstruct the Apocalypse of John, had only fragments of it survived, guided by what we knew of the beliefs and hopes of the Apostolic age and of the history of the last thirty years of the first century. As a matter of fact, these are the lines on which the book has been written. It is an apocalypse of the glory of the exalted Christ ; it is also an apocalypse of the sufferings and the ultimate triumph of the militant Church. Christian apocalypses later than the Apocalypse of John were for the most part either recensions of Jewish books, on original ■works issued under Old Testament names. In a few "cases they claim to be the work of Apostles or other 2T.T. saints. Gnosticism produced an Anabaticon Pauli 1 , and the Revelations of Stephen and Thomas, denounced as 'apocryphal' in the so-called Decree of Gelasius, were also probably of Gnostic origin. One apocalyptic pseudepigraphon of the second century, the Άποκάλνψις Τίίτρου, seemed for a time about to find a place within the, canon by the side of the Apocalypse of John; it is coupled with the latter in the Muratorian Fragment (1. 71 sqq. " apocalypse[s] etiam Iohanis et Petri tantum recipimus 2 , quam quidam ex nostris legi in e[c]clesia nolunt ") ; it was quoted,' apparently as a genuine work of St Peter, by Clement of Alexandria 3 ; it is included in the early Claromontane list 4 . But as time went on, the book found its own level. Busebius reckons it among the spurious, or at least the doubtful books (Η. Έ. iii. 25, cf. ib. iii. 2) ; and though it retained its popularity and was even read in some Eastern churches in the time of Sozomen (Η. E. vii. 1-9), in the later lists of scriptural books it is placed among the antile- gomena or the apocrypha*. Prom the large fragment 6 of the Petrine Apocalypse recovered in 1892 it is easy to account for the difference of opinion which seems to have existed about the book from the first; on the one hand it appealed strongly to the uneducated imagination by its attempt to portray the joys of Paradise and the torments of Gehenna, while upon the other its tone and purpose were on a different level from those of the canonical Apocalypse. 1 Epiph. haer. xxxviii. 2. » So the list of Sixty Books and the a Zahn (Geseh. d. NTlicJien Kanons, Stichometry of Nicephorus (Zahn, ib., ii. p. 105 ff.) would read " et Petri pp. 292, 299 ff .). iinam tdntum recipimus epistulam ; 6 Cf. Dr Μ. E. James, Revelation of fertur enini altera quam" etc. But Peter, p. 51 f.: "a fragment of sufficient neither the emendation nor the reason length to give us a fair idea of the con- which he gives for it. can be regarded as tents of the whole Apocalypse. As a convincing.. fact, it does contain something like 140 3 Eus. Η. E. vi. 14. 1 ; cf. eel. proph. out of the original 300 lines of which 41, 48 f. the book consisted." 4 Zahn, Gescli. ii. p. 159. xxx ii APOCALYPSES, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN The fourth century has given us an Apocalypse of Paul 1 , an attempt to report the άρρητα ρήματα which St Paul heard when he- was caught up into Paradise (2 Cor. xii. 2 ff.), well characterized by Augustine as a work the folly of which is no less conspicuous than its presumption 2 . Later still, but of more importance to the student of the N.T. Apocalypse, is a spurious Greek Apocalypse of John 3 , first mentioned in a scholion of cent. iv. The author supposes St John to be, after the Ascension, alone on Mt Tabor, whence he is carried up in• a bright cloud to the door of Heaven. Several of the features of the story are obviously borrowed from the canonical book ; e.g. the opened heaven (§ 2), the book with seven seals (§ 3), the sending of Enoch and Elijah to expose Anti- christ and be slain by him (§ 8) ; the Lamb with seven eyes and seven horns who breaks the seven seals (§ 18). But the spurious Apocalypse is chiefly occupied with eschatological speculations, grotesque descriptions of Antichrist (§ 7), and answers to curious questions connected with the resurrection of the body, the inter 7 mediate state, the last things, and the final judgement (§ 9 fC). An interesting apocalypse* forms the prologue of the ' Church Order ' known as Testamentum Domini, printed by Lagarde in his Reliquiae... syriace, and edited by Kahmani in 1899 and in an English translation by Cooper and Maclean in 1902 ; a Latin fragment which is " the literal equivalent of certain sections " of this apocalypse is given by Dr James in Texts and Studies, ii. 3, p. 151 ff. The same volume of Texts and Studies contains an Apocalypse of Sedrach, and a late Apocalypse of the Virgin. A study of post-canonical Christian apocalypses serves only to accentuate the unique importance of the canonical book. Among apocalypses of Christian origin the N.T. Apocalypse alone stands in a real relation to the life of the age in which it was written, or attempts to reveal the meaning and issues of the events which the writer had witnessed or was able to foresee. The N.T. Apocalypse alone deserves the name, or is in any true sense a 'prophecy.' 1 Edited by Tischendorf in Apoca- quam sana non recipit eoclesia, nescio lypses Apocryphae (1866), pp. 34—69; quibus fabulis plenam stultissima prae- an early Latin version (Visio Pauli) is sumptione finxerunt." printed by Dr James in Texts and s Edited by Tischendorf in Apocalyp- Studies, ii. 3, pp. 11 — 42. ses Apocryphae (1866), pp. 70 — 94. 2 Aug. tr. in Joann. 98 "qua ocoa- 4 On this see Harnack, Chron. ii,, sione vani quidam Apocalypsim Pauli, p. 5140*. III. CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN. I. In his treatise Tlepi επαγγελιών Dionysius of Alexandria "(f 265) writes as if the Apocalypse were already divided into κεφάλαια 1 . But if he refers to a formal capitulation, no other trace of it remains: When preparing to comment upon the book in the sixth century, Andreas, Archbishop of Cappadocian Caesarea, devised a system for his own use, which he would scarcely have done if there had been one in existence dating from the. third century. Andreas's method is conventional and arbitrary, after the- fashion of his age ; he breaks up the Apocalypse into 24 longer sections (λόγοί), corresponding with the number of the Elders in c.,iv., and subdivides each of these sections into three chapters (κεφάλαια), an arrangement suggested, as he says, by the threefold nature of man 2 . His 72 κεφάλαια, however, represent J fairly well the natural subdivisions of the book, and are pointed below as exhibiting the earliest known analysis. Κεφαλαία της 'Ιωάννου τοΰ θεολόγου άττοκαλύψεως. α. προοίμιον ttJs, άποκαλΰψεως, και Sri δι* άγγελον αϋτω δίδοται (ΐ. ι — 8). β 1 , οπτασία, εν rj τον Ίησονν εθεάσατο εν μέσω λυχνιών επτά (i. 9 — 2 °)• "/■ τα "γεγραμμενα προς τον της Έ,φεσιων εκκλησίας όνγγελον (ii. ι — 7)•• &• τα δηλωθέντα τω «ν rrj Σμυρναίων εκκλησία άγγελω (ii. 8 — Ιΐ). ε', τα, σημανθεντα τω της ΤΙεργαμηνων εκκλησίας άγγελω (ii. 12 — 17)• £"'■ τα. ye -γραμμένα τω της ®νατείρων εκκλησίας άγγελω (ii. 18 — 29). ζ• τα απεσταλμένα τω άγγελω της iv 2ά/οδ«σιν 1 Ens. Η. Ε. vii. 25. ι (Dionys. ΑΙ. ρ. 141. ed. Peltoe, p. 114), rwis μεν οΐν των προ s prolegg. in coram., διελόντε! ^ την ■ηβών ηθέτησαν καΐ ανασκεύασαν πάρτη τ6 παροΰσαν πραγματείαν ek λ/η /ovs κδ' καΐ βιβλίον καΐ καθ' ίκαστον κεψίλαιον οβ 1 κεφάλαια, δια την τρίμερη των κδ' ΰπό- διευθύνοντες κτλ. Cf. Gregory, prolegg., στασιν σώματος καΐ ψνχη! καί πνεύματος S. R. ° xxxiv CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN εκκλησίας (iii. ι — 6). η', τα, γραφέντα προς τον της Φιλαδελφε'ων εκκλησίας άγγελον (iii. 7 — 1 3)• &' • τα δηλωθέντα προς τον της Ααοδικέων εκκλησίας άγγελοι/ (iii. 14 — 22). ι. περί της δραθΐίσης αϋτω θύρας εν τω ονρανω και του θρόνου και των κο πρεσβυτέρων και των έξης δειχθέντων (ϊν. ι — rl). ια'. περί της βίβλου της• εσφραγισ- μένης σφραγΐσιν επτά της εν ττ) χειρι του θεοΰ, ην ουδείς άνοΐξαι δύναται της κτίστης φύσεως (ν. Ι — s)• '■β'• ττερϊ τοΰ άρνίου του τα. επτά κέρατα έχοντος, όπως την βίβλον άνέωξεν (ν. 6 — 14)• 'γ• λυσις της πρώτης σφραγΐδος, ^την άποστολικην διδαχην σημαίνουσα (νΐ. Ι, 2). ιδ'. λύσις της δευτέρας σφραγΐδος, δτ/Χοίσα τον των- απίστων κατά των πιστών πόλεμον (vi. 3, 4)• " '*'• λύσις της τρίτης σφραγίδας, δι/λοίσα των μη παγίως πεπιστευκότων Χριστώ την ίκπτωσιν (vi. 5> 6). IS" . λύσις της τετάρτης σφραγΐδος, εμφαίγουσα τας επαγομένας παιδευτικας μάστιγας τοις δι ανυπομονησίας άρνησαμένοις τον ' κύριον (vi. J, 8). ιζ. λύσις της πέμπτης σφραγΐδος, την των άγιων ψυχών σημαίνουσα προς Κνριον καταβόησιν ώστε γενέσθαι συντέλειαν (vi: 9 — 1 1)• «/- λΰσις της έκτης σφραγΐδος, Tas iv τβ συντέλεια, επαγομένας πληγας σι^ρ,αίνουσα (νί. 12 — 17)• '^.• περί των σωζόμενων εκ πληγής των τεσσάρων αγγέλων χιλιάδων ρμδ' (vii. Ι — 8). κ. περί του αναρίθμητου όχλου των ε£ εθνών Χριστώ συμβασιλευσάντων (vii. 9 — 17)• κα '• λιίσΐϊ της εβδόμης σφραγΐδος, δηλοΰσα άγγελικας δυνάμεις προσάγειν θεω [τας] των αγίων προσενχας ως θυμιάματα (viii. ι — 6). κβ 1 . περϊ των επτά αγγέλων, ων τοί πρώτον σαλπίσαντο? χάλα£α και πνρ και αίμα επί της γη.ς φέρεται (viii. 7)• "γ. περί' τοί δευτέρου αγγέλου, ου σαλπίσαντος των εν . [rg] θαλάσσ -g εμψύχων απώλεια γίνεται (viiii 8, 9)• κο". ο τρίτος άγγελο? τα των ποταμών πικραίνει ύδατα (viii. 10, 11). κε'. ο τέταρτος άγγελος το τρίτον του ηλιακού και σεληνιακού φωτός σκοτίζει (viii. 12, 13)• τ'- περϊ τοί πέμπτου αγγέλου και των εκ της αβύσσου ανερχο- μένων νοητών ακριδών και τον ποικίλου της μορφής αΰτων (ix. Ι — 12). κζ . περί τοί έκτου αγγέλου και των επϊ τω Ευφράτη λυομένων αγγέλων επιλυσίϊ (ΐχ. 13 — 21). κη'. περί άγγελρυ περιβεβλημένου νεφέλην και Τριν και το κοινον τέλος προμηνύοντος (χ. ι — 9)• κθ". όπως το βιβλαρίδιον εκ χειρός τοί >άγγελου 6 ευαγγελιστή? εΐλ-ηφεν (χ. ίο — xi. 2). λ. περί Ένώχ και Ηλία διελέγχειν μελλόντων τον άντίχριστον (χι. 3 — ΙΟ )• λα. όπως άναιρεθέντες ΰπο τοΰ αντίχριστου άναστήσονται, και τους ηπατημένους εκπλήξουσιν (xi. II — 14). λβ". περιτης εβδόμης σαλπιγγος καϊ των υμνουντων τω θεω αγίων επι τη μελλονο -g κρίσει (xi. IS — Ι ^)• λγ . περί των διωγμών της εκκλησίας των προτέρων και των επί τοί αντίχριστου (xi. 19 — xii. 6)'. λδ'. περί τοΰ γενομένου πολέμου μεταξύ των άγιων αγγέλων και των πονηρών δυνάμεων και της καταπτω- σεως τοΰ δράκοντος (xii. 7 — 12). λε'. 5πως ό δράκων διωκων την . εκκλησίαν ού παύεται (xii. 13 — 17). λί~'. περί τοί θηρίου τον εχοντο? κέρατα δε'κα και κεφάλα? επτά, ων μίαν ως εσφαγμένην ίφη (xiii. ι — ίο). λΓ• τερί ετέρου θηρίου δύο κέρατα εχοντοϊ και τω πρωτω τους ανθρώπους προσάγοντας (xiii.^II — 1 7)• λη• τ«ρί τοΰ όνό/λατοϊ τον θηρίου (xiii. 18). λθ'. περϊ των ρμδ' χιλιάδων των συν [τω] άρνίω εστωτωνεν δρει 2,ιων (χϊν. Ι — 5)• Ρ•'• ""«Ρ' άγγε'λον προαγορενοντοϊ την εγγύτητα της κρίσεως της μελλούσης (χίν. 6, 7)• μα'• ""Ψ' δεύτερον άγγε'λον την πτώσιν Βαβυλώνας κηρύσσοντας (χϊν. 8). μβ". περί τρίτον αγγέλου CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN xxxv άσψαλιζο /xcvov τόν τοΰ κυρίου λαον μη δεξασθαι τον άντίχριστον (xiv. 9 — 13)• μ"/• ° τ ' ό ί" T fj νεφελϊ] καθήμενος τω δρεπάνω συντελεί τα «κ Tijs γης βλαστάνοντα (xiv. 14 — 16). μδ'. περϊ ετέρου αγγέλου τρυ- γώντοϊ τήν tjJs πικρίας άμπελον (xiv. 17- — 20). με', περί των επτά αγγέλων των ενάγοντων τοΐς άνθρωποις τάϊ πλϊτ^α? προ της συντέλεια?, και περϊ της υαλίνης θαλάσσης εν $ του? αγίους εθεάσατο (χν. Ι' — 8). /χΓ . οπωϊ ttJs προ/της φιάλης εκχυθείσης έλκος κατά. των αποστατών γίνεται (xvi. ι,' 2). μζ . πληγή δευτέρα κατά το"ν εν θαλάσσϊ) έπιτιμω- μένων (xvi. 3). μη. όπως δια της τρίτης οί ποταμοί εις αιρ.α μετακιρ 7 νωνται (xvi. 4 — 7)• /*^'• °?τωϊ δια T17S τετάρτης καυματίζονται οι άνθρωποι (xvi. 8, 9)• ν . όπωϊ δια. t^s πέμπτης η βασιλεία τοΰ θηρίου σκοτίζεται (xvi. ΙΟ, 1 1). να. όπως δια tjJs έκτης η 68ος δια. του Έϋφράτου τοις άπο ανατολής ηλίου ^βασιλεΰσιν ανοίγεται (xvi. 12 — 16). νβ.' όπως δια, της εβδόμης χάλα£α και σεισμός κατά. των ανθρώπων ■γίνεται (xvi. 17 — 21). νγ. περί τοΰ ένος των έπτα. αγγέλων δεικνυντος τω ευαγγελιστή την της πόρνης πόλεως καθαίρεσιν, και περί των επτά. κεφάλων και των δέκα κεράτων (xvii. ι — 6). νδ*. όπω? δ άγγελο? το οραθεν αυτω μυστηριον ηρμηνευσεν (xvii. 7 — 18)• ve. περϊ έτερου αγγέλου την πτώσιν "Βαβυλώνας δ^λοΰντοϊ, καί ουρανίου φωνής την εκ της πόλεως φυγην εντελλομένης, και της αποβολής των τερπνών ών τό πριν έκεκτη(ν)το (xviii. ι — 24). νΓ . περί της των άγιων ΰμνωδίας και του τριπλού αλληλούια, όπερ εψαλλον επί τβ καθαιρέσει Βαβυλώνος ixixf. ι — 6). νζ. περί τοΰ μυστικού γάμου και τον δείπνου τοΰ αρνιού χίχ. 7 — 1°)• νΊ ί• ""ώρ τόν χριστόν ό ευαγγελιστή? εφιππον μετά. δυνάμεων αγγελικών εθεάσατο συν φόβω (χίχ. 1 1 — 19). νθ'. περί τοΰ αντίχριστου ' και των συν αΰτώ βαλλομένων είς γέενναν (χίχ. 2 ο, 2ΐ). £. δπως 6 σατανάς εδέθη άπο της Χρίστου παρουσίας μέχρι της συν- τέλειας, και περί των χιλίων ετών (χχ. Ι — 3)• ί α • "^ρί των ήτοιμασ- μένων θρόνων τοις φυλάζασι την Χρίστου ομολογίαν (xx. 4)'• £β• τι εστίν η πρώτη άνάστα/σις, και τις ό δεύτερος θάνατος (χχ. 5, 6). (γ', περϊ τοΰ Γώγ και Μαγώγ (χχ. 7 — Ι ο). £δ\ περί τοΰ καθήμενου επί τοΰ θρόνου, και της κοινής αναστάσεως και κρίσεως (χχ. 1 1 — 1 5 ). £ε . περί καινών οΰρανοΰ τε και γης και της -άνω Ιερουσαλήμ (xxi. Ι — 4)• £ί" - περϊ ών εϊπεν ό έν τω θρόνω καθήμενος και οραθείς (xxi. 5 — 8). ζζ. περϊ τοΰ αγγέλου δεικνΰντος αυτω την των αγίων πολιν και το ταύτης τείχος συν τοις πνλωσι διαμετροΰντος (xxi. 9 — 27)• iv ■ περϊ τοΰ καθαροΰ πότα- μου τοΰ όπτανθέντος εκ τοΰ θρόνου πορευεσθαι (xxii. ι — 5)• - £&• περί τοΰ αξιόπιστου των τεθεαμένων τω αποσταλώ (xxii. 6). ο', ότι Θε6ς των προφητών ό χριστός και δεσπότης των απάντων (xxii. 7 — 9)• οα'. όπω? εκελεύθη μη σφραγίσαι άλλα κηρυξαι την άποκάλυψιν (xxii. ΙΟ — 17). οβ. όπως η εκκλησία και τό εν airy πνεΰμα προσκαλούνται την τοΰ χριστοΰ ενδοξον επιφάνειαν, και περϊ της αράς r] υποβάλλονται οί την βίβλον παραχαράττοντες ως άκυρον (xxii. 18 — 21). , The longer sections or λόγοι begin at i. 1, ii. 8, iii. 1, iv. 1, vi. 1, vi. 7, vii. 1, viii. 7; viii. 12, x. 1, xi. 11, xii. 7, xiii. 11, xiv. 6, xiv. 14, xvi. 2, xvi. 8, xvi. 17, xviii. 1, xix. 11, xx. 4, xx. 11, xxi. 9, xxii. 8. They shew less discrimination than the division into κεφάλαια, and it may be surmised that the latter was made χχχνϊ CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN first, and that the Subsequent grouping into λόγοι was purely mechanical, based on the principle of trichotomy announced by its author. 2. The Latin authorities pursue an independent course in the matter* of capitulation. The recapitulatio which follows the commentary of Primasius 1 divides the commentary into twenty heads, corresponding with Apoc. i. ι — iii. 22, iv. 1 — 11, v. 1 — vi. 2, vi. 3 — 11, vi. 12 — 17, vii. 1 — viii. 1, viii. 2 — ix. 12, ix. 13 — 21, x. 1 — xi. 2, xi. 3 — 14, xi. 15 — xii. 17, xiii. 1 — 18, xiv. 1 — 13, xiv. 14 — xvi. 21, xvii. 1 — 18, χ viii. 1 — xix. 10, xix. II— xx. 10, xx. 11 — xxii. 12, xxii. 13 — 15, xxii. 16 — 21 — a distribution which shews a genuine desire to understand the plan of the book?. Moreover, each of the books of the commentary is preceded by a list of shorter capitula, g6 in all, which Haussleiter with much probability regards as due to a later hand 3 ; as he points out, the number suggests a reference to the Elders and the ζώα (96=24x4), which is of a piece with Andreas's fancy of connecting his κεφάλαια with the Elders and the human trichotomy (72 = 24 χ 3). Hauss- leiter adds 4 a division into 48 capitula from cod. Vat. 4221, cod. Monac. 17088 (a MS. of Haimo's commentary), and cod. Monac. 6230 (a Vulgate MS.); the chapters -begin at i. 4, ii. 1, 8, 12, 18, iii. 1, 7, 14, iv. 1, v. 1, 6, 11, vi. 3, 9, 12, vii. 1, 9, 12, viii. 1, 7, 12, ix. 13, x. 1, xi. 1, 12, xii. 7, 12, 13, xiii. 1, 11, xiv. 1, 6, 13, xv. 1, xvi. 1, 12, xvii. 1, 7, xviii. 1, 21, xix. 1, 11, xx. 1, n,xxi. 9, xxii. 1, 10. It will be observed that seventeen of these sections start where the modern chapters do 5 . Other systems of capitulation are found; cod. Amiatinus and cod. Fuldensis divide the Apocalypse into 25 chapters, while there are MSS. which give 22, 23, 24, 41, and 43". 1 Haussleiter, Die lateinische Apoka- 3 Haussleiter, pp. 184—193 ; see his lypse der alten africanischen Kirche, remarks on pp. 193 4 Ρ• 1 79 A- 4 Ibid., p. 197 ft. 2 Pnmasius himself thus explains the * The modern chapters are practically purpose of his compendium : " ut totius those of Stephen Langton (fii28) • see libri auctoritate decursa sic omnis series von Soden, Die Schriften d. Ν Τ brevi recapitulatione iterum evolvatur p. 482. But in nearly every instance' msinuata per partes, ut omnium quisque they were anticipated in the κεφάλαια of librorum textus uno summatim loco Andreas. clareat deflnitus, cum et partitionem » See Gregory, prolegg. i ρ i6i'• recipit singulorum et plenitudinem vide- Textkritik, ii.., p. 879 f. ' tur obtinere per totum." CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN xxxvii 3. In the present edition the Greek text is divided into 42 minor sections (i. 1 — 3, 4 — 8, 9 — 20, ii. 1 — 7, 8 — 11, 12—17, 18 — 29, iii. 1 — 6, 7 — 13, 14 — 22, iv. 1 — 11, v. 1 — 14, vi. 1 — 17, vii. 1 — 8, 9 — 17, viii. 1 — 13, ix. 1 — 12, 13 — 21, χ. 1 — 11, xi. 1 — 14, 15 — 19, xii. 1 — 18, xiii. 1 — 10, 11 — 18, xiv. 1 — 5, 6 — 13, 14 — 20, xv. 1 — 8, xvi. 1 — 21, xvii. 1 — 6, 7—18, -xviii. 1—24, xix. 1 — 10, 11 — 16, 17 — 21, xx. 1 — 6, 7 — io, 11 — 15, xxi. 1 — 8, 9 — xxii. 5, xxii. 6 — 20, xxii. 21). The following table will shew the contents of the Book as thus arranged : 1 . Prologue. 2. The writer's greeting to the Churches of Asia. 3. Vision of the risen and ascended Christ. 4 — 10. Messages to the Angels of the Seven Churches. 11. Vision of the Throne in Heaven. 12. The Sealed Book and the Lamb. 13. Opening of the first six Seals. 14 Sealing of the 144,000' from the Tribes of Israel. 15. Triumph of the Innumerable Multitude. 16. Opening of the seventh Seal; the half hour's silence in Heaven; the first four Trumpet-blasts. 17. The fifth Trumpet-blast, or first Woe. 18. The sixth Trumpet-blast, or second Woe. 19. Preparations for the seventh Trumpet-blast: the vision of the Angel with the open booklet. 20. Further preparations: measuring the Temple; the testimony of the Two Witnesses. 21. The seventh Trumpet-blast, or third Woe. 22. The Woman with child, and the Great blood-red Dragon. 23. The Wild Beast from the Sea. 24. The Wild Beast from the Earth. 25. Vision of the 144,000 on Mount Zion. 26. Three angelic proclamations, and a Voice from Heaven. 27. Vision of the Harvest and the Vintage of the Earth. 28. Preparation for the last Seven Plagues. 29. Pouring out of the Seven Bowls. xxxviii CONTENTS 4.ND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 30. Vision of Babylon Seated on the Beast.' 31. Interpretation of the Vision of Babylon and the Beast. 32. Doom of Babylon. .33. Triumph in Heaven; two Hallelujah Psalms; an angelic message. 34. Vision of. the Crowned Warrior. 35. Overthrow and end of the Beast and the False Prophet. 36. The Thousand Years of Satan's captivity and the Martyrs' Reign. 37. After the Thousand Years : release of Satan; war of Gog and Magog. 38. Vision of the General Resurrection and the Last Judge- ment. , 39. Vision of a New Heaven and a New Earth. , 40. Vision of the New Jerusalem. 41., Epilogue: Last words of the Angel, the Seer, and the Lord. 42. Final Benediction. 4. The whole book lies before us in this table of contents. It is found to consist of a isuccession of scenes and visions which are so easily distinguished that at this stage no serious difference of opinion can arise. Our difficulties begin when we attempt to group these sections into larger, masses of apocalyptic matter, and by a process of synthesis to arrive at the plan upon which the author has constructed his work. The former of these operations is relatively simple. The first two sections and the last two form respectively the introduction and the conclusion of the Book; sections 3 — 10, 11 — 13, 16 — 18 (21), 22 — 24, 28 — 29, 30 — 33, 34 — 35, 36 — 38, 39 — 40 also form coherent groups, while 14 — 15, 19 — 20, 25 — 27 are episodes ' which can be seen to be in more or less definite relation with their surroundings. Thus our 42 sections are reduced to 14, which may be described as follows : 1. Prologue and greeting (i. 1 — 8). 2. Vision of Christ among the Churches, followed by mes- sages to their Angels (i. 9 — iii. 22). CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN xxxix 3. Vision of Christ in Heaven, followed by the opening of the seven Seals of the sealed Book (iv. 1 — vi. 17, viii. 1). 4. Episode, after the sixth Seal, of the 144,000 from the Tribes of Israel, and the countless multitude (vii. 1— 17). 5. The seven Trumpet-blasts (viii. 2 — ix. 21, xi. Ί5 — "19). 6. Episode, after the sixth Trumpet-blast, of the Angel with the open booklet, the measuring of the Temple, and the Two Witnesses (x. 1 — xi. 14). 7• The Woman with child, the Dragon and the Two Wild Beasts (xii. 1 — xiii. 18). 8. Episode of the 144,000 on Mt Zion, the angelic and celestial Voices, and the Harvest and Vintage of the world (xiv. 1 — 20). 9. Outpouring of the seven Bowls, containing the seven last plagues (xv. 1 — xvi. 21). 10. Visi° n of Babylon the Great ; her fall ; the triumph of the Angels and the Church (xvii. 1 — xix. 10). 11. Vision' of the Royal Warrior, and overthrow of .the Two Beasts (xix. 11— 21). 12. The IOOO years, followed by the overthrow of the Dragon and the End (xx. 1 — 15). 13. The New World, and the New City (xxi. 1— xxii. 5). 14. Epilogue and benediction (xxii. 6 — 21). 5. As we look steadily at this scheme and study its con- nexion, we become conscious of a great cleavage, which practically divides the Book into two nearly equal parts (i. 9 — xi. 14, xii. 1 — xxii. 5). In the first half the Ascended Christ appears in two capacities, as the Head of the Church, and the Controller of the Destinies of the World. The antagonism between the two bodies comes into view ; the Churches of Asia are already suffer- ing persecution and have more to suffer; the World is ripe for judgements, which loom large in the visions of the Seal-openings and the' Trumpet-blasts ; the end is drawing on ; the victory of righteousness and the final revelation of truth are foreseen. The first half — it might almost be • called the first book— of the xl CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN Apocalypse is complete in itself, and had all our MSS. broken off at xi. 19, and no vestige of the last eleven chapters survived, it is conceivable that the loss might never have been suspected. In xii. 1 the author makes a fresh beginning, for which the reader had been prepared in x. n. The theme of the second prophecy is the' same on the whole as that of the first, but the subject is pursued into new regions of thought, and the leading characters and symbolical figures are almost wholly new. The Churches of Asia vanish 1 , and their place is taken by the Church considered as a unity, which is represented by the Woman who is "the Mother of Christ and the Saints. It is with her world-long struggle with the κοσμοκράτορεν του σκότους τούτου, the spiritual forces which lie behind the antagonism of the World, that the second part of the Book chiefly deals. These forces are revealed under monstrous forms, the Great Red Dragon, the Beast from the Sea, the Beast from the. Land, and they continue to operate until their final overthrow. But we lose sight of them, except in an occasional reference, from c. xiiii to c. xvii. While they are working . behind the scene, the apoealyptic history is occupied with mundane events — the judgements of the latter days which are now symbolized by seven bowls full of the last plagues; the greatness and the fall of the New Babylon, the Beast's mistress and representative. Beyond the fall of the World-empire the Seer can see in dim outline long days of comparative rest and triumph for the Church, and after them a temporary relapse, followed by the final destruction of the surviving powers of evil. This makes room for the manifestation of the Church as the Bride of Christ and City of God, and with a magnificent picture of the New Jerusalem, the antithesis of Babylon, the Apocalypse reaches its end. Thus in its briefest form our scheme of the book will stand as follows : Prologue and greeting (i. ,1 — 8). Part i. Vision of Christ in the midst of the Churches (i. 9 — iii. 22). 1 Until we reach c. xxii. 16, -where the, -writer reverts to the ideas of c. i. 1,4 ff. CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OP JOHN xli Vision of Christ in Heaven (iv. I — v, 14). Preparations for the End (vi. 1 — xi. 19). Part ii; Vision of the Mother of Christ and her enemies (xii. 1 — xiii. 18). Preparations for the End (xiv. 1 — xx. 15). Vision of the Bride of Christ, arrayed for her husband (xxi. 1— xxii. 5). Epilogue and benediction (xxii. ,6 — 21). 6. Archbishop Benson relates that "in answer once to the question, ' What is the form the book presents to you ? ' the reply of an intelligent and devout reader was, ' It is Chaos ' 1 ." If the above scheme is accepted, chaos will give place to something like cosmic order and progress. But the order and progress of apoca- lyptic writings must not be judged by the standards of ordinary literature. An apocalypse is neither a history nor a homily, though it may partake of the character of each ; its methods are its own, and they must be learnt by a sympathetic study of the text. T he Apocalypse of John, in its literary setting, is an encyclical letter addressed to the Seven Churches of Asia 2 . If we detach t he short preface j(i^i— 3.), . j.tJbegin&_m^ familiar t o readers of the letters-nfLSjb.JBaul. a nd it ends , like the Pauline lett ers, with a b enediction 3 . But this form is not main- tained in the body of the w ork; it is exchanged in c. i. 9 for the apocalyptic manner, whichjiontinues almost: J;o jthe^end. The so-called Letters to the Churches l in cc. ii. iii. are no exception ; they are in fact messages, and not true letters, and they form a sequel to the vision of c*. i. 4 The Apocalypse proper has. been represented as a gwm'-drama, divisible into acts and scenes, and interspersed with 'interludes' 1 Apocalypse, p. 1. 8 See notes ad loc. ' a The Pauline Epistle Πρδι'Ε0εσ£οι« is 4 The formula τψ άγγέ\φ...•γράψον probably an earlier example of a circular Τάδε λέγει is not epistolary but pro- letter which starting with Ephesus made phetic ; for ypai//ov cf. i. 1 1, 19, xiv. 13, the tour of the Asian Churches: see six. qj xxi. 5. TaJe λέγει announces a \VH., Notes on Select Beadinqs, p. 123 f., prophetic message, as frequently in the and Hort, Prolegomena to 'Romans and lxx. EpMsians, p. 86 ff. Missing Page xliv CONTENTS AND PLAN OP THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN broken by a by-play which, seems to be irrelevant, it is because the episode prepares for an issue which is at hand. The issue is postponed for a time that when it comes its real significance may be more clearly seen. It may be convenient to add an outline of the systems of division adopted by some of the chief modern writers on the Apocalypse, (i) in England and (2) on the continent. (1) Alford: i. 1 — 3, i. 4 — iii. 22; iv. 1 — n, v. 1 — 14, vi. 1 — viii. 5, viii. 6 — xi. 19, xii. 1 — xiii. 18, xiv. 1 — 20, xv. 1 — xvL 21, xvii. 1 — xviii. 24, xix. 1 — xxii. 5, xxii. 6 — 21. Lee:• i. 1 — iii. 22; iv. 1 — v. 14, vi. 1— viii. 1, viii. 2 — xi. 19, xii. 1 — xiii. 18, xiv. 1 — ■ 20, xv. 1 — xvi. 2i, xvii. 1 — xxii. 5; xxii. 6 — 21. Simcox: i. 1 — 3; i. 4 — iii. 22 ; iv. 1 — v. 14, vi. 1 — viii. 1, viii. 2 — xi. 19, xii. 1 — xiv. 13, xiv. 14 — 20, xv. 1 — xvi. 21, xvii. 1 — xviii. 24, xix. 1 — 21, xx. 1—6, xx. 7 — 10, xx. 11 — 15, xxi. 1 — xxii. 9; xxii. 10 — 21. Anderson Scott: i. 1 — 8, 9 — 20, ii. 1— iii. 22, iv. 1 — v. 14, vi. 1 — viii. 1, viii. 2 — xi. 19, xii. 1 — xiv. 20, xv. 1 — xvi. 21, xvii. 1 — xix. 10, xix. 11 — xx. 15, xxi. 1 — xxii. 5, xxii. 6 — 17, 18 — 21. Mofpatt: i. 1 — 8; i. 9 — iii. 22; iv. 1 — vi. 17 (vii. 1 — 18, viii. 1); viii.'2 — ix. 21 (x. 1 — xi. 13, 14 — 19, xii. 1 — 17, xiii. 1— 18, xiv. 1—5, 6 — 20); xv. 1 — xvi. 2i, xvii. 1 — xx. 10; xx. 11 — xxii. 5, xxii. 6 — 21. (2) Bengel: i. 1 — 3, 4 — 6, 7 — 8, 9 — 20, ii. 1 — iii. 22; iv. 1 — v. 14, v. 15 — vi. 17, vii. 1 — 17, viii. 1 — 6, 7 — 12, viii. 13 — ix. 21, χ. 1 — xi. 19, xii. 1 — 12, 13 — 17, xiii. 1 — 18, xiv. [1 — : 5], 6 — 13, 14 — 20, xv. i— xvi. 21, xvii. 1 — 18, xviii. 1 — xix. 18, xix. 19 — 21, xx. 1, 2, 3, 4 — 6, 7 — 10, 11 — 15, xxi. 1 — xxii. 5; xxii. 6 — 21. De Wette : i. 1 — 3, 4 — 8, 9 — 20, ii. 1— iii. 22; iv. 1 — 11, v. 1 — 14, vi. 1 — 8, 9 — 17, vii. 1 — 8, 9 — 17, viii. 1 — 6, 7 — 12 (13), ix. 1— 11 (12), 13—21, x. 1—7, 8— 11, xi. 1— 13 (14), 15—19; xii. 1 — 6, 7 — 12, 13 — 17, 18 — xiii. 10, xiii. 11 — 18, xiv. 1 — 5, 6 — 13, 14 — 20; xv. 1 — xvi. 1, xvi. 2 — 11, 12 — 16, 17 — 21, xvii. 1 — 18, xviii. 1 — 24, xix. 1 — 8, 9, 10, 11— ri6, 17—21, xx. 1 — 3, 4 — 6, 7 — 10, 11 — 15, xxi. 1 — xxii. 5, xxii. 6 — 21. Ewald : i. 1 — 3, 4 — 8, 9 — 20; ii. 1 — iii. 21; iv. 1, 2 — 11, v. 1 — 14, vi. 1—8, 9 — 11, 12 — 17, vii. 1 — 8, 9 — 17; viii. i, 2 — 6, 7 — 13, ix. 1 — 12, 13 — 21, x. 1 — 11, xi. 1 — 14; xi. 15 — 19, xii. 1 — 17, 18 — xiii. 10, xiii. 11 — 18, xiv. ι — 5, 6 — 13, 14 — 20; xv. 1 — 4, 5 — xvi. 1, xvi. 2 — 9, 10, 11, 12 — 21, xvii. 1 — 18, xviii. 1 — 24; xix. 1, — 10, 11 — 16, 17 — xx • 6, xx. 7 — 10, 11 — 15, xxi. 1 — 8, 9-^xxii. 5, xxii. 6 — 9, 10 — 17, 18 — 20, 21. Holtzmann: i. 1 — 3, 4 — 8, 9 — 20, ii.. 1 — iii. 22, iv. 1— v. 14, vi. 1 — 17, vii. 1 — 17, viii. 1 — 5, 6 — ix. 21, χ. 1 — xi. 14, xi. 15 — 19, xii. 1 — xiv. 5, xiv. 6—20, xv. 1 — xvi. 1, xvi. 2 — 2i, xvii. 1 — xix. 10, xix. 11 — xxii. 5, xxii. 6 — 21. Zahn: i. 1 — 9; 10 — iii. 22; iv. 1 — viii. 1, viii. 2 — xi. 18, xi. 19 — xiv. 20, xv. 1— xvi. 17, xvii. 1 — xviii. 24, xix. 11 — xxi. 8, xxi. 9 — xxii. 5 ; xxii. 10 — 21. It is more interesting to observe the methods of grouping adopted CONTENTS AND PLAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OE JOHN xlv by the several authorities. Most of the English commentators break up the book, after the introduction and conclusion have been removed, into two unequal parts (i, 4 — iii. 22, iv. 1 — xxii. 5), a modification of the scheme of Bengel, who divides the -whole book into (i) introitus (i. 1 — iii. 22), (ii) ostensio (iv. 1 — xxii. 5), (iii) conclusio (xxii. 6 — 21). In his Historical N. T. Mr Moffatt has departed from this tradition, seeing in the Apocalypse four heptads (seven letters, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials), followed by two visions, a vision of doom and a vision of the end. Of the Germans, DeWette makes th esecond part of the_bqok_ begin a t xii. i, while Volkmar places theH5reinraTlEneehd of c. ix. ; Ewald '"adopts a"sevenfold division (i. 1 — 20 + xxii. 1 — 21, ii. — iii.,iv. — vii., viii. — xi. 4, xi. 15 — xiv. 20, xv. — xviii., xix. 1 — xxii. 5); Holtzmann has seventeen sections, placing in the right-hand column vii. 1 — 17, x. 1 — xi. 14, xii. 1 — xiv. 5, xvii. 1 — xix. 10, xxi. 1 — xxii. 5 which largely coincide with the portions of the book which have been tbought to be of Jewish origin ; while Zahn, who believes in the unity of the Apocalypse, is attracted by the theory that the body of the work falls into eight successive visions. Th^jiYisioTi o f t.hp hnnk a.t,_ the ptiH nf c. # xi. into two nearly equal_sections, which, is suggested in this . chapter, recommended iteelf in "the sixteenth_century to thfi„SpjMush_ Jgsuifc,Jdeasar*_mi.t in connexion^with a widely different system of interpretation?.; to the present writer it lias occurred independentlyyj.uppn a study of. the "fact"s7 IV. UNITY OF THE APOCALYPSE. In the attempt which .has been made to establish the existence of a definite plan in the Apocalypse it is assumed that the book is a literary unity. This point, however, has been and still is hotly disputed by scholars of the first rank, and it demands a separate and somewhat prolonged examination. I. The book creates a prima facie impression that it proceeds from one author or editor. The first and last chapters claim to be written by the same person (i. I, 4, 9, xxii. 8); and that the first three chapters and the last two or three have come from the same hand may be shewn by simply placing in parallel columns the ideas and phraseology which they have in common. i. 1. xxii. 6. Βείξας rots δουλοις αντον α δεΐξαι τοις δουλοΐϊ αΰτοΰ a δει -γενέσθαι εν τάχει. Set γενέσθαι έν ταχει. ν i. 3• xxii• 7• μακάριο? ο άναγινωσκων και οί μακάριος ο τηρών τούϊ λόγου? άκοΰοντεϊ του? λογουϊ της προ- τη? προφητεία? τον βιβλίου φητείας και τηρονντες κτλ. τούτου. ι. 3• 6 yap καιροί εγγΰϊ. i. 8. XXI 1. ΙΟ. ο καιροί γαρ εγγύϊ εστίν. xxL 6, xxii. 12. εγω είμι τό άλφα και τδ ω. εγώ τό άλφα και τό ω. i. 17• xxii. 13• ίγω ειμί ο πρώτο? και ο Ιο•- 6 πρώτος και ο Ισνατοί. χατ.ος. 11. 7• τδ πνεύμα λέγει. xxii. 1 7• τ δ πνενμα Kalij νύμφη λεγονσιν. UNITY OF THE APOCALYPSE^ xlvu ii. 7. xxi. 7. τω νικώντι δώσω κτλ. (cf. ii. ιι, 6 νικών , κληρονόμησα ταύτα. 17, 26, iii; 5, 12, 21). . ii. 11. xx. 6. οΰ μη άοΊκηθ -rj εκ τον θανάτου επ\ τούτων 6 δεύτερος θάνατος τον δευτέρου. ουκ έχει εξουσίαν (cf. ν. 14, xxi. 8). ii. 28. xxii. 16. δώσω αύτω τον αστέρα τον εγω είμι.,.ό άστηρ.,.ό πρωινός, πρώϊνόν. iii. 11. xxii. 12. έρχομαι ταχύ. ίδοίι έρχομαι ταχύ. iii. 12. . xxi. 2. T17S καινοί 'Ιερουσαλήμ η την πάλιν την άγίαν Ιερουσαλήμ καταβαίνονσα εκ τοΰ οΰρανοΰ καινών ci8ov καταβαίνόυσαν άπο τον θεοΰ μου. εκ τοΰ οΰρανοΰ άπο τον θεοΰ. 2. Such coincidences le'ave no dbubt that the same writer has been at work in cc. i. — iii., xx. — xxii. But though they are most numerous in the beginning and end of the book, traces of literary unity are not wanting elsewhere, as the following examples will shew. iv. 1. i. 1. δει£ω σοι α δΐΐ -γενέσθαι. δεΐ£αι...α δει γενέσθαι. iv. 2. • i. 10. εγενόμην εν πνεΰμα,τι. εγενόμην εν πνεύματι. iv. 6. xv. 2. ως θάλασσα υαλίνη, εϊδον ως σαλασσαν ναλίνην. V- 5• xxii. 16. ή ρίζα Αανείδ. η ρίζα και τό γένος Ααυείδ. ν. ΙΟ. ϊ. 6. εττοίησας αυτούς τω θεω ημών εποίησεν ημάς βασιλειαν, ίερ- βασιλείαν και ιερείς. εΐς τω θεω. ι ix. ι. XX. ί• η κλεις χοΰ φρέατος της άβύσ- την κλεΐν της αβύσσου, σον. χ. ι. ΐ• 14 f • το πρόσωπον αΰτοΰ ως ό ήλιος, οι πόδες αυτοί όμοιοι χαλκολι- και οί πόδες αΰτοΰ o>s στύλοι βάνω ώς εν καμίνια πεπνρωμενης πυρός. ...και ηόψις αΰτοΰ ως ό r /λιος κτλ. xlviii -UNITY OF THE APOCALYPSE XL I. ίοοθημοι κάλαμος. . .λεγωνΈιγεφε και μετρησον top ναον. XI. 7• τό θηρίον το άναβαΐνον εκ της αβύσσου. ■ χϋ. 9• ό, δρακών ό /Αίγας 6 όφις ο αρ- χαίος, ό καλούμενος διάβολος χχϊ. Ι5• είχεν μίτρον κάλαμον χρυ&οΰν Ινα .μετρήσ-τι την πολιν... xyii. 8. μέλλει ανάβαιναν ckt^s αβύσ- σου. , XX. 2. ό όφις ό αρχαίος, δς «ττιν διά- βολο? και ό σατανάς. ' xiv. 13. λέγει το πνεΰ/ια. xiv. 14. δμοιον νίον άνθρωπου. XV. 6. - ΐΓίριίζωσ/χε'νοι περί τα στήθη ζωνας χρυσάς. xvi. IS- έρχομαι ως κλέπτης. χνϋ. ι. ίλάλ^σΕν jw.£T e/LioS λεγωι/ Δεΰρο δείξω σοι τό κρίμα της πόρνης. xix. 12. οι οφθαλμοί αΰτοΰ φλοξ πυρός. ϋ. 7 etc - τό Trveijua Xeyei. i. 13• ομοιον υ'ιον άνθρωπου. Ι ΐ3• περιεζωσμένον προς τοις μασ- τοΐς ζωνην χρυσάν. iii. 3• ' ηξω ως κλέπτης. xxi. 9- ελάλησεν μετ εμόΰ λέγων Αενρο δείξω σοι την νυμφην. οι όφ#αλ//.οι αυτοί ως φλοξ πυρός. 3• It is clear from these instances, which might be multiplied, that the hand of the man who wrote cc. i.— iii., xx. — xxii., has been busy throughout the book. This in itself may not mean more than that he has acted as editor of the whole. But there are other indications of unity, running through large sections of the book, which carry us some steps further. Certain symbolical figures reappear at intervals in contexts which deal with widely different subjects. Though, as we have seen, the eleventh and twelfth . chapters are separated by a marked cleavage, the Lamb and the Beast appear on both sides of it; the Lamb occurs in cc. v., vi., vii., xii., xiv., xv., xvii., xix., xxi., xxii., i.e. practically throughout UNITY OF THE APOCALYPSE xlix the book from c. v. onwards, and the Beast in c. xi. as well as in cc. xiii., xiv., xv., xvi., xvii.,' xix., xx. The figure of Hades as a companion of Death occurs in cc. i., vi., xx. There are certain unusual words and forms which are common to every part of the Apocalypse, or are found throughout great sections or in passages which are widely separated; e.g. άβυσσος (cc. ix., xi., xvii., xx.), άδικεΐν to hurt (ii., vi., vii., ix., xi., xxii.), βασανισμός (ix., xiv., xviii.), διάδημα (xii., xiii., xix.), δράκων (xii., xiii., xvi., xx.), 'ευαγγβΧίζβιν active (x., xiv.), θρόνος (i., ii., iii., iv., v., vi., vii., viii., xi., xii., xiii., xiv., xvi., xix., xx., xxi., xxii.), καΰμα (vii., xvi.), κρύσταΧλος '(iv., xxii.), μς,ηιστάν (vi., xviii.), μεσουράνημα (viii., xiv., xix.), μο\ύνειν (iii., xiv.), οικουμένη (iii.; xii., xvi.) ? παντο- κράτωρ (i., iv., xi., xv., xvi., xix., xxi.), συνκοινωνύν, -νός (i., xviii.), σφάζβιν (v., vi., xiii., xviii.), φαρμάκια, φάρμακον, φαρμακός (ix., xviii., xxi., xxii.), φιάΧη (v., xv., .xvi., xvii., xxi.), •χάραημα (xiii., xiv., xvi., xix., xx.). Still more striking as an indication of an underlying unity is the resumption in c. xv. of the series of sevenfold visitations which began in c. vi. ; as there were seven seal-openings and se,ven trumpet-blasts in the first half of the book, so the second has its seven bowls full of the seven last plagues. The cumulative force of this evidence is sufficient to create a strong presumption that the writer who announces his name in the prologue has been at work throughout the book. The impress of his peculiar style is to be seen in every part of it. 4. These considerations have not deterred modern scholars from regarding the Apocalypse as a composite work and attempting in some cases to resolve it into its sources. Suggestions in. this direction were hazarded in the seventeenth century by Grotius.(i644)' and Hammond (1653) 2 , and early in the nineteenth century by Vogel (1811 — 16) 3 and Bleek (1822) 4 . Weizsacker (1882) 5 reopened the question with a suggestion that the author, although his hand may be seen throughout, made free use of older material. In the same year his pupil Volter 6 1 Annotationes ad N.T. view. 2 Paraphrases and Annotations upon 5 lnTh.LitteraturzeUung,i88i,^.'}8t. the N.T. e In Die Entstehung der Apok. (1882- 3 CoTjanentationesviide Apoc. Ioannis. £). Volter has recently published a re- 4 In the Berlin Th. Zeitschrift, ii. cast of his theory (Die Offenbarung p. 240 ft. Bleek afterwards revoked his Johannis neu untersucht u. erlautert,, S. R. d 1 UNITY. OF THE APOCALYPSE started a more ambitious theory,, according to which Apoc. i. 4 — 6, iv. 1 — v. 10, vi. 1 — 17, vii. 1 — 8, viii. 1 — 13, ix. 1 — 21, xi. 14 — 19, xiv. 1, 3, 6, 7, 14 — 20, xviii. 1 — 24, xix. 1 — 10, make Tip the original Apocalypse, which Volter would, assign to a.d. 62; cc. x. 1 — xi. 13, xiy. 8, xvii. 1— 18 were added in a'.d. 68 — 70, and the rest of the book was contributed by successive editors in the time of Trajan and Hadrian ; three such later redactions are distinguished, viz. (1) cc. xii. 1 — 17, xix. 1.1 — xxi. 8; (2) v. n — 14, vii. 9 — 17, xii. 11, xiii., xiv. 1, 5, 9 — 12, xv. — xvi., xvii. 1 a, xix. 2of., xx. 1, 20, xxi. 9 — xxii. 5, 6 — 19;' (3) i• 1 — 3, 7, 8, 9 — iii. 22, v. 6b,«xiv. 13, xvi. 15, xix. 10 b, 13 b, xxii. 7 a, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20 — 21. In 1886 a new vein was struck by a pupil of Harnack, Eberhard Vischer 1 , who set to work on the hypothesis that the Apocalypse of John is a Christian adaptation of a Jewish original ; the specifically Christian portions of the book are i. — iii., v. 9 — 14, vii. 9 — 17, xiii. 9f., xiv. 1— S> I2 > τ 3> χν • 3> xvi - 1 5> xvii - J 4i xix - 9 ff -> !3> xx • 4 — 6, xxi • 5 b — 8, xxii. 6 — 21, together with a few words interpolated in ix. 11, xi. 8, 15, xv. 3, xvii. 6, xx. 4, xxi. 14, 23. The year 1886 produced the theory of Weyland 2 , which assumed two Jewish sources, one (n) written under Nero, and a second (3) under Titus. To a Weyland attributes i. 10, "12 — 17, 19, iv. — vi., vii. 1 — 17, viii. — ix., xi. 14 — 18, xiv. 14 — 20, xv. 5, xvi. 17b — 20, xvii. — xviii., xix. 1 — 6, xxi. 9 — 27, xxii. 1 — 11, 14 f. ; to a χ. 1 — xi. 13, xii. 1 — 10, 12 — 18, xiii., xiv. 6 — 11, xv. 2—4, xvi. 13, 14, 16, xix. 11 — 21, xx., xxi. 1 — 8 ; to the Christian redactor he leaves i. — iii., v. 6 — 14, xi. 19, xii. 11, 17 c, xiv. 1 — 5, 12 — 13, xv. 1, 6 — 8, xvi. 1 — 17 a, 21, xix. 7—10, 13 b, xxii, 12, 13, 16 — 21. Other theories based on the assumption of a Jewish source or sources are those of Holtzmann 3 , who assumes a Jewish Grundschrift of the age of Nero, in which was incorporated an older Jewish apocalypse written under Caligula ; and Sabatier 4 , who regards the Apocalypse as a Christian book embodying Jewish fragments (xi. 1 — 13, xii., xiii., xiv. 1 — 20, xvii. 1 — xix. 2, xix. 11 — xx. 10, xxi. 9 — xxii. 5). Spitta 5 distinguishes three sources answering to the three series of sevenfold judgements — a Seal source, which is Christian (c. a.d. 60), a Trumpet and a Vial source, which are Jewish ; the present form of the book being ascribed to a Christian redactor. Erbes 6 , on the other hand, believing the book to be entirely of Christian origin, finds in it three Christian sources belonging respectively to the reigns of Caligula, Nero, and Domitian. 5 . To the present writer it appears that most of the hypotheses which exercised the ingenuity of Germany during the ten years 1904), in which, he distinguishes (1) an 2 Th. Tijdsehrift, 1886, p. 454ft Apocalypse of John a.d. 65, (2) an s Gesch. d. Volkeslsrael ii. 2, p. 658ft Apocalypse of Cerinthus, a.d. 70, a,nd * Les oHgiiies Uttiraires et la compo- (3) the work of a redactor of the time of sition de VApoc. (Paris, 1887). Xrajan. • Die Offenbarung Johannis (1884). 1 Texte u: Untersuchungen, 11. s " Die Off. Joh. (iSqi). (1886). V V unity of the Apocalypse li that followed Weizsaeker' s first pronouncement ignored the funda- mental conditions of the problem. No theory with regard to the sources of the Apocalypse can be satisfactory which overlooks the internal evidence of its essential unity (§§ 1—3). The book has clearly passed through the hands of an individual who has left his mark on every part of it ; if he has used old materials freely, they have been worked up into a form which is permeated by his own personality, This has been so far recognised by more recent criticism that less drastic methods are now being used to account for the literary phenomena of the work. In 1886, after the completion of Volter's theory, Weizsaeker suggested that the apparent lack of cohesion in certain passages is due to the interpolation of fragments which are not from the author's pen, specifying cc. vii.• 1 — 8, xii. 1 — 10, xiii., xvii., which he assigned to the reigns of Nero, Vespasian, and Domitian. An entirely new view was propounded by Gunkel in his epoch-making Sclwpfung unci Chaos (1894). Breaking loose at once from the prevalent view of the Apocalypse as a mere interpretation of local contemporary history, and from the tendency to frame elaborate schemes for its division into ' sources,' he saw in the book the out- come of a long course of apocalyptic traditions which in some cases went back to the Creation-myths of Babylonia. Gunkel's • Chaos was followed in the next year by Bousset's Antichrist 1 , a book succeeded in 1896 by its author's important commentary on the Apocalypse 3 . Bousset, while recognizing the essential unity of the Apocalypse, believes with Weizsaeker that certain contexts in it are fragments of older works, and with Gunkel' finds traces of apoca- lyptic traditions in the writer's own work. Still more recently a contribution has been made to the subject by Professor Johannes Weiss of Marburg 3 . According to his view, the original Apoca- lypse of John was written before 70, and included i. 4 — 6, 9 — 19, iL, iii., iv., v., vi., vii., ix., xii. 7 — 12, xiii. 11 — 18, xiv. 1 — 5, 14 — 20, xx. 1 — 10, 11 — ig, xxi. 1 — 4, xxii. 3 — 5; in its present form the book was issued at the end of the reign of Domitian by ah editor who was not the original Apocalyptist. ( 6. It is impossible to contemplate the flood of literature on the composition of the Apocalypse which the last quarter of a century has called forth without asking the question whether there is any solid ground for the assumption which underlies it 1 Der Antichrist in der TJeberlieferung beitet (1896). des Judenthums, des N.T. u. der alten 3 Die Offenbarung des Johannis : ein ■Kirche (1895). Beitrag zur Literatur- u. Meligions- 2 Die Offeribarung Johannis new bear- . geschichte (1904). lii UNITY OF THE APOCALYPSE all. It is taken for granted- by some recent authorities 1 that the Apocalypse is a composite work. But does this conviction rest on more than the reiterated assertion of writers who have found in the analysis of the book a fascinating field for intellectual exercise ? When the enquirer investigates the grounds on which the hypo- thesis of compilation rests, they are seen to be such as the fol- lowing: (a) the presence of well defined breaks in the thread of the movement, as e.g. after iii. 22, vii. 17, ix. 21, xi. 19, xiii. 18, xiv. 20, xvi. 21 ; (b) the treatment of the same idea more than once under different points of view ; thus the 144,000 of vii. 4 ff. reappear under another aspect in xiv. 1 ff., and the Beast of xiii. I in c. xvii. ; the New Jerusalem of xxi. 9 does not altogether corre- spond with the New Jerusalem of xxi. 2 ; (c) the representation of the Last Judgement at two widely separated stages in the development of the book, i.e. in xiv. 14 ff., and xx. 1 1 ff. : (d) the different aspects of Christian thought revealed by the descriptions of Christ in i. 13 ff., v. 6, xiv. 14, and of the Church in xii. 1 ff., xvii. 7, xxi. 2 ; (e) the different dates which seem to be postulated by cc. xi. 1 f., xiii. 18, xvii. 10 f. Such a list of seeming inconsistencies is formidable until it is taken to pieces and examined in detail. But when this has been done, it will be found that the weight of the objections is greatly diminished. The phenomena which suggest diversity of authorship admit for the most part of another explanation ; they may well be due to the method of the author or the necessities of his plan. Indeed the last head is the only one which demands serious consideration from those who advocate the unity of the book. If c. xi. 1 implies that the Temple at Jerusalem was still standing, and xvii. 10 that Vespasian's reign had not yet ended, while the general tenor of the book points to the reign of Domitian, it is clear that as far as these passages are concerned the Apocalypse must be admitted to contain fragments of an older work ; but a reference to the com- mentary will shew, it is hoped, that even in these contexts the inference is far from being certain. 1 E.g. byBousset in Encycl. Blblica p. xiii.): "As far as I am acquainted i. 205: "it seems to be settled that the with them [the theories of a composite Apocalypse can no longer be regarded origin], they have done nothing what- as a literary unity." Dr Hort, on the ever to shake the traditional unity of other hand, writes (Apocalypse i — iii., authorship." UNITY OF THE APOCALYPSE liii 7. That the author of the Apocalypse made free use of any materials to which he had access and which were available for his purpose, is highly probable. But did he transfer large masses of earlier apocalyptic writing to his own work, in such a manner as to make his book a compilation or to detract from its unity ? Was this his method of dealing with the works of older, apocalyptists ? It so happens that we are in a position to give a definite answer to the second of these questions. The writer of the N.T. apocalypse has made large use of the apocalyptic portions of the Old Testament. He refers to the Book of Daniel in some forty-five places (Apoc.'i. 1, 7, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, ii. 10, 18, iv. 1, 10, v. 11, vii. 14, ix. 20, x. 4 ff., xi. 2, 7, 13, 15, 18, xii. 3^7 f., 14, xiii. 1 f., 5, 7, 8, 15, xiv. 14, xvi. 11, 18 f., xvii. 3, 5, 8, 12, xviii. 2, 20, xix. 6, 12, xx. 4, 1 1 f., 1 5, xxi. 27, xxii. 5 f., 10), and the Books of , Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah are used with almost equal frequency, while the other Prophets, the Psalter, and the Pentateuch are often in view 1 . No book in the New Testa ment is so thoroughly steeped in the thought and imagery of the Hebrew Scriptures. Yet the writer has not o nce _guoted the Old Testament, and rarely" uses its ipsissima verba. Seldom does he borrow from it a scene or the suggestion of a vision without modifying the details, departing from his original with the utmost freedom, or combining features which have been brought together from different contexts. This method of using Old Testament materials runs through the whole of the Apocalypse, and is characteristic of the book. Whether the writer is indebted to non-canonical apocalypses is less certa'in, but if he is, he has followed the same principle. There is no evidence that any one of them has served him as a ' source ' ; coincidences between the work of John and the extant Jewish books are nearly limited to minor points connected with' the imagery and diction 2 . Under, the circumstances it is more than precarious to postulate sources of which nothing is known 8 . For tnese reasons it has been assumed in this edition that the Apocalypse of John is a literary unity. It may be added that, as 1 See c. xiii. 2 See cc. ii., xiii. 3 See c. jtiii. liv. UNITY OF THE APOCALYPSE the work has progressed, this assumption has grown into a convic- tion. Everywhere the presence of the same, creative mind has made itself felt, and features which at first sight appeared to be; foreign to the writer's purpose were found on nearer view to be necessary to the development of his plan. It is impossible to justify in this place an impression which depends upon an examination of the text, but in the commentary the reader will find the details on which it rests, and he is asked to reserve his judgement until he has completed his study of the book 1 . 1 It is not the intention of these re- unity of the book. On the other hand marks to deny that the Apocalypse, as the theory proposed by Prof. J. Weiss we have received it, may be a reissue by (supra, p.xlvii) presents difficulties which the write» of the original work in an to the present writer seem to be greater ^enlarged or amended form; such a view than those which it seeks to remove, does not militate against the essential V. DESTINATION. ■ ι. The Apocalypse of John professes to be an encyclical addressed to the Christian societies in seven of the cities of Asia (Apoc. 1. 4 Ιωάννης ταΐς ετττά εκ'κλησιαις ταις εν rfj Ασία ; ib. 1 1 b βλέπεις ypaijrov εις βιβ\ίον και πεμψον ταϊς ετττά εκκΚησίαις, els "Έιφεσον και εις Ί,μνρναν και εις ΏερΎαμον και εις ®υάτειραν και εις Σάρδεις καϊ εις ΦιΧαδέ^,φίαν και εις Α,αοΒικίαν). 2• At the endjj fjy^eJJrjkJSga^^ Asia Minor 1 see ms.. to hayA_embraced six provinces. Asia, B ithy riia (including Pontus), Galatia, Oappadocia , Cilicia , Lycra (including Pamphylia) 2 . The Province of Asia had been created as far back as the year B.C. 1 29 s out of the domains bequeathed to the Senate by Attalus III., the last king of Pergam'um. Ultimately it included Mysia, Lydia, and Caria, and the three Phrygian dioeceses of Cibyra, Apamea, and Synnada, besides certain islands in the Aegean Sea off the western coast 4 . Thus constituted, the province was bounded on the north by Bithynia, ,on the east by Galatia, and on the south by Lycia; on the west it was washed by the Aegean; inland, it reached a distance from the coast of about 300 English miles, while its greatest length was about 260 s . In the region which falls under our consideration four rivers, the Caicus, the Hermus, the Cayster, and the Maeander, 1 On the history of this term see Hort, i. p. 177. First Epistle of St Peter, p. i6j r 4 On these see V. Chapot, La province 2 For the last three see Hort, op. eit., ' romaine proconsulate d'Asie, p. 82 if. p. 158 f. e The frontier is carefully defined by . 3 Marquardt, Bom. Staate-Verwaltung , Chapot, p. 85. lvi DESTINATION descended to the sea from the highlands of the interior, and three considerable ranges of hills, Sipylus, Tmolus, and Messogis, mounted up to the highlands from the coast. 3. In the Greek-Did. Testament J^aiajj. mentioned only by thewriters,,QjLihe Books of the Maccabees, who us.e it to represent the -dominions of the .^glgjioid», dynasty (i Mace. viii. 6, xi. 13, xii. 39, xiii. 32 ; 2 Mace. iii. 3, x. 24; 3 Mace. iii. 14; 4 Mace. iii. 20). But in the New Testament, under the Empire, the case is different. Asia is named by St Luke, St Paul, St Peter, and St John (Acts ii. 9, vi. 9, xvi.' 6, xix. 10, 22, 26 f., xx. 4, 16, 18, xxi. 27, xxiv. 18, xxvii. 2; Rom. xvi. 5 ; I Cor. xvi. 19; 2 Cor. i. 8; 2 Tim. i. 15; 1 Pet. i. 1; Apoc. i. 4), and. by all in the sense familiar at the time. " Asia ^in_ the New Testament," wrote Dr Lightfoot in 1865, "is always Proconsular Asia" 1 ; and his dictum has not been seriously shaken by the researches of the last forty years. In Acts ii. 9 f., indeed, Phrygia is distinguished from Asia and linked to Pamphylia ; but by Phrygia in that place is probably meant^ the_ nop- Asian region of Phrygia, as in. Acts xvi. 6^ xviii. 23 2 . But whatever may be the practice of St Luke or St Paul in reference to the use of the name ' Asia,' it is certain that the province of Asia is contemplated by St Peter in I Pet. ϊ. Ι (παρεπίδημοι•; διασποράς Tiovrou, Τάλατίας, Καππαδοκίας, 'Ασία.?, καϊ Έιθυνίας), where, as Dr Hort says, "the five names coincide precisely with the five names that make up the titles of the four provinces of the Roman Empire into which Asia Minor, the southern littoral eventually excepted, was divided in and after the reign of Tiberius ; and it would need strong positive evidence to refute the consequent presumption that the territory denoted. . . was the territory of these four Roman provinces 8 ." In Apoc. i. 4 the inclusion of Western Phrygia in J Asia.' is implied by the enumeration among Asian cities of Laodicea on the_ Lycus, which belonged to the dioecesis Gibyratica. 1 Galatians, p. 19/11.6. The province a Blase (comra. on Aots, pp. 52, 176) was assigned to the Senate by Augustus, contends that in these passages Asia = A.r. 27, and was from that date to the "Western Asia Minor; but see Kamsay • time of Diocletian administered by a in Hastings, D.B. iii. 177. Proconsul (άνθύπατοή. 3 First Epistle of St Peter, p. 157. DESTINATION lvii 4. If the Apocalypse wa s directed to the Churches of Boman Asia, it was natural that it should be jgntjn. jJie^iakingtance to th e greate r cities of the provin ce. Asia was remarkab le for the number and wealth- of its cities. Pliny (H. iV. v. 29) mentions nine wnicFwere distinguished by being the centres of a conventus: viz. Adramyttium, Alabanda, Apamea, Ephesus, Laodicea on the Lycus, Pergamum, Sardis, Smyrna, Synnada; and to these Cyzicus, . Philomelium, and Tralles should be added 1 . A long list might be made of less important but yet considerable towns, such as Colossae, Dorylaeum, Eumenia, Hierapolis, Magnesia on the Maeander, Miletus, Philadelphia, Priene, Thyatira; . the total number of townships in the province is staj^^ by contemporary wri ters t o have been |oo,^r_^venjXKDg 2 . "No^ province," writes Aristides of Smyrna' in the second century, "has so many cities, nor are ey en„,thfi, greatest cities of. other proymggs comparable to the_j^je^ > gjf Jei 4§ia,|," Between the larger towns there was a keen though friendly rivalry, as the local coins and inscriptions testify. If Ephesus proclaims herself ή πρώτη καϊ μζηίστη μητρό- πολις της 'Ασία? 4 , Smyrna, not to be outdone by her neighbour, claims to be both a μητρόπολις, and πρώτη της 'Ασία? κάλλίΐ καϊ μ&γίθει, καϊ λαμπρότατη 5 ; while Pergamum, the old capital, is, like Ephesus and Smyrna, a πρώτη μητρόπολις. The title * μητρόπολις is also assumed by Cyzicus, Laodicea on the Lycus, Sardisj Synnada, and Tralles 6 . Magnesia on the Maeander, though it cannot rise to this dignity, is described on coins as the seventh city of Asia'. 5• In the light ofJJxeisa.ia(^s,it-is not, .at, first-- sight.. easy, to explain the principle on , whitih ..th& Apocalyptic list of -seven has been formed^ Why jdoes Jt. jn,c,lude„ two comparatively ...small 1 Marquardt, op. cit. p. 185. . tian Life, E. Tr. , p. 382), both Ejjhjesjis 2 Marquardt, p. 182, J. Weiss, art. g and SjmaaaJiad in the time of Augustus Kleinasien in Herzog-Hauck, x. 543. la population of 200,000, and Pergamum 3 Aristides of Smyrna xlii. ( = xxiii. ed. I in the middle of the second century eon- Keil, p. 34) oilre yap iroXeis τοσαύτα! ού- | tained from 120,000 to 180,000 souls. διμία ά\\η των πασών παρέχεται, oire Si] ' 4 CIG• 2992. rds ye με-/ίσταί τοιαύτας ; see also Diod. s CIG3179, 3205; Dittenberger, Orient. xvii. 5, and Seneca, Ep. 102, 21. Cf. Gr. inscriptiones select, ii. p. 159 f. Mommsen, Provinces, i. p. 354. According β Euggiero, Dizionario epigrafico di tolieloch(Zur BevolkerungsgescMchte des Antichitct Bomane, i. p. 731. Alterihwms), cited by Dobschiitz (Chris? ' Mommsen, Provinces, p. 329. lviii DESTINATION towns^Th^atixa, and .Philadelphia, while Tralles and Magnesia, Hierapolis' and Colossae, Alexandria Troas and Adramyttium, Miletus and Halicarnassus, Dorylaeum and Synnada, are passed by?, Some at, least of these cities, had„ .Christian communities before the^end of the .first century ; under Trajan, Ignatius of Antioch addressed letters to Churches at Tralles and Magnesia; . under Nero, St Paul spent the first day of the week with brethren at Troas ^, and recognized a "Church of the Laodiceans" and the presence of Christians at Hierapolis 2 . It is true that the first th ree cities in St, John's Jjstwer.e, by common consent πρωταί *±η&~Ά.σίας, and they stand-in -the.Ardgr which would naturally_J)e followed, at_leasjb by a Resident at EphesuSi- -Moreover Ephesus^ Smyrna, and Pergamum were in direct communication with one another,. by. the great road which the Romans had. constructed shortly after their occupation of Asia. So far then both the selection of the names and their order are easy to understand. But why should not the Apocalyptic messenger have been sent on from Pergamum to Cyzicus or to Troas ? why was his -course at this point diverted to the inland towns of Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia, and brought to an end in the valley of the Lycus ? The ,true answer is doubtless that jvhich is given by -Professor Ramsay : " all the Seven Cities stand on the great circular road that bound together the most populous, ' .wealthy, an d_.influential part of the Province, the west-central region 3 ." "_They were Jfejje JassL points .oa,,the_circuit to_ serve as centres of communication., with seven districts : Pergamum for the north... ; Thyatira for an inland district on the north-east and east; Sardis for the wide middle valley of the Hermus ; Philadelphia for Upper Lydia. .. ; Laodicea for the Lycus "Valley and for Central Phrygia... ; Ephesus for the Cayster and lower Maeander Valleys and coasts ; Smyrna for the lower Hermus Valley and the North Ionian coasts 4 ." Planted at these seven centres, the Apocalypse would spread through their neighbourhoods, and from thence to the rest of the province. A Roman road led from Pergamum to 1 Acta xx. 7 ff. "Letters, p. 183. 2 Col. ii. 1, iv. 13, 16. * lb. p. 191, DESTINATION lix Adramyttium and' Troas, and another direct to Cyzicus; other roads connected Philadelphia with Dorylaeum, and Laodicea with Apamea and Synnada, and with Cibyra. From Ephesus a great road passed through Magnesia, Tralles and Laodicea, and crossing Galatia and Cappadocia ultimately reached the Euphrates 1 ; a branch, road entered Syria through the 'Cilician Gates.' Thus the 'rout e prescribed in thg^ pocalypse pr£vid^^ferjbh^j^sal§tipn of the book throughout the^Churc^^^.iJ^ entire,, province i : and beyondit. \ 6. Some account of the cities to which the book was origin- ally sent is given in the notes to cc. ii. iii., and much more may be gathered from so accessible a book as Professor Eamsay's Letters to ike Seven Churches 2 , Here it may suffice to place before the student the general conditions of the life into which Christianity entered when it established itself in the cities of Asia. (i) At JJphesas by custom the Proconsul landed on his entry into the Province 3 , and the^city was regarded as the seat of the ■ prjo^ndaJL,goyernment. But it retained at feast the forms of municipal independence, and its civic life was full and many- sided. During the Roman period the population was divided into six tribes (ψυλαί), which were again divided into thousands (χιλιασττίίϊ). -Local affair s were in the hands of three asse mblies. h) a council ( βουλή), which in A.D. 104 consisted of 450, members probably elected in equal numbers from each of the tribes ^*ja senate Xyepovaut ), which seems to have, been charged with the finance of public worship 1 or perhaps with municipal finance in general, and the care of public monuments £Uuid the popu lar ass em bly, which bore the familiar name of ecclesia". JSgchjigsembly had its -γραμματΐνΐ, \ and the γραμματείς τον οημον possessed an authority which as we learn from the Acts (xix.55) could make itself respected even by an angry mob. In the life of Ephesus commerce occupied no less important a Pi552^i^J^caJ ln ppiitics. The silting up of the harbour had indeed begun to threaten the city's command of the seas, but Strabo was able to report that in every other respect it was growing in prosperity day by day, and that Asia within the Taurus had no market that could vie with it . Foreign trade brought it into 1 Eamsay, Hist. Geogr. of Asia Minor, * For the details see Hicks, op. cit., p. 164 ft. See also M. Chapot's chapter on iii. p. 68 ft. ; Chapot, pp. 194 — 230. the public roads of Asia (pp. 358 — 368). 6 Strabo xiv. 24 ή 6i πόλο ttj irpbt τί 2 See pp. 210 — 430. &\\a ευκαιρία των τότων αϋξεται καθ' 3 Bergmann, De Asia, p. 30. έκάστην ήμίραν, έμπορων σΰσα μέ-γιστον 4 Gf. Hicks, Ancient Greek Inscriptions, των κατά. ttjv Άσίαν την 4vtos του Ταύρου.' iii. p. j6. lx DESTINATION communication with Greece, Egypt, and Spain, and on the other hand with the Euphrates and the East. Among its local specialities were marble, vermilion, oils and essences, and the handicraft of workers in gold, silver and copper'. Its slaves fetched fabulous prices in the Roman market 2 . Nor were the intellectual interests of the place less keen or varied. In the first century the city of Heracleitus abounded with persons who followed the profession of the philosopher or the rhetor, and added to its reputation as a seat of• learning 3 . It will not be forgotten that according to Eusebius 4 Ephesus is the scene of Justin's dialogue with Trypho, and probably also of his initiation into the Stoic, Peripatetic, and Platonist philosophies 6 . Nor was art neglected in Ephesus; the city was a famous school of sculpture and archi- tecture ; the great theatre remains to witness to the passion of its citizens for the drama 6 . But religion was thejraramount power at Ephesus, as_ jjerhaps in all the Asian cities. .TJje „ffipx§hip. of the Ephes ian A rtemis was an inheritance fromjpre-Hellenic times, and possessed all the atfracfcioTis'wIncn" bind a'people'lo'a traditional or localized cult. The Artemision'did not indeed dominate the city as the Parthenon dominated Athens; it lay in fact, as was demon- strated by Mr Wood's discovery on the last day of 1869, on the plain outside the Magnesian gate of Ephesus. Nevertheless it was the chief glory of the place, and life in Ephesus was at every point brought into contact with the great presiding deity of the city — the Πρωτοχρονιά, as according to Pausanias (x. 38. 3) she was locally called. It was by the priestly college at the Artemision, known as the Essenes, that the lot was cast by which a new citizen was admitted to his tribe and thousand. ■ In the Ephesian calendar the month of the spring equinox was named after Artemis (0 Άρτΐμισιών), and during that month the city celebrated a yearly festival in honour of the goddess (τα ' Αρτεμίσιο.) '. On great festivals a sacred carriage (17 Upa άττήνη) carried the image of Artemis through the streets of the city. .The great temple em- ployed an army of officials ; it had its wardens (νβωττοΐαι), its guards (φυλακή), its hierophants and choirmen (θεολόγοι, νμνωΒοί), its crowd of ύρο'δουλοι, its priests and priestesses 8 . Private beneficence added to the splendours of the goddess ; a great inscription of the year a.d. 104 records the munificent bequest of a citizen for the maintenance of the worship of Artemis, "marking," in the judgement of Canon Hicks, "a reaction against Christianity," 1 Cf. Acts xix. 24, 2 Tim. iv. 14. τέρα v6\ei συνςτψ ανδρΐ καΐ προϋχοντι έν 2 See Zimmermann, Ephesos im ersten rots HXariwiKols σννδιίτριβον. Cicero De christlichen Jahrhundert, p. 50 ff. nat. deorum 2 mentions a Peripatetic a Apollonius of Tyana ap. Philostrat. school at Ephesus. vit. Ap. viii. 7, 8 (cited by Zimmermann, β Zimmermann, p. 73. p. 65) : "E0f(ros μ*στη φροντισμάτων φίλο- ' Hicks, pp. 83, 117 ft. σόφων τα καΐ Ρητορικών ύφ' ώιι ή πόλις 8 The inscriptions mention also Upo- Ισχύιι σοφίαν επαινούσα. κήρυκα, UpoiraKiriyKTal, σπονδοτοιοί : cf. 4 Η.Ε. iv. 28. , ^ J. Menadier, Qua condicione Ephciii 5 Dial. 1 veoiarl έπιδημήσαντι τ% ήμε- usi sunt, p. 105 f. DESTINATION lxi which from the first had been felt to be a serious rival 'of the Ephesian cult. It is worthy of remark that the worship of the Emperors 1 did not present itself to the people of Ephesus in this light, and was even regarded as an ally of the local religion; a statue of Augustus was set up in the precinct of the Artemision 2 , and Ephesus was proud to be the νεωκόρος of the Emperor as well as of her own goddess Artemis 3 . Indeed, there is abundance of evidence that in the cities of Asia generally the Caesar-worship was a welcome adjunct to the worship of the local deities 4 . Ex una disce omnes; the surroundings of the Church in Ephesus were more or less repeated in the other Asian cities. But each city had its special features, and something must be added in reference to these. (ii) Smvrna, the new city of the Diadochi, claimed, as we have seen, a primacy of beauty 5 . Approached by a long gulf which opened into a noble harbour, and crowned by an acropolis 6 , its natural advantages were in some respects superior to those of Ephesus. The city was worthy of its surroundings; its streets were straight and well paved; public buildings were numerous, including a library, an odeum, a stadium, a theatre, a temple of Homer (το Όμήρειον) with a portico attached to it, and other large two-storied porticoes'. The relations of Smyrna with Rome were excellent, and its loyalty received due recognition ; it was an urbs libera and the centre of a conventus, and from a.d. 26 the proud possessor of an Augusteum erected in honour of Tiberius 8 , a privilege which Ephesus at the time coveted in vain 9 . If Smyrna did not claim, lite Ephesus, a special cult, it could boast a number of temples, conspicuous among which were those of the Sipylene Cybele and the local Zeus. The public games of Smyrna 10 were noted for their magnificence, and it was one of the cities where periodical festivals were held under the authority of the Commune Asiae in honour of the Augusti 11 . On such occasions Christian 1 On this see c. vii. (^=xvii. ed. Keil). 2 Hicks, p. 37 ; Eamsay, Letters, 7 Strabo, xiv. 37 (646). p. 231. 8 The Augusteum in Smyrna was not, 3 f hns νεωκόρων Sis (or τρίς) καΐ της however, as Prof. Beid has pointed out Αρτέμιδος is found on Ephesian coins ; to me, dedicated to Tiberius alone ; the see B. Y.Head, Greek Coins of Lydia, mother of the Emperor and the Senate p. cvii. were inoluded (Tac. arm. iv. 15). 4 See Chapot, p. 424 ff. 9 Δ second neocorate was adjudged 5 Seep. lvii.; and Aristides of Smyrna, to Smyrna under Hadrian and a third xli. ( = xix. ed. Keil): Σμύρνα το• 'της under Sept. Severus (Head, Greek Coins 'Affias Α-γαλμα, ttjs δε υμετέρας έ-γκαΧΧώ• of Ionia, p. 263). Cf. CIG 3266 rois iv πισμαη•γεμονΙας. Cf . the Life of Polycarp Σμύρνη νεοΐς των Σεβαστών, CIG 3205 Ϋ by Pionius, where the citizens are νεωκόρος κατά τα δύ•γματα της Ιερωτάτης addressed as Ανδρες οί τησδβ της περικαΧ- συνκΚητον, CIG 33^6 αποτίσει μητρϊ θεών \οΰς πόλεως κάτοικοι (Lightfoot, Ignatius, Σιτνλην^ δηνάρια δισχίλια πεντακόσια* iii. ρ. 462). 10 Cf.Pausan. νί. 14. ι. β See the description in Aristides, xv. " Lightfoot, Ignatius, iii. p. 405. lxii DESTINATION citizens were doubtless placed in a position, of peculiar peril, but at no season would they be regarded with favourable eyes by a population immersed in business and pleasure, devoted. to the local cults, and proud of its loyalty to Rome and the Emperor 1 . (iii) Pergamum , the old capital of the Attalids, still claimed an hegemony, in right of its ancient glories 2 . The place possessed natural advantages which fitted it to sustain the character of leadership. "Beyond all other sites in Asia Minor it gives the traveller the impression of a royal city, the home of authority ; the rocky hill on which it stands is so huge, and dominates the broad plain of the Caicus so proudly and boldly 3 ." The plain was one of the richest in Mysia 4 , and supplied the markets of the city ; the local trade in skins (Βιφθίραι) prepared for the use of writers was so brisk that the material received its name from Pergamum 5 . But the fame of Pergamum rested chiefly on its religious pre-eminence. A tetrad of local deities, Zeus Soter, Athena Nikephoros, Dionysos Kathegemon, Asklepios Soter 6 , presided over the city ; the temple of Athena almost crowned the acropolis, and beneath it, on the slope of the hill and visible from the agora, stood a great al fresco altar of the Pergamene Zeus. Still more celebrated was the Per- gamene cult of Asklepios, to whose temple there was:attached a school of medicine which attracted sufferers from all quarters. But in Roman times the city prided itself above all upon its devotion to the worship of the Emperors. From the time of Augustus Pergamene coins bear the inscriptions ΘΕΟΝ CYTKAHTON, ΘΕΑΝ ΡΩΜΗΝ, ΘΕΟΝ CEBACTON 7 . Inscriptions proclaim the dignity of the city as the first in Asia to erect a temple to Augustus 8 ; and as it was the first, so it continued to be the chief Asian seat of the Emperor-cult. In the time of Hadrian it was already 8!s νβωκόρος, ■ and an inscription of the reign of Trajan mentions the νμνωδοί. Oeov ~%φαστον και deai 'Ρώ/Λ^ϊ ; the local priest of Zeus was proud to style himself also priest of the divine Augustus. In St John's «yes this new cult was the crowning sin of Pergamum ; the city which had introduced the worship of the Augusti into Asia was the dwelling place, the very throne of Satan, who reigned from its acropolis ; and the Church which resided in it must expect to find itself in the forefront of the battle about to be fought between Christ and Antichrist. 1 The coins shew that this .loyalty hook of Greek and Latin Palaeography, suffered no decrease under Domitian; p. 35 f. , see Head, p. 273. • The legends A0HNAC NIKH- 2 Strabo xiii. 4 (623) Ιχ« Si nm ΦΟΡΟΥ, ACKAHITIOY CflTH- ■ηγεμονίαν προς rods τόπου! τούτου! τ6 pQQ are frequent on coins οί Pergamum- ΙΙέ/τγαμον, έτηφα^ πύ\α κα.1 πολύν see Wroth> Qree1t Coins of Mysia, συνευτυχησασα χρονον rots AttoXikois _ ' g g ΡασιλεΟσι. '7 Wroth, op. cit. p. 134 ft. E.g. CIG > Rarnsay Letters, p. 281. 8 ^ βουλ ^ Kal ξ δ £ 05 τώ „ π ^ * Strabo I.e. σφόδρα «Λα^α γη»... ^opLllepy^vvCiv. " X ft δ \ Τί Tr >" Μ""?" »* Mwi«. β Herzog-Hauck, χ. p. 551. CIG 3569 * . Membrana Pergamena/ parchment'; & j . , το ~ Σφαστοΰ θ( οΰ Κα Ισαρο,,& δέ see Gardthausen, Or. Palaeographie aiT i, s „ Mp£is f o0 Α ώ,. p. 39 1., or Mapnde Thompson, Hand- DESTINATION Ixiii (iv) Thjatira " lies in. an open, smiling vale, bordered by gently sloping lniS7 r and "possesses no proper acropolis L ." The contrast to Pergamum thus suggested is maintained when the two cities are compared-in other particulars. Thyatira had no history reaching back beyond the Seleucids, who raised the obscure township into a Macedonian colony. It was distinguished by no famous cult; the Thyatiran coins and inscriptions mention only the local hero Tyrimnus, or his deified counterpart the Tyrimnaean Apollo, and an Artemis who bears the surname , 'BoriteneV There is no evidence that Thyatira was as yet a νεωκόρο? of the Augusti. Outside the city a Sibyl of Eastern origin known as Sambethe or Sambatha had her cell (το 2<ψ./ϊαί?εΐον) 3 ; and it has been suggested 4 , though with little probability, that this person is to be identified with the prophetess Jezebel of Apoc. ii. 20. But the most outstanding feature in Thyatiran life was probably the institution of trade- guilds 5 . In certain of the Asian cities these guilds may have filled the place of the 'thousands' into which 'the 'tribes' were divided 6 , and Thyatira is one of these. At Thyatira there were guilds of bakers, potters, workers in brass, tanners, leather- cutters, workers in wool and flax, clothiers, dyers 7 ; the workers in wool and the dyers were probably the most numerous, for the manufacture and dyeing of woollen goods was a Lydian speciality, in which Thyatira excelled 8 . To these guilds many of the Thyatirene Christians would have belonged, and their connexion "with them would raise questions of much difficulty . One of the inscriptions records an honour voted by the guild of dyers to the priest of the ancestral hero Tyrimnus 10 ; in such circumstances what course ought the Christian members of the guild to follow ? Such a problem might seldom arise, and when it arose,- the Church might agree upon the answer; but there was another of frequent occurrence upon which Christians differed among them- selves. From time to time the members of a guild partook together • of a common meal which had a sacrificial character and moreover too often ended in revelry and licentiousness. At Thyatira, through 1 Eamsay, Letters, p. 318. θυατείρωκ. Cf. CIG 26*, 3924, 2 B. V. Head, Greek Coins of Lydia, 9 On this point Prof, lleid writes : p. 294 [T]YP[IM]NOC, io. p. 295 " The difficulty which Christians felt in BOPEITHNH. membership of the guilds was by no • a qiq 3509. means confined to the question of the * Sehfirer 3 , iii. p. 428. feasts. There was probably no guild 5 At Thyatira they were known as which was not devoted to some form of ipycuritu; other names were συμβίωσα!, heathenworship. Membership was there- συν<-ρ~τασίαι, συστήματα: see Chapot, fore ipso facto bowing down in the house p. jfiy. , .of Eimmon. Direct participation in 6 Eamsay, Cities and Bishoprics of ceremonies was only incumbent on Phrygia, p. 105. officials of the guild ; but any one pos- . 7 M. Clerc, de rebus TTiyatirenorum, sessed'of money enough to pay the p. 92 (quoted by Eamsay I.e.). Chapot summa honoraria would find it hard to (p. 168 ff.) gives a complete list of the decline office." ' trades of Asia so far as they are men- 10 CIG 349 tw Ιερέα τοΰ τροττάτοροί tioned'in the inscriptions. Oeou ΐνρίμνου ol βαφ&. 8 Acts xvi. 14 πορφυρόπωλο! ir6\ews lxiv DESTINATION circumstances which will appear further on, the question whether Christians might or might not take part in such guild-feasts became acute, and the Apocalyptic message to Thyatira turns upon it. (v) Sardis, the capital of the old Lydian kingdom, and in Persian times the seat of a satrap, retained under the Romans the shadow of its ancient greatness 1 ; commanding the great Valley of the Hermus, and standing at a point to which roads converged from Thyatira, Smyrna and Laodicea and the Lycus, it could not sink intoneglect. The town was shattered by the great earthquake of a.d. 17, but with the liberal help of Tiberius it rose from its ruins. Its gratitude was shewn in a special devotion to the Emperor ; in a.d. 26 it contended with Pergamuin, Smyrna, and Ephesus for the privilege of erecting an Augusteum, and though it failed on that occasion, eventually it .could claim a second and even a third neocorate. The chief local cult was that of Kor6, but the name of the Lydian Zeus appears also on the coins 2 ; Dionysus, too, Athena, Aphrodite, and the local heroes, Tmolus and Hermus, were honoured at Sardis. The Church perhaps encountered in Sardis no special danger to her peace; but the atmosphere of an old pagan city, heavy with the immoral traditions of eight centuries, was unfavour- able to the growth of her spiritual life. (vi) Philadelphia has received a characteristic treatment from Bishop Lightfoot 3 , to which little need be added here. " A city full of earthquakes" is Strabo's significant comment upon it; he adds that in his time the town had been largely forsaken by its inhabitants, who lived on the rich lands which surrounded it 4 . With Sardis, at the time of the eartl^ake, Philadelphia partook of the bounty of the Emperor, and was duly grateful ; though it did not acquire the neocorate until the beginning of the third century, its special loyalty is shewn by the titles assumed on its coins ; under Caligula and Claudius it styled itself Neocaesarea, and under the Flavian Emperors Flavia 5 . It is more important for our purpose to notice the situation of Philadelphia in reference to Central Asia Minor. The city lay on the direct route from Smyrna to the highlands and plateau of Central Asia Minor. Thus the Church in Philadelphia had unusual opportunities of spreading the Gospel in the interior, and she seems to have availed herself of this open door 6 . ( vii ) Laodice a has been exhaustively described by Professor Ramsay in Gltves and Bishoprics of Phrygian. The student of the Apocalypse will take special note of the' specialities in wool and in eyesalve produced in the neighbourhood of this city, to which reference seems to be made in the message to Laodicea ; and of the prosperity of the Laodicenes as a banking and trading com- 1 Strabo xiii. 4 (625) al δι Sdpieis » St Ignatius, ii. pp. 237— 3+I , πόλιί εστί μί-γάλτι...ύπ4ρκειται Si των * Strabo xiii. 10 (628). Σάρδεων S Τμωλος... υπόκειται δι τ?} v6\ei * Head, pp. lxxxv., 195 ff. τό tc Σαρδιανων Τ(δΙον...καΙτδτοΰ"Ερμου. « Eamsay, Letters, c. xxviii. 3 Head, p. 246 ff.; cf. p. ovii. DESTINATION lxv rnunity, and the singular spirit of independence indicated by their rejection of imperial help after the earthquake of a.d. 6ο 1 . It is evident that the Christians of Laodicea shared the self-sufficiency of their fellow- townsmen, and carried it into the sphere of their relations with God and Christ. The commercial pre-occupations of the place saved them from persecution, but at the cost, as at Sardis, of the life of the Spirit. Of this decline of the Christian life in the Churches of the Lycus valley (for the message to Laodicea was doubtless intended also for Hierapolis and Colossae), the neighbourhood yielded a forcible illustration, which the Apoca- lyptist was not slow to use. The hot springs of Hierapolis, in their course, over the platform on which the city was built, lose their heat, and the traveller who drinks of the water finds it intolerable to the palate. So, St John teaches, the Christ will reject the lukewarm profession of faith from which the fire of love has departed 2 . 1 Cf. Lightfoot, Colossians, p. 44: "in or the Emperor." all other oases of earthquake which 2 Further illustrations of the life of Tacitus records as happening in these the Asian cities may be found in CIG Asiatic cities. ..he mentions the fact of 3266, 3285, 3415,3416,3428,3460,3497, their obtaining relief from the Senate 3498, 3508, 3517. S. E. YI. CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OP ASIA DURING THE FIRST CENTURY. 1. The permanent interest of apocalyptic literature consists largely in its intimate connexion with the needs and sufferings, ' the hopes and fears, of. the age and communities which produced it. From Daniel onwards the Jewish apocalypses reflect, with more or less distinctness, the conditions under which they were written, and the expectations which consoled or invigorated the Jews under Syrian, Hasmonaean, Herodian, or Roman rule, throwing side-lights, lurid but instructive, on contemporary life and history. ' The great Christian apocalypse is no exception to this rule. But whereas it is left to the critical student to elicit as he can the age and circumstances of the Jewish apocalyptists, the Christian writer, as we have already seen 1 , makes no secret of the conditions under, which he worked. The, Apocalypse of John is clearly a product of Asian Christianity, and the purpose of the book cannot be understood without an effort to realize the position of Christi- anity in the cities of Asia during the first century of our era. 2. Long before the Christian era the Jews had formed a considerable factor in the population of the Asian cities 2 . There ' ' ' was a synagogue at Ephesus (Acts xviii. 19) and, it may be assumed, in almost every one of the great towns. But the Jew was the unconscious or, if ever he attained to a consciousness of the fact, the reluctant avant-coureur of Christianity. Christianity 1 c • "• . τάτας tCv έν...'ΑσΙα...Ικν£μονται. On *G(. Philo, leg. ad Cai. 33 'Ιουδαίοι the Jews in the Asian Cities see Kamsay, ,',' i καθ' έκάστψ ιτόλιρ tUsl παμττλ-ήθας Άσ /as. Letters to the Seven Churches c. xii., 'vi In Flacc. 7 ras ιτλείστα* κα ( ί ευδαιμονία- and infra, v. vii. -i-i CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA lxvii "was doubtless discussed by Jewish circles in the cities of Asia as soon as the Asian Jews who had visited Jerusalem at the Passover or Pentecost of A.D. 29 returned to their homes in the Province. Even if the narrative of Acts ii". be not regarded as historical, it is clear that the story of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection could not fail to have been repeated everywhere. The same story came a little later across the sea from Rome and Alexandria 1 , or by the great trade-roads from Syrian Antioch ; or it might have been brought down to the sea coast by men who had heard St Paul tell it in the synagogues of the province of Galatia, at Pisidian Antioch or at Iconium, or of the Lycaonian towns, Lystra and Derbe. Yet there is no sign of any Christian move- ment in Asia before the arrival of St Paul at Ephesus 2 , and to Ephesus his personal ministry seems to have been nearly limited. 3. Few thiDgs are more perplexing in connexion with the development of St Paul's evangelistic work than the long delay of its extension to proconsular Asia. At Antioch -in Pisidia in the summer of 48 the Apostle stood literally at the parting of the ways ; if he had turned to the west, he would have reached the Lycus valley and Ephesus ; instead of this he turned his face eastwards, and his destination was the Lycaonian towns. On the next occasion a westward mission was in his mind, probably from the first, cer- tainly when at Derbe or Lystra he took Timothy for his partner in a new work 3 , and with his two colleagues ' went through ' the 'Phrygo-Galatic region' 4 , i.e. the Phrygian part of Galatia, which lay on the border of Asia. If he did not cross the border, he would have done so, had not a hand which was upon his spirit held him back. This mysterious check was repeated, when he had got to the confines of Mysia, and wished to enter the great province of Bithynia and Pontus 5 . Both Asia and Bithynia were to become headquarters of Christian influence 6 , but their time was not yet; 1 Cf. Acts xviii. 18, 24 ff. έττςίραξον els την Έιθννίαν πορενθηραι. 2 Acts xix. 1. The brief previous 6 Of. 1 Pet. i. 1 with Dr Hort's note visit (xviii. 19 f.) scarcely counts. ad loc, and Additional Note on p. 157 f. 3 Acts xvi. 1 τοΰτρν ήθέλησαι 6 Παύλοι As to Bithynia we have the testimony abv αύτψ έξέΚθεΐν. of the younger Pliny (a.d. hi): " multi 1 lb. 6 διηλθον Si την φρν/ίαν καΧ enim omnis aetatis, omnis ordinis, utri- Ταλατικην χώραν. usque sexus etiam, vocantur in pericu- 5 lb. 7 Αβόι /Tes Se κβτά την Ίίυσίαν lum." e2 lxviii CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA Macedonia and Achaia must receive their call first, and Asia must wait a while. The turn of Ephesus came in A.D. 52 — 3, when St Paul began a residence of more than two years in that city. 4. The Apostle reached Ephesus at the end of a progress through the "upper parts 1 ," i.e. not by the direct route from Galatia (Acts xviii. 23) through the Lycus valley, but over the higher ground of the interior, possibly by way of Philadelphia, Sardis, and Smyrna, or by Philadelphia, Sardis, Thyatira, Per- gamum, and thence down the coast. The purpose of this detour was apparently evangelistic 2 , and it creates a suspicion that Ephesus was not the only or even the first Church in Asia which received the Gospel from St Paul's own lips. The outworks were carried before the citadel was attacked ; in any case, the gradual approach to Ephesus is of a piece with the previous delays,- and emphasizes the great importance of the city as a centre of Christian work. Meanwhile, at Ephesus itself forerunners had been at work — the Alexandrian Jew, Apollonius or Apollos 3 ; a party of twelve men or thereabouts (ώσεί BwBe/ca), -who had received John's baptism; and the Roman Christians Aquila and Priscilla, who had crossed with the Apostle from Corinth in the previous spring. The Apostle's own work began as usual in the synagogue. But as at Corinth (Acts xviii. 6, xix. 9), when his preaching was resented by the Jewish residents, he parted company with them, and thenceforth his teaching was carried on in one of the philosophical schools of the city 4 . This went on for two years, so that Ephesus had unusual opportunities of hearing a great Christian teacher ; and though St Paul himself does not seem to have left the place, visitors from other parts of Asia carried back a report of his teaching to their own towns, and the evangeli- zation of Asia, begun during his journey to Ephesus, was at length fairly complete (Acts xix. 10, 26). At Ephesus a Church 1 Acta. xix. 1 SieXfliWa τ4 άνωτι-ρικά. 4 The Western text says that he dis- I*PI• coursed there daily cwro ώρα! πέμττψ _» Compare the use of διίρχπθκ m &,s δεκάτη!, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.• i.e., TU »'/f 'Λ 1 ' I9 ,' f- 1V- 2 f A 6 ' ",, * „, . aa Bams ay (St Paul, p. 271) points out, » On the relation of Apollos to Chris- he began after the usual work of the tian teaching at this time see J. H. A. leoture room was over Hart, J. T. S., Oot. 1905. CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OP ASIA lxix began to take shape during the biennium. Disciples had gathered round the Apostle before he left the synagogue (xix. 9), and after the separation the number grew, and gave satisfactory evidence of their sincerity (ib. 1 8 ff.); there were to be found men who had filled the office of Asiarch, and yet were well disposed towards the Christian cause qr its leader (ib.- 31). When the crash came in A.D. 55, St Paul was able to feel that his work in Ephesus had been practically accomplished, and that he might go elsewhere without danger to Asian Christianity (xix. 21, xx. i) 1 . 5. In the spring of 56, when St Paul landed at Miletus on his way to his last Pentecost at Jerusalem, the Church of Ephesus already had its college of elders 2 . In Asia as in Galatia and Lycaonia 3 the Apostle had instituted the presbyterate ; although the order is mentioned only in connexion with Ephesus, it doubt- less found a place in the other Asian Churches 4 which owed their origin to St Paul. Two pairs of letters, which if they are not the work of St Paul, certainly proceed from his school, supply further materials for the history of the Churches of Asia during the years that followed. (1) Cohesions, Ephesians. The letter to Colossae deals chiefly with the conditions of the Church in that Phrygian city and other Churches in the Lycus valley. But Ephesians, as is generally recognized, was a circular letter intended for the cities of Asia generally 5 — a Pauline precursor in this respect of St John's Apocalypse — and it illumines the general situation in Asia about A.D. 60. From this point of view it is interesting to note the repeated reference in this Epistle to a charismatic ministry (Eph. ii. 20, iv. 1 1 f.) ; the stress laid on the reconciliation of- the Jew and Gentile in Christ (ii. 11 , ff.') ; the conception of the ecclesia as an ideal unity (iv. 1 ff.); the conception of the Christian life as bound up with the risen and ascended life of the Lord, and working itself out into a life of actual participation in 1 His departure was perhaps slightly s Cf. xiv. 23. hastened in consequence of the riot : but * Cf. 1 Cor. xvi. 19 αϊ ίκκΚησίαι ttjs he had not intended to stay beyond the 'Ασία!. Pentecost of 55 (1 Cor. xvi. 8). e On this see Westcott-Hort 2 , Notes 2 Acts xx. 17 ff.; on xx. 28, see Hort, on select readings, p. 123 ft. Ecclesia,.p. 99 f. Ixx CHRISTIANITY IN T±E PROVINCE OF ASIA His glory (ii. 6 ff.) — ideas which reappear in the Apocalypse of John. (2) I, 2 Timothy. According to 1 Timothy, St Paul, after his release from the Roman captivity of Acts xxviii. 30, visited Ephesus again. He found that the fears which he had expressed in the address at Miletus were already realized in part. Unwholesome speculations, probably of Je.wish origin 1 , occupied the attention of the Ephesian Church, to the neglect of practical Christianity. Other evils were rife in the Christian society, such as eagerness for office, unseemly disputes in the Church assemblies, gossip and slander if not worse sins among the women, even among those who as widows were pensioners and servants of the Church. There were Christians who attempted to make a gain of their religion, and others of the wealthier class whp prided themselves on their wealth, and needed to be urged to share it with their poorer brethren. The whole picture is far from hopeful, and in the Second Epistle it becomes depressing. All Asia had turned away from its father in the faith (i. 1 5) — an exaggeration, it may be, but one which suggests at least an anti-Pauline movement in the churches of the province; two of the ringleaders — Phygelus and Hermogenes — are mentioned by name ; a certain Onesiphorus is warmly commended, as if he were almost a solitary exception to the general apostasy. St Paul despatched to Ephesus (iv. 12) one of his few remaining friends, Tychicus of Asia 2 , perhaps in the hope that a native of the province might succeed in recalling Asia to its allegiance. So the curtain falls upon the Apostle's relations with the Asian Churches. 6. It was probably after the death of St Paul that St Peter wrote his circular letter to the Churches of Asia Minor 3 . The letter makes no special reference. to the affairs of tbe province of Asia, but its account of the condition of Christians in Asia Minor must be taken to apply to provincial Asia, which was one of the ' four provinces addressed 4 . In the first place it is remarkable that while St Paul himself is not mentioned, the Apostle of the 1 Hort, Judaistic Christianity ,p. 1 3 ifi. receive the letter, which,' to judge from 2 Acts xx. 4 Ασιανοί Si Τύχικοι κα.1 the order of the names, entered Asia Τρόφιμο,. Cf. Eph. vi. 2 1 . Minor by way of the Euxine, possibly at » See St Mark 1 , p. xxn. Sinope ; cf. Hort, First Ep. of St Peter, 4 Not however the first province to pp. 17, 176 ft. CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA Ixxi Circumcision not only associates himself in this letter with two of St Paul's companions, Silvanus and Mark (iv. 12 f.), but makes considerable use of St Paul's Epistles, and among them of the encyclical Προ? 'Έφ&τίους. The fact has been used as an indication of date, but it may serve also to shew the delicate care with which St Peter endeavours to' maintain the continuity of Christian teaching in• churches which had been to some extent estranged from their founder, and without such an intimation might have been led to regard Peter in the light of a rival to whom they were invited to transfer their allegiance. But for our purpose it is more important to take note of the relations which existed at the time between the Christian communities and their pagan neighbours. Christians were spoken against as evil-doers (ii. 12); their reasons were demanded with a rude- ness which called for the exercise of meekness (Hi. 15); there was always a chance that any one of them might be called to suffer as a Christian; already they had been tried by fire, and were learning to bear their share in the sufferings of Christ (iv. 12 ff.). Yet the persecution was as yet unofficial. The Apostle presses on the Churches the duty of absolute loyalty to the Emperor and the Proconsul (ii. 13 ff). Rome, indeed, is already 'Babylon' (v. 13), but Nero, if he is still living, exercises a power which is of God, and while God is alone to be feared, the Emperor must be held in honour (ii. 17). The troubles of the Asian Christians came as yet from their neighbours rather than from the State; their refusal to share in the revelries and impurities of heathenism brought upon them the illwill and abuse and, as far as the civil power permitted, the maltreatment of relatives or fellowcitizens (iv. 3 ff). The trial fell with especial weight upon Christian slaves, who had no protection against the cruelty of pagan masters, and who formed a large proportion of the early Christian societies. 7. In the Apocalypse of John the field is narrowed again to Proconsular Asia. The opening chapters of the book take the reader on tour through a great part of the Province ; he accom- panies the bearer of the Apocalyptic circular from Ephesus to lxxii CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OP ASIA Smyrna, and thence passes inland to Mysian Pergamum, Lydian Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Phrygian Laodicea. Each of the seven cities had its Christian society, and in some cases at least this society was associated with neighbouring churches to which it would transmit the Apocalypse or a copy. Thus Pergamum was within easy reach of Adramyttium and Troas (Acts xx. 5 ff., 2 Cor. ii. 12), Laodicea of Hierapolis and Colossae (Col. ii. 1, iv. 13), and Ephesus itself of Miletus, Magnesia and Tralles ; so that the route indicated secured the distribution of St John's encyclical among all the Christian brotherhoods in Asia 1 . St John, like St Peter, makes no mention of St Paul. The founder of the Asian Churches seems to have disappeared altogether from their field of sight. If we are to believe a considerable school of modern critics, the Apocalypse not only ignores St Paul, but bitterly and repeatedly attacks those who still claimed to follow his teaching. In the opinion of these scholars the Nicolaitans of c. ii. are the Pauline Christians of the age of St John 2 . It is possible that this remarkable theory holds an element of truth. The advocates of laxity may have sheltered themselves under, the great authority of St Paul, quoting detached sentences from his epistles 3 ia support of their tenets ; they may have represented the r61e of the Apostle of the Uncircumcision as that of a deliverer of Gentile Christendom from the yoke which the older Apostles and the mother Church had sought to impose by, the decree of A.D. 49; it is even barely possible that behind the enigmatic name which they bore there may lie some reference to the spiritual victories won by the man whom they claimed as the author of their policy. Against pseudo-Paulinists such as these John takes his stand, as St Paul himself would certainly have done ; but against Paul 4 or his teaching there is not a word. No doubt it is strange that so great a figure as that of St Paul should have been forgotten or eclipsed in the country which had been the earliest 1 See above, c. v. That-the Apostle's -words were wrested 2 See the oommentary on c. ii. 13. after this manner we know from Bom. » E.g. 1 Cor. x. 19 τι otv ψημί; δη iii. 8; of. 2 Pet. iii. 16. άδωλόθυτόν τί ianv; ib. 23 πάντα ίξεστιν. < On the slight said to be intended in Tit. i. 15 πάντα καθαρί tois καθαροί*. xxi. 14, see oomm. ad loc. CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA Ixxiii and principal scene of his evangelistic work. But account must be taken of several circumstances. More than a generation had passed away since his residence at Ephesus, and the other Asian cities had never seen him in the flesh 1 , or had known him only as an itinerant evangelist 2 . The rapid movements of life which played over the surface of Ionian civilization in the years between the beginning of Nero's reign and the end of Domitian's; the transit over Asia of many of the greater ' lights ' of the Church on their way from Palestine westwards, and the settlement of some of them in the province 3 ; the presence in Asia of men who had known the Lord in the days of His flesh or had conversed with those who knew Him 4 — these things all tended to wipe out the memory of St Paul from the minds of the Asian Christians. John himself as the επιστήθιος, whether we regard him as the Apostle or ; the Elder, may well have excited throughout the province" a sentiment of veneration such as had never been felt for the έκτρωμα 1 " of the Apostolic body. It is not surprising that St John is seen to fill and more than fill the place once occupied by St Paul, or that so few traces are left of the great Apostle's work in the Churches of Asia when they emerge to sight again at the end of the first century. 8. That Christianity in Asia was, in the time of the Apocalyptist,' a force with which paganism had to reckon is evident from the new attitude which its enemies were beginning to assume towards it; — a point to which we shall presently recur. In the larger cities the Christians probably formed an appreciable fraction of the population ; Ignatius, some fifteen or twenty years after the date of the Apocalypse, can speak of the πολυπΧήθεια of the Ephesian Church 6 . Asia Minor was destined to become the stronghold of Christianity, and in no other province of the Empire was the faith so widely disseminated or represented by so many 1 Cf. Col. ii. ι. ή h -έρα αύτοΰ θιτγατήρ iv aylip τνεύματι 2 See c. γί. πολιτευσαμένη έν Έφέσψ αναπαύεται' έτι * Pulycrates ap. Eus. Μ. Ε. iii. 31 καϊ Si καΐ Ιωάννη!..: yap καΐ κατά, τήν Άσίαν μεγάλα, στοιχεία 4 lb. iii. 39• κεκο[μηται,...Φί\ιππον των δώδεκα άπο- 6 ι Cor. XV. 8. στόλων Ss κεκοΐμηται ίν'Ιεραπολει καΐ δύο 6 Ign. Eph. i. 3. of• Lightfoofs note θυτ/ατέρεί αύτοΰ *γε^ηρακνΐαι παρθένοι καΐ ad loc. lxxiv CHRISTIANITY IN THE PROVINCE OP ASIA societies 1 as in the province of Asia. Nevertheless, Asian Christianity, as represented by St John in the Apocalypse, does not create a wholly satisfactory impression. The Churches pass before us, and each is separately reviewed, with varying judgements. If good work is being done at Ephesus, it is not the work of the ' first days (ii. 4 f.). At Pergamum and Thyatira there is much to be commended, but also something to be censured ; in each of these Churches there is a ' Nicolaitan ' circle, and at Thyatira its ends are promoted by a local prophetess who is tolerated by the Church (ii. 1 5, 20). At Sardis Christianity is in danger of becoming an empty profession (iii. 1); at Laodicea, the self-satisfaction of commercial prosperity is eating out the heart of Christian humility and love (iii. 1 5 ff.). Only Smyrna and Philadelphia deserve, un- mixed praise, and in each case it has been earned under the discipline of suffering (ii. 9 ff., iii. 10). Only at Philadelphia do we seem to hear of progress ; before this Church an open door had been set in the great trade-route which connected the town with the highlands of Phrygia, and some attempt had perhaps been made to take advantage of it for missionary work 2 . Yet as a whole the Asian Church as seen in the Apocalypse is still holding its own ; the notes of faith, love, service, perseverance are to be found everywhere except at Laodicea, and to Laodicea itself a locus poenitentiae is still afforded. The Nicolaitan party has not as yet made great progress ; at Ephesus its practices are regarded by the great body of the Church with detestation' (ii. 6 /χ«σ€Ϊ? τα epiya των Νίκολαϊτων) ; at Pergamum it seems to be a small minority (ii. 15 εχεί? καϊ σύ κρατούνται κτ\.); at Thyatira the Nicolaitan prophetess is merely suffered (ii. 20 αφεϊ?). As for Judaism, the purity of. the faith was no longer in danger from 1 that cause; the open and bitter* antagonism of the Synagogue had opened the eyes of the Christians, and worked for the good of the Church. 1 Cf. A. Harnack, Die Mission '«. Ans- Asien 1st... die christliche Hauptprovinz brcitung d. Ghnstentums, τρ. 461: "Klein- in Kleinasien geworden." (E. Tr.,pp. asien ... ist das christliche Land κατ' ' 326, 364.) εξοχήν in vorkonstantinisoher Zeit ge- * See Eamsay, Letters, p. 404!. wesen"; ib. p. 484: "Die Provinz CHRISTIANITY" IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA lxxv 9. The Nicolaitan minority calls for separate consideration. As represented by the Apocalyptist, the party — for it was still perhaps a party rather than a sect — taught Christians (tow? βμονς ΒούΧονς) to commit fornication and to eat food Offered in sacrifice to idols (ii. 14, 20); it did the work of Balaam, whose counselst brought on Israel the disaster of Baal-peor; the prophetess who pushed its claims at Thyatira was a second Jezebel, pressing upon the people of God the immoralities of a heathen society. It may be assumed that the Nicolaitans themselves disclaimed any immoral object. Their purpose, it has been pleaded, was " to effect a reasonable compromise with the established usages of Graeco- Roman society"; they taught that Christians ought to remain members of the pagan clubs 1 , and that they might do so without disloyalty to their faith. Such a course, they would argue, involved nothing worse than the abandonment of an obsolete decree. The Jerusalem decree had been issued at the first, beginning of Gentile Christianity ; it had been circulated by • St Paul in Pamphylia and Lycaonia (Acts xvi. 4), and doubtless had reached Ephesus. But St Paul himself had permitted at Corinth some modification of the ban against είδώλ,όθυτα, recognizing the liberty of Christians to partake without question of meat which was sold in the markets or set before them at a friend's table, while he insisted that charity to weaker brethren should preclude them from eating an είδώλό- θυτον which had been declared to be such or from taking part in a banquet held in a pagan temple (1 Cor. viii. 10, x. 25 ff.). It may be presumed that a "similar compromise had been reached at Ephesus, and throughout the Pauline Churches. But the minority was dissatisfied. . The existing rule excluded members of the Church not only from the public festivals which were the pride of the Ionian cities 2 , but from the private clubs which connected their common meals with sacrificial rites, and met in buildings dedicated to a pagan deity. Those who desired to participate in gatherings of the' latter kind might have had much to urge in their defence; it was only by such wise concessions that Christianity 1 Bamsay, Letters, pp. 199, 335 ff-i 5 For the Ephesian festivals see Hicks, 346. ' Ephesus, p. 79 f. lxxvi CHRISTIANITY" IN THE PROVINCE OP ASIA could hope to leaven the life of these Greek cities ; to stand aloof from all social reunions was to incur suspicion and dislike, and such conduct would end in a general uprising against the Church, perhaps in its suppression throughout Asia. These arguments ■might have been used by the party with more or less of sincerity, but they did not succeed in deceiving the Seer of the Apocalypse. He saw in the Nicolaitan proposals not the mere abandonment of a primitive Church order, not only the adoption of a weak concordat with the pagan society by which the Church was environed, but an indirect attack upon the sanctities of the Christian life. The Jerusalem conference had in its decree brought into juxtaposition the eating of είδοολόθυτα and indulgence in sexual impurity 1 (Acts xv. 20, 27), and John had not lived in a Greek city without becoming aware that the two things were in fact closely bound up together. Pagan festivities were too often occasions of immora- lities from which Gentile converts had been rescued with the greatest difficulty. If words meant anything to the writer of the Apocalypse, he regarded the question raised by the Nicolaitans as vital, and the danger as imminent. From participation in a pagan guild-feast to licentiousness was but a step ; yet the guilds were bound up with the life of the cities, and to repudiate them was a serious matter for Christians who were engaged in the local trades 2 . When even Christian prophecy, in the person of the Thyatiran Jezebel, was advocating Nicolaitan principles, it was time for the prophet of the Apocalypse to speak with no uncertain voice; and his words (ii. 22 f.), viewed in this light, are not more severe than the occasion demanded. 10. The Nicolaitan controversy raises the whole question of the relation of Christianity in Asia to Paganism at the moment when St John wrote. In no part of the Empire was paganism more strenuous or resourceful, and in none, so far as we can judge, was the conflict between the old religion and the new so 1 Hopveus Κλαιίδιοί. Caesaris Domitiani Augusti deosque 4 Tac. ann. xv. 74, " nam deum honor penates." principi non ante habetur quam agere ANTICHRIST IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA lxxxix of Augustus the prineipatus had been hailed by the Asian .towns as their salvation 1 . Inscription after inscription testifies to the loyalty of the cities towards the Empire. At Ephesus, at Smyrna, at Pergamum, and indeed throughout the province the Church was confronted by an imperialism which was popular and patriotic, and bore the character of a religion. Nowhere was the Caesar- oult,more popular than in Asia 2 . The Augusteum (Σεβαστέιον), or Temple of Rome 3 and the Augusti, had long taken its place among the public buildings of the greater cities. Augustus, as we have seen, refused Divine honours at Rome, but permitted a temple to be dedicated to dea Roma and himself at Pergamum. The other Asian cities followed the precedent set by the old capital. In A.D. 26 they vied with each other for the honour of building a temple to Tiberius, when Smyrna gained the coveted distinction over the head of Ephesus, on the ground that the latter already possessed the Artemision 4 . Ephesus, not to be outdone by her neighbour, erected an Augusteum, probably to Clauctius, and thus acquired the title of νεωκόρος 1 of the Imperial worship. These local temples were not of merely local interest; their affairs were managed by the provincial league known as the Commune Asiae (jo. kowov της Ασίας), whose president was styled Asiarch, and perhaps also apyiepefa του κοινού της 'Ασία? 6 . It belonged to the Asiarch to direct the worship of the Augusti throughout the province, and to preside at games which were held quinquennially in the cities where Augustea had been erected 7 . Such festivals are known to have been celebrated from time to time at five of the 1 Eamsay, Letters, p. ιι^ϊ. ; Chapot, i Tao. arm. iv. 55. Laprovinceitomaineprocomulaired'Asie, 6 M. Chapot (p. 450) gives a useful p. 62 ff. Cf. an inscription of Halicar- list of the towns of Asia which possessed nassus cited by Zimmerman, Ephesos, the neocorate, with the reigns or dates p. 52 £., which describes Octavian as when it was received. (ύεργέτην των ανθρώπων yivom, is με-γίσ- 6 On these titles see Lightfoot, Ig- ras AiriSas ούκ &ΐΓΚήμωσε μόνον άλλα καΧ natius, iii. p. 404 ff. ; Chapot, pp. 454 — ύπ€ρέβαλλεν, ασφαλής μίν yip yr\ και 482 ; Pauly-Wissowa, s.vv. θάλασσα, ττόλεκ Si ανθοΰσιν έν είρήντ) και 7 Each of the cities had its local όμανοία καΐ εύετηρία. high priest of the Augustan cult, who 2 Mommsen, Provinces (E.Tr.), p. 345. seems also to have had the style of 8 In Asia the cult οι Eome was older ' Asiarch, ' though he was supreme only than the province itself ; a temple was in the local Augusteum. See Light- raised to Home at Smyrna in B.C. 193 foot, p. 415; Hicks, p. 87. (Tac. Ann. iv. 56). xc ANTICHRIST IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA seven cities addressed in the Apocalypse, namely, at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Sardis, and Philadelphia 1 . A. system such as this, it is obvious, supplied machinery which could at any time be used against the Church with fatal facility. To refuse worship to Artemis or Asklepios was to decline a local cult ; to refuse it to the statue of the Emperor at a time when the whole city was taking part in festivities organized by the Commune, was to expose oneself to the charge of disloyalty both to the pro- vincial authorities and to the Emperor. Our only wonder is that this charge had not been laid against the Christians of .Asia in the time of 'Claudius or of Nero 2 ; perhaps there is a trace of such an anti-Christian movement in the reference to the days when Antipas suffered at Pergamum 3 , the earliest centre of the Caesar-worship, but of any general persecution under Nero there is no evidence 4 . Yet it is easy to understand that when Domitian's desire for Divine honours became known in Asia, the zealous pro- vincials would resent more keenly than before the abstention of Christian citizens from the games instituted in honour of the Augusti, and"the situation would become threatening. It is just this position of affairs which the Apocalypse represents; the Beast of whom Christians spoke with bated breath as 'number 666 'had returned ; already the markets were closed against buyers and sellers who did not. bear his mark (xiii. 17), and there were rumours in the air of an approaching massacre (ib. 15). For this the Apocalypse is, it is true, our only authority, and its witness is given in an enigmatic form which cannot always be interpreted with certainty ; but the main features of its story are plain enough, 1 Even the calendar shewed traces 4 Dr Hort indeed -writes (First Ep. of of the new cult. "Cisar a son mois, St Peter, p. 2): "It is only likely that son jour comme Aphrodite ; l'opoque de what was begun at Borne in connexion sa venue au monde inaugura l'annee. with the fire spread through the pro- Ce sont dea commencements qui pro- vinces till it culminated in .the state parent le vrai culte " (Chapot, p. 394). of things implied in the Apocalypse." a This seems to follow not only from "The Apocalypse... proves the existence the silence of St Luke,.but from St Paul's of persecutions in Asia Minor, and • friendship with Asiarchs. implies that they were on a wide scale." ' 8 It is significant that while Antipas But there is nothing to shew that the was martyred at Pergamum, it was at martyrs mentioned in the Apocalypse, Smyrna, the second centre of the Augus- Antipas excepted, were Asiatics; the tan cult, that trouble was imminent when sufferings of the Boman Christians may St John wrote (ii. 10). have been in the writer's mind. ANTICHRIST IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA xci and they accord with what is known of life in Asia during the first century, and of Domitian's general policy. 1 1, With the Beast from the sea, the hostile World-power represented by Nero and Domitian, St John associates a Beast from the land, a power no less hostile to the Church, which has its origin and home in Asia itself. This second Beast allies itself with the first, especially in the matter of the worship of the Augusti; indeed the first Beast is represented as leaving the affairs of the Emperor-cult entirely in the hands of the second. The Beast from the land works miracles 1 in support of the new cult, calling down fire from heaven, and causing the statues of the Emperor to speak (xiii. 13, 15) ; he is the 'false prophet of the Imperial religion, and imposes on the credulity of the populace, whom he sets against the Christian recusants (ib. 12, 14 ff., 17, xix. 20). By the second Beast Professor Ramsay 2 understands "the Province of Asia in its double aspect of civil and religious administration, the Proconsul and the Commune"; in this com- mentary the Beast from the land is identified "with the False Prophet, and regarded as the religious power represented by the Asiarch and the. priesthood of the Asian temples of the Augusti; while in the σημεία which he works we recognize the use of the magical arts for, which Asia and Ephesus ki particular were notorious. The magic formulae known as 'Έιφέσια -γράμματα 3 had a worldwide reputation, and one of the earliest conquests which the Gospel achieved at Ephesus was the destruction of costly books which contained them 4 . It is noteworthy that φαρμάκια is named immediately after βίδζοΧοΧατρεία in the Epistle to the Galatians (v. 20) 5 , while the Apocalypse (xxi. 8,cf. xxii. 15) places φαρμακοί, the professors of magic, between -πόρνοι and εΐδωλολάτ/χχί. Christianity, it is evident, set its face against magic from the first ; paganism, on the other hand, had, no serious quarrel with it ; the cultivated Roman gentlemen who administered the provinces of 1 Qf. 1 Thess. ii. 9 f. κέλΐύουσι τα Έφίσια -/ράμματα προς αυτούς 2 Letters, p. Q7• Kara\4yav καΐ άνομ&ξειν. See Schurer, 3 Cf. Clem. Al. strom. τ. 8v §46 τί Gesch. 3 iii. p. 296 f. 'Έφέιτία καλούμενα -γράμματα iv πολλοί! 4 Acts xix. 19 f. δη πολυθρύλητα 6ντα. Plutarch symp. ■ 5 See Lightfoot's note, and ef. Ign. vii. 5. 4 ol μάγοι toiis δαιμονιζομένονς Eph. 19, Philad, 5. xcii ANTICHRIST IN THE PROVINCE OF ASIA the Empire did not always scorn the attentions of the professional m.agus 1 ; even Emperors were credited with dabbling in their secrets 2 . In Lucian's sarcastic sketch Αλέξανδρος ή Ψβνδόμαντις, we see one of these conjurors on tour, and though St John's yjrevBo- •προφήτης is probably not an individual, but a class or system, it may be assumed that such travelling mountebanks were used to negotiate the wonders described in Apoc. xiii. 3 At Ephesus there were fourteen Θεσμωδοί* attached to the temple of the Augusti, who are supposed by Canon Hicks to correspond with the' υμνωδοί or choirmen of the Artemision ; their official name admits of this explanation, but it may also mean Oracle-chanters,' — a name under which dealers in magic might well have been concealed. But however this may have been, it is obvious that the Church was hard pressed in Asia by the magic- mongers, and it is easy to imagine the effect of their lying wonders on an excitable popu- lation already predisposed to the Imperial cult and impatient of Christianity. Nothing was needed to light the fires of persecution but a word from the Emperor or the Proconsul, and when they were kindled, it would be long, as the prophet of the Apocalypse foresaw, before the peace of the Church was restored in Asia or in the Roman world. 12. One more force which made against the Kingdom of Christ in Asia' must be mentioned here.- The Jews of Asia Minor had been numerous from the days when Antiochus III sent 2000 families of the eastern Dispersion to settle in Lydia and Phrygia 6 . In Cicero's time tribute went to the Temple at Jerusalem from Jews in Adramyttium, Pergamum, Laodicea, and Apamea, and there is evidence from other quarters that in the first century there were Jews resident also at Smyrna, Magnesia, Tralles, Sardis, and Thyatira". In tho year of the Crucifixion worshippers came to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost from 1 Acts xiii. 6 ff. * Inscr. 481. 7 (a.d. 104): θεσμωδώς 2 Orac. Sibyll. viii. 52 ft. ίσσετ' β,ναξ ναού των Σιβαστων έν Έφέσω κοινού ttjs πο\ιόκρανθ! Ιχων πέ\ας οΰνομα ιτόντον 'Atrial. (Hadrian)... καΐ μα-γικων άδυτων μυστήρια δ Joseph. Ant. xii. 3 f . ; of. Philo in ■πάντα μεθέξει, Flacc. 7. 'See p. Ixvi, note 2. 3 Apollonins of Tyana, to -whom Prof. β Sohurer, Geschichte 3 , iii. p. nf. ; Eamsay refers (Letters, p. 102), was a art. Diaspora in Hastings, Ώ.Β. v. 53 ff. strong opponent of the prevalent jug- Chapot, p. 182 η*. ' glery ; see Dill, Roman Society, p. 400. ANTICHRIST IN THE PROVINCE OP ASIA xciii Cappadocia, Poutus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia 1 . At Salamis in Cyprus, at Antioch in Pisidia, at Iconium, at Ephesus, St Paul found synagogues, and in these synagogues he began his work. But the Asiatic Jews did not assimilate the new teaching; its popularity with Gentiles and proselytes aroused their suspicion and, as the writer of the Acts suggests, their jealousy a - In the Apocalypse the breach between the Synagogue and the Church is seen to be complete ; the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia have to bear the blasphemies of those who " affirm themselves to be Jews and are not," a synagogue which is not God's but "Satan's 8 ." The Jews were protected by special privilege from molestation in the exercise of their faith 4 . Under Caligula indeed they had suffered severely for their opposition to the Caesar-cult 5 , but the persecu- tion ended with the death of the Emperor ; under Domitian no attempt was made to enforce a worship which neither compulsion nor persuasion would have brought them to accept. Nevertheless, they had,no scruple in turning the attention of the populace and the authorities to the resistance which the less favoured Christians offered to the Imperial religion. At the martyrdom of Polycarp it was noticed that the Jews of Smyrna not only made common cause with the heathen but outdid them in efforts to prepare fuel for the stake, and the Martyrdom notes that this was their wont 8 . Tet Polycarp was condemned for refusing to swear by the genius (τύχη) of Caesar', an act which the Jews should have been able to appreciate. This was in the year 155 (Harnack), but the attitude of the Asian Jew towards Christianity had been determined at least seventy years before. The Synagogue of Satan played the part of the great Adversary; it not only rejected Christ, but did its best by slander and delation and, when the opportunity was afforded, by cooperation with the pagan mob, to bring about the destruction of the Asian Church. 1 Acts ii. 9. ϋ• πι. p. 349 ff. 2 Acts xiii. 45 έπ\-ήσθηο-αν {ήλοι/. Cf. 6 Poly 6. mart. 13 μάλιστα 'JovSalav ι Thess. ii. 16. προθύμ,ως, ws £6os αύτοΓί, ei's ταύτα ύπουρ• 3 Apoc. ii. 9, iii. 9. φούντων. Cf. § 11 άπαν το πλήθος έθνων * On the privileges possessed by the , re και Ιουδαίων. Jews in Asia see Chapot, p. 182 f. 7 lb. gi. ; of. Lightfoot's note, and 6 Schurer, i. 11. p. 91, ii. n. p. 266 ff., Westeott, Epp. of St John, p. 279. YIII. PURPOSE OF THE APOCALYPSE. I. The Apocalypse of John is the letter of an exiled prophet to the Christian congregations to which he has ministered. He writes under the conviction that he has a message for them from the Supreme Prophet and Pastor of the Church, and his primary purpose is to deliver this message. It has come to him in the way of revelation, and under the form of a succession of visions, and he delivers it as it was given ; his letter consists entirely of visions and revelations of the Lord, which he has been not only permitted but commanded to transmit 1 . But, as the style proclaims aloud, it is not, like some of the later apocalypses, a literary effort, appealing to readers generally without regard to special circumstances. It is a genuine out- come of the time, written with a view to the special needs of a particular group of Christian societies; it portrays the life of those societies, and ministers to their spiritual necessities. In form it is an epistle, containing an apocalyptic prophecy; in spirit and inner purpose, it is a pastoral, .2. Each of the Churches of Asia had difficulties peculiar to itself, and these problems are treated first. The first three chapters, which have seemed to some critics to have no real coherence with the rest of the book, are in fact occupied with this , preliminary task. The glorified Head of Christendom is revealed as visiting the Churches, and taking note of their several conditions; and the so-called 'letters to the Churches', record the results of His inspection. Nothing in the book is more remarkable than the precision with which these separate messages differentiate be- 1 On the one exception (x. 4) see the note ad loc. PURPOSE OF THE APOCALYPSE xcv 'tween Church and Church, as the searchlight of the Spirit 1 is turned upon each in succession. Only two of the Churches escape reproof: the strenuous commercial life and the material prosperity of the Asian cities have had their natural effect upon the Christian minorities, which were in the sight of the Bishop of souls suffering from this cause even more severely than from the slanders of the Jews or the menaces of the heathen. At Ephesus the standard of Christian life, though still high, had been sensibly lowered ; at Laodicea the Church was lukewarm and supercilious, at Sardis it was spiritually dead. And not only is the spiritual condition of each society diagnosed, but the circumstances are .carefully distinguished. At Smyrna and Philadelphia the Jews are specially hostile; at Pergamum and Thyatira trouble has been caused by the Nicolaitans. At every turn the messages to the Churches shew local knowledge ; some of the allusions which have not yet received a satisfactory explanation will doubtless yield their secret to a fuller knowledge of the history and antiquities of Asia. The business of the prophet is with the . particular Church to which for the moment attention is called, and which would recognize at once 'the force of his words. It is enough for the general reader if he grasps the spiritual lesson which is to be found in these messages by everyone who has an ear to hear it. 3. After c. iii. the separate interests of the Churches pass out of sight. The visions which follow open wider fields of view that embrace the whole Church and the whole of human history, reaching to the consummation and the Coming of the Lord. But the Asian Churches are not forgotten, even if they are not mentioned again till near the end (xxii. 16, 21). Their spiritual dangers are probably in view throughout the book, but especially in passages where the vices of heathenism are condemned and the faithful are warned against participation in them 2 , or reminded of their obligation to keep themselves pure 3 . And the whole 1 Apoc. ii. 7, n, 17, 29, iii. 6, 13, 22. 3 As in vij. 14, xiv. 4f., xvi. 15, xxii. 2 As e.g. in ix. 20 f., xviii. 9!, xx. 8, 14. xxii. 11, 15. ' xcvi PURPOSE OF THE APOCALYPSE , series of visions which begins with c. iv. is in effect an answer to the forebodings by which the. faithful in Asia were harassed in view of the gathering forces of Antichrist. The Churches of Asia knew themselves to be on the brink of an encounter with the greatest power the world had seen. The subject of cc. iv. — xxii. is the course and issue of the struggle, and the purpose of these chapters is to strengthen faith and kindle hope in the hearts of the faithful. In the light of the revelation vouchsafed to him the' prophet John sees clearly that an age of persecution is beginning, and that it will affect not only the Churches of Asia, but the Church throughout the Roman world. How long it will last he does not say ; in the earlier visions it seems to run oh to the consummation, but in the later great reaches of time ai;e seen to intervene between the end of the pagan power and the end of the existing order. The light grows as the Seer looks, and the issue becomes more and more distinct ; Babylon falls, the Beast and the False Prophet receive their doom, Satan himself is finally consigned to destruction, and the City of God descends from heaven, idealized and glorious, as becomes the Bride of the glorified Christ. The final outcome of the struggle between the Church and the World, the Christ and the Antichrist, is postponed to the last two chapters, but there are anticipations of it all along the course of the book : in the promises with which each of the seven messages to the Churches ends; in the vision of the im^merable multitude before the Throne of God; in the vision of the 144,000 virgin-souls upon Mount Zion. The whole book is a Sursum corda, inviting the Churches to seek strength in the faith of a triumphant and returning Christ. In vain the Ancient Enemy stirs up trouble ; in vain the Beast from the sea sets up his image, and the Beast from the land compels men under pain of outlawry or death to worship it. The seal of the living God secures those who refuse the mark of the Beast ; the martyrs are conquerors, and shall not be hurt of the Second Death ; their names are in the Book of Life. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth,. . .they rest from their labours, for their works follow with them ; after the fall of their great enemy PURPOSE OP THE APOCALYPSE xcvii they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years; they shall enter through the gates into the City ; the Lord God shall give them light ; they shall reign for ever and ever. 4. Of the immediate effect of the Apocalypse upon the Asian Churches we cannot judge; certainly they weathered the storm, for in the next Christian writing which comes to us from Asia, the Letters of Ignatius^ they are represented as large and flourishing communities. The storm itself passed within two or three years after the date which Irenaeus assigns to the Apocalypse; Domitian was assassinated Sept. 18, 96, and the accession of Nerva probably gave peace to the Asian Churches. Trajan, who succeeded in the January of 98, seems to have taken no active measures before A.D. 1 1 2, when his attention was directed by the younger Pliny to the extraordinary progress of Christianity in Bithynia. Perhaps it may be safely inferred that in the interval between 96 and 112 the danger threatened by the Caesar- worship ceased to be pressing, and for the moment the need of comforfi such as the Apocalypse offered was less keenly felt. But what St John had written in the Spirit for the times of Domitian and the Churches of Asia remained as a heritage for all suffering Churches throughout the Empire. An early example of the help- fulness of the book to Christians under persecution has survived in the Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons, written in 177 to their brethren in Asia and Phrygia, which bears many signs of the use of the Apocalypse by the Christian societies of South Gaul during the troubles in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, It quotes or alludes -to Apoc. i. 5, iii. 14, xiv. 4, xxii. n 1 . It is impossible to doubt that the roll which contained St John's great letter to the parent Churches in Asia was often in the hands of the daughter Churches in Gaul, and perhaps accompanied the• confessors to the prisons where they awaited the martyr's crown. 5. There is some reason for believing that the writer of the Apocalypse, before his work was ended, realized that the book might find a larger field of service than the Churches of Asia or . even the Churches of the Empire could offer. In the early chapters 1 Eus. H. E. v. 1. 10, 57; -i. 3. s. κ. a xcvni PURPOSE OP THE APOCALYPSE it is clear that St John writes with a view to his message being read aloud in the local Church assemblies : blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy ; he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saiih unto the Churches 1 . Beyond the transmission of the letter for reading in neighbouring Churches, the prophet contemplates no circulation of his book; his message is to the Churches of Asia, and he is content to be the means of conveying it to them. But when he reaches the end a presenti- ment seems to enter his mind that the book will live : Γ testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book; and if any man shall take away. ..God shall take away his part from, the tree of life 2 . The primary destination of the Apocalypse is still kept in view : it is to the hearer rather than the reader that the Apocalyptist makes his final appeal. Yet the appeal seems to imply an ' expectation that the book will be copied and circulated for wider reading. The Words are based on two passages in Deuteronomy, and they practically place the Apocalypse on a level with the Torah and anticipate for it a place among the Scriptures of the Church. St John knew himself to be a prophet, and his writing to be a prophecy ; that he was commanded to consign his visions to a book was an assurance to him that their purpose would not be fulfilled in one generation or in two. He sees the book going down to posterity, and like the Deuteronomist he endeavours to guard it against interpolation and excision. As he writes the last words upon the papyrus roll that lies upon his knee, the conviction dawns upon him that the Revelation of Jesus Christ was given for the warning and comfort of the whole Church •to the end of time.- 1 Apoo. i. 3, ii. 1 etc a Δροο. xxii. 18 f. IX. DATE. - ι. Early Christian tradition is almost unanimous in assigning the Apocalypse to the last years of Domitian. The following are the chief authorities. Iren. v. 30. 3 ap. Eus. Ή. E. iii. 18, v. 8 el yap έδει αναφανδόν τω νυν καιρώ κηρΰττεσθαι τουνομα αυτοί [sc. τοϊ αντίχριστου], δι' εκείνου αν ερρίθη του και την Άποκά- λυψιν εωρα'κότος• ουδέ yap προ ιτολλοΰ χρόνου έωράθη, άλλα. σχεδόν επί της ημετέρας γενεάς, προς τω τέλει της Αομετιανοΰ αρχής 1 . Clem. Alex, quis dives § 42 του τυράννου τελευτησαντος άπο τήςΤΙάτμου της νήσου μετήλθεν έπι την Εφεσον. Origen, in Mt. torn. xvi. 6 ό δε 'Ρωμαίων βασιλεύς, ώς ή παράδοσις διδάσκει, κατεδίκασε τον 'Ιωάννων μαρτνροΰντα δια τον της αληθείας λόγον είς ΙΙάτμον την νήσον". Victorinus in Apoc. (χ. 1 1) "hoc dioit propterea quod quando haec Ioannes vidit, erat in insula Patmos; in metallum damnatus a Domi- tiano Caesare. ibi £rgo vidit Apocalypsin. et cum jam senior putaret se per passionem accepturum receptionem, interfecto Domi- tiano, omnia iudicio eius soluta sunt, et Ioannes, de metallo dimissus, sic postea tradidit hanc eandem quam acceperat a Deo Apoca- lypsin"; ib. on xvii. 10 "intellegi oportet tempus quo scripta Apocalypsis edita est, quoniam tunc erat Caesar Domitia- nus...unus exstat sub quo scripta est Apocalypsis, Domitianus scilicet." Euseb. II. E. iii. 18 εν' τούτω [sc. in the time of Do- mitian] κατέχει λόγος τον, απόστολον άμα και ευαγγελιστην Ιωάννην ετι τω βίω ενδιατρίβοντα της εις τον θείον λόγον ένεκεν μαρτυρίας ΊΙατμον ο'ικεΐν καταδικασμένοι την νήσον: ib. 20 τότε δή ου ν Γοη- the accession of Nerva] και τον οΛ-όστολον Ίωάννην άπο t^s κατά την νήσον φυγής την επί της 'Εφέσου Ζιατριβήν άπειληφεναι ο των τταρ ήμΐν αρχαίων παραοίόωσι λόγος : ib. 2 3 Ιωάννης τας αυτόθι διεΐπεν εκκλησίας, απο της κατά την νήσον μετά. την Αομετιανοΰ τελευτήν επανελθων φυγής. Ps. Aug. quaest. V. et Ν. Τ. η6. 2 "ista revelatio eo tempore fasta est, quo apostolus Iohannes in insula erat Pathmos, relegatus a Dbmitiano imperatore fidei causa." Hieron. de virr. illustr. 9 " quarto decimo anno secundam post Neronem 1 According to Dionysiua Barsalibi, who banished John is not named either Hippolytus followed Irenaeua in assign- by Clement or Origen. But in the ing the Apocalypse to the reign of Do- absence of evidence to the contrary mitian (Gwynn, , in Hermathena, vii. they may be presumed to have followed 137). in this respect the tradition of South. 2 It will be seen that the Alexandrian Gaul and Asia Minor, testimony is not explicit ; the Emperor 9 2 C ' DATE persecutionem movente Domitiano in Patmon insulam rele- ' ' gatus scripsit Apocalypsin...interfecto autem Domitiano et aotis eius ob nimiam crudelitatem a senatu rescissis sub Nerva principe redit Ephesum." 2. According to other ancient but not early authorities the book was written under Claudius 1 , Nero, or Trajan. Thus the title prefixed to both the Syriac versions of the Apoca- lypse assigns the banishment of St John to the reign of Nero (t£o»ts _ a Sfflj ^so αΛ aioue-^'fl) 2 . Epiphanius places both the exile and the return under Claudius (Jiaer. li. 12 μετά την αντον άπο της ΐίάτμον «τα'νοδον την επί Κλαυδίου -γενομενην Καισαροϊ : 10. 32 αυτοί δε προφητενσαντος iv χρόνοις Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος ανωτατω οτε εις την ΤΙατμον νησον νπηρξεν κτλ. ). The Synopsis de vita et morte prophetarum attributed to Dorotheus goes to the opposite extreme, placing the exile in the time of Trajan: ΰπό δέ Τραϊανό ν βασιλέως εζωρίσθη iv Trj νήσω ΎΙατμω,.,μετα δε την τελεντην Τραϊανού επάνεισιν άπο της νησον, adding however: εΐσϊ δε οι λε-γονσιν μή επϊ Τραϊανού αντον ε£ορισθήναι εν ΤΙάτμω, άλλα. επί Δομετιανον. Similarly Theophylact on Mt. xx. 22 Ίωάννην δε Τραϊανό s κατε&ίκασε μαρτνρονντα τω λόγω της αληθείας (compare the extract, from Origen in § 1). The reference to Trajan has f>erhaps been suggested by Iren. ii. 22. 5 παρέμεινε yap αντοΐς ο Ιωάννη] μέχρι των Τραϊανού χρόνων. 3• The general situation presupposed by the book is con- sistent, as we have seen, with the early tradition which represents it as a work of the last years of Domitian. The evidence may be briefly summarized here. (a) The condition of the .Asian Churches, as it is described in cc. ii., iii., is that of a period considerably later than the death of Nero. Their inner life has undergone many changes since St Paul's ministry at Ephesus, and even since the writing of the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians 3 and the two Epistles to Timothy. Deterioration has 1 On this see Hort, Apocalypse, p. xviii. munioated by St John to Laodicea pro- a So Theophylact, praef. in Ioann., longs the note which was struck by but speaking of the fourth Gospel: fi και St Paul in the letter to Colossae. An συνέ~/ραψεν εν Ιίάτμφ ttj νήσω εξόριστο! interval of a very few years has not διατελώ? μετά τριακονταδύο ΐτη τψ του materially altered the character of these χριστοΰ αναλήψεως. Tertullian (scorp. Churches. Obviously the same temper 15) does not definitely say that the exile prevails, the same errors are rife, the to Patmos took place under Nero, though same correction must be supplied." But he is credited by Jerome {adv. Jovin. i. the examples which he gives (pp. 41 — 44) 26) with doing so, and his words admit shew only that the same general ten- of that construction. dencies were at work in the Lycus valley, 8 Lightfoot, indeed, assuming the as when St Paul wrote, and this might earlier date of the Apocalypse writes well have been so even after an interval (fiolotiians, p. 41) : "the message com- of more than 30 years. DATE ci set in at Ephesus, and at Sardis and Laodicea faith is dying or dead. The Nicolaitan party, of which there is no certain trace in the Epistles of St Paul, is now widely distributed and firmly rooted. The external relations of the Churches shew a similar advance.' In past days Pergamum had witnessed a single martyrdom : now a storm of persecution was about to break on the ChurcheSj and the faithful might expect to suffer imprisonment and death, (b) The prevalence of the Imperial cult, and the pressure which was being put upon recusant Christians by the Asiarchs, are suggestive of the time of Domitian rather than of Nero or Vespasian 1 . Later than Domitian's reign this precise situation could not have arisen ; Nerva did not maintain the aggressive policy of Domitian 2 , and when Trajan's rescript began to do its work, the petty persecution described in Apoc. xiii. would give place to formal indictment before the Proconsul. Thus the death of Domitian (Sept. 18, 96) is our terminus ad quern ; a terminus a quo is supplied by the date of his accession (Sept. 13, 8i), but the superior limit may with great probability be pushed forward to A.D. 90 or even further, since Domitian's jealous insistence on his claims to Divine honours and his ■ encouragement of the delatores belong to the later years of his reign. 4. There are other indications of date which are more definite, and point in the same direction, (a) It is impossible to doubt that the legend of Nero redivivus is in full view of the Apocalyptjst in more than one passage (xiii. 3, 12, 14, xvii. 8). Archbishop Benson, indeed, seeks to impale those who hold this theory on the horns of a dilemma 8 . If St John referred to the legend, either he believed it or he did not. If he believed it, " he believed not only what was not true, but what decently-informed and reasonable heathen never believed." If he did not believe it, 1 Dr Hort (1 Peter, p. 2) maintains -written, belongs to the later rather than that "in Asia Minor, the special home to the earlier epoch; see c. vii. of this of the Emperor-worship, we have no introduction. right to assume that it was , only under 2 Cf. Dio Cassius, Ixviii. 1 . μίσα Sk an Emperor like Domitian... that Chris- Δομετιανοΰ al eUbves αύτοΰ...συνεχων€ύθη- tians were likely to have it forced upon σαν.,.καΐ 6 Nepoiias roiJs re κρινόμενου! iir' them." This no doubt is true, but άσφίίφ άφήκε, καϊ τούι φνγόνται κατή-γα- the probability remains that the great yev. See also, Eus. H.B. iii. 20. outbreak of persecution, which was s Apocalypse, p. 173 f. imminent when the Apocalypse was en DATE he was guilty of a grave political offence in using for his own ends a story which was "hostile to the peace of the district where it existed," and. moreover was aimed against the reigning Emperor. The second alternative has been assumed in the following com- mentary, but the inference which Dr Benson draws is not admitted. No one who appreciates the greatness of our author will suppose that he gave credit to the wild legends .which were afloat about Nero's return. But the conditions of apocalyptic writing did not preclude him from working mere legend into his symbolism, nor was there any appreciable danger in the use of this legend in a book addressed to Christians only. The reference to the reigning Emperor was not likely to be intelligible to any non-Christian into whose hands the book might fall, and to Christians it suggested nothing which was not already notorious. In Asia the story of Nero's recovery was common talk as early as a.d. 69 (Tac. hist. ii. 8 "Achaia atque Asia falso exterritae velut Nero adventaret vario super exitu eius rumore, eoqu'e pluri- bus vivere eum fingentibus credentibusque ") ; but pretenders continued to arise, and even under Trajan the belief that he was yet living was still general (Dio Chrysostom, or. xxi., και νυν en Ίτάντβζ Ι-πιθνμ,οΰσι ξβν, ol Be πΚεϊστοι και οϊονται 1 ). (b) In cc. xiii., xvii. Domitian is described in terms as plain as the circumstances allowed. Nero is dead, but the stroke of his death is healed (xiii. 3, 12). He is the Beast — he impersonates the brutal strength of the persecuting World-power, and he was, and is not, and is about to ascend out of the Abyss (xvii. 8). Nero himself was the fifth Emperor, and he has fallen ; but the Beast which was and is not reappears in an eighth Emperor, who is of the seven, inasmuch as he recalls to men's minds the fifth, and plays his part over again, till he too goeth into perdition (xvii. 11 f.) 2 . 5. Notwithstanding the external and internal evidence which supports the Domitianic date, the great Cambridge theologians of the last century were unanimous in regarding the Apocalypse as a work of the reign of Nero, or of the years which immediately 1 Nero was born in a.d. 37, so that, refer (xvi. 12) to the dread of a Parthian had he lived till a.d. 100, he would have invasion, which was oonnected with the been not more than 63. expectation of Nero's return : of. Tac. 1 See the commentary ad locos. It hist. i. 2; Orac. Sibyll.iv. 137 ft. may be added that St John appears to DATE cm followed his death. Bishop Lightfoot seems to have accepted " the view which assigns it to the close of Nero's reign or there- abouts 1 ." Bishop Westcott placed it "before the destruction of Jerusalem 2 ." Dr Hoit in his posthumous commentary on I Peter 3 writes: "there are strong reasons for placing [the Apocalypse] not long after Nero's death." Such a threefold cord of scholarly opinion is not quickly broken, and the reasons on which it was founded deserve the most careful consideration. In the partition of the New Testament between the three, the Apocalypse, un- happily, was "not finally assigned 4 ," and their published writings 5 contain but incidental references to the question of its date. From these it would appear that they were guided in their judge- ment on this point partly by the relation which they believed the Book to occupy with reference to the Fall of Jerusalem, partly by the contrast which it presents to the Fourth Gospel. Thus Dr Hort writes : " The day of the Lord which the writer to the Hebrews saw drawing nigh had already begun to break in blood and fire, when St John sent his Apocalypse to the Gentile Churches of Asia 6 ." And Dr Lightfoot : '' It marks the close of what we may call the Hebraic period of St John's life, i.e. the period which... he had spent chiefly in the East and among Aramaic-speaking peoples 7 ." But perhaps the fullest treatment of the subject is to be found in Dr Westcott's introduction to. the Gospel of St John : " Of the two books (he says) the Apocalypse - is the earlier. It is less developed both in thought and style The crisis of the Fall of Jerusalem explains the relation of the Apocalypse to the Gospel. In the Apocalypse that ' coming ' of Christ was expected, and 'painted in figures ; in the Gospel the 'coming' is interpreted 8 ." It is clear that these arguments for placing the Apocalypse 1 Biblical Essays, p. 52; cf. Super- (1908) see the postscript to this chapter. natural Religion, p. 132. 6 Jud. Christianity, p. [60. a St John, Intr. p. lxxxvii. 7 Supernatural Religion, p. 132. Dr 3 P. 2 ; of. Hulsean Lectures, p. l^oi., Lightfoot appears to be in general agree- Judaistic Christianity, p. 160. ment here with his antagonist, who 4 See Bp Westcott's prefatory note to placed the Apocalypse "about a.d. 68, Dr Hort's 1 Peter (p. vii). 69." 5 On the argument by which this 8 St John, p. lxxxvi f. view is supported in Apocalypse i — iii civ DATE under Nero or Vespasian rest on more than one presupposition. The unity of the Book is assumed, and it is held to be the work of the author of the Fourth Gospel. But the latter hypothesis is open, and perhaps will always be open to doubt ; and the former cannot be pressed so far as to exclude the possibility that• the extant book is a second edition of an earlier work, or that it in- corporates earlier materials, and either hypothesis would sufficiently account for the few indications of a Neronic or Vespasianic date which have been found in it 1 . When it is added that the great scholars who have been named dealt with the question incident- ally and not in connexion with a special study of the Apocalypse, it seems permissible to attach less importance to their judgement on this point than on others to which their attention had been more directly turned, 6. With all due deference, therefore, to the great authority of Westcott, Lightfoot, and Hort, and of the foreign scholars 2 who have supported an earlier date, adhesion has been given in this edition to the view that the Apocalypse, at least in its present form, belongs, as Irenaeus believed, to the reign of Domitian and to the last years of that reign (90 — J)6). This date appears to be consistent with the general character and purpose of the book. The Apocalypse as a whole presupposes a period when in Asia at least the Church was compelled to choose between Christ and Caesar. And the prophet foresees that this is no local or passing storm, but one which will spread over the whole Empire, and run a long course, ending only with the fall of paganism and of Rome. The Coming of the Lord is no longer connected with the Fall of Jerusalem, which is viewed as an event of past history 3 . A new Jerusalem has taken the place of the old city of God, and the Apocalyptist can already see its ideal glories revealed. But for the moment Babylon is in the foreground of the picture, and Babylon must fall before the end, and after Babylon the Beast 1 E.g. the cryptic representation of and Weiss, Dusterdiek, and Mommsen, Nero's name in xiii. 18, and the ap- who place it under Vespasian ; see parent reference to Vespasian as the C. Anderson Soott, Revelation, p. 48, reigning Emperor in c. xvii. 10. note r. ■ 2 E.g. Baur, Hilgenfeld, Beyschlag, 3 On c.xi. iff. see the commentary who assign the book to the reign of Nero, ad I. DATE cv and the False Prophet. Even the triumph that follows on their destruction is not final, for the Dragon remains to be overcome. So the Coming is postponed indefinitely, though the old watch- word, 'Ιδού έρχομαι ταχύ, still rings in our ears. The whole' standpoint is that of the closing years of the first century, when the Church knew herself to be entering upon a struggle of which she could not foresee the end, although of the victorious issue she entertained no doubt. [In the Apocalypse of St John i. — iii. (1908) Dr Hort deals at some length with the date "of the Book, and on historical grounds strongly supports the view which places it at the beginning of the reign of Vespasian. He admits that " if external evidence alone could decide, there would be a clear preponderance for Domitian " (p. xx.). " On the other hand the general historical bearings of the book are those of the early, and are not those of the late period " (p. xxxii.). Two points in particular are urged as leading to this conclusion. (1) "The whole language about Rome and the empire, Babylon and the Beast, fits the last days of Nero and the time immediately following, and does not fit the short local reign of terror under Domitian." (2) " The book breathes the atmosphere of a time of wild commotion... it is only in the anarchy of the earlier time that we can recognise a state of things that will account for the tone of the Apocalypse " (p. xxvi. f.). These two positions rest upon evidence which is given in full (pp. xxi. — xxvi.), and would be nearly conclusive if the Apoca- lypse had been addressed to Rome or written from the standpoint of a Eoman Christian. But the conditions which existed in the province of Asia may have coloured events differently in the eyes of an Ephesian prophet. In the foregoing chapters of this intro- duction an attempt has been made to shew that in the later years of Domitian's reign the Ca3sar-worship in Asia was a danger which threatened the' Church with imminent destruction. If that view is correct, there is no need to take into account the shortness of "the local reign of terror" at Borne under Domitian or the com- cvi DATE parative length and severity of Nero's persecution. Neither of these would have greatly influenced the attitude of Asian Christians towards the Emperor or the Empire; it would rather have been determined by what Was happening in Asia itself with the sanction of the Imperial authorities. In Asia at the' moment there seems to have been good reason to expect a recrudescence of the policy of Nero, and something worse; if there were no recent, martyrdoms, yet persecution was ready to break out upon the least excuse, and but for the death of Domitian there would probably have been a general uprising of the pagan population against the Church. This, as it seems, was the situation on. which the seer of the Apocalypse has seized as the occasion for his prophecy. For these reasons the present writer is unable to see that the historical situation presupposed by the Apocalypse contradicts the testimony of Irenaeus which assigns the vision to the end of the reign of Domitian. But has the testimony of Irenaeus been rightly understood ? Dr Hort, it appears, in his lectures on the Apocalypse referred to an article by M. J. Bovon in the Revue de Theologie et de Philosophie (Lausanne, 1887), in which it was suggested that the subject of ίωράθη in Iren. v. 30. 3 is not ή άτΓΟΚαΚνψΊϊ but ο την άττοκαΚυ^ιν ίωρακώς, i.e. δ Ίώαννης. This view has been supported with great acuteness by the Bishop of Ely in the Journal of Theological Studies for April 1907. It does not, however,' seem that Dr Hort himself, although he admitted "the difficulty of accounting for yap on the common interpretation, and the force of the argument from the use of όράω with persons in Irenaeus " (p. 42), allowed M. Bovon's suggestion to weigh with him against the usual and natural interpretation of the words. On the contrary he assumes that Irenaeus bears witness to the Domitianic date, and for the view which he prefers he «relies entirely on the internal evidence and the circumstances which in his judgement it must be held 'to presuppose.] χ. CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH. 1. Assuming that the Apocalypse was addressed by a person of influence or authority to seven of the leading Churches of Asia between the years 90 and 96, it is reasonable to suppose that it was copied and circulated to some extent before the beginning of the second century. As the encyclical was brought round by the author's messenger, each of the Churches addressed would transcribe it for its own use, and send a copy to the Churches in the immediate neighbourhood 1 , and these in their turn would repeat the process. Within a few years the circulation of such a document would overstep the limits of the province, whether through the spontaneous action of the Asian societies 2 , or in answer to the appeal of foreign Churches?, or through the agency of individual Christians upon their travels., In one or all of these ways the great Christian apocalypse would have passed from Church to Church and from province to province, and wherever it went it could not fail to excite the interest of Christian readers. 2. Thus it is not incredible that Ignatius (1 10 — 1 17 4 •) may shew some knowledge of the Apocalypse of John in more than one of 1 Cf. Col. iv. 16 όταν άνα-γνωσθτ] παρ' 3 Polyc. Phil. 13 tos iirurroXas Ίγ- ΰμΐν ή επιστολή, ποιήσατε ϊνα καΐ εν τ -rj νατίαχι τα.5 πεμφθείσαί ήμϊν παρ' αύτοΰ, Λαοδικέων εκκλησία αναγιωσθη, και την έκ καΐ άλλα; &σα$ είχομεν παρ' ημϊν, ("πέμψα- λαοδίκίαι ϊνα καΐ ύμεΐς άναγνωτε. On μεν ύμΐν καθώ: ίνετείλασθε. the method of transmission see Earn- 4 On Clem. E. Cor. 34. 3, see N.T. in say, Letten to the Seven Churches, the Apostolic Fathers, p. 58. . Lightfoot, cc. ii., Hi. who placed the Apocalypse under Nero 2 See Mart. Polyc. 20 καΐ toU ίπέ• or Vespasian, was inclined to see in κείνα άδελφοίς τήν έπιστολην διαπέμ- Clem. I. c. a reference to Apoc. xxii. 12; ψασθε. see his note ad I. cviii CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH .his letters to the Asian Churches (Eph. 15. 3 ίνα 3>μεν αυτόν ναοί, καϊ αυτό? eV ήμΐν 0eos'[Apoc. xxi. 3] 5 Philad. vi. ι, στηλα'ι είσιν και τάφοι νεκρών, εφ' οίς γεηραττται μόνον ονόματα ανθρώπων [Apoc. iii. 12]), though the coincidences are not such as to justify a definite conclusion. In the Epistle of Barnabas 1 , again, there are one or, two passages which may allude to St John's work (Barn. 6. 13 Xeyet δε Κύριος 'Ιδού ττοιω τα έσχατα ώς τά πρώτα [Apoc. xxi. 3] ; ib. 21. 3 εγγύς 6 κύριος και 6 μισθός αυτοΰ [Apoc. χχϋ. ίο f.]); but the balance of probability. is in each instance against the reference 2 . There is however abundant evidence that the Apocalypse was in circulation during the second half of the second century, not only in Asia, but in the West. . (1) Eusebius does not mention the Apocalypse among N.T. books known to Papias (Η. E. iii. 39), unless this is implied in his attribution .of, Papias's chiliasm to a misunderstanding of certain statements made by Apostolic authority 3 . But against the silence of Eusebius we have to set the express statement of Andreas, who in the prologue to his commentary writes : wepl μέντοι τον θεο- ττνεΰστου της βίβλου ττερ'ιττον μηκννειν τον λόγον ηγούμεθα, των μακαρίων Τρηγορίου φημϊ τον θεολόγου και Κυρίλλου, προσέτι τε και των αρχαιοτέρων ΤΙαττίον, Ειρηναίου, Μεθοδίου, καϊ 'Ιππολύτου προσ- μαρτυρονντων το αζιάπιστον. Andreas, moreover, quotes a remark of Papias upon Apoc. xii. 7 ff. Papias, it will be remembered, was according to Irenaeus (v. 33) an ακουστής Ιωάννου and an αρχαίος άνηρ, whose floruit is likely to be nearer to the beginning than to the middle of the second century 4 - (2) About a.d. 180 Irenaeus knew of copies of the Apocalypse already ' ancient,' and of witness borne to the text of the book by persons who had seen the writer (v. 30 = Eus. II. E. v. 8) 5 , and who, if not Papias and Polycarp, pre- sumably belonged to their generation 6 . (3) Justin, who lived at Ephesus 7 before he went to Rome, speaks of the Apocalypse as a recognized Christian book, and identifies its author with the Apostle John : apol. i. 28 όφις καλείται και σατανά? και διάβολο?, ιός εκ των ημέτερων συγγραμμάτων ερευνησαντες μαθεΐν Βννασθε \ dial. 81 παρ ημΐν άνηρ τις ω όνομα Ιωάννης, εΐς των ι αποστόλων τοί χριστοί, εν αττοκαλνψει γενομένη αΰτω, χίλια en/ ττοιη- 1 a.d. 130-1 (Harnack). Gospel, p. isof. ; Lightfoot, S.R. p. 150: 2 See N. T. in the Apostolic Fathers, " we may Bay that Papias was probably p. i6f. born about a.d. 60— 70." 8 S. καϊ Ί)-γοΰμαι ras ίποστολικας παρεκ- 6 The words will be found on p. 175 ίεξάμενον διψγήσεΐ! ύτόλαβεΐν, τα if (note to Apoc. xiii. 18). ύποδεί•γμασι robs αύτων μυστικωί είρημένα β Lightfoot, S.R. p. 218. μη συνεωρακότα. Cf. Lightfoot, Super- ' Harnaok places the Ephesian re- natural Religion, p. 214, note 4. sidence of Justin c. a.d. 135. 4 See Sanday, Criticism of the Fourth β Of. Apoc. xii. 9, xx. 2. CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH cix creiv iv ϊΐρουσαΧημ τους τω ημΐτΐρω χριστώ ττιστίυσανταϊ νροΐφη- "τ£υσ£ ι . (4) Eusebius {Η. Ε. iv. 26) mentions among the works of Melito, Bishop of Sardis (c. A.D. 165), τα irepi του διαβόλου και της Άίγο- καλνψεως ΊωάΐΊΌυ 2 . The work, whatever its nature may have been, has perished 3 , but the title shews that the Apocalypse was accepted at this time in one of the Churches to which it was originally sent — a Church, moreover, which had little cause to pride itself upon the character it receives from the Apocalyptist. In the wreck of the Montanistic 4 and anti-Montanistic literature which perplexed the Churches of Asia at this time, we have probably- lost many similar references to the book; but we linow, on the authority of Eusebius (H.E. v. 18), that it was quoted by the anti- Montanist Apollonius (κίχμηται δέ και μαρτυρίαις άπο της Ιωάννου ΆΐΓοκαλνψ€ω<ή 5 . Later, but before the end of the century, Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, cites the Apocalypse against the teaching of Hermogenes (Eus. H. E. iv. 24 άλλο [σύγγραμμα του ©Εοψίλου] 7rpos την αϊρεσιν 'Ερμογένους την ίπιγραφήν ίχει, iv ω i* της Άττοκαλυι/'εωϊ 'Ιωάννου κέχρηταί μαρτυριαίϊ) ; in Asia Minor and in Western Syria the book had clearly become a court of appeal to which Christians of opposite schools could submit their differences. (5) In South Gaul about the same time the Apocalypse was held in equal regard. The Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons, addressed in 177 to the region from which the book emanated 6 , cites or refers to it some five times 7 , and one of the quotations is introduced by the N.T. formula for the citation of canonical Scripture (ινα η γραφή πληρωθή). With Irenaeus,' Bishop of Lyons, a few years later, quotations from the Apocalypse are frequent, and they are usually introduced by the words "John (or "John the disciple of the Lord") says in the Apocalypse"" (Iren. iv. 14. 1, 17. 6, 18. 6, 20. 11, 21. 3; v. 26. 1, 28. 2, 34. 2, 35. 1); once we have "the Apocalypse of John" (i. 26. 3), and once "the Apocalypse," without the author's name (v. 20. 2) 8 . Such is the . 1 The allusion to Apoc. xxi. in Tatian's in the mind of Dionyaius of Corinth, \6yos πρ&ί'ΕιλΚηνα.! to which reference is when he writes (ap. Eus. H.E. iv. 23) : made by Westcott {Canon, p. 320), is too ά μίν έξαιροΰντα, ct Se προστιθίντες. o& obscure to be used for the purpose of το oial κείται. this chapter. 6 b us , h.e. v. ι toIs κατά -ri]v'Xalav 2 Two separate books, according, to καΐ Φρ\τγίαν ...aSektpoU. Jerome (de virr. illustr. 9 " de diabolo 7 The passages to which reference is librum unum, de Apocalypsi Ioannis made are. Apoc. xiv. 4 (ακόλουθων τφ librum unum"). ' άριΊφ Sirov av iiriyg), xii. 1, xiv. 4 (1-3 8 On the commentary of the pseudo- ναρθένω μητρί), xix. 9 (lis els νυμφικον Melito see Harnack, Gesch. d. altchr. SStivov κεκΧημένοι), xxii. n (ό foo^os Litteratur, i. 254, and the chapter of άνομησάτω (τι, καΐ 6 δίκαιος δικαιωθήτω this introduction on Apocalyptic com- (τι). mentaries (c. xvii). 8 See Mahn Gesch. d. NTlichen 4 For some instances of a Montanistic Kanons, i. 202, note 2. Quotations use of the Apocalypse see Zahn, Gesch. from the fourth Gospel are similarly d. NTlichen Kanons, i. p. 205 f. announced, with the substitution of in 5 There is a possible allusion to Apoc. Evangelio for in Apocalypsi, cf. Iren. i. xxii. i8f. in the anonymous anti-Mon- 6. 5,'iii. 21/2, iv. 25. 1, v. 18. 2. On tanislic writing quoted by Eusebius in the title "disciple of the Lord" see Η.Ε.Ύ. 16. The same verses may be c. xv. of this introduction. ex CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH authority of the book that when it is silent on a point Irenaeus permits himself to write (v. 30. 1), "dignum non est praeconari a Spiritu sancto." (6) At Rome, there is some reason to think, the Apocalypse was known even before the corning of Justin. The Shepherd of Hermas twice (Vis. ii. 2. 7, iv. 3. 1) uses the remark- able phrase -ή θλίψις ή μι-γάλη, which occurs in Apoc. vii. 14; moreover, it is hardly too bold to say with Bishop Westcott that "the symbolism of the Apocalypse reappears in the Shepherd 1 ." Certainly there is a marked affinity between the two books, which shews itself in the use of similar imagery ; in both the Church is a woman, and her adversary a wild beast; in both we read of the Book of Life, and of conquerors distinguished by their white robes and palms and crowns ; if the Apocalypse describes the New Jeru- salem as lying four-square within walls on whose foundation stones are the names of the Apostolic college, the Sliepherd describes a tower which is in building, the bright squared stones of which are the Apostles and other teachers of the' Church". That these coincidences are not purely accidental is rendered probable by the circumstance that the Mirratorian fragment on the Ganon, which refers to the Shepherd as written "nuperrime temporibus nostris in urbe Roma," seems to intimate that the Apocalypse of John was universally recognized at Rome, in contrast to the Apocalypse of Peter which some refused to acknowledge ("Apo- calypse[s] etiam Iohannis et Petri tantum recipimus, quam [Isc. Apocalypsim Petri] quidam ex nostris legi in ec[c]lesia nolunt 3 "). (7) The Church of Carthage, the daughter of the Roman Church, knew and accepted the Johannine Apocalypse at the end of the second century or in the early years of the third. Tertullian quotes from eighteen out of the twenty-two chapters of the book 4 , and cites it as Scripture (de res. earn. 27 "habemus etiam .'vestimentorum in scripturis mentionem ad spem carnis allegorizare, quia et Apoca- lypsis Iohannis Hi sunt, ait, qui vestimenta suanon coinquinaverunt"); it is the work of the Apostle John (Marc. iii. 14, 24), the instru- menhim loannis (ib. 38), and part and parcel of the instrumenturn? apostolicum (pud. 12 sqq.) 6 - The Acts of Perpetua and Pelicitas abound in imagery which is modelled on that of the Apocalypse (e.g. §4 "circumstantes candidati milia multa"; § 12 " introeuntes vestierunt stolas Candidas, et introivimus, et audivimus vocem unitam dicentem Agios agios agios sine cessatione...et vidi- mus in eodem loco sedentem. quasi hominem canum... et in dextra 1 Ganon, p. 201, note 2. Cf. Lardner, purpose of. the book. Works, ii. p. 69 : " it is very probable 4 The quotations are most numerous that Hermas had read the book of in his Montanistio books, but they occur St John's Eevelation and imitated it." also in the earlier works, e.g. orat. 3, 5, 2 Vis. ii. 4, iii. 5, iv. 2 ; Sim. viii. 2. paen. 8. 8 That the Apocalypsis Johannis is 6 Cf. apol. 18 " instrumentum lit- identical with our book is dear by what teraturae " ; ib. 21 " Iudaeorum instru- preeedes : " et Iohannes enim in Apooa- menta"; res. cam. 40 "instrumenta lypsi, licet septem ecclesiis sc,ribat, divina." Of. Zahn, Gesch. i. p. 107ft.• tamen omnibus dicit" — an early and " Zahn, Gesch, i. p. 204. interesting appreciation of the wider CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH cxi et in sinistra seniores quattuor . . . et introeuntes cum admiratione stetimus ante thronum." As in the case of the Shepherd, there is no direct quotation here, but the influence of the Apocalypse is scarcely doubtful. (8) At Alexandria about the same time the Apocalypse was known, and recognized as the work of St John. Clement, who cites it several times (paed. i. 6 § 36, ii. 10 § 108, 12 §' 119 ; strom. iii. 18 § 106, vi. 13 § 116) with the formula Ui Ul/UiUliUU, liUWOVCJ.- \lTOX'£ieiB OS v ^ 1 historical documents, i. p. 230 fl.), after .(^IajojTI *t«oioi^o 'discussing the attitude of Gaius towards 4 Κ i s quoted 27 times in. the Testi- the Fourth Gospel, conies to the con- mania alone. . elusion that there is at present no 6 The fragments are edited by Dr sufficient evidence to shew that he re- Feltoe in Letters and otlier remains of jected it. Dionysius of Alexandria, pp. 106—125. CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH cxv It appears that on the occasion pf a visit to Arsinoe, where Chiliasm had long disturbed the peace of. the Church, Dionysius* found him- self confronted by an 'Έλεγχοι ττερι άλληγοριστων, written by Nepos, an Egyptian Bishop, in which, according to Eusebius, Ν epos 'taught that the promises made in the Holy Scriptures to the saints will be fulfilled in a Jewish sense ('\ουδαϊκωτερον), and held that there will be a millennium of bodily enjoyment on this earth.' A three days' conference followed which brought the Arsenoites back to a healthier view. But the incident led the critical mind of Dionysius to examine afresh for himself the grounds on whicli the Apocalypse was held to be the work of the Apostle John, and the results of his enquiry are given in the third, fourth, and fifth of the fragments of his answer to Nepos. Dionysius refuses to follow the party who ascribed the Apoca- lypse to Cerinthus 1 . He cannot venture to reject a book which is held in high esteem by so many members of the Church (εγώ δε αθετησαι ουκ αν τολμησαιμι το ^βιβλίορ, πολλών αυτά δια. σπουδής εχόντων αδελφών) ; with the mddesty of the true scholar he is ready to attribute the difficulties whicli it presents to the limitations of his own understanding (ει μη σννίημι, αλλ' υπονοώ ye νουν τιι/α. βαθΰτερον ε-γκεΐσθαι τοις ρήμασιν). But while he does not presume to challenge the inspiration of the Apocalypse or its claim to be the work of a John, he declines to accept it as the work of the Apostle, to whom he attributes the fourth Gospel and "the Catholic Epistle " (i.e. ι John). He is led to this conclusion by comparing (i) the character of the writer of the Apocalypse with that of the writer of the Gospel, (2) the thought and style of the writings, and (3) their linguistic differences (τεκμαίρομαι yap εκ τε του ήθους εκατερων και τον των λόγων etSous και της τοϊ βιβλίου διεξαγωγή) 2 . John .the Evangelist abstains from mentioning his own name, but John the Apocalyptist names himself more, than once at the very outset of his book, and again near the end. Doubtless there were many who bore the name of John in the early Christian communities; we read, for instance, of "John whose surname was Mark," and there may have been a second John in Asia, since at Ephesus, we are told, there were two tombs said to be John's (δυο φασΐν εν *Ειφεσω γενέσθαι μνήματα, και έκάτερον Ιωάννου λέγεσθαί). Again, while the Gospel and Epistle of John shew marks of agreement which suggest a common authorship, the Apocalypse differs widely from both in its ideas and in its way of expressing them; we miss in it (e.g.) the frequent references to 'life,', 'light,' 'truth,' 'grace,' and 'love' which are characteristic of the Apostle, and find ourselves in a totally different region of thought (άλλοιοτάτη δε και ξένη πάρα. ταΰτα ή Άποκαλυψις, μήτε εφαπτομένη μήτε γειτνιωσα τούτων μηδίνι, σχεδόν ως είπεΐν μηδέ συλλαβήν προς αντα. κοινην εχουο-α). Lastly, the linguistic eccentricities of the Apocalypse bar the way against an acceptance of the book as the work of the Evangelist. The Gospel and first Epistle are written in correct and flowing Greek, 1 See above, p. cxf. 2 See Dr Feltoe'a note ad I. cxvi CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH and there is not a barbarism, a solecism, or a provincialism in them ; ■whereas the Greek of the Apocalypse is inaccurate, disfigured by unusual or foreign words, and even at times solecistic (γλωσσαν οϋκ ακριβώς ίλλψίζουσαν αντοΰ βλέπω, αλλ' ίδιωμασί τ£ βαρβαρικοί^ χρω- γ,ΐνον, και ττον και σολοικίζοντα). 6. This criticism, not the less trenchant because carefully guarded against the imputation of levity or irreverence 1 , and proceeding from so distinguished a Bishop as Dionysius 'the Great 2 ,' could not fail to carry weight in Egypt and in the Greek-speaking East, shaking the faith of many in the apos- tolical authorship of the• Apocalypse, and therefore in its canonical authority. In the fourth century Eusebius is unable to speak positively as to its canonicity (H.E. iii. 25 της Be Άποκαλύψεως εφ' έκάτερον en νυν πάρα πολλοίς περιέλκεται ή Βόξα. lb. 2ζ επϊ tovtois [the canonical books] τακτέον, et ye φανείη, την Άποκάλ,υψιν 'Ιωάννου... ην rives, ώς εφην, άθβτοϋσιν, έτεροι Be έηκρίνουσι τοΐς όμολο-γουμένοις). Cyril of Jerusalem, a few years later, not only omits the Apocalypse from his list of canonical books, but seems definitely to exclude it from private as well as public use (Gatech. iv. 31 τα Be \οιπα πάντα εν Βευτέρω κείσθω, και οσα μεν ev εκκλησίαις μη άνα<γινώσκεται, ταύτα μηΒε κατά σαυτον άναηίνωσκ,ε). It is more remarkable that Asia Minor should have ignored the book even in formal canons ; it finds no place in the Laodicean list of 363, or in that of Gregory of Nazianzus ; while Amphilochius of Iconium expressly says : την Β' Άποκάλυψιν την 'Ιωάννου πάλιν \ τίνες μεν εγκρίνουσιν, οι π\είους Be 76 | νόθον λεγουσί. In Eastern Syria the Apocalypse was either still unknown or it was ignored ; it formed no part of • the Peshitta New Testament 3 . Junilius, who represents the Biblical criticism of the school of Nisibis in the sixth century, is silent about the book ; the Jacobite Barhebraeus (-f• 1 286) passes it over without notice in his Nomocanon, and so does .the nearly contemporary Nestorian Ebedjesu, both following herein the 1 Fragment 5, e.g. ends: oiU yap the Apocalypse with respect : Eus. H.E. (πισκώττων, μή tis νομίσχι, ταύτα 61x01", vii. 10." άλλα μόνον την ανομοιότητα διευθύνων 'των 2 Cf. Feltoe, ρ. χι. ■γράφων. As Dr Westcott points out, s Gwynn, Apocalypse; pp. xiii, ciii f.; όαηοη,ρ. 369, note 4, Dionysius "quoted cf. Zahn, Gesch. i. p. 374^ CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH cxvii ' Apostolic Canons,' which agree in this respect with the canons of Laodicea. Western Syria, as represented by the School of Antioch, looked with little favour on the most mystical of early Christian writings. Neither Theodore, Chrysostom, or Theodoret is known to have quoted the Apocalypse 1 . Con- stantinople inherited the traditions of Antioch in this respect as in others, and the Apocalypse is omitted altogether in the Synopsis scripturae sacrae which is found among the work of Chrysostom, nor has it any place in the catalogue of " the Sixty books " or in either of its supplementary lists. As late as the beginning of the ninth century Nicephorus places it among the antilegomena with the Apocalypse of Peter. It is significant of the slow progress made by the circulation or acceptance of the book in eastern lands that no Greek commentary seems to have been written upon it before the fifth or sixth century 2 . Several causes may have concurred to cause this delay. There may have ' been in some minds a lingering dread of ' Morrtanism, and in many others a doubt as to the inspiration or the apostolical authority of the Apocalyptist. Moreover, the Apocalypse may have been known in the East only to a few. From the first perhaps the book went west rather, than east; traders from Smyrna and Ephesus carried it to Italy and Gaul, to North Africa and Egypt; few copies seem to have penetrated to Antioch, and fewer or none to Edessa and Nisibis. 7. In the West, on the contrary, the Apocalypse, which had won acceptance in the second century, held its own notwith- 1 Suidas, indeed, remarks: δέχεται tane list, 1200, and according to Momm- ck ό Χρυσόστομο;... την Αποκαλύψω. "If sen's list, 1800; see Zahn, Gesch. ii. this is true," Dr Westcott writes, not p. 397. The Apocalypse holds the last without a touch of humour, "it is a place in nearly all Greek MSS. of the singular proof of the inconclusiveness N.T.; the exceptions will be found in of the casual evidence of quotation " Gregory, prolegg. p. 136. In the Latin (Canon, p. 442, note 3): lists and the MSS. of the Vulgate other 5 It is to be noted, also, that Greek > arrangements are less rare, e.g. the MSS. of the Apocalypse, uncial or cur- Claromontane list places Apoc. after sive, are relatively few ; that ύποθέο -eis the Catholic Epistles but before the to this book are rare (von Soden, Die Acts, while in the Mommsen list and Schriften d.-N. T., i. p. 360) ; and that no the ' Decree of Gelasius ' it finds a place Greek MS. shews a stiehometry (Tischen- before the Catholic Epistles ; see Zahn, dorf, ii. 1044), though the stichi were Gesch. ii. p. 383, or iieuadhen, AnaUcta, counted — according to Nicephorus they pp. 139 — 149. were -1400, according to the Claromon- cxvm CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH standing the strictures of Gaius at Rome, and the rejection of its apostolic authorship by Dionysius at Alexandria. Alexandria soon returned to its allegiance; in his Festal Epistles (Ep. 39), Athanasius ends his list of the canon with the words και τταΧιν ^Ιωάννου , Αττοκά\υψις, adding: ταύτα πηγαΐ του σωτηρίου... μηΒεις τούτοις έπιβαλΧβτω μηδέ τούτων άφαιρεισθω τι. In the pseudo-Athanasian Synopsis the Apocalypse forms the eighth and last book of the New Testament, and later Alexandrian writers accept it without hesitation 1 . The Latin West was from the time of Gaius practically unanimous in its favour 2 . It was there that the book found its earliest interpreters, Victorinus of Pettau, Tyconius, Primasius. It takes its place in all Western lists of the canonical Scriptures : in Mommsen's canon, in those of Codex Claromontanus and the Carthaginian Council of 397, in the 'Decree of Gelasius.' The authority of the great Latin fathers confirmed the general verdict of the Church ; Ambrose, Jerome, Rufinus, Augustine, Innocent, accepted the Apocalypse as the ' work of the Apostle John. The Eastern Church has long followed the example of the West. Although the Quinisextine Council endorsed without remark the Laodicean Canon which omits the Apocalypse, the commentaries of Oecumenius, Andreas, and Arethas must have gone far to secure a favourable hearing for the book. Even the Syrian Church in the seventh, century possessed two versions, one which has been identified with the wsrk of Thomas of Harkel, and another of a Philoxenian type 8 . No book in the New Testament with so good a record was so long in gaining general acceptance. The reasons for this are well summarized in a scholion to one of the MSS. of the Apocalypse 4 : ή δίά το μερικώς μη εκτίθεσθαι. αυτήν, ή δια. το ασαφές αυτής και ι On the Coptic canon see c. xvi. me) lias established the genuineness of 1 Iheie is an apparent exception in the attribution of this book to Gen- the liber eaclesiasticorum dogmatum at- nadius, tomniator, if the true readins tributed to Gennadius (§ 6 "erit resur- refers to Nepos. On the attitudes of rectio mortuorum hominum, sed una et Erasmus, Luther, and Calvin towards in scmel ; non prima mstorum et se- the Apocalypse see Westcott Canon 6 cunda peocatorum, ut fabulat som- pp. 472 f., 483, 488. niator"). But according to Dom G. » See p. cxc'v. Morin who (as Mr C. H. Turner informs * Cod. 24. ' CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION IN THE CHURCH cxix ονσέφικτον καϊ ο\ί<γοι<> διαλαμβανόμενου και νοούμενου, αΚΧως τε οΐμαι Βιά το μηδέ συμφέρον elvai τοις ττοΧλοΐς τα, iv αυτί} ipevvav μηδέ ΧυσιτεΧει. The key to the interpretation disappeared with the generation to which the book was addressed, perhaps even with the relief which the Asian Churches experienced upon the death of Domitian; and apart from any clue to its immediate reference, it was little else but a maze of inexplicable mysteries. "Apocalypsis Ioannis," exclaims Jerome, "tot habet sacramenta quot verba 1 ." It was not everyone who was able to meet 1 the situation with the patient modesty of the great Dionysius, and in the circumstances we can only recognize with thankfulness the Providence which has preserved for us a treasure of which the full value is even now scarcely realized. 1 Ad Paulin., ep. liii. 8. XL VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE. I. A complete vocabulary of the Apocalypse will be found at the end of this volume. Here it will suffice to point out some of the results which may be gleaned from it. The Apocalypse contains 913 distinct words, or, excluding the names of persons and places, 871. Of these 871 words, 108 are not used elsewhere in the New Testament, and 98 are used elsewhere in the New Testament but once, or by but one other writer. It may be useful to the reader to have these relatively uncommon words placed before him in separate lists. (a) "Words in the Apocalypse which occur in no other N.T. writing 1 . Άβα88ών, [άκμάζειν, ^άκρατος, f αλληλούια, άλφα, '[άμίθνστος, αμωμον, ΆίΓολλίων, "Αρ Μαγεδών, αφινθος, ^βασανισμός, '[βάτραχος, ^ίβηρυλλος, βιβλαρίδιον, '[βότρνς, ΐβνσσινος, f διάδημα, διαυγή, διττλοΰν (verb), δισμνριάς, ^δράκων, [δωδέκατος, Έλλ^νικόϊ, ^ίμΐΐν, ίνδώμησις, f εξακόσιοι, ζιστός, ζηλεΰειν, ήμίωρον, θΐιωδης, θνίνον, ^Ιασπις, tt7rirocos, ftpa, κατάθίμα, ^ κατασφρα-γίζίΐν, κοιτήγωρ, ^κανμα, t κεραμικός, ^κεραν- ννναι, '[κέρας, κιθαρωδός, "ϊκιννάμωμον, '[κλίμμα, +κολλουριον, '[κριθή, κρνσταλλίζΐΐν, "[κρύσταλλος, '[κνκλόθΐν, Ί"λι/3ανωτόϊ, '[λιπαρός, "[μάρ- ■μαρος, ϊμασάσθαι, μΐσονράνημα, ^μίτωττον, όμηρος, '[μονσικός, ^μυκασ- θαι, μνλινος, [νΐφρός, Νικολαΐΐηβ, "[όλυνθος, ^όττώρα, "ϊορμημα, topveov, fovpa, +7τώρδαλΐ5, τΓΐλΐκίζΐΐν, '[πέμπτος, +7ΓΕτεσ0αι, ^πλησσαν, ^ποδηρης, ιτοταμοφέρητος, ^πρωινός, 1[πνρινος, ^πυρρός, fpaivtiv, ρίδη, ρνπαίνΐσθαι, σαλπιστης, \σάπφΐΐρος, |σάρδιον, σαρδόνυζ, Ίσεμίδαλις, '[σίδηρος, ■ σψικός, fσμάρayδoς, ■[στρηνος, ταλαιτιαΐοϊ, +τετράγωνο5, τιμιότης, ΐτόξον, [τοπάζιον, [τρίχινος, [υάκινθος, \νακίνθινος, υάλινος, +ύ'αλο5, "[φαρμακός, [φιάλη, '[χάλαζα, χαλκάδων, χαλκολφανος, χλιαροί, t\oivi£, [χρνσόλιθος, χρνσόπρασος, [χρνσονν. 1 Words to which a dagger ia prefixed in thick type appear to be α?τα£ λεγόμο-α. occur in the Greek Ο. T. ; those printed VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE cxxi (δ) Words in the Apocalypse used elsewhere in the N.T. but ■» once, or by one other writer 1 . taSeiv (P e< > 01 ), ή-άΒίκημα (L a ), \ αιχμαλωσία (P e ), t αττοχωρίζΐσθαι (L a ), tap/la (L a ), fapviW (J eT ), ϊάσ'χημοσύνη (Ρ Γ ), αύλτ/τ^'ϊ (Mt), ϊβδίΚνσ- σ^σθαι, (P r ), J βορρά? (L eT ), ίγλυκΰϊ (Jac), tyo>os (L a ), t^p-voT^s /-r>r«-nr\ J.f/ ' /TT\ +S ' /TVT„\ 'IP.Q„_•.- .'/.Tev\ -15ί,.Λ„\ήτηηα (P c ° r ), t^eioK (L CT ), t0ifK"r«a (L«), ^θυμίαμα (L ev ), t0«W (P eth )> tiWos (Jac), ttapivos (Mt), Wiri/os (L a ), t«aTOiKjyri?piov (P e ), |κι0άρα (P COT ), \κιθαρίζί<ν (P ror ), tWfyW™7* (ΙΛ |«™λ«*ιι> (J ev ), tiropia/cos (P cor )> |λ£υκαίν«ν (Mc), jk-qvos (Mt), |λί)8αι/οβ (Mt), i\ ' .... /Tev\ + \.'.. /TVNA + .„.',. /T.ev\ +„-.„„_„'„ ίΜρΑ +>ί•»;>ίίΐΓ Τΐττωχ«α (P cor j, ΐπύρωσις (Pet), ίρομφαία (L ev ), fpwapo's (Jac); ΐσί^' (L a ), to-'Siypeos (L a ), \σκηνονν (Jo eT ), Ισκορττφϊ (L ev ), tcnto- τονσθαι (P e ), συκκοΗ/ωνάν (P e P h i>), o-wkoijwo's (Ρ* c °r P h v), |σψάξαν (Jo ep ), Ιταλαιπωρο? (Ρ Γ ), ΤτίχΐΊ? (L a ), fTpvyac (L eT ), ^φαρμάκια (P s ), Ιφοϊνιί (J ev ), Ι^ωστ^ρ (P» h »), Ιχαλινόϊ (Jac), ΐχάραγμα (Lf), tx^ioi (Pet), i x uiv (Mt), τχλωρόϊ (Mc), fxois (Mc), ty^'s (L a ), t^^'- ζειν (L OT ), +^#os (L a ), t^xpo's (Mt), f anc * nearly eleven-twelfths in the second (§§), had been previously used in the Greek Old Testament. In the second list, the student will find it worth his while to notice the distribution of the words amongst other Ν. T. writers. St Paul, it will be seen, has 33, St Luke 30, St Matthew 9, St John (in the Gospel and Epistles) 8, St James 6, St Mark 5, the author of Hebrews 3, and St Peter 2. The great preponderance of Pauline and Lucan words is remarkable, but perhaps it is sufficiently explained by the ■circumstance that both St Paul and St Luke wrote under conditions not altogether unlike those of the author of the Apocalypse. Their lives, like his, had been largely spent among Greek-speaking peoples, and in intercourse with Greek-speaking Churches. The true 'άπαξ "λεγόμενα of the Apocalypse are few. Some are name-forms (ΆβαΒδών, Άπόλλύων, A Ap Μαγεδών, Nt«o- λαίτη<;), which are perhaps in every case due to the writer. Others (βιβλαρίδιον, ττοταμοφόρητος, χαλκαίλίβανος) are probably words current in Asia, although hitherto they have not been de- tected in any other Greek writing. Κατάγω/) and κατάθεμα seem to be of Jewish-Greek origin; ήμίωρον is either a slip, or an alternative form of ήμιώριον. The MSS. of the Apocarypse shew a considerable number of orthographical peculiarities, chiefly affecting the terminations of nouns and verbs, such as χρυσαν (*• χ 3). χρνσέων (ii. ι), κεκοπίακες (ii. 3), πέπτωκε<; (ii. 5), βαθεα (ii. 24), είχαν (ix. 8), απήλθα (χ. 9), πέπωκαν (xviii. 3), efiaXav (xviii. 19), ηεηοναν (xxi. 6), and some of these are so well sup- ported that s they claim a place in the text. But there are comparatively few lexical eccentricities, and if we are reminded by an occasional transliteration that the author was a Jew by birth and education, it is clear that he had lived long enough in the Greek cities of Asia to have ready to his hand all the Greek words that he needed for the purpose of his book. The Greek vocabulary of the . Apocalypse does not suggest that the VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE cxxm writer was crippled by a want of appropriate words. His store is ample for his needs, and it seems to have been chosen with care. 3. When we pass from vocabulary to grammar, the case is different. Dionysius, as we have seen, with the acumen of an Alexandrian scholar, was struck by the many departures from the rules of syntax which mark the Apocalypse, and charges its author with writing incorrect Greek and even occasional solecisms. His criticism is courageous, but not unjust. Fortunately no systematic attempt was made in Egypt or elsewhere to bring the book up to the standard of literary orthodoxy, and in the best MSS. it has come down to us with many at least of the writer's grammatical peculiarities untouched. Nothing like a grammar of the Apocalypse 1 can be attempted here, but some of the more striking features of its peculiar style are collected below. (1) The 'solecisms' of the book consist largely of various forms of anacoluthon, shewing a singular indifference to the laws> of concord. They may be roughly classed as follows, (as) Nomina- tives are placed in apposition to other cases : i. 5 άπό Ίησοΰ Χριστοί, ο μάρτυς ο πιστός. ϊϊ. 2 ο την γυναίκα Ίεζάβελ, η λέγουσα εαυτόν προφητιν. iii. 12 της καινής Ιερουσαλήμ, η καταβαίνονσα εκ τοΰ^ οΰρανον. viii. 9 άπεθανεν το τρίτον των κτισμάτων των ίν τβ θαλάσσΎ], τα ίχοντα ψυχάς. Other examples may be found in xiv. 12, xvi. 14, xx. 2, xxi. 11. (δ) The participle λέγων — occasionally έχων — -follows irregularly after the announcement of a fresh voice or persona dramatis: iv. 1 η φωνή... ως σάλπιγγας... λίγων. ix. 13 ηκουσα φωνην μιαν ... λέγοντα, xi. 15 iyivovTO φωναι μεγάλαι... λέγοντες. XIV. 6 eioov άλλον άγγελοι/ πετόμενον... έχοντα... λέγων, lb. 14 etSoi/ και Ιδον νεφέλη λευκή, και έπϊ την νεφέλην καθημενον... έχων. (c) The construction is broken by a parenthetic clause, after which the sentence may or may not return to its original course : i. 5 f . τω άγαπωντι ημάς και λνσαντι...και εποίησεν . . .αντω η δόξα. χ. I f. eiSov άλλον αγγελον ισχυρον καταβαίνοντα . . . και τό πρόσωπον αυτοί) ως 6 ήλιος και οί πο8ες αΰτον ως στύλοι πυρός, και έχων... (d) The grammar is 1 disturbed, by the otiose addition of a personal pronoun or an adverb 1 The subject has been treated more (Intr. to N. T. iii. p. 552 ff.), Archd. Lee or less fully by "Vosel (Gomm., p. .5 ff.), (intr. to Comm. p. 454 ff.). A Johannine Winer (Exeg. Studien, i. p. 144 ff.), Grammar has been recently published by Ewald(prol. to Comm. §6), Hitzig (I7ier Dr E. A. Abbott as a sequel to his Johannes Marcus, p. 65 ff.), Liicke, Ver- Johannine Vocabulary (1905), but it such einer vollstandi-gen Eirileitung, i. deals with the Gospel only. A thorough p. 448 ff., Bousset (intr. to Comm. p. 183 monograph on the grammar of the Apo- ff.), and in England by 'S. Davidson calypse is still to be desired. cxxiv VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE of place after a relative or participial clause : ii. 7 τω νικΰντι (or, as in v. 26, ό νικών) δώσω air(3...iii. 12 ό νικών, ποιήσω αΰτον.:.νι. 4 τω καθη μένω... εδόθη αντω λαβεΐν την ε'ψήνην εκ της γης. ..και εδόθη αϋτω μάχαιρα! xii. 6 οπού έχει εκεί. xiii. 8 ου οΰ γέγραπται το όνομα αϋτοΰ. (e) Genders, numbers, or cases are at faulty vii. 9 eloov, και Ίδου όχλο? ιτολιΐ5...ίστώτ€5... περιβεβλημένους, viii. 9 τ ° τρίτον των πλοίων διεφθάρησαν. xi. 4 ούτοι εΐσιν αί δυο ελαΐαι και αϊ δυο λυχμιαι αί...έστώτ£5. xii. 5 ετεκεν ν'ιόν, άρσεν. xiv. 19 την ληνον τοΰ 0υ/χοΰ του 0€θΰ τον /*<ίγαν. xvii. 3 θηρίον...γέμοντα..Λχον[τα]. xxi. 14 το τείχος... έχων. (2) Besides ' solecisms ' the Apocalypse has, to borrow another term from Dionysius, a large number of 'idiotisms.' The idiosyncrasy of the writer shews itself sometimes in a startling phrase such as i. 4 α'πό δ ων και ό ην και ό ερχόμενος, ΟΓ ί. 8 εγώ είμι το άλφα και το ω, or ix. 12 and xi. 14 η oval η μία, η δευτέρα, η τρίτη; sometimes in grammatical peculiarities, some of which frequently recur, such as the following: (a) Different tenses and moods are joined by a copula without any clear reason for the change: ii. 2 f. επείρασας... έχεις... εβάστασας...κεκοπίακες. iii. 3 εΐληφας και ηκουσας. lb. 9 ■ποιήσω αυτούς ινα ηξουσιν και προσκυνησουσιν. . . και γνώσιν. V. 7 ι• ηλθεν καΙεϊληφεν...καΙδτείΚαβεν. vii. 13 f. άπεκρίθη...και εϊρηκα...και εΐπεν. viii. 5 εϊληφεν...και εγεμισεν.,.καϊ εβαλεν. ΪΧ. 5 εδόθη αϋτοΐς ίνα μη αποκτείνωσιν αυτούς, αλλ' ίνα βασανισθησονται. xxi. 24 ff. περιπατη- σουσιν ...φέρουσιν ...οΰ μη κΧειμθωσιν . . . οισουσιν . . . ου μη ε'ισελθτ]. (δ) Adjectives and verbs are made to govern cases other than those required by usage ; i. 13, xiv. 1 4 ομοιον υ'ιον άνθρωπου, ii. 14 εδί&ασκεν τω Βαλάκ. viii. 13 οΰαί τονς κατοικούνταν επι της γης. xii. 12 ουαι την γην και την θάλασσαν, xix. 5 αινείτε τω θεω ημών. (c) Other unusual constructions abound, such as : iv. 9 f. όταν δώσουσιν...πεσοΰνται. viii. 4 ανέβη ο καπνός... ταΐς π'ροσενχαΐς. IX. 4 ερρέθη αϋταΐς ίνα μη άδικησουσιν. xi. 3 δώσω... και προφητευσουσιν. ' lb. 5 ει τις θεληστ). xii. 7 έγένετο πόλεμος... ό Μιχαήλ και ο[ αγγίλοι αντοΰ τοΰ πολεμησαι. xviii. 20 εκρινεν ό θεός τό κρίμα υμών ε£ αΰτης. xxii. 14 μακάριος . . . ϊνα εσται. . .κα\. ..είσέλθωσιν. ι Many attempts have been made to minimize the grammatical irregularities of the Apocalypse. In the most recent of these, a chapter of Archbishop Benson's Apocalypse which bears the characteristic heading " A Grammar of Ungrammar 1 ," the in- stances are classified with the view of shewing that in most of them the Apocalyptist had a definite reason for his departure from usage. Whatever may be thought of the explanations which are offered in his defence, it is evident that he has not erred in all cases through ignorance 2 , and it is possible that he has not done so 1 Essay v. p. 131 ff. self to write βμοιον υ16ν, in eighteen other E.g. if he has twice permitted him- passages Ομοιο? governs the dative. VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE cxxv in any instance. His eccentricities of syntax are probably due to more than one cause : some to the habit which he may have retained from early years of thinking in a Semitic language 1 ; some to the desire of giving movement and vivid reality to his visions, which leads him to report them after the manner of short- hand notes, jotted down at the time ; some to the circumstances in which the book was written. But from whatever cause or con- currence of causes, it cannot be denied that the Apocalypse of John stands alone among Greek literary writings in its disregard of the ordinary rules of syntax, and the success with which syntax is set aside without loss of perspicuity or even of literary power. The book seems openly and deliberately to defy the grammarian, and yet.even as literature, it is in its own field unsurpassed. No judge who compared it with any other Greek apocalyptic work would hesitate to give the palm to the canonical Apocalypse. 4. Apart from solecisms and other idiosyncrasies, the style of the Apocalypse is distinguished by a number of characteristic phrases and turns of expression which give it individuality. Some of these recur with slight variations throughout the book. Thus i. 2 ίμαρτνρησν/ τον λόγον τον θΐον και την μαρτυριαν Γηο-οΰ Χρίστου starts a note which is heard again ib. 9 δια. τον λόγοι/ τοί θΐον και την μαρτυριαν Ίησον, vi. 9 δια τον λο'γον τοΐ θεοΰ και διά την μαρτυριαν ην ειχον, XX. 4 δια την μαρτυριαν Ίησοΰ και δια, τόν λόγοι/ τοΰ θιοΰ. The reader meets again and again the phrase o£ κατοι- kovvtvs «τι την γην, or eiri tj/s γης, or την γην (iii. 10, vi. 10, viii. 13, 1 The present writer, while welcoming been materially different had he been a all the light -that can be thrown on the native of Oxyrhynchus, assuming the vocabulary and syntax of the N.T. by extent of Greek education the same." a study of the Graeco-Egyptian papyri, B.ut the facts seem at present insufficient and in particular the researches of Pro- to warrant this conclusion. It is pre- fessor Deissmann, Professor Thumb, and carious to compare a literary document Dr J. H. Moulton, deprecates the in- with a collection of personal and business duction which, as it seems to him, is letters, accounts, and other ephemeral beingsomewhat hastily based upon them, writings; slips in word-formation or in that the Greek of the Ν. T". has been but syntax which are to be expected in the slightly influenced by the familiarity of latter, are phenomenal in the former, the writers with Hebrew and Aramaic. and if they find a place there, can only "Even the Greek of the Apocalypse," be attributed to lifelong habits of Dr Moulton writes (Grammar of N.T. thought. Moreover, it remains to be Greek, prolegg. p. 8f.), "does not seem considered how far the quasi-Semitic to owe any of its blunders to 'Hebra- colloquialisms of the papyri are them- isms'... Apart from places where he [the selves due to the influence of the large author] may be definitely translating a. Greek-speaking Jewish population of the Semitic document-, there is no reason Delta, to believe that his grammar would have cxxvi VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE ■ . xi; io, xiii. 8, 12, 14, xvii. 2, S), the combination πιστός καϊ 'αληθινός (iii. 14, xix. 11, xxi. 5, xxii. 6), the refrain ο έχων ους άκονσάτω (ii.- 7, ii, 17, 29, iii. 6, 13, 22, and with a slight difference, xiii. 9). .Μίταταίτα είδον, καϊ ιδού, ό καθήμενος επϊ τόι/ θρόνον (τον θρόνου, τω θρόνω) are other examples. Further, the writer has a habit of repeating the article or a governing clause before every member of a series when the same subject or class of subjects is in view, e.g. ix. 20 τα είδωλα τά χρυσά και τα αργυρά καϊ τα χαλκά και τα λίθινα και τα ξύλινα. XV. 2 toiis ΐΊκύΊταϊ ck τον θηρίου και «'κ •rijs εικόνος αΰτοΐ και εκ τον αριθμόν τον ονόματος αντον. xvi. 13 εκ τον στόματος του δρακοντος και εκ τον στόματος του θηρίον καϊ εκ του στόματος του ψενδοπροφητον. xvii. 6 μεθύονσαν ίκ του αίματος των αγίων καϊ εκ τοΰ αίματος των μαρτύρων Ίησον. There are many minor singularities, such as the frequent use of the instrumental dative preceded by iv, e.g. iv ρομφαία, (ii. 16), iv ράβδω (ii. 27, xii. 5, xix. 15), iv φων^ (v. 2, xiv. 7), iv ταΐς κιθάραις (xiv. 2), iv πυρί (xvi. 8, xvii. 16) ; the nearly constant omission of the article before proper names, not excluding Ίησοΰς; the employment of εις as almost equivalent to an indefinite article (viii. 13 ένος άετοΰ, xviii. 21 εις άγγελος) ; the peculiar use of ώδε in such, clauses as xiii. 10, 18 (xiv. 12) ωδε εστίν ή υπομονή, ώδε ή σοφία εστίν, xvii. 9 ώδε <5 voCs ό έχων σοφίαν; the recurrence of the formula εδόθη αϋτω (αντοΐς) followed by a noun, an infinitive, or a subjunctive with ho; the partiality shewn for the perfect tense, especially in the case of ε'ιληφα (ii. 27, iii. 3, v. 7, viii. 5, xi. 17) and εϊρηκα (vii 14, xix. 3) ; the many beatitudes interspersed among the visions (i. 3, xiv. 13, xvi. 15, xix. 9, xx. 6, xxii. 7, 14). Lastly, a considerable number of ordinary words occur with remarkable frequency, catch- ing the eye again and again as the book is turned • a few may be specified here : άγγελος, άγιος, αίμα, άκούειν, αμήν, άνοίγειν, άπο- θνήσκειν, αστήρ (never άστρον), βάλλειν, βασιλεύς, βιβλίον, βλέπειν, βροντή, γη, γράφειν, δεικνύειν, δόξα, δύναμις, έθνος, εκκλησία, ενώπιον,^ εξουσία, έργον, έτοιμάζειν, εΰφραίνεσθαι, ζωή, ηίλιοϊ, θάλασσα, θάνατος, θρόνος, θυσιαστήριου, ίδεΐν, ιδού, καθήσθαι, καταβαίνειν^ κεφαλή, κράζειν, κρίνειν, λαμβάνειν, λευκός, λόγος, μέγας, ναός, νεκρός, νικαν, ο'ικονμενη, όμοιος, όνομα, ουρανός, οφθαλμός, παντοκράτωρ, πεμπειν, περιβάλλεσθαι, πιτττειν, πλαναν, πληγή, πόλις, προσκννειν, πρόσωπον, προφήτης and its cognates, πΰρ, ρομφαία, σημεΐον, στέφανος, στόμα, σφάζειν, σφραγίς^ τελεΐσθαι, ύδωρ, ύπο/κ-ονι;', φοβεΐσθαι, φωνή, χειρ,- χρύσεος, ώδϊ?. This list will be found a suggestive one; in most cases the subject of the book or the circumstances of the author sufficiently account for the more or less frequent recurrence of the words• in some the reason lies deeper. But however their repetition may be explained, it goes far to impart to the Apocalypse the colouring which marks its style. 5. It is of interest to compare the, vocabulary, grammar, and style of the Apocalypse with those of other New Testament writings traditionally assigned to St John, and especially with those VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE cxxvil of the Fourth Gospel, (i) Vocabulary. Of the 913 words used in the Apocalypse 416 are 'found also in the Gospel, but the words common to both books are either of the most ordinary type, or are shared by other Ν. T. writers. The eight words apviov, 'Έβραϊστί, ίκκεντείν, κυκΚεύειν, οψις, πορφύρεος, σκηνοΰν, φοίνιξ, which occur only in these two books, do not supply a sufficient basis for induction. Άρνίον, used 29 times in the Apocalypse, is used but once in the Gospel, and then with a different refer- ence ; the form κυκΧεύειν in Jo. x. 24 and Apoc. xx. 9 is found in the Gospel only in Cod. Β ; οψις, πορφύρεος, and φοίνιξ are fairly well established in the Greek of the Ο. T. ; on the other hand, Έβραϊστί is somewhat markedly Johannine, occurring five times in the Gospel, which uses also Ύωμαϊστί and 'ΈΧΚηνιστί; σκηνοΰν is strongly characteristic of the teaching of the fourth Gospel, though it occurs there but once 1 , and the use of εξεκέν- τησαν for •1~>ί?? in Zech. xii. io 2 , both in Jo. xix. 37 and Apoc. i. 7, is certainly noteworthy and probably more than a coincidence 3 . If we extend our examination to words which, though not exclusively used in these books, are prominent in them or in one of them, the evidence is similarly divided. On the one hand there are not a few points in which' the diction of the Apocalypse differs notably from that of the Gospel: the conjunctions αλλά, <γάρ, οΰν, which continually meet the reader of the Gospel, are com- paratively rare in the Apocalypse 4 ; ενώπιον, a characteristic preposition in the Apocalypse, occurs but once in the Gospel ; the Evangelist invariably writes 'Ιεροσόλυμα, the Apocalyptist Ιερου- σαλήμ 5 ; the one chooses αμνός when he is speaking of the Lamb of God, the other apviov; to the one the Eternal Son, is simply 6 1 St Paul has ίπισκψοΰν in a similar from the first, Epistle of St John, and sense (1 Cor. xii. 9). yap occurs there but .thrice (Westcott, 2 On this see Deissmann, Die Septua- Epistles of St John, p. xl.) . ginta-papyri...der,Heideiberger Papyrus- 6 The exclusively local use of the name sammlung, p. 66 f. in the Gospel does not altogether account 8 See c. xi, for this difference. Ιερουσαλήμ is used 4 'Αλλά occurs 101 times in J ev , 13 freely in speaking of the locality by times in Apoc. ; yap 65 times in 3»* y 16 St Luke and St Paul; -with Mt., Mo., in Apoc. OB» which is the favourite J ev , on the other hand, the use of 'Iepo- mark of transition in the Gospel is used σίλυμα is hibitual, though Mt. once but 6 times in the Apocalypse, and only νρπίββ 'Ιερουσαλήμ (xxiii. 37). in cc. i. — iii. But οδ? is wholly absent cxxviii VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE λόγο?, to the other the glorified Christ is ό λό -yo? τοΰ θεοΰ. The Apocalyptist uses the Synoptic and Pauline terms εύαγγέΧιον, εύαγ/εΧ'ιζειν, κηρύσσειν, κΧηρονομεΐν, μετανοειν, μυστήριον, ή οικουμένη, συνκοινωνεΐν, from which the Evangelist seems to refrain ; while on the other hand, as Dionysius long ago pointed out, of many of the key-words of the Gospel he shews no know- ledge. On the other hand the two books have in common a fair number of characteristic words and phrases, such as αληθινοί;, εξουσία, μαρτνρεΐν, νικαν, όδη^εϊν, οΖδα, σημαίνειν, τηρεϊν (λόγοι/, έντοΧήν), {jTrayeiv. It is still more significant, that both attach a special meaning to certain words; both use 'Ιουδαίο? of the Jew considered as hostile to Christ or the Church, and in both such words as ζωή, θάνατος, Βιψαν, πειναν, νύμφη, δόξα, bear more or less constantly a spiritual sense — a remark which applies also to several of the words mentioned above (e.g. νικαν, ό&η*/εϊν). (2) Thus on the question of the literary affinity of the Fourth Cospel and the Apocalypse the vocabulary speaks with an un- certain sound, though the balance of the evidence is perhaps in favour of some such relationship between the two writings. This probability is increased when we compare them from the point, of view of their grammatical tendencies. While the solecistic anacolutha of the Apocalypse have no parallel on any large scale in the Gospel, there is a considerable number of unusual constructions which are common to the two books. Some may be mentioned here, (a) The partitive εκ with its dependent noun or pronoun is used in both as the object or subject of a verb: e.g. Jo. xvi. 17 είπαν ουν εκ των μαθητών αύτοΰ; Apoc. ϋ. ΙΟ μεΧΧει βα,Χεΐν εξ ΰμων, ϊϋ. 9 δίδω εκ της συνα-γωγής, xi. g βΧέπουσιν εκ των Χαών. (b) Both books place μετά after ΧαΧεΐν (Jo. iv. 27 Us, ix. 37; Apoc. i. 12, iv. 1, x. 8, xvii. i, xxi. 9, 15), and περιπατεΐν (Jo. vi. 66 ; Apoc. iii. 4), and εκ after σωζειν or τηρεϊν (Jo. xii. 27 σωσόν με εκ της ώρας ταύτης, Apoc. iii. 10 σε τηρήσω εκ της ώρας τοΰ πειρασμού), (c) Both use 'ίνα in an unusual sense (Jo. viii. 56 ήηαΧΧιάσρ,το "να %, ix. 2 τις ημαρτεν ...'ίνα τνφΧος ηεννηθχι ; xi. 15 χαίρω... ίνα πιστεύσητε: Apoc. xiv. 13, xxii. Η)• - VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE cxxix (3) Coming to the style of the books, a comparison will lead to results very similar to those which were obtained by examining their vocabularies. The general effect of the style of the Gospel is as far as possible from the effect which the Apocalypse produces on the mind of the reader : " it is free from solecisms, because it avoids all idiomatic expressions 1 ." The book flows along smoothly from the prologue to the end; there is no startling phrase, no defiance of syntax ; if it is obviously the work of one who was more familiar with the construction of the Semitic than of the Greek sentence 2 , yet the author seldom or never offends against definite laws. In these respects he not only differs from the Apocalyptist, but stands at the opposite pole to the eccentricities, the roughnesses, . the audacities, of the latter. Yet it is also true, that he has many points of resemblance with the writer of the Apocalypse, both in regard to sentence-formation and to the phrasing of his thoughts. As to the former, the fol- lowing points have been noticed amongst others, (i) Both the Evangelist and the Apocalyptist fall in places into parallelisms; cf. Jo. 1. 4.Ϊ. ο yeyovev εν αύτω ζωη ην, | «at ή ζωη ην το φως των ανθρώπων || καϊ το φως ev 777 σκοτία φαίνει, \ και η σκοτία αυτό ού~~ κατελαβεν. Apoc. xxi. 23 η πόλις ου χρε'ιαν έχει του ηλίου \ ούδε της σε~ληνης, ίνα φαίνωσιν άύτί}• || ή yap δόξα του θεοΰ έφώτισεν αυτήν, | καϊ 6 Χύχνος αυτής το άρνίον. (ii) Both are partial to the form- of antithesis which presents first the positive and then the negative side of a statement or direction ; e. g. Jo. i. 3 πάντα hi αυτοΰ «γενετο, και χωρίς αυτοΰ εγένετο ουδέ ev. χ. I2f. ο μισθωτός καϊ ουκ ων ποιμην... μισθωτός εστίν καϊ ου μέλει αύτω περί των προβάτων. Apoc. iii. 3 ηζω ώς κλέπτης, καϊ ου μη yvfc ποίαν ωραν ηξω ; ib. 16 χλιαρός ει, καϊ οΰτε ζεστός ούτε ψυχρός, χ. 4 σφpάyισoυ α ελάλησαν αϊ επτά, βρονταί, καϊ μη αυτά γρα-ψ•^?. (iii) Both repeat the article for the sake of emphasis: Jo. i. 9 τό φως το άληθινόν, vi. 32 τον αρτον.,.τον άληθινόν, XV. Ι η άμπελος η αληθινή, χ. II ό ποιμην ό καλός; Apoc. i. 5 ό μάρτυς ό πιστός, π. II του θανάτου του δευτέρου, 1 Westcott, Si John, p. 1. cal Character of the Fourth Gospel, 2 Cf. Sanday, Authorship and Hiitori- p. 28 f. S. R. i cxxx VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND STYLE ib. 12 την ρομφαίαν την Βίστομον την όξεΐαν, xviii. ΙΟ η πο\ις η μεγάλη.. .ή ισχυρά, xxi. ΙΟ την ποΧιν την άη'ιαν (iv) Both add parenthetic explanations for the sake of circumstantial fulness: cf. Jo. vi. 22 f. ( xi. 1 ff., xviii. 13 f. ; Apoc. xiL 9 (xix., 2), xiv. 1 1 (xix. 20), xx. 14 (xxi. 8). (v) Similar or identical phrases occur in both, e.g. ποιείν αΚηθειαν (Jo. iii. 21), ποιείν ψεΰΒος (Apoc. xxii. 15); ποιείν σημειον (Jo. ii. II, 23, iv. 54, etc., Apoc. xiii. 13 f., xix. 20); μέρος εχειν (Jo. xiii. 8, Apoc. xx. 6); 'όνομα αυτω (Jo. i. 6, iii. 1, xviii. 10, Apoc. vi. 8, ix. 11). Even more remarkable are the following coincidences of language: Jo. i. 14 6 Χόγος . . . εσκηνωσεν iv ημΐν, Apoc. vii. 1 5 6 καθήμενος επί τον θρόνον σκηνωσει επ αυτούς ; Jo. iv. 6 κεκοπιακως εκ της όοΌιπορίας, Apoc. ii. 3 ου κεκοπίακες ; Jo. vii. 37 εάν τις δίψα ερ•χεσθω προς, με και πινέτω, Apoc. xxii. 17 ό Βϊψ•ων ερχεσθω; Jo. χ. 1 8 ταύτην την εντοΧην εΧαβον παρά του πατρός μου, Apoc. ii. 28 ώς κάγω εΐΚηφα παρά του πατρός μου; Jo. xvi. 12 ου δύνασθε βαστάζειν, Apoc. ii. 2 ου δύνρ βαστάσαι; Jo. xx. 12, Apoc. iii. 4 eV Χευκοΐς. The bearing of this evidence on the question of authorship will be discussed in a later chapter 1 ; mean- while we may observe that it creates a strong presumption of affinity between the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, not- withstanding their great diversity both in language and in thought. XII. SYMBOLISM. ι. The Apocalypse of John shares with other apocalyptic writings a partiality for symbolical, imagery and the symbolical use of numbers. Teaching by the use of symbols is found in every part of the Old Testament, but it becomes especially notice- able in the later prophecies, and in the book of Daniel." The visions of which these books largely consist present a succession of strange and sometimes weird or even monstrous shapes, designed to suggest ideas that could not be expressed, in words, or persons or forces that the writer preferred to leave unnamed. This habit was adopted by the non-canonical apocalyptists, from Enoch onwards, and it receives illustration in every page of St John's book. 2. The imagery of the Apocalypse lays under contribution all the departments of nature and life. The animal kingdom lends its ζωα and its θηρία — horses white, red, black and pale, the lamb and the calf, the lion, the leopard and the bear, the locust, the scorpion and the frog, the eagle and the vulture, the birds' of the air and the fishes of the sea ; the vegetable kingdom, its trees and herbs and grass. Earth, sea, and sky bring their tribute. Agricultural operations such as harvest and vintage, the life and trade of great cities, the march and clash of great armies, are all depicted on its canvas. A sea of glass is spread before the Throne in Heaven: a river flows through the Holy, City. The sky yields its stars, now shining in the firmament, now falling to the earth, now forming a cluster in the hand of the Christ, or a coronet on the head of the Mother of Christ and Christendom. Across the heavens there sweeps from time to time a more than tropical storm of thunder, lightning, and hail, followed by earth- i 2 -cxxxii SYMBOLISM quake. Human life supplies an abundance of imagery. We see' the mother and her child, the harlot and her lovers, the bride arrayed for her husband. Crowned heads wear the στέφανος or the δίάδ^μ,α ; warriors carry the two-edged sword ; the shepherd appears with his iron-tipped staff, the reaper with his sickle, the herald with his trumpet, the builder with his measuring rod, the holiday-keeper. with flute and harp, the reveller with golden cup, the king with his roll, written within and on the back with the secrets of State and sealed. Figures move across the stage attired in the long girdled robe of kingly or priestly dignity, or in the shining white of byssus; two are dressed in sackcloth; one wears purple and scarlet, and is decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. \ 3. (a) A large proportion of this imagery is drawn, as a" previous section will have shewn, from the Old Testament. Places, persons, and objects which occur in the historical books reappear in the Apocalypse as symbols of facts in the life of the Church or of the new world to which the Church points and which lies behind the visible order. Familiar place-names meet us here and there — the Euphrates, Egypt, Sodom, the Hill of Megiddo, Babylon, Jerusalem. The seven-branched candlestick of the Tabernacle suggests the golden Χυχνίαι which represent the Churches of Asia ; Balaam finds his analogue in the Nicolaitans, and Jezebel in a Thyatiran prophetess. The new, Israel is con- fronted by a new Babylon, and the Bride of Christ is a new Jerusalem. The Elders round the Throne answer to the elders of Israel ; the Two Witnesses exercise powers which remind the reader of the miracles of Moses and Elijah. Tabernacle and Temple, altar and censer and ark, recall the religious glories of ancient- Israel. A holy place not made with hands is seen in the heavenly places ; the manna laid up before God finds its counter- part in the future life of the victorious Christian, (£>) In other instances the N.T. Apocalypse adopts in part or in whole the symbolism of the O.T. writers, as when it speaks of the Tree of Life, the Book of Life, the Water of Life ; or the metaphors of the O.T. become the symbols of the new prophecy, as when our SYMBOLISM cxxxm Lord is designated the Lamb and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, or the Root of David ; or again, a whole system of O.T. symbolism is more or less fully pressed into the service of the book, as in the case of the High Priest's breastplate, and of Ezekiel's scheme of a restored Jerusalem. v 4. The Apocalyptist, however, does not limit himself to O.T. imagery, but has much that is his own, or that belongs to the common stock of the later apocalyptic. The Woman with Child has no parallel in the O.T., and in spite of Gunkel's efforts to find-the genesis of this fine conception in Babylonian folklore, it may be confidently regarded as essentially a creation of the writer's own mind, under the influence of the Spirit, of Christ. The description of the Harlot Babylon, seated on the scarlet Beast, has points of contact with passages in the Hebrew Prophets ; but as a whole it is new and original. A like verdict may be passed upon the three great sevenfold visions, the Seal Openings, the Trumpet Blasts, and the Outpouring of the Bowls ; their partial indebtedness to the Old Testament does not take from the fresh- ness and vigour of St John's symbolism. The idea of a millennium was in the air when St John wrote, but no writer had used it as the symbol of a spiritual triumph, or worked it into a scheme of the Divine ordering-of history. 5. Much of the imagery of the Apocalypse is doubtless not symbolism, but merely designed to, heighten the colouring of the great picture, and to add vividness and movement to its scenes. Such secondary details, like many of the minor features in the Parables of our Lord, must not be pressed into the service of a spiritual interpretation, or indeed of any specific interpretation whatever, their purpose being simply to contribute to the general effect of the context where they occur. These non-symbolical images are sometimes taken from the life of the times, as when the writer recounts the imports that, found their way to the new Babylon, many of which he may himself haye seen shipped off to Ostia from the* port of Ephesus ; or they belong to the common stock of the eschatological language of apocalyptic writing (e.g. vi. 12 ff.); or they are due to the inspired imagination of the cxxxiv SYMBOLISM Apocalyptist himself, forming part of the picture which is present to his mind as he writes. 6. But there is also much which is directly symbolical. In not a few cases the writer stops to interpret the symbol (e.g. in cc. i. 20, iv. 5, v. 6, xii. 9, xvii. 9 f., 12, 15). In others the symbolical meaning is only half veiled ; thus it is impossible to mistake the import of the standing Figure in i. 13 if., or of the seated Figure in c. iv. 2, or of the Lamb, or the Lamb's Wife. There remain, however, a certain number of symbolic forms as to which there is room for diversity of judgement even among interpreters who follow the same general method of interpretation. Thus in c. vi. 2 the rider on the white horse is by some com- mentators identified with the Divine Rider of c. xix. ir, while others regard the former as symbolizing either the Roman or the Parthian conqueror. In c. vii. the .144,000 are by some understood to represent, like the countless multitude, the whole, body of the Church, though under a different aspect or at another stage of its history, whereas others take the two visions to set forth respectively the Jewish and Gentile Christians, or the Jewish Church and the Christian Church. In c. xi. 8 interpreters are divided as to the meaning of "the great city"; in xvii. 12 there is considerable difference of opinion as to the identity of the "ten kings." Many other such ambiguities perplex the student of the Apocalypse, and though he may be able to arrive at conclusions which satisfy his own judgement, it is impossible to offer such reasons for them as will compel assent. But the uncertainty which thus besets apocalyptic interpretation does not seriously detract from the general value of the book. Nor can it be laid to the charge of the author that he is unnecessarily obscure. It is of the nature of apocalyptic literature to be involved in some measure of obscurity ; and this is not the least valuable of its characteristics, for it affords scope for the exercise of the Christian judgement: ώδε ή σοφία εστίν ώδε <5 νους 6 βχων σοφίαν (xiii. 18, xvii. 9)• In the elasticity of symbolical language the Apocalypse has its chief advantage over the more exact and didactic, but less inspiring and suggestive style of ordinary prophecy. SYMBOLISM cxxxv 7. No reader of our Apocalypse can have failed to notice the frequent recurrence of numbers -which appear to carry with them a certain symbolical meaning 1 . The following are the numbers that are met with in the book : 2 > 3; 3h 4. 5, 6 , 7» IO • I2 > 2 4> 42, 144» 666 (or according to another reading, 616), 1000, 1260, 1600, 7000, 12,000, 144,000, 100,000,000, 200,000,000. The predominant number is seven, which occurs fifty- four times. The book is addressed to seven Churches represented by seven lampstands, while their 'angels' are seven stars. There are seven Spirits of God, symbolized by seven lamps. The Book in the Hand of God is sealed with seven seals ; the Lamb before the Throne has seven eyes and seven horns. Seven angels blow seven trumpet-blasts ; seven other angels pour out the contents of seven bowls full of the seven last plagues. Seven thunders utter voices which the Seer is bidden not to write. Seven thousand are killed in the great earthquake which follows the ascension of the Two Witnesses. The Dragon has seven heads, and upon them seven diadems; the Wild Beast from the Sea has seven heads on which are "names of blasphemy"; .the Scarlet Beast on which Babylon sits has likewise seven heads, variously inter- preted by the writer as seven mountains, or seven kings. Next in frequency to the heptad is the dodecad. The new Israel, like its predecessor, consists of twelve tribes ; the Mother of Christ is crowned with twelve, stars ; the new Jerusalem has twelve portals, and the wall that, girdles it rests on twelve foundation stones on which are engraved the names of the twelve. Apostles; the Tree of Life in the new Paradise bears twelve manner of fruits, after the number of the months. Multiples of twelve, also, are common. Each of the tribes of the new Israel contains 12,000, making a total of 144,000 ; and 144,000 is also the number of the virgin souls which in the second part of the book are seen surrounding the Lamb on Mount Zion. The Elders round the Throne are twenty-four, and they are seated on as many subordinate thrones. Each side of the Holy City is 12,000 stades in length, and the wall which surrounds it is 144 cubits in height. Ten is another favourite number. The time of pressure which 1 On the symbolism of numbers see Tyconius reg. τ (ed. Burkitt). cxxxvi SYMBOLISM - is coming on the Churches of Asia will last ten days. Both the Dragon and the first of the two Wild Beasts have ten horns ; and so has the Scarlet Beast, whose horns are interpreted as "ten kings." As a multiple ten enters into most of the higher numbers in the book. Four, again" occurs frequently. The ζώα are four ; four angels stand at the four corners of the earth, charged with the cqntrol of the four winds of heaven ; four angels are bound at the Euphrates, until the moment comes for the execution of their work of slaughter. The Holy City lies four- square, and forms a perfect cube. Three is somewhat less prominent, but the last three Trumpets constitute a triad of " Woes," and under the earlier Trumpets a third part of everything which has been attacked is smitten (viii. 7-12 ; cp. ix. 15, xii. 4). The " great city" is rent by an earthquake into-three parts ; each side of the square which forms the new Jerusalem is entered by three portals. There are other numbers which are used symbolically but once. The wings of the ζώα are six; there are five months during which the world is tortured by the locusts of the Abyss ; the Witnesses who are slain and rise again and ascend to heaven are two. 8. The recurrence of some of these numbers, notably of seven 1 , twelve, ten and four, can scarcely be accidental. The writer's partiality for them is due in some measure to his Semitic habits of thought. To the Hebrew mind seven denotes completion^ as we gather from countless passages of the Old Testament 2 . An apoca- lyptist who was a Christian Jew would 'find a special attraction in a number which had already played, a great part in Jewish apocalypses from Daniel onwards. It would fall in with this tendency of the writer's mind if, as has been thought, the most prominent of the Churches of Asia were as a matter of fact seven in number, so that, as the phrase αϊ βτττά έκκΧησίαι αϊ iv rrj 'Ασία. (i. 4) suggests, they were probably known as the Seven Churches in Asia even before they were so addressed by St John 3 . 1 Dr Abbott points out {Grammar, <ασιν...καΙ Λρκτοί επτά. dsorpoij συμττΚηροΰ- § ί6ϊΔ that the Fourth Gospel ia "per- ται... καίτροπαΐ δέ σελήνης έβδομάσι ylvov- meated structurally with the idea" of ται. seven'foldnese. 3 So Eamsay, Letters to the Seven 2 The genesis of the idea is well stated Churches, p. 178. But this is perhaps by Philo legg. allcg. 1. 4 χαίρει Si η φύσκ to build too much upon the article. . έβδομάδι• πλανητέί re yap έτττα yeybv* SYMBOLISM cxxxvii But in any case the selection of Seven Churches as the recipients of the Apocalypse strikes a keynote which rings through the earlier chapters, and determines the number of the lampstands, the Angel-stars, the Spirits of God, and the Eyes of the Lamb. In -the second part of the book the seven heads of the Dragon and the Wild Beast are perhaps suggested by the seven hills of Rome and the seven Augusti who preceded Domitian. But though local circumstances chimed in with the traditional use of this number, the writer, as we have said, was doubtless drawn to it by its O.T. associations, and it is used in conformity with O.T. practice. Each series of seven is complete in itself, and each suggests the perfection which belongs to the Divine, or that which is claimed by the Antichrist. > ( Of other numbers, which appear to be symbolically used in the Apocalypse three and four occur in connexion with memorable incidents or contexts of the Old Testament (Gen. xviii. -2, Ex. xxiii. 14, Deut. iv. 41, Dan. vi. 10; Gen. ii. 10, Ez. i. 5, Dan. viL.2, viii. 8). • Three seenis to denote limited plurality; four, the number of the winds and the quarters of the sky, is a fitting symbol for the visible creation. Ten, also, has a recognized mean- ing; as the round number, it is suggestive at once of indefiniteness and of magnitude ; in the thousand both these features are magni- fied, and a thousand years thus represents a great period of time stretching over niany generations, but of unknown length. The uncertainty which 'results from such a use of numbers would be fatal to the value of a historical document, but it is admirably adapted to the purpose of an apocalypse, where the veil is lifted only so far as to disclose the dim outline of great issues. 9. Two of the Apocalyptic numbers call for separate treat- ment, (a) Three and a half days are given as the interval between the death and resurrection of the Two Witnesses (xi. r 1). This period corresponds with the "time, times and a half" of c. xii. 14, which is taken over from Dan. vii. 25, xii. 7. In Daniel this expression probably represents the' three and a half years during which Jerusalem was in the hands of the Syrian oppressor, and the Apocalypse accordingly uses it or its equivalents (42 months, 1260 days) to signify the age of persecution, whatever its duration cxxxviii SYMBOLISM might be. Other explanations are less probable. Gunkel thinks of the 3^• months which intervened between the winter solstice and the Babylonian festival of Marduk 1 . Others, again, identifying the time, times, and a half of Dan. vii. 25 with the half- week (JMa^EJ 'Y0) of Dan. ix. 27, regard the Apocalyptic 3J in the light of a ' broken seven,' a symbol of the interruption of the Divine order by the malice of Satan and evil men. (δ) If the number 666 in Apoc. xiii. 18 is to be regarded as a symbol, there is verisimilitude in Dr Briggs' suggestion that a number which in every digit falls short by one of the completeness and perfection of the mystic seven, fitly represents the failure of Antichrist to reach the goal to which he aspires. But (1) this conception might have been conveyed with equal effect by 66, or 6666; (2) it leaves the alternative reading (616) wholly un- explained; and (3) frpm the time of Irenaeus tradition has fixed on another and a more natural explanation. The number, whether we read χζί~', or with some contemporaries of Irenaeus %tr', is probably a cryptogram, and not a true symbol. It is possible that the Number of the Beast holds its secret still 2 - Although the challenge 6 €•χων νουν ^ηφισάτω τον αριθμόν has been accepted by the scholars of many generations, no solution hitherto' offered commands general assent. 10. In this chapter a Semitic origin has been claimed for the symbolism of the Apocalypse. The force of local circumstances is 1 Schopfung u. Chaos, p. 309 ff. of χ{Γ' which well deserves to be con- a My oolleague, Prof-. Burkitt, sug- sidered. He writes : " In 1 K. x. 14 gested as far back as 1896 (Cambridge the gold that came to Solomon every University' Reporter, 1895-6, p. 625!) year amounts to 666 talents. This that χιΓ', written as % , was chosen as passage is one of several indications in the number of the Beast because % is the 0T ; that , the H ^ rew ? took 6 ™ ,., , „ Pl , * a round number.... The Apocalyptist "little more than f turned round the g j ves a roun a number, as round as he other way." His attractive conjecture oau ma k e it) to the Beast, because he was based on Beatus in Apoc. ed. Florez, dare not be more definite, and because p. 44 o(cf. thePseudo-Augustimanhomi- he had no need to be more definite, lies, Migne.P. L. xxxv. col. 11437), andhe . The number of the Beast was ' a man's pointed out that the form of the episemon number' (of. Isa. viii. 1) ; there was implied in ;): is " characteristic of docu- nothing mysterious about it, it was ments of the first and second centuries." common property to the extent that But (1) there does not seem to be any any man of sense could interpret it. evidence that the £ was a reooghized The Beast's name was ' Ν or M. '" This Bymbol as early as the reign of Domitian, solution, however, leaves the early if not and (2) the writer of the Apocalypse does original χιΓ' unexplained, and it does not use the term αντίχριστο*. ' not seem to accord with the mystioal From another of my colleagues, Dr character of the book. Barnes, I have received an explanation SYMBOLISM cxxxix not, indeed, to be overlooked. ' In the words of Sir W. M. Ramsay 1 , "such ideas and symbolic forms were in the atmosphere and in the minds of men at the time; and the ideas with which he [St John] was familiar moulded the imagery of his visions, unconsciously to himself." But apart from influences of this kind, it must not be. forgotten that it was necessary to provide the Church with a make-weight against the power which heathenism exerted over the Asian cities through its abundant use of symbolism in literature and in art. In art Christianity could as yet do nothing to counteract this hostile force. The Apostolic age was necessarily opposed to the Art of the time 2 , which was pagan to the core; the Church of the first century had not either the power or the desire to emulate the splendours of the heathen temples. She could not erect statues to the Glorified Christ, or stamp His image and superscription on the currency, or institute public festivals in His honour. But if she might not avail herself as yet of the help of Art, there was abundant precedent in the Hebrew Scriptures for the literary representation of the unseen world. It was permissible to assist the faith of the suffering Churches by symbolical visions of the majesty of their Divine Lord, now walking in their midst, now standing before the celestial Throne, now riding forth to victory with the armies of Heaven under His command. It was not less permissible to paint in glowing colours the moral glory of the Christian Society, and her magnificent destiny, or to place in contrast with them the abominable vices, the paltry display, and the certain doom of Rome. Yet in this legitimate appeal to the Christian imagination the Apocalyptist is careful to avoid repre- sentations which could be placed before the eye by the painter's art. No scene in the great Christian Apocalypse can be success- fully reproduced upon canvas; "the imagery. ..is symbolic and not pictorial 3 ." 1 Letters to the Seven Churcheis; p. 59. Art). 2 Westoott, Epp. of St John, p. 339 a Westcott, op. cit. p, 335. (App. on the relation of Christianity to XIII. USE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND OTHER LITERATURE. I. The Agpcalyptist's use of the Old Testament is by no means limited to its symbolical imagery and numbers ; its thoughts and its very words appear in every part of his book. It is true that the Apocalypse is marked by an entire absence of the formal quotations which are to be found in other parts of the New Testament 1 ; the nature of the work precluded the author from a direct appeal to his source. Yet no writer of the Apostolic age makes larger use of his predecessors. From the list of "quotations from the Old Testament" with which the appendix to Westcott and Hort's second volume ends, it appears that of the 404 verses of the Apocalypse there are 278 which contain references to the Jewish Scriptures. The following table is not exhaustive, but it will suffice to shew the extent of St John's debt to the Old Testament, and his method^ of using it. Greek versions of the Old Apocalypse. Testament 2 . i. I (iv. I, xxii. 6) ά SeiyeveV0ai. Dan. ii. 28 ά 8ei γαΊσθαι. i. 4 (i. 8, iv. 8, xi. 17, xvi. 5) Ex. iii. 14 ό ων. 6 ων. i. 5 a (ii. 13, iii. 14) ό μάρτυς ό Ps. lxxxviii. (Ixxxix.) 38 ό ■πιστοί. μάρτυς iv ούοανω πιστοί. i. 5 b ό πρωτότοκος των νεκρών Ps. lxxxviii. (Ixxxix.) 28 κάγω και 6 άρχων των βασιλίων της γης. πρωτότοκον ^σομαι αυτόν, νψηλόν τταρα. τοις βασιλεΟσικ της -γης. (σ' ανώτατο? των βασιλ-ίων της γης. ) ion, άγιος Κύριος ό θεός ό παντοκράτωρ. ϊν. ίο τώ ζωμτι εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων. V. Ι επι την δεξιαν.,.βιβλίον γεγραμμενον εσωθεν και όπισθεν, κατεσφραγισμενον. V. 5 (xxii. 16) ο λέων ο εκ της φυλής Ίοιίδα, η ρίζα Δανείδ. Isa. xliii. 4 «γω ore -ηγάπησα. ' Εζ. xlviii. 35 τ ° όνομα, της πόλεως. PrOV. viii. 22 Κύριος εκτισεν με αρχήν οδών αΰτοΰ είς τα έργα αΰτοΰ. Hos. xii. 8 εΐπεν Έφράιμ Τίλην πεπλοΰτηκα (cf. Zech. xii. -5)., . Prov. iii. 12 ov yap αγαπά Κύριος, ελέγχει (ί*Α, χαϊδεύει), μαστιγοΐ .(οί λοιποί, ελέγχει). 8ε πάντα υ'ιόν ον παραδέχεται. Cant. ν. 2 κρούει ίπϊ την θυραν Ανοιξαν μοι. Ex. xix. 1 6 φωνή της σαλπιγγος. 3 Regn. xxii. 19 ειδον θεόν Ισραήλ καθημενον ίπϊ θρονον αΰτοΰ (cf. Isa. vi. ι, Ps. xlvi. (xlvii.) 9). Ez. i. 28 ως όρασις τόξου... ούτως. . . κυκλόθεν. Ex. xix. 16 εγίνοντο φωναϊ και αστράπαί. Εζ. i. 13 εκ τοΰ πυρός εξεπορεΰετο αστραπή. Έζ. ί. 22 ομοίωμα... ώσεϊ στε- ρέωμα, ως ορασις κρυστάλλου. Έζ. i. ζ εν τω μέσω ως ομοίωμα τεσσάρων ζωών, ib. 18 οί νώτοι αυτών πλήρεις οφθαλμών κυκλόθεν τοις τεσσαρσιν. Εζ. i. ίο πρόσωπον ανθρώπου... λέοντος... μόσχου... άετοΰ (cf. χ. 14, *#')■. Isa. vi. 2 εξ πτέρυγες τω ενι και εξ πτέρυγες τώ ενί. ib. 3 ελεγον "Αγιος άγιος άνιος Κύριος σαβαώθ. Dan. iv. 31 (34) ^' τ( ? £ώντι είς τον αιώνα (cf. vi. 26 (27), xii. 7)• Εζ. ii. 9 f • χειρ... και εν αΰτη κεφαλις βιβλίου... εν αΰτη γεγ ραμ- μένα την τα, έμπροσθεν καϊ τα. δπίσω. Isa. xxix. 11 ώς οί λόγοι τοΰ βιβλίου τον εσφραγισμενου. . . ον δύ- ναμαι £Ϊναγνώναι, εσφράγισται γάρ. Gen. xlix. 9 σκύμνος λέοντος, Ιούδα... ώς λε'ων. Isa. xi. ι, ίο ε^ελεύσεται ράβδος εκ της ρίζης Ιεσσαι.,.εσται εν τη ήμερα, εκείνη cxliv USE OF THE Ο. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE v. 6" (12, xiii. 8) άρνίον.,.ως εσφαγμένον• v. 6 b οφθαλμούς επτα...είς πασαν την γην. V. 8 (viii. 3 b ) θυμιαμάτων, αϊ είσιν αί προσευχαί. v. f) (xiv. 3) άοΌυσιν ωδην καινήν. ν. II μυριάδες μυριάδων καΐ χιλιάδες χιλιάδων. νΐ. 2 &. ίππος λευκός. ..πυρρός. . . μέλας. . .χλωρός. νΐ. 8 άποκτειναι ίν ρομφαία... ίν λιμω.,.έν θανάτω...ΰπο των θηρίων. VI. ΙΟ εως ποτέ... ου κρίνεις και εκδικεΐς το αίμα -ημών εκ των κατοικοΰντων επι της "γης; (cf. ΧΪΧ. 2). , νΐ. 12 ό ^λιοϊ εγένετο μέλας... και, ή σελήνη ολη εγένετο ως αίμα. νΐ. 13 οι αστέρες... έπεσαν εις την yrjv, ως συκή βάλλει τους όλΰνθους αΰτης. νϊ. 14 ό ουρανός... ως βφλίον ελισσόμενον. νϊ. 1 5" οί ^8ασιλ«ΐϊ της γης. νΐ. I5 b j 16 έκρυψαν εαυτούς εις τα σπήλαια και ε'ις τας πέτρας των ορέων.. .απο προσώπου τοΰ καθή- μενου... ή ρίζα τοΰ Ίεσσαί (cf. Jer. xxiiL 5, Zech. iii. 8, vi. 12). Ex. xii. 5 f. άπο των άρνων Χήμψεσθε . . . και σφάξοιΑτιν αυτό (of. Lev. i. 10 f.). Isa. liii. 7 ως πράβατον επι σφαγην ηχθη, και ως αμνός... Jer. xi. 19 έγω δε ως άρνίον (α σ ως αμνός) ακακον άγόμενον τοΰ βΰεσίαι (α σ ets 1 σφαγην). Zech. iv. 10 επτά. ούτοι οφθαλμοί είσιν ο'ι επιβλέποντες επι πασαν την γί)ν. Ps. cxl. (cxli.) 2 ή προσευχή μου ώς θυμίαμα. Ps. cxliii. (cxliv.) 9 ώδην καινην ασομαι σοι. Dan. vii. 10 χίλιαι χιλιάδες... και μΰριαι μυριάδες. Zech. i. 8 ίπποι πυρροί και ψαροί και ποικίλοι και λευκοί. VI. 2 ff. ίπποι πυρροί... μέλανες... λευκοί. . .ποικίλοι ψαρού Jer. xiv. 12 eV μαχαίρα, και εν λιμω και εν θανάτω εγω συντελέσω αυτούς. Εζ. xiv. 2 1 ρομφαίαν και λιμον και θηρία πονηρά, και θάνατον (οι. Jer. xxi. η, Εζ. ν. 1 2, 17, xxix. 5> xxxiii. 27, xxxiv. 28). , Zech. i. 12 εως τίνος ου μη ελεήσής; Deut. xxxii. 43*" το α Ψ α των υίών αύτοΰ εκδικάται. Hos. IV. Ι κρισις τω κνρίω προς τοίίϊ κατοικοΰντας την yrjv. Joel ii. 31 ό ι;λιος μεταστραφή- σεται εις σκότος και ή σελήνη εις αίμα. Isa. xxxiv. 4 τάντα τα. άστρα πεσεΐται.,.ως πίπτει φύλλα άπ6 συκης. Isa. xxxiv. 4 έλιγήσεται ως βιβλίον ο ουρανός. Ps. ii. 2 οί /8ασιλεΐϊ της γης (xlvii. (xlviii.) 5, A : Isa. xxiv. 2i, xxxiv. 12). Isa. ii. 10, 19 εισέλθετε εις tois πέτρας και κρυπτεσθε.,.άπο 7τροσ- ωπου τοΰ φόβου Κυρίου... είσενέγ- καντες εις τα στη;λαια (cf. Jer. iv. 29). USE OF THE Ο. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE cxlv VI. 1 7 ijkOtv η ημέρα η μεγάλη της οργής αύτών ; κ,αί tis δύναται σταθηναι; vii. I (xx. 8) επι τας τεσσάρας •γωνίας 'της γης. vii. 3 Ο χ • 4. χ ϊ ν • !> χχ ϋ• 4) άγρι σφραγίσωμεν . . .επι των μετω- πών. vii. 14* rijs θλίψεως της μεγά- λης. vii. I4 b (xxii• 14) «πλυναν τα? στολαϊ αυτών. . . ey τω αιματι τον αρνιού. vii. 1 6 f . οΰ ιτεινάσουσιν ετι ουδέ διψησουσιν ετι, ουδέ μη πεση επ αντονς ο ήλιος ονδε παν κανμα... οδηγήσει αυτούς επι ζωής πηγάς υδάτων. vii. 17^ (xxi- 4) εξαλείψει ο θεός παν δάκρνον εκ των οφθαλμών αυτών. viii. 3* ίστάθη επι τον θνσια- στηρίον. Vlii. 5 εϊληφεν . . .τον λιβανωτόν, και εγέμισεν αυτόν εκ τον πνρος τον θνσιαστηριον. viii. 7' εγένετο -χάλαζα και πνμ μεμιγμένα ev αιματι. viii. 8 a opos μέγα πυρι καιό- μενον. viii. 8 b (xvi. 3) εγένετο το τρίτον της θαλάσσης αΐμα. viii. ΙΟ (ΪΧ. ι) επεσεν εκ τον ουρανοί άστηρ μέγας. ix. 2 άνέβη καπνός. ..ως καπνός καμίνον. Joel ii. II μεγάλη ημέρα τον κυρίου . . . και τις εσται Ικανός αΐιτη ; Zeph. i. 14 f -, 1 8 εγγνς ημέρα Κυρίου η μεγάλη... ημέρα οργής η ήμερα εκείνη... έν ημέρα, οργής Κυρίου. Nah. i. 6 τις άντιστη- σεται; (cf. Ps. lxxv. (lxxvi.) 8, Mai. iii. 2). Ez. vii. 2 επι τας τεσσάρας πτέρνγας της γης. Ez. ix 4'°°S σημεΐον επι τα μέτωπα. Dan. xii. ι εκείνη η ημέρα θλίψεως ο?α ουκ εγενηθη. Gen. xlix. 1 1 πλννεΐ. . .την στο- λην αντον...έν αιματι. Isa. xlix. 10 οΰ πεινάσονσιν ονδε διψάο-ουσ-ιν, ουδέ πατάξει αν- τονς καύσων ουδέ ό ήλιος... δια. πηγών υδάτων αξει αντονς (cf. Jer. ii. 13). Isa! xxv. 8 άφεΐλεν (σ εξα- λείψει) Kupios ό Θε6ς παν δάκρνον άπο παντός πρόσωπον. Am. ix. ι εφεστωτα επί τον θνσιαστηριον. Lev. xvi. 12 λημψεται το πν- ρεϊον πλήρες ανθράκων πνρος άπο τον θνσιαστηριον. Ex. ix. 24 ην δε η χάλαζα και το. πνρ φλογίζον εν Trj χαλάζι}. Ez. xxxviii. 22 κρίνω αντον... αιματι . . . και λίθοις γαλάζης, και πνρ. ..βρέξω επ' αυτόν. Joel ii. 30 επι της γης αίμα και πυρ. Jer. xxviii. (Ii.) 25 ως ορός εμπεπυρισμένον. Ex. vii. 19 f. εγένετο αίμα..; μετέβαλεν πάν το νδωρ το εν τω ποταμω εΙς αίμα. Isa. xiv. 12 εξέπεσεν εκ του ονρανον ό εωσφόρος. Gen. xix. 28 ανέβαινεν φλοξ (Μ. Τ., 1t3*p) της γης ωσεϊ άτμίς ("lb']?) καμίνον. Ex. xix. 18 ανέβαινεν ό καπνός ώς καπνός καμίνον. 8. Ε. cxlvi USE OF THE 0. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE ix. 3 f. εξήλθον ακρίδες eis την γην κτλ. IX. 6 ζητησονσιν τον θάνατον και ον μη εΰρήσουσϊν αντόν. IX. 7 τα ομοιώματα... όμοια ΐπ- ποις. ix. 8 οί όδόντεβ αυτών ως λεόν- των ήσαν. ix. 9 ή φωνή των πτερύγων... ως φωνή αρμάτων ίππων. . . είς πόλεμον. ΪΧ. 1 4 «τι τω ποταμω τω μεγαλω Ένφράτη (cf. xvi. 12). ix. 20* των ίργων των -χειρών αυτών. ix. 20° ίνα /tiy προσκννησονσιν τα δαιμόνια. IX. 2 ο" και τα είδωλα τα. χρυσά" και τα αργνρα. και τα χαλκά και τα. λίθινα και τα ξύλινα. ix. 20 d α οΰτε βλεπειν ^ννανται ούτε ακουειν οΰτε ττεριπατεΐν. IX. 2 1 των φαρμακιών . . . της ιτορνείαϊ. Χ. 3 ωσπερ λέων μυκάται. [ Χ. 4 (xxii• ίο) σφράγισον α ελαλησαν.... Χ. 5 ί• 5?ρεν τι/ν χείρα αΰτοΰ τήν οε^ιαν εΐϊ τον οΰρανον, και ωμοσεν εν τω ζώντι εΐϊ τους αιώνα? τών αιώνων, os εκτισεν τον οΰρανον και τα έν αΰτώ κτλ. Χ. 7 ώϊ εΰηγγελισεν τούϊ έαυτοΰ δούλου? toiis ττροφ^τα?. Ex. Χ. 12 ff. άναβητω άκρϊς «τι τ^ν γ^ν κτλ• Job iii. 2 1 όμείρονται τοΰ θάνα- τον και οΰ' τυγχανουσιν. Joel ii. 4 ωβ opao-is ίππων ή ορασις αυτών. Joel ί. 6 οί οδόντες αΰτοΰ όδόντεϊ λέοντος. Joel ΐϊ. 5 ">s φωνή αρμάτων. . . εις πόλΐμον. Gen. XV. 18 Ιως τοΰ ποταμού τον μεγάλου Έΰφράτον (Deut. i. 7, Jos. i. 4). Isa. xvii. 8 τοις εργο'ις τών χειρών αυτών. Deut. xxxii. 17 IpWav δαι- μονίοις καϊ ον θεω. Dan. Λ 7 . 23 rjveaaTe πάντα τα είδωλα (0 τους θεονς τονς χρνσονς και αργυροί? και σιδήρους και ξύλι- νους και λίθινους) ; cf. ν. 3 & • Ps. cxiii. 13 ff. (cxv. 5 ff.) ...ον λαλόνσιν...ονκ οψονται.,.ουκ άκού- σονται.,.οΰ περιπατησουσιν. 4 Eegn. ix. 22 αί ιτορνεΐαι Ιεζάβελ.,.και τα. φάρμακα αΰτης. Hos. ΧΪ. 10 ά λέων ερενζεται. Dan. viii. 26 πεφραγμενον (©' σφράγισαν) το δράμα. χϋ. 4 σφράγισαι (θ' σφράγισον) το βιβ- λίον. Gen. xiv. 22 έκτενώ την χεΐρά μον προς τον θεον τον vxj /ιστον ος εκτισεν τον οΰρανον και τήν γ^ν. Dan. χϋ. 7 β' ΰι^ωσεν την δε^ιαν αυτοΰ... εις τον οΰρανον και ώμοσεν έν τώ £ώντι (ο' τον £ώντα eis) τόν αιώνα. Deut. xxxii. 40 άρω eis τόν οΰρανον τήν χεΐρά μου, και δμοΰμαι την δεξιάν μον και έρώ Ζω έγώ eis τόν αιώνα. Ex. ix. 1 1 τον οΰρανον και την γην και πάντα τα. εν αΰτοΐς (cf. Ps. cxlv. (cxlvi.) 6, 2 Esdr. xix. 6). Am. iii._ 7 έαν μη άποκαλΰφη ιταιδειαν (ΠΙΟ, ί' την βονλην αυτόν) προς τοΰβ δουλουβ αΰτοΰ τους προφήτας (cf. Dan. ix. 6, 10, Zech. i. 6). USE OF THE Ο. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE cxlvii x. Ι ο ελα/8ον το βιβλαρίδιον... και κατεφαγον αΰτο, και ην εν τω στόματί μου ως /χέλι γλυκύ. χ. 1 1 δει σε πάλιν προφήτΐνσαι επ\ λαοί? και εθνεσιν και γλώσσαΐϊ και /βασιλεΰσιν ιτολλοΐς. xi. Ι κάλαμος όμοιος ράβδιρ... μέτρησον τον ναόν (cf. XXI. 15 f£). xi. 2 εδόο 1 ^ τοΐϊ εθνεσιν και -njv ττόλιν τι}ν αγίαν πατησουσιν. χϊ. 4 α ' δυο έλαΐαι και αί δυο λύχρίαι αί ενώπιον του κυρίου tijs •y^S εστώτεϊ. xi. 5 ^vp εκπορεύεται εκ τοΰ στόματος αντών, και κατεσθίει τους εχθρούς αυτών. χΐ. 7 τδ θηρίον το άναβαΐνρν εκ τ^ϊ άβΰσσου (xvii. 8, ofc xiiL ι) ΐΓοιησΐΐ μ'ετ αυτών πόλεμον. XL 8 καλείται -πνευματικής 5ο- δομα. ΧΪ. ΙΟ ευφραίνονται, και δώρα πεμψουσιν αλλι;λοκ. , xi. Il a πνεΰμα ζωής ίκ τοΰ θίοΰ είσηλθεν εν αυτοΐς και έστη- σαν «τι τοίΐϊ πόδας αυτών. χΐ. I l b φόβος μέγας επεπεσεν επί. . . χΐ. 1 2 f . άνεβησαν εϊς τον ουρα- νον εν τί) νεφέλη... κα\...εγενετο σεισμός μέγας. ΧΪ. 13 τω θεώ τοΰ ουρανού. xi. 15 εγενετο η βασιλεία... τοΰ κυρίου ημών και του χριστοΰ αυτοί, και /βασιλεύσει εις τους αιώνα; τών αιώνων. χΐ. 17 f. εβασίλευσας• και τα έθνη ώργίσθησαν. Εζ. ΐϋ. Ι, 3 ei""*" τροϊ ρ.ε... κατάφαγε την κεφαλίδα ταυτ -ijv... και εφαγον αυτήν, και εγενετο εν τω στόματί μου ώς μέλι γλυκαζον. Jer. i. ,10 καθεστακά σε σήμερον επί έθνη και βασιλείας (cf. Dan. iii: 4, vii. 14). Εζ. xl. 3 f. κάλαμος μετρον. Zech, ii. I (5) £. σχοινίον γεωμετρι- κόν. . . διαμετρησαι την Ιερουσαλήμ. Zech. xii. 3 θησομαι την Ιερου- σαλήμ λίθον καταπατουμενην 7τασιν τοΐϊ εθνεσιν. Zech. iv. 2 ff. , 1 4 λυχνία χρυσή . . . και δυο ελαΐαι. ..αϊ δυο έλαΐαι... παρεστηκασιν κυρίω πάσης της γης. 2 Regn. xxii. 9 ""^Ρ * κ Τ °ν στόματος αΰτοΰ κατεδεται. 4 Regn. ΐ. ΙΟ κατέβη πυρ... και κατεφαγεν αυτόν. Dan. vii. 3» τέσσαρα θηρία άνε- βαινον εκ της θαλάσσης, ib, 21 πόλεμον συνιστάμενον irpos τους- αγίους (θ' έποίει πολ. μετά τών αγίων). Isa. L ΙΟ άρχοντες 2ο8<ψ.ων. Ps. civ. (cv.) 38 εΰφράνθη Αί- γυπτος. 2 Esdr. xviii. 12 άπο- στελλειν μερίδας και ποιησαι ευφρο- σΰνην. Εζ. χχχνίΐ. 5> ΙΟ φέρω ε'ις ΰμας πνεΰμα ζωής... και είσηλθεν εις αϋτους το πνεΰμα και έζησαν, και έστησαν επι τών ποδών αυτών. Ps. I.e. επεπεσεν ο φόβος αυτών επ' αυτούς. 4 Regn. ii. 11 ανελημφθη Ηλείου εν σννσεισμώ ώς ε'ις τον οϋρανόν. Dan. ii. 44 ° θεός τοΰ ουρανοί. Ps. ii. 2 τοΰ κυρίου και... τοΰ χριστοΰ αΰτοΰ (cf. ι Regn. xii. 3), ix. 37 ( χ • χ 6) βασιλεύσει Κύριος εις τον αιώνα κτλ. (cf. Εχ~. XV, 1 8). Ps. xcviii. (xcix.) ι Κύριος εβασίλευσεν όργιζεσθωσαν λαοί (cf.ii. 5, 1 4 k 2 cxlviii USE OF THE 0. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE xi. 1 8 τοις φοβουμενοις το όνομα σου, τους μικρούς και τους μεγά- λους. xii. 2, 5 ωδίνουσα.,.τεκεΐν... ετεκεν νϊάν, αρσεν. xii. 3 έχων... κέρατα δέκα. xii. 7 δ Μιχαήλ. . .τον πολεμησαι. xii. 8 (χχ. 1 1) ουδέ twos ευρέθη αυτών. xii. 9* ° όφις ό αρχαίος. ..ο ■πλάνων. xii. 9 b ( χχ • Ι2 ) ο καλούμενος Δια/3ολος και ο σατανά?. xii. 12 ενφραίνεσθε, ουρανοί. xii. 14 καιρόν και καιρούς και ήμισυ καιρού. xiii. 2 το θηρίον,.'.ην ομοιον παρΒάλα . . . ως αρκου . . . ως . . λέοντος, xiii.' 4 τις όμοιος τω θηρίω; xiii. 5 στόμα λαλούν μεγάλα. xiii. 7 ιτοιήσαι πόλεμον μετά. των άγιων, και νικησαι αΰτους. xiii. 10 ε! τις εις αΐχμαλωσίαν, εις αΐχμαλωσίαν υπάγει κτλ. xiii. 1 5 ινα όσοι έαν μη προσκυ- νησωσιν τη εΐκόνι τοΰ θηρίου άπο- κτανθωσιν. ΧΪν. 5 εν τω στόματι αυτών οΰχ ευρέθη ψεΰδος. xiv. 7 τω ιτοι^σαντι τον ονρανον και την yrjv και την θάλασσαν. ΧΪν. 8 £7τεσεν επεσεν Έαβυλων η μεγάλη (xvi. 19, xvii. 5, xviii. 2, ΙΟ, 2 ΐ). xiv, ίο* πίεται ίκ του οίνου του Ps. cxiii. 21 (cxv. 1 3) τους φοβούμενους τον κυριον, τους μι- κρούς μετά των μεγάλων. Isa. lxvi. 6 f . 7rpiv την ώδίνουσαν Τ£κεΐν...ετεκεν αρσεν. Dan. vii. 7 £ *X e ^ £ κέρατο δέκα (#' κ. δ. αΰτω). Dan. χ.. 13 Μιχαήλ. . .επήλθε βοηθησαί μοι (ib. 20 θ τοΰ πολε- μησαι). Dan. ii. 3S ^' κα ' τόπος οΰχ• ευρέθη αΰτοΐς. Gen. iii. 130 όφις ηπάτησεν με. Job i. 6 (Zech. iii. ι) δ διάβολος (\Ώψϊ1 ) α' 5αταν) θ δ αντικείμενο?. Isa. xii ν. 23 ευφράνθητε (xlix. 13 εΰφράίνεσθέ), ουρανοί. Dan. vii. 25 εως καιρού και καιρών και εως ημίσους καιρόν (θ και γε ήμισυ καιρόν), xii. 7 e 'S καιρόν και καιρούς και ήμισυ καιρού. Dan. vii. 6 θηρίον...ωσε\ πάρδα- •λιν. 1 6 αρκου, 4 ωσει λέαινα. Ex. χν. 1 1 τίς όμοιος σοι; (Ps. xxxiv. (xxxv.) ίο, lxx. (Ixxi.) 19), cf. Isa. xiv. 4. Dan. vii. 20 στόμα λαλούν μεγάλα. Dan. vii. 2Ί. ff. εποίει πόλεμον μετά των αγίων, και ισχύσει 7τρος αΰτους. Jer. XV. 2 όσοι «is μαχαιραν, ει? μαχαιραν ... και όσοι εις αίχμα- λωσίαν, ει? αΐχμαλωσίαν. Dan. iii. 6 7τάς ος άν μή πεσων προσκύνηση [ττ) είκόνι] κτλ. Isa. liii. 9 ου ^ε δόλον έν τω στόματι αυτόν (Zeph. iii. 1 3). Ex. XX. 11 ε7τού;σεν...τδν οΰρανόν και την yrjv [+ και την θάλασσαν B ab AFj. Isa. xxi. 9 ιτέπτωκεν πεπτωκεν Έαβυλων. Jer. xxviii. (Ii.) 8 άφνω επεσεν Β. Dan. iv. 27 Β. η μεγάλη. Isa. Ii. 17 η ιτιοΰσα εκ χειρός USE OF THE Ο. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE cxIjx θνμον τον θεον του κεκερασμένου ακράτου. χΐν. I o b ( «ν ιτυρϊ και θείω. χίν. 1 1 6 καπνό? του βασανισμού αυτών eis αΐωΐ'ας αιώνων αναβαίνει •ημέρας και ννκτος (cp. xix. 3) XX• ΙΟ >•. , , χίν. 15, 1 8 πεμψον το δρέπανο ν σου και θερισον, οτι ηλθεν η ωρα θερίσαι.,.και τρνγησον κτλ. xiv. 1 9 f . εβαλεν ε'ις- την ληνον τον θυμον τον θεον τον μεγαν. και επατήθη ή ληνοί. XV. I πληγας επτά. XV. 3*αδουο•ιν την ωδήν^ΐωνσεως τον δούλου τοΰ θεον. < XV. 3 b μεγάλα και θαυμαστά τα έργα σον, Κύριε. XVi 3° δίκαιαι και άλ^ίιναί αϊ XV. 4 ό βασιλευ; των εθνών τις οΰ αϊ) φοβηθ^.,.καΐ δόξασα το όνομα σον; XV. 8" εγεμίσθη 6 ναόϊ καπνοί εκ της δόξης τοΰ Οεοΰ. XV. 8 b οϋδεί? εδννατο εισελθέιν είς τον ναόν. χνϊ. Ι εκχεετε τας επτά φιάλας τοΰ θυμον τον θεον είς την γήν. χνί. 2 εγενετο IXkos κακόν και πονηρόν. χνϊ. 3 πάσα ψυχή ζωής άπε- θανεν, τα. iv τη θαλασσή. χνϊ. 4 εξεχεεν.,,είς τούϊ ποτα- /*ου5...και εγένετο αίμα. xvi. 5 δίκαιος ει. . .ο oVios. Κυρι'ου το ποτηριον του θυμον αΰτοιϊ (of. Ps. lxxiv. (lxxv.) 8 ττοτηριον εν χειρι Κυρίου οίνου ■ ακράτου πλήρες κεράσματος). Gen. xix. 24 θείον και πυρ (Εζ. xxxviii. 22). ΐδ. 2 8 άνεβαινεν φλο£ της γης. Isa. xxxiv. ι ο νυκτό? και ημέρας, και οΰ σβεσθησεται εις τον αιώνα χράνον, και άναβησεται 6 καπνός αυτής ανω. Joel iii. (iv.) 13 εξαποστείλατε δρέπανα, οτι παρεστηκεν τρυγητός. . . διότι πλήρης ο ληνός. Isa. lxiii. 6 κατεπάτησα αυτούς τγ όργί) μου. ' Thren. i. 15 Xrjvov επάτησεν Κ,υριος. • Lev. Xxvi. 2 1 πληγας επτά. Ex. χν. ι τότε jjo -εν Μωυσ^β... την ωδήν ταντην. Deut. xxxi. 30 ελαλ^σεν Μωυσής... τα. ρήματα τής <ρδής ταύτης. Jos. xiv. 7 Μ. ό παΓϊ τον θεού. Ps. ex. (cxi.) 2 μεγάλα τα. έργα Κυρίου, exxxviii. (exxxix.) 14 θαυμάσια τα. έργα σον. Deut. xxxii. 4 θεός, αληθινά, τα. έργα αντον, κα.1 παο-αι αϊ 68οι αΰτοΰ κρίσεις. Jer. χ. 7 (Μ.Τ.) θ' τίς ον μη φοβηθήσεται, /ϊαο-ιλεΰ τών εθνών; Ps. lxxxv. (lxxxvi.) 9 και δοξά- σονσιν το ονομά σον. Isa. vi. 4 ό οίκος ενεπλήσθη καπνοΰ. Ex. xl. 28 (34) δόζης Κυριοϋ ενεπλήσθη ή σκηνή. Ex. xl. 29 ουκ ήδννάσθη Mojotjs είσελθεΐν εις την σκηνήν. Ps. lxviii. (Ixix.) 25 εκχεον επ' avrovt την όργήν σου (Jer. χ. 2 ζ, Zeph. iii. 8). Ex. ix. 10 εγένετο έλκη. Deut. xxviii. 35 *ν έλκει πονηρω. Ex. vii. 21 οι Ιχθνες οί εν τω ποταμω ετελεύτησαν. Ps. lxxvii. (lxxviii.) ■ 44 μετε~ στρεψεν εις αίμα τους ποταμούς αυ- τών (cf. Ex. vii. 20). Ps. cxliv. (cxlv.) 17 δίκαιο? Krpios -..και όσιος. xvi. 7 δίκαιαι αϊ κρίσεις σον. cl USE OF THE 0. Τ. AND OTHER LITERATURE xvi. 6 αίμα. αϋτοΐς δεδωκας πεΐν. Ps. Ixxviii. (lxxix.) 3 εξεχεαν το αί /iu αυτών v (xvi. 1 6) ^ seem to imply acquaintance on the writer's part with Hebrew or Aramaic, and this inference is supported, as we have seen, by the style and manner of his work. 4. If we accept the later date of 'the Apocalypse, it may be assumed that the Churches of Asia were already in possession of some of the earlier books of the New Testament. Certain of the Pauline Epistles, and if not one or more of our present Gospels, some collection or collections of the sayings of the Lord were probably in their hands, and familiar to our author. Such docu- ments would not be regarded as possessing canonical authority, like the writings of the Old Testament, but they could not fail to influence a Christian writer who was acquainted with them. If the earlier Epistle of St Peter uses Ephesians and Romans 1 , and the contemporary Epistle of Clement of Rome refers to Hebrews and some evangelical collection a , we may reasonably look for similar traces of Apostolic writings in the Apocalypse of John. This expectation is to some extent borne out by an examination of the book, (a) The Apocalypse contains distinct reminiscences of known sayings of Christ. Perhaps the most remarkable instance is the formula 6 e -χων ους άκουσάτω which recurs toward the end of each of the messages addressed by the Spirit of Christ to the Churches. The following parallels also are fairly certain : 1 Sei Hort, Romans and Ephesians, 2 Ν. T. in the Apostolic Fathers, p. 168 £. pp. 38, 46, 61 f. USE OF THE Ο. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE clvii Apoc. iii. 3 iav ουν μη γρη- Mt. xxiv. 43 ει βδει ο οΐκοδεσ- γορήσ^ς, ήξω ως κλέπτης, και ον πότης ποια φνλακ -g (Lc. ώρα) ό μη γνως ττοιαν ωραν ηξω ίπι σε. κλέπτης έρχεται, Ιγρηγόρησεν αν. Apoc. iii. 5 ομολογήσω το Mt. Χ. 3 2 ομολογήσω κάγω iv όνομα αυτοί ίνωττιον τον πατρός αντω έμπροσθεν τον πατρός μου μον και ενώπιον των αγγέλων (Lc. έμπροσθεν των αγγέλων τον αυτόν. θεού). Apoc. xiii. 10 ΐ" τις iv μαχαίρτ) Mt. xxvi. 52 πάντες γαρ οί αποκτενίΐ, δει αντον εν μαχαίργ] λαβόντες μάχαιραν iv μαχαίρη άπο- αποκτανθήναι. λοΰνται. Apoc. ΧΧΪ. 6 εγω τω διψώντι Jo. iv. 10 εί •βδεις την δωρεάν δώσω εκ της πηγής τοΰ ΰδατος της τοΰ θεοΰ και τις εστίν ο λέγων σοι ζωής δωρεάν, χχϋ. 17 ο δίψων Δο'ϊ μοι πάν, συ αν τμησας αυτόν, ερχέσθω• ο θέλων λαβέτω ίίδωρ και εδωκεν αν σοι ΰδωρ ζων. vii. ζωής δωρεάν, 37 e< * 1 ' τις -δίψα, ερχέσθω προς μέ, και πινέτω. The Apocalypse has also a considerable number of probable allusions to the teaching of Christ, such as ii. 17 δώσω αύτω τοΰ μάννα, iii. 14 <5 αμήν, iii. 1 7 el. ..τύφλας (in an ethical sense), iii^ 21 ενίκησα (cf. v. ζ), xii. ΙΟ ή εξουσία τοΰ χριστού αύτοΰ, xiv. 12 ή υπομονή των αγίων, xvii. 14 κλητοϊ και εκλεκτοί, xix. 9 οί εις το δειπνον του γάμου τοΰ άρνίον κεκλημένοι. (δ) There are no such close parallels between the Apocalypse and the Apostolic Epistles 1 , yet there is much in the Apocalypse which suggests that its writer was acquainted with some of them. Bishop Lightfoot has pointed out 8 that "the message communi- cated by St John to Laodicea prolongs the note which was struck by St Paul in the letter to Colossae." Here and there even the phraseology of the book reminds us of the Pauline letters to Asian Churches ; thus Apoc. i. 5 ό πρωτότοκος των νεκρών recalls Col. i. 18 πρωτότοκο'; εκ των νεκρών, and Apoc. iii. "14 ή αρχή της κτίσεως τοΰ θεοΰ has affinities with Col. i. 1 5 πρωτότοκος πάσης 1 κτίσεως κτλ. ; while echoes of Eph. ii. 1 9 ff. συνπόλΐται των άγιων. . . εποικοδομηθεντες επί τω θεμελίψ των αποστόλων κάϊ προφητών. . . ...εις άγιον ναόν iv Κ,υρίω may be heard by those who 'have an ear' in Apoc. iii. 12, xxi. 14, Points of contact have also been 1 The saying in Apoc. ii. 14 ού Jerusalem ; of. Acts xv. 28 eSofex yap βάλλω εφ' i/tSs άλλο βάρος has probably τψ πνεύματι τψ άγίω και ήμΐν μηδέ» πλέον been suggested by the letter of the έτιτίθεσθαι ύμΐν βάρο! πλην κτλ. council of Apostles and elders held at 2 Colossians, p. 41 ff. clviii USE OF THE'O. T. AND OTHER LITERATURE found between the Apocalypse and the Epistle of James 1 and the first Epistle of Peter 2 , and it has occasional resemblances to the Epistle to the Hebrews 8 . Yet on the whole, except in the case of our Lord's sayings, which may or may not have been known to him in a written form, there is no convincing evidence that our author was indebted to the Christian writers who preceded him. 5. Can a better case be made out for the Apocalyptist's use of non-canonical Jewish writings ? Dr Charles pronounces the " writer or writers " of the Apocalypse to be " steeped in Jewish apocalyptic literature." The details may be seen in his editions of Enoch and other Jewish apocalypses, and most of them are briefly enumerated in c. ii of this introduction 4 and quoted in the commentary, where the parallels occur. Here it is enough to say that while they shew the writer of the Christian Apo- calypse to have been familiar with the apocalyptic ideas• of his age, they afford little or no clear evidence of his dependence on Jewish sources other than the books of the Old Testament. Certainly he does not use these sources with anything like the distinctness with which he refers to Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Daniel, or to sayings of Christ which are in our present Gospels. The most that can be safely affirmed is that he shared with the Jewish apocalyptists the stock, of apocalyptic imagery and mystical and eschatological thought which was the common property of an age nurtured in the Old Testament and hard pressed by the troubles and dangers of the times. This consideration does not encourage the view which regards the Apocalypse of John as a composite work largely made up of extracts from unknown non-Christian apocalypses. If it cannot be shewn that the author availed himself to. any extent of sources still extant, including the well-known Book of Enoch, it is certainly precarious to build theories upon the hypothesis that he was indebted to lost works of which not a trace remains. 1 Mayor, St James, p. oii. author of the other." 2 B:yg, 1 Peter, p. 22. He adds s Cf. e.g. Apoo. xxi. with Heb. xii. 22. however : " There is nothing to show 4 Pp. xxvff. that the one book was known to the XIV. DOCTRINE. ι. No one who comes to the Apocalypse fresh from the study of the Gospels and Epistles can fail to recognize that he has passed into another atmosphere. The great objects of faith are the same, but they are seen in new lights, and the general impression differs from that which is left on the mind by the teaching of our Lord or of St Paul. Nor is it only in the region of eschatology that the book takes its own course ; its views of the Person of Christ, of the Holy Spirit, of Redemption, and of the Church, are its own ; even its doctrine of God has no exact parallel in the rest of the New Testament. 2. The Apocalypse takes its stand on a monotheism which is Jewish in the sharpness of its opposition to polytheistic systems of every kind. Its God is the God of the Old Testament, the I am of Exodus, the Holy, Holy, Holy of Isaiah, the Lord God of Ezekiel, the God of heaven of Daniel 1 . The writer adopts the titles which the Greek translators found to express the glories of the God of Israel : God is ό ων, 6 ζων, 6 παντοκράτωρ : He is ίίγίο?, όσιος, αληθινό?, Ισχυρός, 6 πρώτος καϊ 6 έσχατο? 2 , while later Jewish use contributes a designation for His unique eternity: He is the Alpha and the Omega, the , Beginning and the End 3 . The God of the Church is the Supreme King Whose Throne is in heaven, the Master and Lord of all 4 ; He is the 1 i. 4 ; if. 8; i. 8, xxii. 5; xi. 13, ' 8,'i. 17. xvi. n. 3 i. 8, xxi. 6. 2 i. 4, iv. gi. ; i. 8, vi. 10, xv. 4, xviii. 4 iv. 2, vi. 10, xi. 4, 15, xv. 3. clx DOCTRINE Creator of earth and sea and sky, and of all that is in them 1 , the Judge of mankind, the Avenger of the wrongs that are done on the earth ; He is to be feared and worshipped by all 2 . But of His love no express mention is made, although there is frequent refer- ence to His wrath 3 . He is nowhere represented as the Father of men, even of the righteous ; His righteousness and truth are magnified, but there is no proportionate exhibition of His good- ness and beneficence. The picture inspires awe, but it wants the magnetic power of our Lord's doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood. In fact it serves another purpose. Like the solemn descriptions of Godhead in the Hebrew prophets, it is an answer to the inanities of heathenism rather than a call to fellowship with the Living God. A revelation of the " severity of God " was needed by Churches which were hard pressed by the laxity of pagan life and the claims to Divine honours made by the masters of the Empire. The Apocalyptist meets the immoralities and blasphemies of heathendom by a fresh setting forth of the majesty of the One God and a restatement of His sole right to the worship of men. Thus he represents a view of the Divine Character which, apart from his book, would be nearly wanting in the New Testament, and supplies a necessary complement to' the gentler teaching of the Gospels and Epistles. 3. The doctrine of God maintained in the Apocalypse cannot be rightly understood apart from its Christology. Our author's revelation of the Father is supplemented by his revelation of the Son. The Christ of the Apocalypse is the Christ of the Gospels, but a change has passed over Him which is beyond words. He is still like unto a son of man*, but the weaknesses and limitations of His humanity have finally passed away. He ivas dead, but now He is alive for evermore 5 . He was slain as a victim, but only the splendid results of His- Sacrifice remain 6 . The Woman's Son has been caught up unto God, and unto His Throne 7 ; He sits and reigns with His Father . All this had been taught by 1 ivi 11, x. 6. δ i. 18. 2 xiv. 7, xv. 4 ; vi. 10, xix. 2. ° v. 6 us έσφα•γμ4νον. 8 xiv. 10, 19, xv. 1, etc. ' xii. 5. 4 i. 13, xiv. 14. s iii. 2i. DOCTRINE clxi St Peter, St Paul, and the writer to the Hebrews ; but• it was left for the Apocalyptist to describe the, glorified life. In the Apoca- lypse the veil is lifted, and we see the extent of the change wrought by the Resurrection and Ascension. Even the Lord's human form is idealized ; the face shines as the noonday sun, the eyes flash, the hair is white as snow, the feet glow like metal in a furnace, the voice is like the thunder of the waterfall ; at the sight of the glorified humanity the Seer swoons, as Daniel before the angel 1 . Other appearances of the ascended Christ are not less overwhelming; whether He sits on the white cloud, crowned, and carrying the sharp sickle with which He will presently reap the harvest of the world 2 , or comes forth from the open heavens as the Warrior- King, followed by the armies of Heaven, His head encircled by the diadems of many empires, His paludamentum inscribed with the title King of kings and lord of lords, all is transcendental and on a scale which surpasses human imagina- tion 3 . But these three great symbolical visions do not by any means exhaust the wealth of St John's conception of the glorified Christ. He depicts with great fulness His relations to the Church, to the world, and to God. (a) To the members of His Church the ascended Christ is all in all. He loves them, He redeemed them, and He has made them what they are, a new Israel, a kingdom of priests 4 . His ascension has not separated Him from them; He is in their midst, regulating all the affairs of the Churches 5 ; removing, punishing, guarding, giving victory, as He sees fit 6 . From Him are to be obtained all spiritual gifts < and helps 7 ; from Him are to be expected the final rewards 8 . 'The martyrs are His witnesses, the saints His servants 9 ! He penetrates the inner life of the faithful ; He leads them on, and they follow Him 10 . They keep the faith of Jesus, as they keep the commandments of God; they share His sufferings, and expect His kingdom 11 , (b) In the creation Jesus Christ holds the foremost 1 i. 14—17. 2 xiv. 14 ft. 8 xix. 1 1 ff. 4 i. 5, 6 (Exod. xix. 6), ' i. 13, ii. i,x;v. 1. 6 ii. s, 25 ff., iii. 9, 10. 7 iii. 18. 8 ii. 7 etc., 23. 9 ii. 13, 20, xi. 18. 10 iii. 2o, vii. 17, xiv. 4. 11 xiv. 12, i. 9. S. l:. clxii DOCTRINE place. He is its beginning and its goal 1 ; He receives its tribute of praise 2 . In human history He is supreme : He alone is able to open, one after another, all the seals of the Book of Destiny 3 ; He is the Ruler of the icings of the earth 4 ; He was born to rule the nations with the iron-tipped rod of the universal Pastor of men 5 ; the greatest of Emperors is His vassal 6 , and the day will come when the Augustus and the meanest slave in his empire will tremble alike before His victorious wrath 7 . The Apocalyptist foresees an empire more truly oecumenical than that of Rome, in which Christ shall reign with God 8 , (c) What is the relation of Christ, in His glorified state, to God ? (i) He has the prerogatives of God. He searches men's hearts 9 ; He can kill and restore to life 10 ; He receives a worship which is rendered without distinction «to God 11 ; His priests are also priests of God 12 ; He occupies one throne with God 13 , and shares one sovereignty", (ii) Christ, receives the titles of God. He is the , Living One 15 , the Holy and the True 16 , .the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End 17 , (iii) Pas- sages which in the Old Testament relate to God are without hesitation applied to Christ, e.g. Deut. x. 17 (Apoc. xvii. 14), Prov. iii. 12 (Apoc. iii. 19), Dan. vii. 9l(Apoc. i. 14), Zech. iv. 10 (Apoc. v. 6). Thus the writer seems either to coordinate or to identify Christ with God. Yet he is certainly not conscious of any tendency to ditheism, for his book, as has been said, is rigidly monotheistic ; nor, on the other hand, is he guilty of confusing the two Persons. .The name of God is nowhere given to Christ in the Apocalypse ; He is the Son of God ls , the Word of God w ; but the Apocalyptist does not add, with the fourth Evangelist, " the ' Word was God," nor does he say that the Father and the Son are 1 iii. 14, xxii. 13. n v. 13. 2 v. 13. la xx. 6. 8 v. 5, τϊ. 1 ff. 13 xxii. i, 3. 4 i• 5- " χ ί• 15• 5 xii. 5. 16 i. 18. " xvii. 14. 10 iii. 7. 7 vi. 15 ft. 17 xxii. 13. 8 xi. 15 ; of. xii. 10. 18 ii. 18. 9 ii. 23. 19 xix. 13. 10 i. iS, ii. 23. POCTRINE clxiii one. He is careful to identify the ascended Christ with the Christ of the humiliation; He is the firstborn of the dead 1 , the root and the offspring of David", the Lion of the tribe of Judah" ; He can call God His God 4 . The enigma meets us everywhere in the New Testament, but in no book is it so perplexing to those who reject the Catholic doctrine of our Lord's Person as in the Apocalypse of John. It has been urged that " the point of view of the Seer is continually changing. He conceives of Jesus now as the highest of the creatures, now as the eternal beginning and end of all things. . .to us each of these is a definite and separate conception•, while to him such definiteness and separation did not exist 6 ." But this explanation is doubly unsatisfactory. The Seer's consciousness of the gulf which parts the-creature from the Uncreated was far from indefinite ; twice he represents an angel as flatly refusing divine honours — see thou do it not. . .worship God"; the assumption or acceptance of divine names by the Roman Emperors was in his judgement the damning sin of the Empire. Nor is it quite fair to charge him with shifting his ground from time to time ; from the first his Christ is a complex conception in which human and Divine characteristics coexist. On the other hand we should doubtless err if we read into the Seer's visions the precision of the Nicene or the Chalcedonian Christology. An intuitive faith carries him beyond the point reached by the understanding; he knows that the identification of the ascended Christ with the Almighty Father is not inconsistent with strict monotheism, but he does not stop to ask himself how this can be. Some of his words point to the preexistence of the Son, others represent His exalted condition as the reward of victory. The reconciliation of these points of view is not necessary to the purpose of the book; it is enough that -the Head of' the Church is master of the situation which had arisen in Asia and of every similar situation that can arise to the world's end. The John of the Apocalypse is less of the theologian than St Paul, and less of 1 i. 5, 18. 6 F. Palmer, Z>raDia 0/ the Apocalypse, 2 v. 5, xxii. 16. p. 105. 5 v. 5. β xix. 10, XXU.O. * iii. 8. 12 clxiv DOCTRINE the mystic than the author of the fourth Gospel, but he surpasses both in his revelation of the unbounded power of the exalted Christ. Nowhere else in the New Testament are the personal activities of Jesus Christ present in His Church, the glories of His heavenly life, or the possibilities of His future manifestation so magnificently set forth. The Christology of the Apocalypse may evade analysis, but it meets the need of the Church in times of storm and stress. It is the New Testament counterpart of the Old Testament hymns of anticipated triumph : God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble ; therefore will we not fear.... God is in the midst of her ; she shall not be moved. How- ever the fact may be explained; Christ is in the Apocalypse the power of God and the wisdom of God present with the Church, while in His exalted life He is in the midst of the Throne. 4. Of the Spirit we expect to hear much in the one pro- phetical book of the New Testament, and we are not altogether disappointed, ^though there is less on the surface of the book than we might have looked for. It is in the Spirit that the Seer receives his first and second visions 1 ; in the Spirit, again, he is carried into the wilderness where he sees the harlot Babylon, and to the mountain from whence can be descried the new Jerusalem 2 ; and doubtless we are to understand that the same condition of spiritual exaltation accompanied the other visions of the Apoca- lypse. The Spirit of prophecy speaks everywhere, bearing witness to Jesus* exhorting the Churches in His Name 4 , conveying the revelation of Jesus Christ to 'the Seer, and through him to the readers and hearers. It is the Spirit of prophecy who answers to the voice from heaven 6 ; who identifies Himself with the Church in her call for the Lord to come, 6 . But the book- recognizes other and wider manifestations of the Spirit of God. When the writer desires grace and peace for the Churches of Asia from the seven Spirits which are before His Throne it is probable that he is thinking of the One Spirit in the variety and completeness of 1 i. 10, iv. 2. * ii. 1, 7 etc. 2 xvii. 3, xxi. 10. 5 xiv. 13. a xix. 10. 6 xxii. 17. DOCTRINE cixv His gifts. The phrase might in itself mean only the seven Angels of the Presence 1 , and this interpretation receives some support from c. iv. 5, but it does not accord either with the trinitarian character of c. i. 4 f. 2 , or with c. v. 6. The 'seven Spirits which blaze like torches before the Throne, are in the last passage the eyes of the sacrificed Lamb, i.e. they are the organs of, supernatural vision which illuminate the humanity of our Lord, and which He sends forth into the world. It is impossible not to recognize here the mission of the Paraclete, Who is at once the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit sent by Him from the Father to the Church. And on looking back to c. i. 4 we see the fitness of the number seven ; each of the seven Churches has its own μερισμός of the Spirit ; only to the Christ and to the whole body of the Church considered in its unity belongs the fulness of spiritual powers and gifts, the septiformis Spiritus Who is in His essence indivisible. Thus the Apocalypse extends the teaching of the Epistles. Diversities of gifts mark the work of the Spirit in the Churches as in their individual members ; to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit. Yet the individual is not over- looked. The action of the Spirit on the personal life is shewn in the symbolism which points to the water of life. The Lamb... shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life,, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He shewed me a river of water of life,... proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. He that is athirst, let him come ; he that will, let him take the water of life freely 3 . These passages are remarkable for the width of their outlook : they carry us from the beginnings of the spiritual life to its maturity, from the first gift of the water of life to the state in which access is giVen to the fountain-head. There is no stage in the progressive development of the new life at which the human spirit is not dependent on the Divine; tbe water of life which satisfies the first thirst, is not less necessary to the ultimate perfection of the Saints. On the essential nature of the Spirit the Apocalypse has nothino• 1 viii. 2. 2 Cor. xiii. i 4 , Eph. iv. 4 ff. 2 Cf. such contexts as 1 Cor. xii 4 η 5 ., a vii. 17, xxi. 6, xxii. 1,17. clxvi DOCTRINE to add to the teaching of other New Testament books. But in its symbolism we catch glimpses of His relation to the Father and the Son. Jesus Christ hath the seven Spirits of God ; they are the ey'es of the Lamb, sent forth by Him into all the earth. The Eiver of the water of life issues from the Throne of God and of the Lamb 1 . There are echoes here of the teaching both of Christ and of St Paul. The Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Christ, and the outpouring of the Spirit which began on the day of Pentecost was a direct consequence of the Ascension; the Paraclete was sent by the Ascended Lord from the Father, and by the Father in the name of the Son. The temporal mission of the Spirit is here in view, but behind it there may also be the eternal procession from the Father through the Son of which the Creed speaks. But the latter does not come within the. express scope of the Apocalyptist's words. 5. His treatment of the doctrine of the Church is not less interesting. Like St Paul's Epistle to the Galatians and perhaps also the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apocalypse is addressed to a plurality of Churches; seven are named, but after the first chapter the number is dropped, and the writer speaks simply of al βκκΧησίαι*, or once of πασαι αϊ εκκλησίας" The singular ή εκκΧησία is used of each of the local Christian societies, but not of the Churches in the aggregate, or of the ideal unity of the Christian body. Each society is symbolized by a separate Χυγνία, and each has its own presiding spirit, its star or angel. There is no spiritual counterpart to the κοινον της , 'Ασία?, no provincial Church or representative council, though the seven Churches may be taken as in a sense representative of the Churches of Asia in general. Yet, as the book proceeds, the conception of an universal Christian society, a catholic Church, appears under more than one symbolical figure. We have first the 144,000 sealed out of ?oery tribe of the children of Israel*, changing, as the Seer watches, into an innumerable company before the Divine Throne", and afterwards seen again as 144,000, surrounding the Lamb on 1 iii. 1, v. 6, xxii. 1. 3 ii. 23. 2 ii. 7, 11, 17, i<)\ iii. 6, 13, 22; 4 cc. iii., xiv. xxii. ιδ. DOCTRINE clxvii Mount Zion. Then a great sign appears in heaven, a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, who becomes the Mother of the Christ and His Saints 1 . Lastly, in sharp contrast with the Harlot Babylon, we see the Bride of Christ arrayed for her marriage day, and presently transfigured into a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God 1 . In the first of these visions the Church appears as a collection of units, making up the whole number of the elect ; in the second and third she is seen in the unity of her common life, first as militant against tbe evil of the world,- her life hid in God, herself imperishable but suffering in the persons of her members ; and then, in the final picture, as reaching her ideal in the presence of God and of Christ. There are side-lights, also, in this great series of pictures which deserve attention ; in the first, the reconciliation of Divine foreknowledge with the freedom of the human will; in the second, the relation of the Church of the Old Testament to the Church of the New, and of. both to the individual; in the third, the social aspect of the Christian life, as set forth in the order and beauty of the City of God. On the local ministry in the Churches the Apocalyptist preserves a complete' silence ; he speaks of the itinerant, charis- matic, ministry of Apostles and Prophets, but not of the bishops or presbyters and deacons who were doubtless to be found in the Christian communities of Asia. The prophetic order, from his point of view, eclipses the officers of the Church. But it does not take from the lustre of the Church herself. She is a kingdom and a priesthood; all her members have been made by the sacrifice of the Cross kings and priests unto God and to the Lamb 3 . The Augustus and the Caesars, the Asiarchs and high- priests of the Augustea, are of little account in comparison with the despised and persecuted members of the Christian brotherhoods. 6. The soteriology of the Apocalypse demands attention. Thrice in the book 4 " Salvation " (ή σωτηρία) is ascribed to God, 1 c. xii. a i. 6, v. io, xx. 6. 2 c. xsi. i vii. io, xii. ίο, x:x. i. clxviii DOCTRINE or to God and Christ. The phrase is perhaps suggested by the freq use of σωτήρ on coins and in inscriptions in reference to certain of the heathen deities (e,g. Zeus, Asklepios), and to the Emperors. John recalls the word from these unworthy uses and claims it for the Ultimate Source of health and life. But in this attribution he includes Jesus Christ; Salvation unto our God... and unto the Lamb 1 . It is by the Sacrifice of the Lamb that the salvation of men has become possible: thou wast slain and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe; unto him that loved us and loosed us from our sins by his blood. . .to him be the glory ; the Saints washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb : they overcame the accuser because of the blood of the Lamb*. Whatever may be the exact meaning of these words, it is clear from them that the writer attaehed the greatest importance to the death of Christ; His sacrificed life was the price of man's . redemption from sin to the service of God The idea is St Paul's, who twice in one epistle writes: "ye were bought with a price 8 ," and lays emphasis on the virtue of the sacrificial blood 4 ; and the latter point was present to the mind of our Lord Himself when He spoke of His Blood as " shed for many unto remission of sins 5 ." The writer of the Apocalypse took over the familiar figures by which the Churches had long expressed the mystery of the Atonement. But there are new features in his use of them. Redemption is a liberation from the sins of the past life, which have hitherto " tied and bound " the sinner with their chains; it is a purchase for God, its purpose being to , transfer the sinner from the service of sin to the service of God . But its end is not attained without the concurrence of the human will. The redeemed cooperate with the Redeemer; they wash their robes .and make them white, they fight anU overcome. Neither action would have been possible without our Lord's sacrifice, but the sacrifice would have been ineffectual without 1 vii. io. i. 2, 19 ; 1 Jo. i. 7. 2 i- 5. ▼■ 9> v "• r 4> x "• "■ 5 Mt. xxvi. 28; Mo. xiv. 24; 1 Cor. 8 1 Cor. vi. 20 ή-γοράσθηπ yi.p τιμής, xi. 25. vii. 23 τψής ■Ιτγοράσθητς. ° There is a partial parallel in Bom. 4 Acta xx. 28; Bom. iii. 25, v. 9; vi. 15 ft. Eph. i. 7, ii. 13; Col. i. 20. Of. 1 Pet. DOCTRINE clxix repentance and faith on their part. The Apocalyptist dwells more frequently on "works" than on "faith 1 ." To represent this as a return to a Jewish standpoint is arbitrary 2 , but it cannot be denied that it is a distinguishing note of the Apocalypse. Faith is rarely named in the book 3 , and when it is, it does not appear as the primary necessity of the Christian life ; the decisive place is given to works; the fair linen which decks the Saints is woven out of their righteous acts 4 . Salvation is the fruit of the Lord's victory, but the faith which appropriates it overcomes the world as He overcame it. 7. The Angelology of, the Apocalypse is abundant. Beyond any other book either in the Old Testament or in the New, it occupies itself with the inhabitants of the unseen order; even of apocalyptic writings the Enoch literature alone perhaps is more fruitful in revelations of this kind. The Apocalypse of John, however, is singularly free from the wild speculations of Jewish angelology. If angels frequently appear in its visions, they belong to the scenes which the visions reveal, and are there because the supermundane events which are in 'progress demand their inter- vention. They are seen engaged in the activities of their manifold ministries, now as worshipping before the Throne 5 , now as bearing messages to the world 6 , or as stationed in some place of trust, restraining elemental forces 7 , or themselves under restraint until the moment for action has arrived 8 , or as presiding over great departments of Nature 9 . Sometimes their ministries are cosmic; they are entrusted with the execution of worldwide judgements 10 , , or they form the rank and file of the armies of heaven, who fight Ood's battles with evil, whether diabolical or human 11 ; the Abyss is under their custody 12 . Sometimes an angel is employed in the service of the Church, offering the prayers of the Saints, or 1 See ii. 1, 5, 19, ,23, in. if., 8, 15, " s vii. n. xx. 12 f., xxii. 12. 6 i. 1, xxii. 6. s The present writer is unable to dis- 7 vii; 1. cover here or elsewhere in the Apooa- 8 ix. 15. lypse the " unadulterated Judaism " s xvi. 1 ft. which has been ascribed to it (Charles, 10 viii. 6fi., xix. 14. Esehatology, p. 347). ll x"• 7> xix. 14. 8 Only in ii. 13, 19, xiii. 10, xiv. 12. 12 ix. 11, xx. 1. 4 xix. 8. clxx DOCTRINE presiding over the destinies of a local brotherhood or ministering to an individual brother, e.g. to the Seer himself 1 . No charge seems to be too great for an angel to undertake, and none too ordinary; throughout the book the angels are represented as ready to fill any place and do any work to which they may be sent. Little light is thrown on such a speculative topic as the distribution of the angelic host into orders or ranks. The greater angels are distinguished by their superior strength or more splendid surroundings. Only one angel receives a name, and it is borrowed from the Book of Daniel 2 ; there is but a passing allusion to the seven angels of the Presence, of whom Enoch has so much to say 3 . The Apocalypse is comparatively silent as to fallen angels and evil spirits. The Dragon of c. xii. is identified with Satan or the Devil of the Old Testament; in the celestial war of xii. 7 if. he is followed by his "angels" who fight his battles 4 . Idolatry is regarded as demonolatry 6 : heathen magic is due to spirits of demons, working signs. Babylon becomes a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit*. The Seer is able to foresee the course of Satanic activity from his own age to the end. Failing to dethrone the ascended Christ, Satan turns his attention to the Church which is left on earth'*. He finds ready allies in the persecuting Emperors and the heathen priesthood 8 , backed by the power of the new Babylon on the Tiber 9 . Babylon falls at last 10 , and for a long period Satan is bound, and the Church dominant 11 - Then a reaction follows, and the whole world is persuaded to attack the Church 12 . But her hour of greatest peril ushers in the final victory. Fire falls from heaven upon the enemy, and Satan himself is consigned to the burning morass from which there is no escape. The fate of his " angels " is not described, but it may be assumed that they perish with 1 ii. 1 etc. , viii. 3 f. , xvii. 1 , xxi. g. ' xii. 7 ff., 1 3 ff. 3 xii. 7; cf. Dan. x. 21. s x ijj_ j g^ lt ff # 8 viii. 2 ; of. Enoch xx. 9 c. xvii. 4 xii. 9. i0 c. xviii. 5 ix. 20. n xx. 1 ff. » xviii. 2. 12 lb. 8 ff. DOCTRINE clxxi' their leader 1 , for from this point all superhuman forces of evil disappear. 8. Eschatology, in the widest sense, forms one of the main subjects of this book, -which from c. iv. deals chiefly with the things which must come to pass hereafter 2 . Here our discussion of the subject must be limited to the " last things " in the narrower use of the phrase, i.e. to the Coming of the Lord, the Judgement, and the new world beyond them. No mention is made of the παρουσία* or iirupaveia 4 of the Lord, and though ίργρμαί and the response ερχου are watchwords in this book, the "coming" intended, in some instances at least, is not the final Advent, but the visitation of a Church or an individual 6 . Moreover, there is no one vision which answers altogether to the conception of the Return, as it is presented in our Lord's teaching and in the Epistles. We look for such an appearance immediately before-the general resurrection and judgement (xx. il if.), or in connexion with the descent of the Bride, but it is absent. Perhaps the Reaper on the white cloud 6 , and the crowned Warrior on the white ' horse 7 , may describe, each in its own way, the Last Coming, but neither of these visions exhausts the conception, or occupies the position which the Parousia might have been expected to fill. Yet the book starts with a clear reference to the Advent, which is represented as visible to the whole world : behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him*; and it ends with the solemn witness, Yea, I come quickly. The hope of a visible Coming, and that a speedy one, has not vanished, though it is clear that ταχύ must be interpreted relatively, in the light of a prophecy which interposes between the Seer's time and the Return an age of persecution of unknown length and a subsequent millennium of dominant Christianity, The Lord's quickly is His final answer to the rising impatience of the Church 9 , now on the 1 Cf. Mt. xxv. 41. • B E.g. ii. 5, 16, and perhaps also iii. 2 iv. ϊ ; of. i. 19. . 11, xvi. 15. 3 Mt. xxiv. 3 ff. ; 1 Cor. xv. 23 ; 1 Th. 6 xiv. 14. ii. 19, iii. 13, iv. 15, v. 23 ; Jac. v. ji. ; 7 xix. 11. 2 Pet. iii. 4; 1 Jo. ii. 28. 8 i. 7. 4 1 Tim. vi. 14; 1 Tim. i. 10, iv. 1, 8; 9 Cf. 2 Pet. iii. 9. Tit. ii. 12. clxxii DOCTKINE verge of the second century; measured by the standard of His endless life, the time is at hand. The final Reign of Christ and of His Saints is connected with the hope of His return. His own Reign began with the Ascension, and it is spiritually shared by the Church even in an age of persecution ; the Saints reign upon the earth 1 , though a Nero or a Domitian may be on the throne. The Apocalyptist dimly foresees the conversion of the Empire, when the kingdom of the world became the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,- and the Church entered on a long period of triumph, reigning with Christ for a thousand years 2 . But he also anticipates a future kingdom of the Saints which will fulfil its ideal, and to which no period can be put: they shall reign for ever and ever*. The General Resurrection and the Judgement belong to the same series of events. If the interpretation of the Thousand Years which is given in, this commentary 4 is correct, the' "first resurrection" of c. xx. 5 is, like the resurrection of the Two Witnesses in c. xi., a symbol of the revival• and extension of the Church which would follow the age of persecution. No " second resurrection" is mentioned, but a resurrection of the body is implied in c. xx. 1 2 and the glory of the risen Saints is perhaps symbolized in c. xxi. 11. The former of these passages clearly teaches the doctrine of a general Judgement. But the Judge seems to be not the Incarnate Son, but the Almighty Father : the Apocalyptist does not appear to recognize with the Evangelist that all judgement has been given to the Son 5 . The vision of the Last Judgement is followed by a vision pf the new world and the new City of God. Perhaps it will always be a matter of dispute whether the final vision of the Apocalypse is an idealistic picture of the Church as. she now is, or a realistic picture of the Church as she will be hereafter. There is in fact an element of truth in each of these views, for the best ideals 1 v. 10, reading βασίΚιύουσιν. may be noted that St Paul speaks in- 2 Xi. 15, xx. 6. differently of the βήμα. του θεού (Bom. 3 xxii. 5. xiv. 10) and the β. του χριστού (2 Cor. 4 P. 264 fl. v. 10) ; the Father judges in the person ' s Jo. v. 22; ef. Mt. xxv. 31 ff. It of the Son. DOCTRINE clxxiii of the present are the realities of the future, the position of the vision points to the future, for though the succession of the Apocalyptic visions is not chronological, there is in it a certain sequence which accords with the orderly development of the Divine purpose. And no stretch of the imagination can discover in any period of the Church's lengthening history the full counter- part of the glories described by St John. ■ The Bride of Christ has not yet made herself ready; the City of God is not free from the presence of the unclean and the false : night still falls upon her streets, alternating with periods of daylight 1 . But the future holds the perfection of the present ; in the, imperfect life of the Asian brotherhoods the Seer can find the earnest of a maturity which, when extended to the race, will leave no part of God's great plan for the reconstruction of human society unrealized. 9. It is not the purpose of the Apocalypse to teach Christian doctrine, but to inspire Christian hope. But , incidentally it instructs, and its teaching, so far as it goes, is fresh, strenuous, and suggestive. While it has points of contact with the sayings of our Lord in the Synoptic Gospels, with the doctrine of St Paul and his school, and with the Gospel and the First Epistle of St John, there are features in the doctrine of the Apocalypse which are peculiar to itself; nor is the proportion in which it presents the aspects of Christian truth quite that which is to be found in other books of the New Testament. Without the Apocalypse, so far as we can judge, our knowledge of the teaching of the Apostolic age would have been imperfect ; in this respect the book is complementary to the Gospels arid Epistles, and fulfils the important Work of preserving the balance of truth. This is not the least of the reasons for which St John's great vision deserves careful study, and may in itself be held to justify the felicitation: blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy. 1 xxi. 2, 25, 17, χχϋ. 5. XV. AUTHORSHIP. I. At the beginning of the- book, and again at the end 1 , the Apocalypse professes to be the work of John. The author further states that he is a servant of Jesus Christ, a brother of the Churches of Asia, and a partaker in their sufferings, and that at the time when he received the revelation he was in the island of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus*. By the "testimony of Jesus" he appears to mean the witness which he had borne to our Lord in his capacity as a member of a brotherhood of Christian prophets 8 . The intimate knowledge which he shews of the circumstances of the Churches in Asia, and the unhesitating tone of authority in which he addresses them, leave no doubt that he had resided in the province, and had exercised his office in the Christian societies there. It is scarcely possible that the book can be pseudonymous. The Jewish pseudepigrapha bear the names of Old Testament patriarchs, kings, or prophets ; and a Christian apocalypse, if pseudonymous, ■would naturally have been attributed to an Apostle. But in that case the writer would assuredly have proclaimed his identity with the son of Zebedee. The apocryphal apocalypse of Paul begins: αποκαλ.νψις τον ayiov αποστόλου Παύλου, and the apocryphal apo- calypse of John : άποκάλυψις τον άγιου Ιωάννου τον θίολ,όγον*. These are later documents, but even in. a first century apocryphon we • should have expected some such note of identification as b τον 1 i. i, 4, 9, xxii. 8. Apooalypse of Peter haa not been re- 3 i. 9. covered, but in the Petrine Gospel the 3 xix. 10, xxii. 9. . identification is explicit: § 14 βγώ Si 4 Tischendorf,.4j>ocaZi/2)se« apocrypliae, Σίμων JHrpos . 41 f., mines, properly so called. The rock is and in Encycl. Bihl., i., col. 198. AUTHORSHIP clxxix On the whole it may be said that if early Christian tradition favours the identification of John of Ephesus with the Apostle, it does not exclude the opposite hypothesis, whether in the Eusebian form or in that which is now advocated. 7. It would materially assist us in arriving at a decision if we could ascertain the length of the -Apostle's life. Irenaeus, as we have seen, represents John, the disciple of the Lord, as having lived to the time of Trajan, i.e. to the year 98 at least. That the Apostle lived to old age is assumed by ancient writers, e.g. by Clement of Alexandria in his Quis dives 1 , and by Jerome in his commentary on Galatians. There is, however, some evidence to be set on the other side. A MS. of Georgius Hamartolus (cent, ix.) alleges the authority of Papias, in the second book of his work, for the statement that John the son of Zebedee was martyred by the Jews 2 , and the reference to Papias is now supported by an extract printed by Dr C. De Boor from an Oxford MS. of the 7th or 8th century 8 , an epitome probably based upon the Chronicle of Philip of Side (cent. v.). The Ooislin MS. of Georgius adds at Chron. iii. 134 : [Ιωάννη] μαρτυρίου ■ κατηξίωται• Ώ,απίας yap 6 Ίεραπόλεως επίσκοπος, αυτόπτης τούτου γινόμενος, εν τω δευτέριρ λόγω των Κυριακών λογίων φάσκει οτι ΰπο 'Ιουδαίων, αντ^ρεθη, πλήρωσα.'! δηλαδή μετά του αδελφού την του ■χριστού περί αυτών πρόρρησιν. Ί)β Boor's fragment runs : ΤΙαπίας εν τω δευτερω λόγω λ«γ€ΐ δτι Ιωάννης 6 θεολόγος 4, και Ιάκωβος 6 αδελφός αυτοί ΰπο 'Ιουδαίων ανηρεθησαν. With this testimony before us it is not easy to doubt that Papias made some such statement, for the suggestion of a lacuna, offered by Bishop Lightfoot in 1875 5 ,, is now scarcely tenable, though it has been lately revived by Harnack 6 . But if Papias made it, the question remains whether he made it under some misapprehension, or merely by way of expressing his conviction 1 Ap^Eus. H.E. iii. 24, 6 πρεσβύτης... fragmentist." τον -γέροντα. 6 Supernatural Religion, p. 212 : "the 2 SeeNolte in Τ/ϊ. Quartalsckrift, 1862, sentence may have run in the original p. 466. somewhat in this way, ΙΙαπίαί...φάσκΗ 3 In Texte u. Untersuchungen (v. 2, Sn Ιωάννη! [μϊν ύπδ του 'Ρωμαίων βα- ρ. Ι?ο> ι888). σιλ&ιΐ! κατε5ικάσθη, 'Ιάκωβο: δέ] ivb 4 Ό θεολόγοι, as Dr Sanday points out ΊουίαΧων άνηρέθη." (Criticism of the Fourth Gospel,']). 251), • Chronologie, i. p. 665 f. "may quite well have been due to the m 2 clxxx AUTHORSHIP that the prophecy of Mc. x, 39 had found a literal fulfilment. Neither explanation is very probable in view of the early date of Papias 1 . He does not, however, affirm that the brothers suffered at the same time : the martyrdom of. John at the hand of the Jews might have taken place at any date before the last days of Jerusalem. But even if we postpone it to the year 69, and accept the earlier date of the Apocalypse, the book can hardly have come from the hand of the son of Zebedee 2 . 8. Thus^ if the statement of Papias is to be allowed to enter into our calculations, it becomes a very important factor, for it disposes of the Apostolic authorship of the Apocalypse 3 . If we believe it, we shall be compelled to attribute the book to an unknown John, who will probably be the second of the two who are named in the Eusebian fragment of Papias. To John the Elder we shall then ascribe the residence in Ephesus and the exile to Patmos which from the time of Clement of Alexandria it has been usual to ascribe to John the Apostle. The Elder will also be, as it seems, the " disciple whom Jesus loved," and whose personality is felt throughout the Johannine literature. If an unverifiable reference to a lost book seems too narrow a basis for so large a superstructure, there is still the chance of a primary error, a confusion between the Apostle and the Elder, which may have existed even in the mind of Irenaeus, and have perpetuated itself in the writings of his successors. On this supposition, again, the Apocalypse is not the work of the son of Zebedee and probably comes from the disciple who was not of the Twelve. 9. But there is something to be said on the other side. The Synoptists have preserved some characteristic recollections of John the son of Zebedee, from which the reader of the Gospels may gain an impression of the man. He was one of the three who formed the inner circle of the Apostolic college, and had 1 Dr Sanday (Criticism, p. 251) writes: statement from the place of St John's " The natural date for the extraots in Day in early Church Calendars. this chapter [Eus. H.JE. iii. 39] seems to * Unless we follow Epiphanius, who me to be circa 100." places the exile and the visions of the 2 Prof. Burkitt (Gospel History and Apocalypse under Claudius ; see above, its transmission, p. 252 S.) adds an p.c. interesting confirmation of Papias's AUTHORSHIP clxxxi shared with Peter and James opportunities which were denied to the other nine. He was one of the two brethren who received from the Lord the great name of Boanerges, a word which, what- ever its exact history, seems to indicate a strenuous nature 1 . It was John the son of Zebedee who confessed that he forbade one who did not follow our Lord in the company of His disciples ' to use His name for the working of miracles. It was John and his brother who would have called down fire from heaven upon the Samaritan villages which refused to receive the Master on His way to Jerusalem. It was for John and his brother that their mother sought the nearest, places to the Messiah in the glory of His Kingdom. In all these respects the Apocalyptist shews some affinity to the John of the Synoptic Gospels. He is a son of thunder ; he calls down fire from heaven ; his aversion to the enemies of the Christ and His Church is whole-hearted. The hostile Jews of Smyrna and Philadelphia are the synagogue of Satan ; Nero, Domitian, the Empire itself so far as it adopts their policy, is the Beast; Rome is Babylon, the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth. The tone of the book when it lashes the persecutor, the idolater, the 'unclean, is almost truculent ; the Seer's righteous wrath reaches a white heat. The conception of the Christ is one which might seem impossible for the επιστήθιας, though not for the son of Zebedee as he appears in the Synoptists. The Christ of the Apocalypse is infinitely majestic and august, but His predominant characteristic is un- bounded power, shewing itself in a j ust severity. As the Shepherd, He rules with a rod of iron ; as the Lamb, He is terrible in His anger ; as the King, He treads the winepress of the wrath of God. Only once or twice does the tenderness of our Lord's compassion, or the intimacy of His fellowship with men make itself felt- in this book. There are few echoes in the Apocalypse of the intense sympathy for the suffering and for sinners which the Gospels associate with the human life of our Lord. The Ascension and Exaltation account for the power and glory with which He is irivested by the Apocalyptist, but they do not wholly explain the 1 St Mark 2 , p. 60. clxxxii AUTHORSHIP changed point of view; we feel that the Revelation o/Jesvs Christ has passed through a mind which has coloured it with its own severity, and the colouring is not unlike that which the John of the Synoptic Gospels might have been expected to impart. This fact, though far from being decisive 1 , may well lead us to. hesitate before we definitely reject the attribution of the Apocalypse to the Apostle John. 10. The subject must not be dismissed without an attempt to consider, however briefly, the literary relation between the Apo- calypse and the fourth Gospel. Some of the evidence has been collected in an earlier chapter of this introduction 2 . It appears to shew that there is an affinity between the two books, extend- ing occasionally to minute resemblances, but counterbalanced by differences so profound that the doubt raised by Dionysius remains unsolved. (a) The difference of style and language has been explained as due in part to a "difference in the scope of the books 8 ," and in part to their relative dates, (i) Br Lightfoot calls attention to the peculiar style of the apocalyptic passages in the Epistles to the Thessalonians and in 2 Peter; "we seem," he writes, "to have stumbled on a passage out of the Hebrew prophets," adding that this " explains also to a great extent the marked difference in style between the Revelation of St John and his other writings 4 ." But the analogy of apocalyptic passages in other books of the New Testament goes only a little way towards explaining the stylistic eccentricities of the author of the Apocalypse. Even the lxx. version of the Prophets, uncouth and unintelligible as it often is, can shew no succession of anomalies comparable to those of the Revelation of St John. The argument from analogy would be convincing if the style of the Revelation differed from the style of the Gospel in the same or nearly the same degree as the apocalyptic passages in St Paul differ from the rest of his writings. But in the ■ former case the difference is in truth not one of degree, but of kind. It is incredible that the writer of the Gospel could have written the Apocalypse without a conscious effort savouring of literary artifice, (ii) Is this difficulty removed if we suppose that the Apocalypse was written twenty or five-and-twenty years before the Gospel? Dr Westcott (I.e.), arguing for the priority of the Apocalypse, says that it is " very difficult to suppose that the language of the writer of the Gospel could pass at a later time in a Greek-speaking country 1 Witness the severity of John the a Cxi.; see especially p. oxxvff. Elder in 1 Jo. 10 f., and the attitude of 8 Westcott, St John, p. lxxxvi. the fourth Gospel towards " the Jews." * Notes on the Epp. of St Paul, p. 73 f. 'AUTHORSHIP clxxxiii into the language of the Apocalypse," but on the other hand he thinks that " intercourse with a Greek-speaking people would in a short time naturally reduce the style of the author of the Apocalypse to that of the author of the Gospel." To the present .writer the latter hypothesis is at least as difficult as the former. The writer of the Apocalypse may not have been either more or less of a Greek scholar than the writer of the Gospel ; but in their general attitude towards the use of language they differ fundamentally. The diffe- rence is due to personal character rather than to relative familiarity with Greek. And when style expresses individual character it ' undergoes little material change even in a long life of literary activity, especially after the age which St John must have reached in a.d. 69 or 70. (δ) The differences of thought which distinguish the two books have never , been more successfully delineated than by Dr Westcott in his introduction to the Gospel of St John 1 . Of these, too, he finds a sufficient explanation in the priority of the Apocalypse 2 : "the differences," in conception as in language, " answer to differences in situation, and are not inconsistent with identity of authorship." " Of the two books the Apocalypse is the earlier. It is less developed both in thought and\style...togo back from the teaching of the Gospel to that of the Apocalypse... to reduce the full expression of truth to its rudimentary beginnings, seems to involve a moral miracle." But, even conceding the priority of the Apocalypse, can we explain the difference of standpoint by development 1 \s the relation of the Apocalyptic to the Evangelic teaching that which exists between rudimentary knowledge and the maturity of thought ? And is it to be maintained that St John's conceptions of Christian truths were still rudimentary forty years after the Ascension, and reached maturity only in extreme old age? II. But how are we to explain the affinities of the two books — the characteristic phrases and ideas, which they have in common ? It is usual to account for these by saying that all the Johannine books proceed from the same school, the school of John of Ephesus, whether the Apostle or the Presbyter. ' Perhaps it is possible to advance a step further. While the Apocalypse definitely claims to be the work of John, no such claim is put forth in the Gospel; for such passages as Jo. xix. 35, xx. 30 f., do not assert more than that the book contains the testimony of John, and Jo. xxi. 24 οΰτός εστίν 6 μαθητής.. .6 γράψας ταντα is an editorial note which must not be pressed too closely. On the other hand early tradition explicitly states that the Gospel was 1 P. Ixxxv f. 2 On this question see c. ix. of this introduction. clxxxiv AUTHORSHIP written from dictation, and, underwent some kind of revision at the hands of those who received it. The Muratorian fragment thus describes the genesis of the fourth Gospel: "quartum 1 euangeliorum Iohannis ex discipulis. cohor- tantibus condiscipulis et episcopis suis dixit: Conieiunate mihi hodie triduo et quid cuique fuerit reuelatum alterntrum nobis enar- remus. eadem nocte reuelatum Andreae ex apostolis ut recognos- centibus cunctis Iohannes suo nomine cuncta describeret." With this should be compared the singular statement of a Latin prologue to the Gospel, printed in "Wordsworth-White (JV. T. Latine, i. 490 f.): "hoc igitur evangelium post apocalypsin scriptum 2 mani- festum, et datum est ecclesiis in Asia a Iohanne adhuc in corpore constituto, sicut Papias nomine Hierapolitanus episcopus, discipulus Iohannis et carus, in exotericis s suis, id est, in extremis quinque libris, retulit, qui hoc evangelium loharme sub dictante con- scripsit 4 ." An anonymous Greek writer in the catena of Corderius tells the same story : Ιωάννης. . .πάνυ -γηραλεου αντον -γενομένου, ως παρεΒοσαν ήμ'ιν ο τε Ειρηναίος και Έϋσεβιος και άλλοι πιστοί κατά. ΒιαΒοχην γεγονότες Ιστορικοί,... υπηγόρευσε τό ΐϋα-γγελιον τω εαυτόν μαθητή ΤΙαπία.' The first of these statements deserves especial attention. It belongs to. 1 the second century, and proceeds from the Church of Rome, which was in frequent communication with the Churches of Asia Minor, and had recently been visited by Polycarp : it may even have originated with Polycarp. If its main points are true, the fourth Gospel was not written by the hand of John, but dictated — a word which may be interpreted with some laxity ; and it underwent much editorial revision' {recognoscentibus cunctis). In these circumstances it is possible to conceive of the writer of the Apocalypse being the author of the Gospel, in the sense of having supplied the materials from which it was written. 12. But the question of the authorship of the Apocalypse must not be complicated by considerations connected with the still more vexed question of the authorship of the fourth GospeL 1 Cod. quarti. The MSS. haTe, been Essays, p. 69, n. 5 ; Supernatural Be- tacitly corrected in this extract and the ligion, p. 210 ff. next * So Cod. Toletanus ; Cod. res. Suet. 2 This is the order usually alleged ; endsidescripsitveroevangelium.diotante see e.g. the passages collected by Cors- Johanne recte. (The spelling of the sen, Monarch. Prologe, p. 801 (in T. u. MSS. has been conformed to the usual U. xv. 1). orthography.) s On this word see Lightfoot, Biblical AUTHORSHIP ' clxxxv The issue which lies before the stud6nt of the Apocalypse is in fact independent of the decision at which the critics of the Gospel may ultimately arrive. Was the John who wrote the Apocalypse the Synoptic son of Zebedee ? Was it John the son of Zebedee who lived in Asia, and was exiled to Patmos, or was it the mysterious Elder, who is .distinguished by Papias from the Apostle of the same name ? A fair case may be made for either view. On the one hand the general character of the book accords with what the Synoptists relate with regard to the Apostle John, and the main current of Christian tradition favours this conclusion. On the other hand, there is some, uncertainty as to the length of the Apostle's life, and some reason to suspect that the Apostle and a disciple who was not of the Twelve are confused in our earliest authorities. While inclining to the traditional view which holds that the author of the Apocalypse was the Apostle John, the present writer desires to keep an open mind upon the question. Fresh evidence may at any time be produced which will turn the scale in favour of the Elder. There are those whom this indecision will, disappoint, but it is best frankly to confess the uncertainty which besets the present state of our knowledge. We cannot yet with safety go far beyond the dictum of Dionysius : 'ότι, μεν ουν Ιωάννης εστίν 6 ταύτα γράφων, αύτω Χέιγοντι ττιστευτεον ποίος Se ούτος, dSrjXov. XVI. TEXT. ι. The following Uncial MSS. contain the Greek text of the Apocalypse, or a part of it. χ. Cod. Sinaitieus (iV.). Ed. Tischendorf, 1862. A. Cod. Alexandrinus (v.). Ed. Ε. M. Thompson, 1879. C. Cod. Ephraemi Parisiensis (v.). Ed. Tischendorf, 1843. Contains Apoc. i. I — iii. 19, v. 14 — vii. 14, vii. 17 — viii. 5, ix. 16 — x. 10, xi. 3 — xvi. 13, xviii. 2 — xix. 5. P. Cod. Porfirianus Chiavensis (ix.)• Ed. Tischendorf (in mon. sacra ined. vi.), 1869; cf. Gregory, Prolegomena, p. 417. Contains Apoc. i. I — xvi. 12, xviL I — xix. 21, xx. 9 — xxii. 6. Q (= B 2 ). Cod. "Vaticanus Gr. 2066, olim Basiliensis 105 (viii.). Ed. Tischendorf (inapp. Ν. T. Vatic.), 1867; cf. Gregory, Prolegomena, p. 435. J. Cod. Kosinitsanus (ix.) : see Scrivener-Miller, i., p. 377; Gregory, Textkritik des Ν. T., i., p.- 96 ; Kenyon, Hand- book to the textual criticism of the JV. T.,j>. 104. VonSoden, Die Schriften des N. T., 1. i. p. 104, locates it at Drama. v Not yet edited or collated. This MS. contains the whole of the N. T., ,in the order Ε v. Acts Cath. Apoc. Paul. 2. Thus at present there are available only three complete and two imperfect uncials of the. Apocalypse.• The minuscules also are comparatively few; while we have 1725 MSS. of the Gospels, 520 of the Acts and Catholic Epistles, and 619 of Paul, those of the Apocalypse do not reach 230 1 . The following list is based on Dr C. R. Gregory's Prolegomena to Tischendorf and Textkritik. 1 The numbers are von Soden's (1902). TEXT clxxxvii 1. Maihingen, Libr. of the Prince of Ottingen-Wallerstein (xii. or xiii.). The only MS. used by Erasmus in 1516 for the Apocalypse 1 . Rediscovered by Delitzsch in 1861 : collated by Tregelles in 1862. 2. Paris, Bibl. Nat. Gr. 237 (x.) = Acts' 10, Paul 12. [3. A MS. cited by Stephen : otherwise unknown.] 4.' Paris, Bibl. Nat. Gr. 219 (xi;) = Acts 12, Paul 16. [5. Readings cited by Laurentius Valla a. 1440.J 6. Oxford, Bodl. Barocc. 3 (xi.) = Acts 23, Paul 28. 7. London, Brit. Mus. Harl. 5537 (a.d. 1087) = 'Acts 25, Paul 31. 8. London, Brit. Mus. Harl. 5778 (xn.) = Acts 28, Paul 34. 9. Oxford, Bodl. Misc. Gr. 74 (xi.) = Acts 30, Paul 36. 10. Cambridge, Univ. Dd. ix. 69 (xv.) = Ev. 60. [11. 'Petavius 2 = Acts 39, Paul 45, has disappeared.] 12. Rome, Vat. Reg. Gr. 179 (xv.) = Acts 40, Paul 46. 13. Frankfort on Oder, Lyceum (xi.) = Paul 48. , 14. Leicester, Libr. of the Town Council (xv.) = Ε v. 69, Acts 31, Paul 37. 15. Basle, Univ. A.N. iii. 12 (?) : annexed to Cod. Ε of the Gospels, but in a later hand ; contains only Apoc. iii. 3 — iv. 8. 16. Hamburg, City Libr. (xv.) = Acts 45, Paul 52. 17. Paris, Bibl. Nat.; CoisL Gr. 199 (xi.) = Ev. 35, Acts 14, Paul 18. 18. Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coisl. Gr. 202 (xn.) = Acts 18, Paul 22. 19. Paris, Bibl. Nat., Coisl. Gr. 205 (x.) = Acts 17, Paul 21. 20.' Rome, Vat. Libr.,• Gr. 2080 (x. or xi.) = Ev. 175, Acts 41, Paul 194. 2i. Rome, Vallicelli D. 20 (xv.). 22. Rome, Vallicelli B. 86 (xiv.) = Acts 166, Paul 204. 23. Plorenee, Laur. Conv. Soppr. 53 (a.d. 1331) = Ev. 367, Acts 146, Paul 182..' 24. Rome, Vat. Gr. 2062 (x. or xi.) = Acts 160, Paul 193. 25. Rome, Vat. Palat. Gr. 171 (xv.) = Ev. 149, Acts 77 Paul 88. 26. Oxford, Christ Ch. Wake 12 (xi. or xn.) = Ev. 506, Acts 199, Paul 256. 27. Oxford, Christ Ch. Wake 34 ' (xi. or xn.) = Ev. 517, Acts 190, Paul 244. 28. Oxford, Bodl. Barocc. 48 (xv.) : ends at xvii. 5. 1 On the text of Erasmus see Hort, introd^to WH. , § 346. clxxxviii TEXT 29. London, Brit. Mus. Harl. 5613 (a.d. 1407) = Acta 60, Paul 63. 30. Wolfenbiittel, xvi. 7 (xiv.) = Acts 69• 31. London, Brit. Mus. Harl. 5678 (xv.) 32. Dresden, Reg. A 124 (xv.). 33. Vienna, Imp. Gr. th. 23 (xm.) = Ev. 218, Acts 65, Paul 57 : wants xiii. 5^xiv. 8, xv. 7 — xvii. 2, xviii. 10 — xix. 15, xx. 7 — xxii. 31. 34. "Vienna, Imp. Gr. th. 302 (xi.) = Acts 66, Paul 67 ; wants xv. 6 — xvii. 3, xviii. 10 — xix. 9, xx. 8 — xxii. 21. 35. .Vienna, Imp. Gr. th. 307 (xiv.). 36. Vienna, Imp. Libr. suppl. Gr. 93 (xm.). > 37. Borne, Vat. Gr. 366 (xv.) = Acts 72, Paul 79. 38. Rome, Vat. Gr. 579 (xv.). 39. Rome, Vat. Gr. 1 136 a (xiv.) = Paul 85 ; wants i. 1 — 3, 17 ; vi. 18 — xiii. 11. 40. Rome, Vat. Gr. 1160' (xm. or xiv.) = Ε v. 141, Acts 75, Paul 86. 41. Rome, Vat. Reg. Gr. 68 (xv.). 42. Rome, Vat. Pius II Gr. 50 (xn.) = Acts 80, Paul 91. 43. Rome, Barb. iv. 56 (xiv.). Contains Apoc. xiv. 17 — xviii. 20. 44. Rome, Propag. L. vi. 19 (xiv.) = Ev. 180, Acts 82, Paul 92. 45. Florence, Laur•. iv. 32 (a.d. 1092) = Acts 89, Paul 99. 46. Venice, St Mark's 10 (xv.) = Ev. 209, Acts 95, Paul 108. 47. Dresden, Reg. A 172 (xi.) = Ev. 241, Acts 104, Paul 120. 48. Moscow, Syn. 380 (xn.) = Ev.' 242, Acts 105, Paul 121. 49. Moscow, Syn. 67 (xv.). 50. Moscow, Syn. 206 (xv.). 51. Paris, Nat. Gr. 47 (a.d. 1364) = Ev. 18, Acts 113, Paul 132. 52. Paris, Nat. Gr. 56 (xri.) = Acts 51, Paul 133. 53. Paris, Nat. Gr. 59 (xv.) = Acts 116, Paul 136. [54. Vacant.] 55. Paris, Nat. Gr. 101 (xm.) = Acts 118, Paul 138. 56. Paris, Nat. Gr. 102 (xm. or xiv.) = Acts 119, Paul 139. 57. Paris, Nat. Gr. 124 (xvi.) = Ev. 296, Acts 124, Paul 149. 58. Paris; Nat. Gr. 19 (xv. or xvi.). 59. Paris, Nat. Suppl. Gr. 99 (xv. or xvi.). [60. Vacant.] 61. Paris, Nat. Gr. 491 (xm. or xiv.); contains i. I — xxii. 8.. 62. Paris, Nat. Gr. 239 (a.d. 1422). TEXT clxxxix 63. Paris, Nat. Gr. 241 (xvi.). 64. Paris, Nat. Gr. 224 (xt.) = Paul 159. 65. Moscow, Univ. 25 (xn.) ; contains xvi. 20 — xxii. 21. [66. Vacant.] 67. Rome, Vat. Gr. 1743 (a.d. 1301). 68. Rome, Vat. Gr. 1904 (xi. or xn.). Contains Apoc. i. 11 — ii. 20, iii. 16 — vi. 9, vii. 17 — ix. 5, xxi. 18 — xxii. 21. 69. Rome, Vat. Ottob. 258 (xiv.) = Acts 161, Paul 198; a Graeco-Latin text. Wants xviii. 22 — xxii. 21. 70. Rome, Vat. Ottob. 66 (xiv.) = Ev. 386, Acts 151, Paul 199. [71. Vacant.] 72. Rome, Chigi R. iv. 8 (xvi.). 73. Rome, Gorsini 41 E. 37 (xv.). 74. Venice, St Mark's 546 (xi.) = Acts 140, Paul 215. 75. Florence, Laur. iv. 30 (x.) = Acts 86, Paul 96. [76. Vacant; = 75.] 77. Florence, Laur. vii. 9 (xvi.). 78. Rome, Vat. Ottob. Gr. 176 (xv.) = Paul 197. 79. Rome, Vat. Gr. 656 (xiv.). 79 a. Munich, Reg. Gr. 248 (xvi.). 80. Munich, Reg. Gr. 544 (xiv.). 81. Munich, Reg. Gr. 23 (xvi.). 82. Munich, Reg. 211 (xi.) = Acts 179, Paul 128. 83. Turin, Univ. B. v. 8 (302) (xm.) = Ev. 339, Acts 135, Paul 170. 84. Florence, Riccardi 84 (xv.) = Ev. 368, Acts 150. 85. Jerusalem, Holy Sep. 9 (xm.) = Acts 184, Paul 232. 86. St Saba 10 (xiv.) = Ev. 462, Acts 187, Paul 235. 87. Berlin, Reg. Phillipps 1461 (xiv. and xv.) = Acts 178, Paul 242; wants xiv. 4 — 14, xxi. 12 — xxii. 21. 88. Venice, St Mark's 5 (xv.) = Ev. 205, Acts 93, Paul 106. 89. St Saba 20 (xm.) = Ev. 466, Acts 189, Paul 237. 90. Dresden,• Reg. A. 95 (xn.). 91. Rome, Vat. Gr. 1209 (xv.) = Paul 293 [the supplement of Cod. B, to' be found in Vercellone and Cozza's edition, (1868), and in the recent photographic reproduction of the Vatican Codex (Ν. T.)]. 92. Dublin, Trin. A. 4. 21 (xvi.) = Ev. 61, Acts 34, Paul ■ 4°- ' 93. London, Lambeth 1186 (xi.) = Paul 290; wants xiv. 16 — xv. 7; xix. 4 — xxii. 21. 94. London, Brit. Mus. Add. 11837 (a.d. 1357) = Ev. 201, Acts 91, Paul 104. 95. Parham, Curzon 82. 17 (xi. or xn.). cxc . TEXT j 96. Parham, Curzon 93. 28 1 (xiv.). 97. London, Brit. Mus. Add. 17469 (xiv.) = Ev. 498, Acts 198, Paul 255. 98. ' Oxford, Bodl. Canon, gr. 34 (a.d. 1515) = Ev. 522, Acts 200, Paul 257; wants ii. 11 — 23. 99. Naples, Nat. ii. Aa. 7 (xn.) = Acts 83, Paul 93. 100. Naples, Nat. ii. Aa. 10 (xiv. or xv.). 101Γ Petersburg, Muralt 129 (xv.). 102. Paris, Nat. Armen. 9 (xi.) = Acts 301, Paul 259; wants xix. 16 — xxii. zi. 103. Perrara, Univ. 188 NA. 7 (a.d. 1334) = Ev. 582, Acts 206, Paul 262. 104. St Saba 20 (xi.) = Acts 243, Paul 287. . 105. Athens, Nat. (43), Sakk. 94 (xn.) = Acts 307, Paul 469 ; Ap. xxi. 27 — xxii. 21 in a later hand. 106. Zittau, Town Libr. A. 1 (xv.) = Ev. 664, Acts 253, Paul 303. 107. Cheltenham, 7682 (xi.) = Ev. 680, Acts 255, Paul 305. 108. Highgate, Burdett-Coutts ii. 4 (xi.) = Ev. 699, Acts 256, Paul 306. - 109. Venice, St Mark's 6 (xv. or xvi.) = Ev. 206, Acts 94, Paul 107. no. Athens, Nat. th. 12, Sakk. 150 (xiii. or xiv.) = Ev. 757, Acts 260, Paul 309. in. Athens, Nat. 67 s1 , Sakk. 107 (xm.) = Ev. 792. 112. Athens, Mamouka (xn.) = Ev. 808, Acts 265, Paul 314. 113. Grottaferrata A', a'. 1 (xiv.) = Ev.' 824, Acts 267, Paul 316. 114. Pome, Vat. Gr. 1882 (xiv.) = Ev. 866. Contains Apoc. vi. 17- — xiii. 2 in Greek and Latin.. 115. Eome, Vat. Reg. Gr. 6 (a.d. 1454) = Ev. 886, Acts 268, Paul 317. 116. Athos, Greg. 3 (a.d. 1116) = Ev. 922, Acts 270, Paul 320. 117. Athos, Esphigm. 186 (xiv.) = Ev. 986, Acts 277, Paul 326. 118. Athos, Laur. (xiv.) = Ev. 1072, Acts 284, Paul 333. 119. Athos, Laur. (Xiv.) = Ev. 1075, Acts 286, Paul 334. 120. Athos, Panteleem. xxix. (xiv.) = Ev. 1094, Acts 287, Paul 335. 121. Paris, Nat. Coisl. 224 (xi.) = Acts 250, Paul 299. 122. Athens, Nat. th. 217, Sakk. 490 (xiv.) = Acts 251, Paul 301. 123. Paris, Nat. Suppl. Gr. 159 (xiv.) = Ev. 743, Acts 259; 124. Athens, Nat. (64), Sakk. 91 (xn.) = Acts 309, Paul 300; wants xviii. 22— xxii. 21. 125. Escurial, Φ. iii. 6 (xi.) = Acts 235. 126. Escurial, Φ. iii. 18 (x.) = Acts 236. TEXT , exci 127. Lesbos, τοί λαμωνος ζζ (ix. or x.) = Acts 323, Paul 429. 128. "Venice, St Mark's U.-114 (a.d. 1069)= Acts 332, Paul 434. 129. Linkoping, Dioc. Libr. 14. 35 (x. or xi.) = Acts 334, Paul 436. 130. Athos, Iveron' 25 (xi.) = Acts 359, Paul 45 2 [see p. cxcvi.]. 131. Athos, Iveron. 60 (xm.) = Acts 362, Paul 455. 132. Athos, Paul 2 (ix.) = Acts 374, Paul 463. 133.• Chalcis, schol. 26 (x.) = Acts 384, Paul 355. 134. Chalcis, schol. 96 (xn.) = Acts 386, Paul 357. 135. Sinai, 279 (xv.) = Acts 399, Paul 367 ; contains i. 1 — xiii. 8. 136. Vienna, Imp. Gr. th. 69 (a.d. 1507). 137. Yienna, Imp. Gr. th. 163 (xv.). 138. Yienna, Imp. Gr. th. 220 (xv.). Ί39. Paris, Nat. Gr. 240 (a.d. 1543). 140. Paris, Nat. Coisl. Gr. 256 (xi. or xn.). 141. Athens, τήι βονλής (χνι.). 142. Escurial, T. iii. 17 (x.). 143. Escurial, X. iii. 6i(a.d. 1 107). 144. Madrid, O. 19, no. 7 (xvi.). 145. Florence, Laur. vii. 29 (xvi.); contains i. 1 — vii. 5. 146. Messina, Univ. s 99 (xiii. ). 147. Modena, Este iii. E..I (xv. or xvi.). 148. Modena, Este iii.' F.. 12 (xv.). 149. Rome, Angel. A. 4. 1 (xiv. or xv.). 150. Rome, Angel. B. 5. 15 (xv.). 151. Rome, Chigi R.V. 33 (xiv.). 152. Rome, Yat. Gr. 370 (xi.). 153. Rome, Yat. Gr. 542 (a.d. 1331). 154. Rome, Yat. Gr. 1190 (xv. or xvi.). 155. Rome, Vat. Gr. 1426 (xmi.). 156. Milan, Ambr. H. 104. sup. (a.d. 1434) = Acts 139, Paul 174. 157., Rome, Yat. Gr. 1976 (xvi.). 158. Rome, Yat. Gr. 2129 (xvi.). 159. Rome, Yat. Ottob. Gr. 154 (xv.). 160. Rome, Yat. Ottob. Gr. 283 (a.d. 1574). 161. Rome, Yat. Palat. Gr. 346 (xv.). 162. Yenice, St Mark's i. 40 (xvi.). 163. Yenice, St Mark's ii. 54 (xv. or xvi.). 164. Athos, Anna π (a.d. 1356). 165. Athos, Vatoped. 90. cxcu TEXT 166. Athos, Vatoped. 90 (2) (1). 167. Athos, Dionys. 163 (ad. i622)=Evst. 642, Apost. 170. 168. Athos, Docheiar. 81 (a.d. 1798). 169. Athos, Iveron 34 (xiv.). 170. Athos, Iveron 379 (x.). 171. Athos, Iveron 546 (xiv.). 172. Athos, Iveron 594 (xvn.). 173. Athos, Iveron 605 (a.d. 1601); 174. Athos, Iveron 644 (a.d. 1685). 175. Athos, Iveron 661 (a.d. 1562). 176. Athos, Konstamon. 29 (xvi.). 177. Athos, Konstamon. 107 (xin.). 178. Patmos, St John 12 (xiv.) = Apost. 161. 179. Patmos, St John 64 (xn.). 180. Florence, Laur.Conv.Soppr. 150 (xn.)=Acts 149, Paul 349: Graeco-Latin. 181. London, Brit. Mus. Add. 28816 (a.d. ini) = Acts 205, Paul 477. 182. Dresden, Peg. A. 187 (xvi.). 183. Saloniki, ελληνικού -γυμνασίου ίο (χ.) = Apost. 163. 184. Leyden, Univ. Isaac Voss Gr. 48 (a.d. 1560). 185. Cambridge, Univ. (xi. or xn.) = Ev. 1277, Acts 418, Paul 484. 186. Athos, Pantocr. 44 (x.); contains xii. 4 — xxii. 21 [see p. cxcvi.]. 187. [Greg. 495.] Jerusalem, Patr. 38 (xi.) = Acts (Paul) 495. 188. [Greg. 500.] Jerusalem, Patr. Saba 665 (xi.) = Acts (Paul) 500. 189. [Greg. 501.] Jerusalem, Patr. Saba 676 (xn.) = Acts (Paul) 501. 190. [Greg. 504.] Jerusalem, Patr. Staur. 57 (xn.• — xm.) = , Acts 504, Evl. 991 b. 191. [Greg. 506.] Constantinople, Holy Sep. 303. 2 (xiv.). 192. [Greg. 511.] Athens, Nat. Sakk. 142 (xv.). 193. [Greg. 1328.] Jerusalem, Patr. Saba 101 (xiv.) = Ev. 1328. 194. [Greg. 1380.] Athos, Greg. 3 (a.d. iii2) = Ev. (Acts, Paul) 1380. 195. [Greg. 1384.] Andros, Παναχρώ/του 13 (χι.) = Εν. (Acts, Paul) 1384. Von Soden {Die Schriften des JHf.T. I. i. p. 289) raises the number of Apocalypse MSS. to 229, of which 223 are cursives. TEXT cxcm Of the cursive texts, so far as they are known, the following are perhaps specially noteworthy: I, 6, 7, 12, 14, 31, 36, 38, 91, 92, 93,95, 130, 152, 170, 186. An appreciation of the available uncials is given by Dr Hort in his introduction to The N.T. in the original Greek, § 344. * 3. The ancient Versions of the Apocalypse are as follows : I. Latin '(latt.). (a) Old Latin (lat*') 1 . g. Cod. Holmiensis (nil.), known as Gigas, from its size ; a Bohemian MS. now at Stockholm. Ed. Belsheim, 1878. The text of the Apoca-lypse is " late European " (WH, Intr. § 11 6); " scheint italienischer Art zu sein " (Gregory, Tk. p. 608). h (or reg). Cod\ Floriacensis (vn.), formerly at Pleury, now at Paris. Ed. Berger, 1889. , Offers, according to WH., I.e., "a purely African text." Contains only Apoc. i. 1 — 24, viii. 7 — ix. 12, xi. 16 — xii. 5, xii. 6 — 14, xiv. 15 — xvi. 5^ m. Text of the Apocalypse in the Speculum, (a Pseudo- Augustinian treatise de divinis scripturis). The book is edited by Weihrich in the Vienna Corpus scr. eccl. lai., vol. xii. p. 296 ff. (1887). The fragments of the N..T. text are collected by Belsheim (1899). Hort (Gregory, Tk. p. 606) was disposed to regard the Ν. T. text of the Speculum as Spanish, or a recension parallel to the European text. Prim. Text of the Apocalypse in the commentary of Primasius' (vi.). Ed. Haussleiter, 1891 (in Zahn's Forschungen, iv.). (β) Vulgate (lat v *). am. ■ Cod. Amiatinus (c. A.D. 700). demid. Cod. Demidovianus (xii.). fuld. Cod. Puldensis (vi.). . harl. Cod. Harleianus (ix.). lipss. 4 ' 5 • 6 • Codd. Lipsienses (xiv., xv.). tol. Cod. Toletanus (viii.). vg.cie. Edition of the Vulgate issued by Clement VIII. in 1592 (Vercellone, Biblia sacra vulgatae editionis Sixti V. et Clementis VIII. iussu recognita atque edita. Romae, 1861). II. Syrian (syrr). (a) Supplement to the Vulgate Syriacor Peshitta (syr., Gwynn's 2). Ed. Leusden and Schaaf, Leyden 1708, 17 17. The canon of the true Peshitta did not contain the Apocalypse (above, p. cxv.), and the version of this book printed in Schaafs edition and originally published by De Dieu in 1 On the Old Latin version (or ver- 2 — 12, xi. 18 — xii. 11, xv. 4 — xvi. 5 is sions) of the Apocalypse see H. Linke, given in J.T.S. viii. 29 (Oct. 1906), Studien zur Itala, i. ; Breslau, 1889. p. 96 ff., but it adds little of importance - A fresh reading of ft in Apoc. ix. for our purpose. s. R. η cxciv TEXT 1629 is that of Thomas of Harkel (a.d. 616), as has been placed beyond doubt bynotes appended to aFlorentine MS. 1 (β) A version printed in 1897 by Dr Gwynn 2 , Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Dublin (syi* 1 "•, Gwynn,'s S), from a MS. (xn.) in the library of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. As Dr Gwynn shews 3 , syr sw - is prior to syr., and is probably " the work of Poly carpus, and belongs to his version of the whole New Testament into Syriac, the Philoxenian proper of a.d. 508." Thus our extant Syriac texts of the Apocalypse corre- spond in character with the Philoxenian and Harkleian versions respectively. The book was not included in the canon of the Peshitta. III. Armenian (arm). On the editions of the Armenian N. T. see St Mark, p. ci. Zohrab held that the Apocalypse was not translated into Armenian before the eighth century, and Goussen (Studia tlieologiea, ii.), while printing a version of the Apocalypse which he calls antiquissima and regards as based on a copy of extraordinary age (mirae vetus- tatis exemplar habuisse videtur fontem), pronounces the ordinary . Armenian Apocalypse to be a work of cent, xn. 4 Since th'e publication of the first edition of this commentary, Mr F. C. Conybeare has issued his promised edition of the Armenian Apocalypse, under the auspices of the Text and Translation Society. Besides the Armenian text and an English translation the book contains a critical introduction, in which Mr Conybeare shews (i) that the Apocalypse was admitted into the Armenian canon through the influence of Nerses of Lambron in the twelfth century ; and (2) that Nerses produced a recension in which he revised an older version traceable to the first years of the fifth century. Mr Conybeare has used four MSS. which give pre-Nersesian texts, viz., a Bodleian MS. dated a.d. 1307 (1), a British Museum MS. (2), a MS. of the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris (3), and a Jerusalem MS. dated a.d. 1 191 (4). His collations have been employed in this edition to correct and, to some extent, supplement' Tischendorf's references to the Armenian version. IV. Egyptian (aegg). (a) Memphitic dr Bohairic (me). Ed. D. "Wilkins, 1717; G. Horner, 1898 — 1905. Mr Horner prints the text of the Apocalypse from the Curzon MS. 128, with the variants of ten other MSS. In the present edition of this com- mentary the readings of me have been corrected with the help of Mr Horner's translation of his text. (β) Thebaic or Sahidic (the). Large fragments of the Sahidic Apocalypse are known to have survived, including cc, i. 1 See a paper contributed to Herma- memoir in the Transactions of the thena (x., no. xxiv., 1898) by Dr Gwynn, Royal Irish Academy for 1891. to whose kindness I owe this information. a His edition was preceded by a s Gwynn, Apocalypse, pp. xciii., xcvii. 4 Gregory, Tk. ii. p. 368. TEXT cxcv 13 — ix. 21, x. 6 — xvi. 18, xvii. 2 — xviii. 2, xviii. 12 — 23, xviii. 25 — xix. 2, xix. 7 — xxi. 9, xxi. 25 — xxu- 21 1 . Some of these have been collected by Amelineau (Zeitschri/t f. Aeg. Spraehe, xxvi. 1888), and Goussen {Apocalypsis S. lohannis Apostoli, Leipzig, 189s) 2 . , The Apocalypse seems to have formed no part of the original Bohairic or Sahidic Ν. T., or at any rate it was held to foe of inferior authority ; for with few exceptions it is written separately from the rest of the Ν. T., and it is not represented in the Copto- arabic vocabularies 3 . V. Ethiopia (aeth). Roman edition, 1548 — 9. Ed. Piatt, 1826 — 1830 (1874). Cf. Dr Charles in Hastings, D. B. i. p. 791. VI. Arabic (ar). , Ed. Erpe, Leyden, 1616; Paris polyglott, 1645 ; Roman edition of 1703. Cf. Prof. Burkitt in Hastings, D. B. i. p. 136 ff. The Arabic versions of the Apocalypse are said to "yary greatly," and to shew the influence of the Coptic and Syriac 4 . In their L'Apocalypse en Frcmcais, MM. Paul Meyer and Del isle have printed a twelfth century version of which the earliest MSS. are written in the Anglo-Norman dialect. English versions of the French Apocalypse were current in the fourteenth century, and on one of these the later Wycliffite version was based. An interesting account of the early English Apocalypse is given by Miss A. C. Paues, late Fellow of Newnham College, Ph. D., Upsala, in her degree, thesis : A fourteenth century English Biblical Version (Cambridge, 1902, 1904). Miss Paues, to whom this information is due, is pre- paring for publication a fuller description of these versions. 4. The patristic evidence for the text of the Apocalypse, if not so extensive as in the case of some of the other books of - the New Testament, is both early and important. The book is cited, sometimes in large contexts, by Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Origen, and Methodius, and, among Latin fathers of the Ante-Nicene period, by Tertullian and Cyprian, and by Augustine. But the most important witness under this head is Primasius, whose commentary retains its original text, and has secured for the Apocalypse " the unique ad- vantage of having been preserved in a Latin text at once continuous and purely African 6 ." The African text of Tyconius also is repre- 1 This information is due to the kind- 8 Scrivener-Miller, ii. p. 1 23 ; Gregory, ness of Mr Homer. Cf. Gregory, pro- prolegg. 861, 864, Tfe. ii. pp. 531, 534; legg* p. 865 ; Tk. ii. p. 337. Λ specimen Horner, iii. p. x. See above, p. cxvii. of a British Museum fragment is given 4 Burkitt, I.e. Scrivener-Miller, ii. by Dr Kenyon (p. 160). p. 162 f.; Gregory, prolegg. p. 929 f. 2 F. Eobinson in Hastings, D. B., p. 5 Hort (introduction to WE, § 117). 66g; Gregory, Tk. ii. p. 537. ' cxcvi TEXT sented, probably with fair accuracy, in the pseudo-Augustinian homilies 1 which embody much of his commentary. On the com- mentary of Victorinus some doubt still rests, and his text, as printed, is largely Vulgate in character. In the MSS. of the" commentary of Andreas the Greek text of the Apocalypse varies considerably 2 ; its evidence has been used in the apparatus of this edition only where the MSS. agree. 5. The grouping of the authorities for the text of the Apocalypse is a task of more than ordinary difficulty, for, as Dr Hort remarks, "historical landmarks are obscure, and familiar documents assume a new position 3 ." Since Dr Hort's Introduction was written, much has been done to bring the problem nearer to a solution, and the student of the text will find help in various directions from the following writers: Weiss,• .Die Johannes- Apokalypse (in Texte und Untersuchungen VII. 1, 1891); Bousset, Zur Textkritik der Apokalypse (in T. u. U. xi. 4, 1894); Bousset, Die Offenbarung Johannis, 1 896; Haussleiter, Die lateinische Apokalypse der alten afrikanischen Kirche (in Zahn's Forschungen IV., 1891); Gwy'nn, The Apocalypse of St John, in a Syriac Version (1897). The text of the present edition will be found to differ only in a few places 4 from that of Westcott and Hort, although the editor has held himself free in each case to follow to the best of his own judgement the leading of the evidence. In the apparatus he has used the materials collected in Teschendorf's editio octava critica maior (1872), as amended in Gregory's prolegomena iii. (i894) 5 , and he has added to them the evidence of Dr Gwynn's Syriac, and of two early Athos minuscules (130, 186 6 ), which were kindly photographed for his use by Professor Lake, ' of Oxford and Leyden. It is hoped that an apparatus thus constructed, though far from complete, will be sufficient to provide the student of the Apocalypse with opportunities of testing for himself the principles of criticism which the works enumerated above will suggest. 1 Migne P. L. xxxv. Of. the citations discussed in the commentary, in the Regulae of Tyoonius (ed. Bur- 5 Pp. 1298 — 1-302. kitt, pp. 3, 50, 59, 60 f., 71, 82). * On these MSS. see Lambros, Cata- 2 For those used by Tisohendorf see logue of the Greek MSS. on Mt Athos, i. Gregory prolegg. p. 1160. p. 97, ii. p. 3. It may be added that a- 8 Introduction to WH., § 344. freiA collation has been made of cod. 4 The more important of these are A, from the London photograph. XVII. COMMENTARIES 1 . The literature of the Apocalypse is immense, but it is un- equally distributed in regard both to time and to place of origin. From the Greek-speaking East, which produced, the book, no exposition has reached us which is earlier than the sixth century, and none of any importance which is later than the tenth. The West, on the other hand, began to comment upon St John's prophecy in the time of Diocletian, and has occupied itself with Apocalyptic problems from the days of Irenaeus to our own. The following list is fairly, complete so far as regards the patristic period, but from the age of Charlemagne to the end of the Middle Ages it has been thought sufficient to notice the more important commentaries. Since the invention of printing the output of books upon the Apocalypse has steadily increased, and a bare enumeration of them would occupy more space than we can afford. Only those have been mentioned which possess some permanent value, or may be regarded as representative of the several schools of Apocalyptic interpretation. A. Greek commentaries. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, who nourished under Marcus Aurelius, wrote, according to Eusebius, H.E. iv. 26, wepl τον 1 For a detailed account of commen- winch I have not been able to consult, taries on the Apocalypse see Liicke, Elliott {florae Apocalypticae, iv . pp. 275 Versuch einer vollstdndigen Einleitung — 528) is especially full on the post- in die Offenbarung des Iohannes (Bonn, Eeformation period, but must be used 1852), pp. 951 — 1070; and Bousset, Die with caution; his zeal for the anti- Offenbarung Iohannis neu bearbeitet papal interpretation leads him at times (Gottingen, 1896), pp. 5 c — 141. Liicke to do scant justice to writers, whether refers to Stosch, Gatalogus rariorum in Boman Catholic or Protestant, who take Apoc. Ioannis commentariorum, a book another view. cxcviii ' COMMENTARIES διαβόλου και τί /s άττοκαλυ'ι/'εωϊ 'Ιωάννου — probably a treatise on the Devil in which certain passages in the Apocalypse (e.g. cc. xii., xx.) came under discussion. A fragment of this work may survive 1 in Origen, in Ps. iii. tit. : MeXi'riov yovv ό iv rrj 'Ασία φησιν αντον. [sc. τον ΆβΐσσαΧωμ]. ΐΧναι τύπον τον διαβόλου ίττανασταντος rjj Χρίστου βασιΧΐία., και τούτου μόνον μνησθΐίς ουκ ίπΐξΐργασατο τον τόττον. On a Pseudo-Melito super Apocalypsin see Harnack, Gesch. I. p. 254. Irenaeus (ii.). A MS. found at Altenberg by Martene and Durand 8 bore the title Herenei Lugdunensis episcopi in Apocalypsin, but it proved to contain extracts from later writers as well as from Irenaeus. The statement of Jerome, de virr. illustr. ii. 9, " Apocalypsin, quam interpretantur Iustinus martyr et Hirenaeus," is satisfied by the expositions of certain Apocalyptic passages which are found in their works (cf. Harnack, Gesch. i. p. 272). Hippolytus (ii. — iii.). Jerome (op. cit. 61) says of this profuse writer : " scripsit nonnullos in scripturas commentaries, e quibus haec repperi...2)e Apocalypsi." The exact title of this work is given on the back of the Chair as γττερ τογ κλτλ Igj&nhn 6[γΑ]π~ελιογ κλι ΑΠθκ&λγψεωο, on which Lightfoot (Clement ii. p. 374; cf. p. 420) remarks : " from the preposition (virep, not wepi), and from the association ' of the two words together, it is a safe inference that this was an apologetic work directed against those persons who objected to both works alike," i.e. the so-called Alogi. Harnack, on the other hand, writes (Gesch. ii. p. 642): " De Apocalypsi ist wahrscheinlich...als besonderes Werk zu betrachten... welches wahr- scheinlich auch Andreas fur seinen Commentar benutzt hat (zu c. 13. 1 und 17. 10)." Clement of Alexandria (ii. — iii.), according to Eusebius, H.E.yi. 14, commented in his Ύχοτυη-ωσ -cis on all the canonical books not excepting the antilegomena 3 . Origen (iii.), it is known, intended to expound the Apocalypse ; cf. in Matt. § 49 (Lommatzsch) : " omnia haec exponere singillatim ...non est temporis huius; exponentur autem tempore suo in Eevelatione Ioannis...horum autem principal.es expositiones atque probationes oportet fieri cum ipse liber propositus f uerit nobis ad exponendum." But the commentary on Matthew was probably one of his later works, belonging to his sixtieth year (a.d. 246*), and, as his' death followed in 253, it must be feared that he did not succeed in reaching the Apocalypse ; certainly no fragments of homilies or a commentary on that book from his pen have been produced. Oecumenius (vi.), Bishop ( of- Tricca in Thessaly. A complete commentary under this name has been discovered in a Messina MS. (cod. S. Salvatore 99, xii.) B by Dr Γ. Diekamp, who described it in 1 Harnack, Geechichte, i. p. 248. D.C.B, iv. p. m. 2 See their Voyages Litterairex, ii. e The work ie also found, but in » p. 260, cited by Harnaok, Gesch. i. shorter form, in a Turin MS. (cod. gr. p. 264. 84) and the Eoman MSS. Vat. gr. 1426, 8 Of. Zahn, Forschungen, iii. p. 154 ft. Ottob. gr. 126 — 8. 4 Westcott in Smith and Wace's COMMENTAKIES cxcix • the Berlin Sitzungsberichte der kon. preuss. Akademie der Wissen- schaflenior 1901 (p. 1046 ff.) 1 . The commentary is entitled Ερμη- νεία, της ΑίΓοκαλυι/Έω? του θεσπέσιου και εΰαγγελιστοΰ και θεολόγου Ιωάννου ή συγγραφεΐσα παρά ΟΙκουμενίου. ■ It claims to have been written more than 500 years after the Apocalypse (cf. i. 2 17817 πλείστου δεδραμηκότος χρόνου... ετών πλειόνων η πεντακοσίων), but there are indications which mark the work as not much if at all later than a.d. 600. The discoverer proceeds to shew that Oecumenius has been used by Andreas, and must therefore in future take precedence of him and stand first in the short list of extant Greek commentators upon the Apocalypse. Andreas 2 , metropolitan of Cappadocian Caesarea has left us a Ερμηνεία ets την Άποκάλυψιν which may be assigned to the second half of the sixth century. He quotes patristic authorities . from Papias to Cyril of Alexandria, and refers (on xx. 7 f.) to the invasion of the Empire by barbaric hordes ά καλονμεν Οΰννικά, and to Dionysius the Areopagite, who is styled έ μακάριος. While the work of Andreas takes account of earlier writers and occasionally quotes them, yet, as the preface leads the reader to expect, it is in no sense a catena, but an independent effort to interpret the book. The interpretation is on Origenistic lines, but though it allegorizes to some extent, an attempt is made from time to time to find his- torical fulfilments of the Apocalyptic visions. Such a work naturally attracted attention in the Greek-speaking East, and from, the ninth 1 century onwards the commentary of Andreas was widely tran^ scribed : nearly a third of the known minuscule MSS. of the Apocalypse contain it, viz. codd. 1, 18, 21, 35, 36, 43, 49, 59, 62, 63, 67, 68, 70 a, 72, 73, 77, 79, 79 a, 80, 81, 100, 101, 123, 136, 137, 138, 139, 144, 145, 147,• 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 164, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 174, 175, 179, 184, i86 a , 192, and seven more which have not repeived a number. The edilio princeps of Andreas is that of Sylburg (1596). The commentary was also printed in the Bibliothecae Patrum of 1589, 1618, 1644 and 1677 4 ; 'in the present volume it is quoted from Migne, P. G. cvi. Aeethas, a' successor of Andreas in the see of Caesarea (ix. — x.Y occupied himself with a compilation in which his predecessor holds a large place; the title is Ίυλλογη t εξηγήσεων εκ διαφόρων άγιων ανδρών, or, according to another MS., "Εκ των 'Ανδρέα. . .πεπονημενων σννοψις σχολική, παρατεθεΐσ'α νπο Άρεθα. His date is now given as c. A.D. 900 5 . 1 I owe. this reference to Mr 0. H. s Of this MS. a photograph is shewn Turner's article Patristic Commentaries, opposite. Cod. 186 = Athos, Pantocra- in Hastings' D.B. v. p. 523. tor 44, was photographed for the writer 2 On Andreas (Andrew) of Caesarea by Mr (now Professor) Lake in 1901-2, see Fabricius-Harles, viii. p. 696 ff. ; and a collation of its text of the Apoca- Smith and Wace, Ώ.0-.Β. i. p. 154 f . ; lypse has been made for this edition. Herzog-Hauck, i. p. 514 ft.; Bousset, * Ittig, De bibliothecis et catenis pa- Die Offeribarung, p. 68 f. ; Gregory, pro• trum, pp. 52, 109, 426, 492. , legg.p. 1159; von Soden, pp. 284ΓΪ., 5 See Harnack in T. u. U. i.i.pp.jgff., 7°2 f. 43 f. cc , .COMMENTARIES Arethas is printed in the Cologne and Lyons Biblioihecae Patrum 1 , in Cramer's Catena, viii. pp. 181 — 496, and in MigneP. G. cvi.; the quotations in the notes of this volume are from Migne. A critical 1 edition of Andreas and Arethas is still a desideratum. Besides the commentary of Andreas and the compilation of Arethas we have in print (Cramer, viii. pp. 497 — 582, from MS. Coisl. ,224, f. 333 v., sqq.) a briefer exposition of which Diekamp truly says that it is " nichts Anderes als der etwas verkiirzte Com- mentar des Andreas 2 ." Cramer himself represents it as Oecume- nian (ib. p. vi.), for what reason it does not appear; Montfaucon (Biblioth. Coislin., p. 275) mentions no name in connexion with it, though Oecumenius is named in the heading .to the previous item (p. 330 v.). B. Syriac commentaries. " The chief Nestorian commentator, Isho'-dad of Merw (fl. a.d. 850), covers both Testaments in his exegetical works, but passes over the four shorter Catholic Epistles and the Apocalypse, which were not included in the canon of the Peshitta. The Jacobite Barhebraeus (f A.D. 1286) in his Ausar Raze has. the same range and the same exceptions as Isho'-dad. The known Syriac commen- taries on the Apocalypse seem to be no more than three, and they are unpublished. (1) An anonymous commentary of unknown date accompanies the text in Brit. Mus. Add. 17 127; an extract from the comment on c. iii. is given• in "Wright's Catalogue of Syriac MSS., part ii. p. 1020 f. (2) The second commentary is that of Jacob (Dionysius) Barsalibi (f a.d. 1 171), preserved in Brit. Mus. Bich. 7 185 ; extracts are given by Dr Gwynn in Hermathena vi., vii. (3) The third is found in Cambr. Univ. Lib. Add. 1970, a Nestorian MS. of the eighteenth century. An extract from it is given in the Catalogue of Syriac MSS. in the Library of the University of Cambridge, vol. i. p. 44 f. It is apparently a recent production, not much earlier in date than the MS. 3 " C. Latin commentaries from the third century to the sixteenth. Victorious, Bishop 4 of Pettau, in Pannonia (iii.) 5 . Of this earliest of Latin interpreters of the Apocalypse Jerome, himself a Pan- nonian, writes (de virr. ill. 74): "Victorinus, Pitabionensis episco- pus, non aeque Latine ufc Graece noverat. unde opera eius grandia sensibus viliora videntur compositione verborum. sunt autem haec : •. commentarii in Genesim, in Exodum...in Apocalypsim Iohannis." Elsewhere he says of Victorinus (ep. 58) : " quod intellegit eloqui non potest," and again (ep. 70) : "licet desit eruditio, non tajnen deest eruditionis voluntas." According to the same authority, 1 Ittig, op. cit. pp. 438, 504. 4 " Ex oratore episcopus," according 2 Similarly Bousset, Comm. p. 70. ' to Cassiodoriua (De inst. div. libr. 5). 8 I owe this account of the Syriac * On Victorinus and his commentary commentaries on the Apocalypse to the on the Apocalypse see Harnack, Gesch. kindness of my colleague, Dr W. Emery i. - p. 371ft., and Kattenbusch, Der Barnes, Hulsean Professor of Divinity. Apost. Symbol, p. 212. COMMENTARIES cci •Victorinus was a chiliast (de virr. ill. 18 : "Tertullianus...et Vic- torinus Pitabionensis et Lactantius hac opinione ducuntur"), and in his expository methods a follower of Origen (ep. 62 : "taceo de Yictorino Pitabionensi et ceteris qui Origenem in explanatione dumtaxat scripturarum secuti sunt"). His exact date is not known, but he suffered martyrdom (de virr. ill. 74 : " ad extremum martyrio coronatus est "), probably during the last persecution — an epoch when the Apocalypse may well have recovered in the eyes of Christians much of the freshness of its original interest. A commentary on the Apocalypse bearing the name of Victorinus is extant in two forms — a shorter form printed in De la Bigne's Bibliotheca Patrum, t. vi. (Paris, 1575) 1 , and a longer which appears in Gallandi, t. iv., and in Migne, P. L. v. In the Zeitschrift f.< kirchl. Wissenschaft u. kirchl. Lebenlor 1886 Haussleiter maintained that neither form represents the original work as it came from the pen 1 of Victorinus. The shorter form is a revision of Victorinus by Jerome, who used also the commentary of Tyconius, and the longer is based on a later recension of the shorter. Since this theory was broached Haussleiter has been engaged in preparing an edition of Victorinus for the Vienna Corpus, and his researches have con- vinced him that the text presented by Cod. Vat. Ottob. Lat. 3288 A approaches more nearly to the original than either of the printed texts, and in particular that it contains the chiliastic end of the commentary, which Jerome removed 2 . In the notes of the present volume ' Victorinus ' stands for the longer form of the Jerome- Victorinus commentary, which is quoted from Migne's reprint. Tyconius (Ί Tichonius, Ticonius 3 ), African and Donatist, followed Victorinus after an interval of about a century ; his floruit is usually given as c. a.d. 390. According to Gennadius of Marseilles he was " in Divinis litteris eruditus iuxta historian! sufficienter, in saecularibus non ignarus." His exposition differed widely from his predecessor's : " exposuit et Apocalypsin Iohannis ex integro, nihil in ea carnale sed totum intellegens spiritale...mille quoque annorum regni in terra iustorum post, resurrectionem futuri suspicionem tulit...nequeduas in carne resurrectiones mortuorum futuras, unam iustorum et alteram iniustorum, sed unam et tune semel omnium." Donatist as he was, Tyconius, wins high praise for his exposition of the Apocalypse from one who was no mean judge of the inter- preter's art. Bede writes of him : " [Apocalypsin] et vivaciter intellexit, et veridice satisque catholice disseruit, praeter ea dun- taxat loca in quibus suae partis... schisma defendere nisus, perse- 1 Ittig, p. 52. Ik had'been previously p. 103. On Tyconius himself and his edited in an appendix to Theophylact commentary see D.G.B. iv. 1025 ff., on St Paul by Jo, Lornicerus in 1543. Haussleiter in Zeitschrift f. kirchl. s See Th. Litteraturblatt, Apr. 26, TFissensc/ia/f ete.,vii.(i886),p.239ff.,and 1895; and cf. J. B. Harris, in Expositor, in Zahn's Forschvjigen, iv. (1891); Tr. v. 1. p. 448, and A. Ehrard, Die altchr. Hahn, Tyconius-Studien in Bonwetsch Litteratur, von 1884-1900, i. p. 484 ft. and Seeberg's Studien, vi. 1 (1900) ; and 3 On the spelling of this name Bee Prof. Burkitt's edition of the Eegulae, Burkitt in Texts and Studies, iii. 1. already named. ecu COMMENTARIES cutiones quas ipsi...pertulerunt...in eadem gloriatur Apocalypsi fuisse praedictas 1 ." That this judgement is just is shewn by the free use which was made of Tyeonius not only by Bede himself, but by a succession of Catholic writers — Primasius, Beatus, the author of the homilies on the Apocalypse printed in the appendix to the third volume of the Benedictine Augustine and -in Migne, P. L. xxxv. 2 , and the commentary published by Dom Amelli in the Spicilegium Casinense (iii. pp. 263 — 331) 3 - The work of Tyeonius as a whole is perhaps no longer extant, but it can be largely recon- structed from those Catholic expositors who followed in his steps. Primasius, of Hadrumetum' in Byzacena 4 , another African, but a Catholic Bishop, wrote on the Apocalypse before 543-4, when his commentary is mentioned by Cassiodorius (de inst. div. libr. 9 : "nostris quoque temporibus Apocalypsis...Primasii antistitis Afri- cani studio... quinque libris exposita est"). It was thus an early work, completed before Primasius was embroiled in the controversy raised in Africa by the 'Three Chapters.' With regard to its. character it possesses, as Ilaussleiter remarks, only a secondary value, being largely made up of Tyeonius and Augustine. Augus- tine is in places (e.g. in the comment on Apoc. xx.) transferred almost bodily to the pages of Primasius ; Tyeonius is a " preciosa in stercore gemma," which the Bishop picks out of the mire to adorn his pages. The commentary of Primasius has come down to us entire. The ediiio princeps was that of Cervicornus (Hirschhorn), Cologne, 1535. This was followed by editions in the Cologne, Paris, and Lyons biblwthecae of 1618, 1644, and 1677 s ;. the Paris edition is followed generally in Migne, P. L. Ixviii., whose reprint is quoted in the present volume. The African Latin text of the Apocalypse, which happily has been preserved in the commentary of Primasius, is cited from Haussleiter's admirable edition in Zahn's Forschungen. It is in this text that the value of Primasius to the modern student chiefly lies : see above, p. exev. Apeingius (vi.) Bishop of Pax (whether Pax Julia = Beja, in Portugal, or P. Augusta = Badajoz, in Spain), under Theudis, King of the Visigoths (a.d. 531 — 548), was working upon the Apocalypse nearly about the time when Primasius wrote his commentary. So we learn from Isidore of Seville (de virr. ill. 30: " Am-ingius, eccle- siae Pacensis Hispatiiarum episcopus...claruit temporibus Theudis principis Gothorum"). The commentary of Apringius was published 1 Migne, P. L. xciii. eol. 132 f. Class. Review, iii. p. 222. s See Haussleiter, Zeitschrift, p. 240. s See H. L. Eamsay, Commentaire de The pseudo-Augustiuian homilies are V Apocalypse par Beatus, p. 1 7 f. represented in the apparatus to the text 4 On Primasius see Haussleiter in of this commentary by the symbol Zahn, and in Herzog-Hauek, xvi. p. anon au s, used by Tuichendorf. In a 55 ff., as well as his earlier 'programm,' St John's (Cambridge) MS. this 00m- Leben u. Werke des Bisclwfs Primasius mentary is entitled : "traetatusGennadii (Erlangen, 1887); and cf. Kihn, Theo- presbiteri Massiliae de mille annis et de dor v. Mopsuestia, p. 248 ff. Apocalypsi"; Bea Dr Μ. B. James in " Ittig, pp. 109, 439, 505. COMMENTARIES cciii at. Paris in 1900 by Dom Feroten from a MS. belonging to the "University of Copenhagen. Unfortunately the MS. gives the work of Apringius only so far as regards Apoc. i. 1 — v. 7, and xviii. 6 — • xxii. 2i, the lacuna v. 8 — xviii. 5 being filled with scholia from Jerome- Victorinus. According to Isidore, Apringius expounded the Apocalypse "subtili sensu atque illustri sermone, melius pene quam veteres ecclesiastici viri exposuisse videntur." A few specimens from M. Feroten's edition have been given in the notes of this com- mentary. Cassiodoeius, probably after his retirement to Viviers (a.d. 540), wrote brief notes (complexiones) on the Acts, Epistles,- and Apoca- lypse, which were first published by Maffei in 17 21, and are re- printed in Migne, P. L. lxx. In the Apocalypse he refers his readers to Tyconius, and shews also the influence of Victorinus and Augustine. Baeda of Wearmouth and Jarrow (a.d. 672 — 735) comes next in order of time among Latin commentators on the Apocalypse. In his explanatio Apocalypsig, as in his other expository works, Bede freely recognizes the secondary character of his expositions ; in the Apocalypse, while drawing on• the Fathers generally, he makes especial use of earlier Western commentators on the book, especially of Primasius and Tyconius ; the latter is not seldom quoted by name. Yet Bede is no mere compiler, and not the least valuable of his remarks are those where the personality of the Northumbrian saint reveals itself. Bede's work on the Apocalypse is quoted in this volume from Migne, P. L. xcv. Ambrosius Ansbertus (or Autpertus) 1 , a Benedictine monk of Prench origin who died as Abbot of an Italian monastery, composed his commentarii in Apocalypsim during the pontificate of Paul I. (a.d. 757-; — 767), and dedicated them to Paul's successor, Stephen IV. (a.d. 768 — 772). He makes use of Jerome- Victorinus, Tyconius, and even of Bede, but especially of Primasius, who supplies the staple of his expositions. The work is printed in the Cologne and Lyons Jiibliothecae Patrum, but does not appear in Migne's Latin Patrology. Beatus of Liebana (Libana), the Spanish Benedictine who in a.d. 785 joined Etherius Bishop of Osma in a work against Eli- pandus of Toledo on the Adoptianist question. His commentary , on the Apocalypse 2 , which is dedicated to Etherius, is, like Bede's, professedly based to a great extent on the works of his predecessors, among whom he specifies Jerome (i.e. Victorinus in Jerome's recen- sion), Augustine, Tyconius, and Apringius. Tyconius, in particular, has been largely used, although it is possible to exaggerate the debt 1 See Fabricius-Harles, Eibl. Lat. i. Banisay, of Downside Abbey, reprinted p. 77; Smith and Waee, D. C. B. i. from the Revue d'histoire et de littirature p. 232 ; Herzog-Hauck, ii. p. 308 f. religieuses, t. vii. (1902), kindly 00m- 2 On the Commentary of Beatns and municatedtomebyDomE.C.Butler.and its MSS. see two articles by Dom H. L. Haussleiter's article already mentioned. cciv COMMENTARIES which Beatus owes to him. The conclusion at which Dom Ramsay arrives is probably not far from the truth : " je crois que partout ou Beatus, Primasius, et le Pseudo-Augustine exploitent un fonds commun, ce fonds est celui de Tyconius (sinon de Victorinus) 1 ," The MSS. of Beatus have long been famous for their illumina- tions, which supply rich materials for the study of early Spanish art 2 . But there is only one printed text 3 , and the book is so rare that no copy is to be found at the British Museum or in the Cam- bridge University Library 4 . Of Latin writers on the Apocalypse from the beginning of the ninth century to the sixteenth the following deserve to be specially mentioned : Cent. ix. Alcuin (Migne B. L. a). Berengaudus (Migne xviL). Haymo (Migne cxviii.). Walapeid Strabo(?) (Migne cxiv.). Cent. xii. Anselm of, Havilberg (D'Achory, Spicilegium, i.). Anselm of Laon (Migne clxiii.). Bruno of Asti (Migne clxv.). Joachim of Calabria (Venice, 15 19 and 1527). Richard of St Victor (Migne xcvi.). Rupert of Deutz (Migne clxix.). Cent. xiii. Albertus Magnus (Opera, t. xii., Lyons, 1651). Hugo de S. Caro (postilla vii., Cologne, 1620). Peter John Oliva (postilla in Apocalypsin). Pseudo-Aquinas (Opera S. Thomae Aq., t. xxiii., Parma, 1869). Cent. xiv. Nicolas de Gorham (Antwerp, 161 7 — 20). Nicolas of Lyra (Rome, 147 1 — 2). Cent. xv. Dionysius Carthusianus (Paris, 1530). Most of these mediaeval expositors follow their predecessors more or less closely, and satisfy themselves with a spiritualizing exegesis. But there are exceptions, especially Berengaud, Rupert of Deutz, and Joachim ; the last-named has left a work which is a landmark in the history of Apocalyptic interpretation. D. Commentaries, and other books bearing upon the interpre- tation of the Apocalypse, from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the present time. D. Erasmus. Annotationes in Ν. T. Basle, 1516. P. Lambertus. Exegeseos in Apoc. libri vii. Marburg, 1528. H. Bullinger. In Apoc. condones c. Basle, 1557. T. Bibliander. Commentarius in Apoc. Basle, 1569. J. Foxe. Meditations on the Apoc. London, 1587. J. Winckelmann. Commentarius in Apoc. Frankfort, 1590. F. Ribeira. Commentarius in sacram b. Ioannis Apoc. Salamanca, I59 1 • J. Napier. A plain discovery of the whole Revelation. Edin- burgh, 1593. 1 Le Gommentaire de Beatut, p. 18. my quotations to the kindness of Prof. * H. L. Bamsay, The MSS. of Beatus, Burkitt, who left in my hands for some Ρ- 1 ft• weeks a oopy which had come into his s The edition of Florez (Madrid, 1770). possession. " BurMtt, Tyconius, p. xiii. 1 owe COMMENTARIES ccv L. ab Alcasar. Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apoc. Antwerp, 1 6 14. A. Salmeron. In Iohannis Apoc. praeludia. Cologne, 1614. ' T. Brightman. The Revelation of St John illustrated. London 1616. D. Paraeus. Commentarius in Apoc. Heidelberg, 16 18. Cornelius a Lapide. Commentaria in... Apoc. Antwerp and Lyons, 1627. J. Mede. Clavis Apocalypseos...una cum Commentario. Cam- bridge, 1627. J. Gerhard. Annotationes in Apoc. Jena, 1643. H. Grotius. Annotationes in Apoc. Paris, 1644. L. de Dieu. Animadversiones in Apoc. Leyden, 1646. H. Hammond. Paraphrase and Annotations upon the Ν. T. London, 1653. J. B. Bossuet. L' Apocalypse avec une explication. Paris, 1660. J. Cocceius. Cogitationes in Apoc. Amsterdam, 1673. D. Herve. Apocalypsis explicatio historica. Lyons, 1684. P. Jurien. L'accomplissement des propheties. Rotterdam, 1686. C. Vitringa. Άνάκρισις Apocalypsios. Franeker, 1705. W. "Winston. Essay on the Revelation of St John. Cambridge, 1706. J. J. Schlurmann. Die Offenbarung Iohannis. Lippstadt, 1722. Γ. Abauzit. Essai sur V Apocalypse. Geneva, 1730. I. Newton. Observations upon the prophecies of Daniel and the Apoc. London, 1732. J. A. Bengel. Erhldrte Offenbarung Johannis. Stuttgart, 1740. J. J. Wetstein. iV r . T. Graecum (ii.). Amsterdam, 1752. J.Gill. Exposition of the Revelation. London, 1776. J. G. von Herder. Μαράν άθά. Biga, 1779. J. S. Herrenschneider. Tentamen Apocalypseos. Strassburg, 1 786. . I. G. Eichhorn. Commentarius in Apoc. Gottingen, 1791. P. J. S. Vogel. Commentationes vii. de Apocalypsi. Erlangen, ϊ8ιι— 16. G. Η. A. Ewald. Commentarius in Apoc. Gottingen, 1828. A. L. Matthai. Die Offenbarung Johannis. Gottingen, 1828. Ed w. Irving. Lectures on the Book of Revelation. London, 1829. J. Croly. The Apocalypse of John. London, 1838. C. P. J. Ziillig. Die Offenbarung Johannis erklart. Stuttgart, 1 834— 4°• W. De Burgh. An Exposition of the Book of Revelation. Dublin, 1845. M. Stuart. Commentary on the Apocalypse. London, 1845. W. M. L. de Wette. Kurze Erhldrung der Offenbarung. Leipzig, 1848. E. W. Hengstenberg. Die Offenbarung... erldutert. Berlin, 1849—51. Ε. H. Elliott. Horae Apocalypticae. London, 185 1. P. Diisterdieck. Handbuchu. d. Offenbarung. Gottingen, 1852. I. Williams. The Apocalypse. London, 1852. ccvi COMMENTARIES J. Η. E. Ebrard. Die Offenharung Johannis. Konigsberg, 1853. 0. A. Auberlen. Der Prophet Daniel u. die Offenharung. Basle, 1854. 0. Stern. Commentar ii. die Offenharung. Schaffhausen, 1854. P. Bleek. Forhsungen ii. die Apocalypse. Berlin, 1859. H. Alford. The Greek Testament, vol. iv. Cambridge, 1861. H. Ewald. Die Johanneischen Schriften...erklart. Gottingen, 1861. F. D. Maurice. Lectures on the Apocalypse. Cambridge, 1861. R. C. Trench. Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches. London,. 1861. G. Volkmar. Commentar zur Offenharung. Zurich, 1S62. C. Wordsworth. The New Testament, vol. ii. London, 1864. A. Cerese. L'apocalysse ο Revelalione, 1869 — 71. 1 C. J. Vaughan. The Revelation of St John. London, 1870. E. Benan. L'Antechrist. Paris, 187 1. J. C. A. Hofmann. Die Offenharung Johannis. 1874. A. Bisping. Erkliirung der Apocalypse. Munster, 1876. C. H. A. Burger. Die Offenharung Johamnis. 1877. E. Reuss. L' Apocalypse. Paris, 1878. W.Lee. The Revelation of St John. London, 1 881. Th. Zahn. Apokalyptische Studien (in Z. f. kirchl. Wissenschaft u. k. Lehen), 1885 — 6 ; Einleitung, ii. 1899. H. J. Holtzmann. Die Offenharung Johannis. Freiburg i. B., 1891. W. Milligan. The Book of Revelation. London, 1889'. T. L. Scott. The visions of the Apocalypse and their lessons. London, 1893. W. H. Simcox. The Revelation of St John. Cambridge, 1893. W. Bousset. Die Offenharung Johannis. Gottingen, 1896. E.W.Benson. The Apocalypse: an introductory study. London, 1900. L. Prager. Die Offenharung Johannis. Leipzig, 1901. C. Anderson Scott. Revelation (in the Century Bible). Edinburgh (n.d.). F. C. Porter. Messages of the Apocalyptical ivriters. London, 1905. F. J. A. Hort. The Apocalypse' of St John i — iii. London, 1908.' A volume on the Apocalypse by Dr R. H. Charles is announced , by Messrs T. and T. Clark, in connexion with the International Critical Commentary. XVIII. HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION. 1. More than once 1 the Apocalypse appeals to the intelli- gence of the Christian student, inviting him to unravel its meaning if he can. Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the Beast. Here is the mind which hath wisdom. The challenge was accepted almost from the first, but with results which shew by their wide divergence the diffi- culties of the task. Schools of Apocalyptic interpretation have arisen, varying not only in detail, but in principle. It is the purpose of the present chapter to sketch 2 the progress of this movement from the second century to our own time, and then to indicate the lines which have been followed in the present exposition. 2. The Ante-Nicene Church, although she seems to have produced but one exposition of the book, was certainly not in- different to the chief problems which it -raises. Two of these, in particular — the questions connected with the coming of Antichrist and the hope of the Thousand Years — excited the liveliest interest during the age of persecution. Justin, as we have seen, found support for his chiliastic views in Apoc. xx. Irenaeus 3 bases upon Apoc. xxi., amongst other prophecies, his expectation of a terrestrial kingdom and a restored Jerusalem. He identifies the first of St John's Wild Beasts with Sf Paul's Man of Sin, and gives as one reading of the Number of the Beast the word Αατεινός, adding : 1 Apoc. xiii. i8,xvii. 9. ' 3 Haer. v. y . 1 (of. Eua. H.E. iii. 2 Details must be sought in Liicke 39). and Bousset. ccvm HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION "Latini enim sunt qui nunc regnant 1 ." From Apoc. xvii. I2ff. he gathers that the Empire would be broken up into ten kingdoms, and Babylon (?Kome) be reduced to ashes 2 . Hippolytus, especially in his tract On Christ and Antichrist, carries the interpretation of Irenaeus some steps, further. The first Beast is the Empire, . which will be wounded to death, but restored by Antichrist ; the Second Beast represents the ten kingdoms that are to take the place of the Empire 3 . The Woman with child is the Church 4 ; Babylon is Rome 6 ; the Two Witnesses are Enoch and Elijah, the πρόδρομοι of the Second Coming 6 . In common with Justin and Irenaeus, Hippolytus entertains millennarian hopes, which he grounds on Apoc. xx. 7 In Justin and Irenaeus — probably also in Hippolytus — we seem to catch a glimpse of the interpretation which prevailed in Asia/in the early decades of the second century. The Alex- andrians, who were without such guidance, interpreted the Apocalypse spiritually. Thus Clement sees in the four and twentyElders a symbol of the equality of Jew and Gentile within the Christian Church 8 ; in the tails of the locusts of the Abyss, the mischievous influence of immoral teachers : in the many- coloured foundation stones of the City of God, the manifold grace of Apostolic teaching 10 - Origen repudiates as "Jewish"" the literal interpretation which the chiliasts gave to the closing chapters of ' the book ; and his incidental references to the Apocalypse savour of an arbitrary though often noble and helpful mysticism. Thus he takes the sealed roll to be Scripture, to which Christ alone has the key 12 : the vision of the open heaven, from which the Word of God issues forth on a white horse, suggests to him the opening of heaven by the Divine Word through the white light of knowledge which He imparts to believers 18 . Methodius must on the whole 1 V. 28. 3, 30. και ιΐκών τήί μεΧΚούσηι βασίλΐίαί των 3 V. 26. I. asyluv, lis Ιωάννης iv Trj αποκαλύψει διψ 3 Ed. Lagarde, p. 24 ff. γΈΐται. 4 Lag. p. 31 f. τήκ μέν oSv γυναίκα 8 Strom, vi. 13, § 107. σαφέστατα την έκκΚησίαν έδήλωσεν. 9 strain, iii. 18, § ιο6. 6 Lag. ρ. 17 καΐ yap αυτή σε [e.g. tw 10 paed. ii. 1 2, § log. Ιωάννη*] έξώρισεν. n deprinc. ii. 11. 12. β Lag. p. 26. 12 philoc. v. 5. 7 Lag. p. 153 τό ffdjSjSaroi' τι57γο! carl 13 in Ioann. t. ii. 6. HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION ccix be ranked with the Alexandrians, in regard to his method of in- terpreting the Apocalypse. In his exposition of Apoc. xii. 1 he finds in the Woman's child not Christ Himself but the baptized soul in which Christ is born. The seven heads of the Dragon are the greater sins 2 ; his ten horns are contrasted with the Ten Command- ments of the Decalogue. The Beast appears to be regarded as a symbol of fleshly lust 3 . The -Latin fathers of the first three centuries, on the other hand, carry on the line of interpretation started by Irenaeus and Hippolytus. Thus ,Tertullian regards Babylon as an image' of Rome, "ut proinde magnae et regno superbae et sanctorum Dei debellatricis 4 ." The Beast from the sea is Antichrist, who with his False Prophet will wage war against the Church 6 . A kingdom of the Saints is expected which will have its seat on earth, though it belongs to another order,, and will be preceded by a resurrection of the body 6 . An orderly plan runs through St John's work, though the order must not be pressed so far as to include chronological details 7 . Of the commentary of Victorinus in general it is impossible to speak with confidence until it is before us in a form nearer to that in which it came from his- pen 8 . But the extract published by Haussleiter 9 from what appears to be the original work confirms the statement that Victorinus held firmly by the chiliastic inter- pretation of Apoc. xx. A few sentences will sufficiently illustrate his attitude. "In hac eadem prima resurrectione et civitas futura et sponsa per hanc scripturam expressa est...quotquot ergo non anticipaverint surgere in prima resurrectione et regnare cum Christo super orbem...sur- gent in novissima tuba post annos mille...Ih regno ergo et in prima resurrectione exhibetur civitas sancta, quam vidit descensuram de caelo quadratam, differentem a vice mortuositatis et doloris et genesis... ostendit scriptura adferri ibi munera regum serviturorum novissimorum . . . et civitatum. " 3. A new stage of Apocalyptic interpretation is reached at the end of the fourth century, when Tyconius wrote his epoch- 1 Symp. viii. 4 ff. 7 de res., I.e. " in Apocalypsi Ioannis 2 Cf. Origen, in Mt. xxiv. 29. ordo temporumsternitur." s lb. 13. 8 See c. xvii., p. oci. 4 adv. Marc. iii. 13. v 9 In Theologisches Literaturhlatt, 26 6 de remrr. carnis, .25. Apr. 1905, col. 192 ff. 6 adv. Marc. iii. 24. S. R. ccx HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION making commentary. Though the work has not survived as a whole, its line of interpretation and many of its details can be recovered from later expositions 1 . It is abundantly clear that Tyconius trod in the steps of Origen rather than of Victorinus; he inclined to a mystical exegesis, even if he did not altogether exclude literal or historical fulfilments. But his method was largely new, and his own, as may be gathered from his liber regularum. His fourth 'rule' reveals the principle with which he approached his task : " loquimur secundum mysteria caelestis sapientiae magisterio Sancti Spiritus, qui cum veritatis pretium fidem constituent mysteriis narravit in speciem genus ab- scondens...dum enim speciem narrat, ita in genus transit ut transitus non statim liquido appareat 2 ." The expositor of the Apocalypse, on this principle, would pass insensibly from a name which suggested a particular object to the universal fact which it symbolized ; e.g. from Jerusalem to the Church, or from Babylon to the hostile world 3 . By this means Tyconius was enabled to pass lightly over the references to Rome and the persecuting Emperors, which since the conversion of the Empire had ceased to be of special interest, and to fix the attention of the reader upon the world-long struggle between good and evil ; while on the other hand his ' rule ' did not prevent him -from finding a crucial instance of that struggle in the fight which his own party were making at the time in Africa against the Catholic Church, identified in his judgement with the evil of the world. So far as his principle of interpretation is concerned Tyconius had many Catholic followers, who made no secret of their indebtedness to the great Donatist. In his interpretation of Apoc. xx. 4 Augustine agrees in the main with Tyconius. Primasius, Cassiodorius, Apringius, Bede, Beatus, and most of the writers on the Apocalypse who followed them in the earlier centuries of the Middle Ages, were content with a mystical exegesis which varied in its details according to the fancy of the individual expositor or the needs or ideas of his time. 1 P. eci f. 3 Burkitt, pp. 31, 50. 5 Burkitt, pp. xv., 31. * de civitate, xx. 7 ft. HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION ccxi 4. While Primasius and others were popularizing the method of Tyconius in the Latin West, the Greek East made its first and only serious attempt to expound the Apocalypse. Of Oecumenius nothing can be said until his commentary finds an editor. But Andreas is perhaps the best known of ancient expositors of the Apocalypse, and certainly none of them is more edifying or, in his own way, more attractive. Entering on his work with the conviction that Scripture holds a threefold sense 1 , he agrees with the Alexandrians in attaching especial importance to the spiritual interpretation of a book, which beyond other books in the New Testament lends itself to such treatment. But he does not depart so entirely from the earlier school of Irenaeus and Hippolytus as his Western contemporaries did; side by side with mystical exposition he places suggestions of a historical fulfilment. If he regards Babylon as the World considered_ as the standing enemy of the Church, in the seven kings he sees successive embodiments of the World-power, of which the sixth was Rome and the seventh Constantinople. On the other hand the millennium is explained as it is by Augustine and the other followers of Tyconius. Thus the greatest of the Greek commentaries on the Apocalypse is a syn- cretism, blending the methods of Irenaeus, Origen, and Tyconius, while at the same time the writer feels his way towards the later system of interpretation which, discovers in St John's prophecy anticipations of the course of history. 5. In the West at long intervals one or two expositors suc- ceeded in breaking loose from the tradition started by Tyconius. Berengaud, a ninth century writer whose commentary has found a place in the appendix to the works of St Ambrose, combines the mystical with the historical interpretation, and endeavours to make the Apocalypse cover the whole course of human events. The first six seals carry the history of the world from Adam to the fall of Jerusalem; the first six trumpets represent the preaching of the word from the age of the patriarchs to the• age of the Christian martyrs. The Two Witnesses are Enoch and Elijah, 1 prol. -. πάσα θεόπνευστο* ypatpv, are έκ τη! ffctas δεδώρηται χάριτο!. τριμερεΐ ,τψ άνθρώπφ ύπάρχοντι, τριμερή ccxii HISTORY AND METHODS OS INTERPRETATION whose coming will precede the second Coming of the Lord. The first Beast is Antichrist, and his seven heads are the seven deadly- sins 1 ; the second Beast is a follower of Antichrist, or those who preach him taken collectively ; as for the number of the Beast, Berengaud is afraid to inquire into it, lest it may correspond with the letters of his own name. Babylon is Pagan Rome, but Rome regarded as representing the "civitas Diaboli"; the ten horns of the Beast on which she sits are the successive incursions of barbarians which broke up the Roman Empire. The Thousand Years reach from the Ascension to the' end of the world; the first resurrection is the condition of the Saints in the present life. A more remarkable departure from the older interpreta- tions is made in the Enchiridion in Apocalypsim of Joachim (f 1202), founder of the Ordo Florensis 2 . Joachim's work is an attempt to find correspondences between the Apocalypse and the events and expectations of the twelfth century. The Beast from the sea is Islam, wounded to the death by the Crusades ; the False Prophet is identified with the heretical sects of the age ; Babylon is Rome, no longer- pagan, but worldly and vice-ridden nevertheless. Of the seven heads of the Beast the fifth is the Emperor Frederick I., and the sixth Saladin ; the seventh is Antichrist ; the destruction of Antichrist will be followed by the millennium, which thus recovers its place as a hope of the future. Of Joachim's personal loyalty to the Roman Church there can be no doubt. But his method was speedily turned against the Church by less discreet followers. Under the year 1257 Matthew Paris relates that certain Franciscans of Paris " quaedam nova praedicabanti..deliramenta quae de_ libro Ioachim Abbatis...ex- traxerunt, et quendam librum composuerunt quem sic eis intitulare complacuit Incipit Evangelium aeternum 3 " ; the Pope, he adds, commanded , the book to be burnt, " et alia quae de Ioachim corruptela dicuntur emanasse." But the movement continued, and early in the fourteenth' century the fate of the Evangelium 1 See p. ocix. num Evangelium was a friar named 3 Cf. C.Q.JS. forOet. 1907 (p. 17ft.). Gerhard; see Giesler (E. Tr.), iii. ',, J 3 See note on Apoc. xiv. 6, The p. 257 η. . | author of the Introductwius in Aeter- '■• • I HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION ccxiii aeternum was shared by the postilla super Apocalypsim of Peter John Oliva, another Franciscan ; nor can we wonder, when among the scanty extracts of Oliva's work which escaped the flames we read: "Per sedem bestiae principaliter designatus carnalis clems ...in quo . quidem bestialis vita...regnat...longe plus quam in laicis."..."Mulier stat hie pro Romana gente et imperio, tarn prout fuit quondam in statu paganismi quam prout postmodum fuib in fide Christi."..."Qu'idam putant quod tarn Antichristus mysticus quam proprius et magnus erit pseudo-papa." When such things were written within the Church, it is not matter for surprise that the sects took the further step of identifying Antichrist with the Papacy or the, occupants of the Papal See, or that this became a commonplace of Apocalyptic interpretation among reforming sects and Churches. On the papal side a counter-attempt to interpret the Apoca- lypse in the light of history was made by Nicolas of Lyra (fi340). He finds in it a forecast of the course of events from the time of Domitian to his own. In Lyra's judgement the millennium began with the founding of the Mendicant orders, which had bound Satan, as he thinks, for a considerable period of time. , 6. With the Reformation of the sixteenth century a new era of Apocalyptic exegesis begins. Each side in the great controversy found inspiration in this book. The reforming party inherited the method of Joachim and the Franciscans : the equation ' the Pope, or the Papacy, is Antichrist ' was the corner- stone of their interpretation. On the papal side, under the stress of the Protestant attack, new methods arose, which at a later time found followers among the reformed. Their authors were Spaniards and members of the Society of Jesus. Francis Ribeira (f 1601),' a professor at Salamanca, came to his task equipped with a knowledge of both the Greek and Latin com- mentators of the patristic period, but with an open mind which refused to be bound by their exegesis. He took his stand on the principle that the Apocalyptist foresaw only the nearer future and the last things, and offered no anticipations of intermediate history. Thus he was able to relegate Antichrist to the time ccxiv HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION of the end, and though with the majority of interpreters he identified Babylon with Rome, he could contend that the city which St John saw upon the Beast was not, as some said, Borne under- papal rule, but the degenerate Rome of a future age. Ribeira has been described as a futurist, but the designation is inaccurate if it overlooks his real appreciation of the historical groundwork of the Revelation. His brother- Jesuit, Alcasar (f 1 6 1 3 ), on the other hand, was a thorough-going ' preterist.' In his judge- ment the body of St John's prophecy falls into two great portions, co. iv. — xi., and cc. xii. — xix., answering severally to the conflict of the Church with Judaism and her conflict with paganism ; while the closing chapters (xx. — xxii.) describe her present triumph and predominance. Both Alcasar and Ribeira wrote in the interests of a party, and neither of the schemes which they propose is free from manifest difficulties ; yet both works mark an advance upon earlier interpretations in .so far as they approach the book from the standpoint of the writer and his time, and abstain from reading into it the events or ideas of a widely different period. 7. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were busy with the work of Apocalyptic exposition. In England Joseph Mede and two eminent Cambridge mathematicians, Sir Isaac Newton and William Whiston, found minute fulfilments of St John's prophecy from the days of Domitian to their own 1 ; on the continent the same general system of interpretation was adopted, with varying results, by two no less eminent authorities, Vitringa and Bengel. On the other hand Grotius and Hammond trod generally in the steps of Alcasar, while on the papal side the great Bossuet suggested the• division of the prophecy into three historical periods, the age of persecution (cc. v. — xix.), the triumph of the Church (c. xx. 1 — 10), and the epoch of final conflict and victory ,(cc. xx. 11 — xxii. 13). At the end of the eighteenth century• Eichhorn struck a note which has been taken up again quite recently. The Apocalypse is in his view a great poem, or 1 m While I write,' says Mede, 'news victories over the Emperor in defence is brought of a Prince from the North of the German afflicted Protestants '." (meaning Gnstavus Adolphns) gaining (Elliott, H.A. iv. p. 474.) HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION ccxv rather a drama, which may be broken up into acts and scenes — the drama of the progress and victory of the Christian faith. 8. While inheriting the methods of its predecessors, the nineteenth century found itself in possession of new data by which it was enabled to correct or extend their application. The progress of events shifted the point of view from which the advocates of the continuously historical interpretation regarded St John's visions; room had to be made, for instance, for the French Revolution and all the disturbing tendencies which it represented or set going 1 . Among expositors who revolted from a system which was under the necessity of revising its results with the progress of events some, like S. R. Maitland and Isaac Williams in England, and Stern, Bisping, and others on the continent, revived and carried to greater lengths the 'futurist' views of Ribeira ; while others, like Auberlen, fell back upon the position that the Apocalypse revealed a philosophy of history and anticipated persons or events only when they were "solitary examples of a principle 2 ." In Germany a new attitude towards the interpretation of the book, was created by the endeavour to investigate its sources. If the Apocalypse of John is a Jewish work adapted for reading in Christian congregations, or a com- pilation from non-canonical apocalypses, it is difficult to regard the book as more than a storehouse of first-century eschatology, or a historical monument which throws light on an obscure age. In that case it is undoubtedly of first-rate importance to the student of history, but its claims 'to be regarded as a prophecy in any true sense of the word can no longer be taken seriously. In Germany this estimate of the Apocalypse is still dominant, and it has revolutionized the interpretation of the book. In England there are signs of a desire to assimilate all that? may be of permanent value in the results of research, without abandoning belief in the canonical authority or prophetical character of St John's work. Examples of this attitude may be found in Professor Sir W. M. Ramsay's Letters to the Seven Churches, and in the most recent of English commentaries on the Revelation, the brief but 1 See, e.g., Elliott, H.A. in. 309 ff. Apocalypse, p. 48. 2 Auberlen, cited by Arohbp. Benson, ccxvi HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION suggestive contribution made to Professor Adeney's Century Bible by Mr Anderson Scott. 9. It remains to state the principles of interpretation by which the following exposition has been guided. The interpretation of an ancient book, especially of a book such as the Apocalypse, must depend in great part on the view which the interpreter- is led to take of its literary character, purpose, destination, and date. These points have been discussed in the earlier chapters of the introduction, and it is only necessary here to shew how the judgements which have been formed upon them affect the present writer's attitude toward the problems and the general significance of the book. (1) This commentary has been written under the conviction that the author of the Apocalypse was, what he claimed to be, an inspired prophet. He belongs to the order which in older days produced the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. He knows himself to be a medium of communication between God and Christ on the one hand, and the Church on the other. His mind has been lifted into a sphere above its natural powers by the Divine Spirit, which has enabled him to assimilate a message from the invisible world. His rendering of this message into human thought and speech must be interpreted as we interpret the prophecies of the Old Testament canon ; it will possess the same Divine elevation that we find in them, and be liable to the same human limitations. The student who approaches the Apocalypse from this point of view will not expect to find in it express pre- dictions of persons and actions which in St John's day were yet hidden in the womb of a remote future ; nor will he look for exact chronological order in its successive visions, or for a sense of the distances which part great epochs from one another. But on the other hand he will expect and, it is firmly believed, will find that the prophet of the New Testament is not less able than the prophets of the Old Testament to read the secrets of God's general purpose in the evolution of events, to detect the greater forces which are at work in human life under all its vicissitudes, and to indicate the issues towards which history tends. HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION ccxvii (2) As the title suggests, the prophecy of" this book possesses a special character of which the interpreter must not fail to take note. The Divine message came to John in a series of visions ; it is an apocalypse, and it uses the ideas, the symbols, and the forms of speech which were characteristic of apocalyptic litera- ture. Thus St John's work challenges comparison with the apocalyptic portions of the Old , Testament; more especially with the Book of Daniel ; and farther, with , the non-canonical Jewish apocalypses, to which ready access can now be had through the labours of Professor Charles and Dr Μ. E. James. It is possiblei to exaggerate the influence which these Jewish books exerted over the mind of the Christian Apocalyptist, and it may be questioned whether he has made direct use of any of them ; but they establish the existence of a common stock of apocalyptic imagery on which St John evidently drew. The modern interpreter of the" Apocalypse is bound to take into account the presence in St John's book of the conventional language of apocalyptic literature, and to refrain from pressing it into the service of his own line of interpretation. Phrases and imagery which fall under this category must generally be held to belong to the scenery of the book rather than to the essence of the revelation. A recognition of this canon of interpretation will save the student from adopting the naive and sometimes grotesque attempts which have been, made to interpret every detail in a book which, like all writings of its class, defies treat- ment of this kind. (3) Another important landmark for the guidance of the interpreter is to be found in the purpose of the book and the historical surroundings of its origin. The Apocalypse is cast in the form of a letter to certain Christian societies, and it opens with a detailed account of their conditions and circum- stances. Only the most perverse ingenuity can .treat the messages to the Seven Churches as directly prophetical. The ■ book starts with a well-defined historical situation, to which reference is made again at the end, and the intermediate visions which form the body of the work cannot on any reasonable s. B. ' Ρ ccxviii HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION theory be dissociated from their historical setting. The prophecy arises out of local and contemporary circumstances ; it is, in the first instance at least, the answer of the Spirit to the fears and perils of the Asian Christians toward the end of the first century. Hence all that can throw light on the Asia of A.D. 70 — 100, and. upon Christian life in Asia during that period, is of primary importance to the student of the Apocalypse, not only in view of the local allusions in cc. ii. — in., but as helping to determine the aim and drift of the entire work. No one who realizes that the prophecy is an answer to• the crying needs of the Seven Churches will dream of treating it as a detailed forecast of the course of mediaeval and modern history in Western Europe. So far as the Apocalyptist reveals the future, he reveals it not with the view "of exercising the ingenuity of remote generations, but for the practical purpose of inculcating those great lessons of trust in God, loyalty to the Christ-King, confidence in the ultimate triumph of righteousness, patience under adversity, and hope in the prospect of death, which were urgently needed, by the Asian Churches, and will never be without meaning and importance so long as the world lasts. It will be seen that an interpretation conducted upon these lines will have points of contact with each of the chief systems of Apocalyptic exegesis, without identifying itself with any one of them as a whole. With the 'preterists' it will take its stand on the circumstances of the age and locality to which the book belongs, and will connect the greater' part of the .prophecy with the destinies of the Empire under which the prophet lived; with the 'futurists' it will .look for fulfilments• of St John's pregnant words in times yet to come. With the .school of Auberlen• and Benson it will find in the Apocalypse a Christian philosophy of history ; with the ' continuous-historical ' school it can see in the progress of events ever new illustrations of the working of the great principles which are revealed. And while it maintains, against the majority of recent continental scholars, the essential unity of the book and its prophetic inspiration, it will gladly accept all that research and discovery HISTORY AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION ccxix, can yield for the better understanding of the conditions under which the book was written. Indeed it is from this quarter that ii will look most confidently for further light. No attempt to solve the problems of this most enigmatic of canonical books can be more than provisional ; even if the principles on which it rests are sound, their application must often be attended with uncertainty through the interpreter's lack of knowledge, or through his liability to err in his judge- ments upon the facts which are known .to him. The present writer expects no immunity from this law ; he has stated his conclusions without reserve, but he is far from desiring to claim for them a finality which perhaps will never be attained. Nor has he gone to his work with any preconceptions beyond the general principles just indicated. His purpose has not b een to add a system of interpretation ,to those which are already in the field, but simply to contribute whatever a . personal study, con- ducted in the light shed upon the Apocalypse by many explorers, may be able to offer towards a true appreciation . of this great Christian prophecy. The following are a few of the less obvious abbreviations employed : Audr. Andreas. Ar. Arethas. BDB. Brown Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the O.T. (Oxford, 1892 — 1906). Blass, Gr. F. Blasa, Grammar of N.T. Greek. Translated by H. St J. Thackeray (London, 1898). Burton. K. de W. Burton, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in N.T. Greek (Edin- , burgh, 1894). GIG. Corpus inscriptionum graecarum. Enc. Bibl. T. K. Cheyne and J. S. Black, Encyclopaedia Biblica (London, 1899 — 1903). Ev.Petr. The Gospel of Peter (cited from the writer's edition). Exp. The Expositor. Hastings, D.B. J. Hastings, Dictionary ofthejiible (Edinburgh, 1898 — 1904). J. Th. St., or J. T. S. The Journal of Theological Studies. SH. Sanday arid Headlam, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh, 1895)• Si Mark. The writer's edition. Tyc. Tyconius (see p. ccif.). Yg. The Latin Vulgate. "Viet. Victorinus (see p. cof.). WH. Westcott and Hort, N.T. in Greek (Cambridge, 1891); WH. 2 , second edition (1896). "WM. Winer-Moulton, Grammar of N.T. Greek, 8th Engl. ed. (Edinburgh, 1877). "WSchm. Winer-Schmiedel, Grammatik d. NTlichen Sprachidioms (Gottingen, 1894— ). Zahn, Einl. Th. Zahn, Einleitung in das N.T. (Leipzig, 1897 — 9). ΑΠΟΚΑΑΥΦΙΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΟ Ίησοΰ Χρίστου, ην εδωκει/ αύτώ ό ι Ι. αποκα\υψι$'\ωαννου (Ιωανου H) HC (cf. A in subser) 2 8 82 93 (9s) ('3°) ^ r OrEus Hier] αιτ. Ι. του BeoKoyov 14 17 91 97 air. του ayiov Ι. του θεολ. I 25 28 31 (37) 38 (49) 51 90 94 air. Ι. του θιολ. και ευαγγελιστου Q 1 2 tj ατ. του αποστόλου Ι. χαί evayyeXiarov Ρ 42 (of. vg ed syr) I Ι αυτω] αυτί; Q TlTLE. Άποκάλνψΐί Or Ά. 'Ιωάννου was the title of the book in the second century, cf. Iren. v. 30. 3 τοΰ καϊ την άποκάλνψιν ίωρακότοι : can. Murat. 1. 71 sq. "apoealypse[s] etiam Iohannis et Petri tantum recipimus" : Tert. adv. Marc. iv. 5 "apocalypsin eius Marcion respuit." Τοΰ αποστόλου και evayyekia- τυν, τον BeoKoyov etc. are manifestly due to later transcribers. Ό BeoKoyos as the distinctive title of St John is perhaps not earlier than the end of cent. iv. ; in Eus. praep. ev. xi. 19 the Evangelist 6Έολογ«, but the writer of Hebrews is αλλοί 6eo\oyos. Yet cf. Ath. or. c. gent. 42 6 6eo\6yos άνήρ (Hort, Apoc. p. xxxvi). ' I. 1 — 3. Prologue. Ι. άποκάλνψις Ίησοΐι Χριστοί] Άπο- Kakvijns occurs here only in this book. The noun is rare in literary Greek, but Jerome's dictum (in Gal. i. 11 sq.) " verbum ipsum άποκαλΰψιως. . .proprie scripturarum est et a nullo sapientum saeculi apud Graecos usurpatum" is too sweeping, for it is found in Plutarch mor. 70 P. In the lxx αποκάλυπταν is far more frequent than ανακάλυπταν, and the noun is used euphemistically for ilVTW in 1 Regn. xx. 30, and metaphorically in Sirach (xi. 27, xxii. 22, xlii. 1); in the N.T. άποκάλνψιι in a metaphorical sense is fairly common (Lc. 1 , Paul 14 , Pet. 3 , Apoc. 1 ). .The Epistles use it eschatologically s. E. (1) in reference to the revelation of God (Roin. ii. 5), of Christ (1 Cor. i. 7, 2 Th. i. 7, 1 Pet. i. 7, 13, iv. 13), and of the Saints (Rom. viii. 19), which is to be made at the Parousia; and also (2) of any revelation now made to the Church (Rom. xvi. 25, 1 Cor. xiv. 6, 26, 2 Cor. xii. 1, 7, Gal. i.12, ii. 2, Eph. iii. 3) through the Spirit as a πνινμα άποκαλνψεως (Eph. i. 1 7). The corre- sponding χάρισμα was exercised not only by Apostles (2 Cor. xii. 7, Gal.ii. 2), but at times as it appears by ordinary believers in the congregation (cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 26 όταν σννίρχησθΐ ίκαστο!.. .άπο- κάλνψιν ?χ«). In this sense άποκάλνψκ is coupled with other gifts, such as γνώσΐΓ, προφητεία, διδαχή (i Cor. xiv. 6), ■ψαλμοί, γλώσσα, ίρμηνεία (ib. 26), οπ- τασία (2 Cor. xii. ι), σοφία (Eph. i. 17). Here the exact meaning depends upon the interpretation of the geni- tive. Is Ί^σου Χρίστου the gen. of the object or of the spbject? Dr Hort (on 1 Pet. i. 7 and ad lac.) siipports the former, but the next words, ψ 'έδωκαν κ.τ.λ., seem to point the other way. The book is a Divine reve- lation of which Jesus Christ was the recipient and the giver: cf. Gal. i. 12, where δι άποκάλύψεως Ί. X. means 'by revelation from J.' C (Light- foot), in contrast with teaching re- ceived πάρα άνθρωπου. The title might have been Άποκάλνψΐί Ίησοΰ, THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [Ι. ι Θεός δεϊξαι τοις ΰούΧοκ αύτοΰ α δει jeveoOai έν τά-χβι, και έσημανβν άποστείΧας δια του άγγεΧον 2 αύτοΰ τω ΖούΧω αύτου ' Ιωάννη, §a os βμαρτυρησεν τον (ί. 6i oa ) | τω οΌυλω our.] του δουΚου αυτ. A om 130 | laavei Ι δούλου] αγίου Χ Ν* (Ιωάννη »° Λ ) though the instinct of the Church has rightly substituted the name of the disciple through whom the message was delivered. ην e&awev αντω 6 θίός κτλ.] Arethas : bedorai μεν πάρα τον πατρός τω υίώ, δΐδοται δε πάρα τον νίον ημιν τοϊς bOv\ois αντοϋ. The Father is the ultimate Revealer (Mt. xi. 25 άπεκάλυψας) ; the Son is the medium through Whom the revelation passes to men (ib. 27 χ ϊ• χ 8, xxii• 6), but not to the exclusion of the other members of the Church; in vii. 3 oi δούλοι τοϋ θεοΐι ήμων are the whole company of the sealed, and the reading of N* (ay/ots) is doubtless a true gloss in this piace. α Set γίνίσθαι iv τάχα, the contents of the Apocalypse. Δ« yeviaBai is from Dan. ii. 28, see Mc xiii. 7, note ; δίΐ denotes not the necessity of a blind ύμαρμίνη, but tho sure fulfilment of the purpose of God revealed by the prophets; cf. Mc. viii. 31, ix. 1 1, xiii. 10, Lc. xxiv. 26, Jo. xii. 34. To this the keen hope of primitive Christianity adds iv τάχ€ΐ (Lc. xviiL 8, Rom. xvi. 20, Apoc. xxii. 6), another O.T. phrase (Deut. 6 , Jos. 2 , 1 Regn. 1 , Ps. 1 , Sir. 1 , Bar. 3 , Ez. 1 ), which must be interpreted here and in xxii. 6 relatively to Divine measurements of time (Arethas, παρα- μέτρων τα ανθρώπινα τοις θάοις). Dr Hort, placing a comma after αύτοΰ, takes a as in apposition with ην. και ϊσήμανιν άποστείλας, SC. Ίησοΰς Χριστοί. The Latin significavit nun- lianda seems to imply a reading άποστίΐΚαι, with 6 θεός as the subject With ίσήμανιν compare the use of the verb in Jo. xii. 33, xviii. 32, xxi. 19, and in Acts xi. 28 ίσήμαινεν δ«α roC πνεύματος. Here the message is sent by Christ δίά roO άγγί\ον αντοΰ, cf. Beatus : "non cogitatione concepta res est, non aliquibus scripturarum car- minibus; sed per angelum, id est, puritatissuaenuntium...Ioaunidirecta est"; see Mt. xiii 41, Mc. xiii. 27, Apoc. xxii. 16. ΆποστΆΧαν διό (=Τ| ώψ, Exod. iv. 13, 2 Sam. xi. 14, xii. 25, xv. 36), cf. Mt. xi. 2 πέμψας διά των μαθητών αύτοΰ, Acts XI. 30 αποστείΧαντ(ς...8ιά χάρος Βαρνάβα Και ΣανΧου. For τ<ρ δοι'λω αύτοΰ Ιωάννη see Rom. i. ι, Jas. i. 1, Jude 1. John is named again in i. 4, 9 and xxii. 8; the question of his identity with the Apostle is discussed in the Introduction, e. xv. The genesis of the Apocalypse has now been traced from its origin in the Mind of God to the moment when it reached its human interpreter. 2. or ίμαρτνρησςν τον Χόγον κτλ.] Μάρτνς, μαρτυράν, μαρτυρία, are fre- quent in the Apocalypse, as in other Ι•3] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN \oyov τον θεον και την μαρτυρίαν Ίησοΰ Χρίστου, όσα εΐόεν. 3 μακάριος ό άναγινωσκων και οι άκουοντες 3 τους \oyoυς της προφητείας .και τηροΰντες τα εν αύτη yey ραμμένα• ό yap καιρός e'yyi/s. ι Ιησού Χρκττου] om Χρίστο» 1 2 αυτού Dion | οσα] + τ« ι al" "" Ar | ειδεν. (ιΒεν KAQ 7 Q8)] + K at ατινα εισι και α(τινά) χρι? yevecrdai μετά ταύτα ι 7 Ϊ2 28 37 3^ 4^ 49 al'*' m " me (cod ap Ar) 3 μακάριοι οι αναγινωσκοντα me Vict | tous λογούς ACP alP 1 vg me syrr Vict Prim Andr Ar] + τούτους C tok λογον NQ 100 aeth | της προφητείας (-τιας ϋΰ)] + ταυτης 7 ι6 ■»£•!•»■■» ί™ «•ι••>ι me syr r arm 2 Vict Prim Johaunine books; the verb is usually followed by περί or oVt, but the cognate ace. occurs again in 1 Jo. v. 10, Apoc. xxii. 16, 20. Τον λόγον.,.την μαρτυρίαν, i.e. the revelation imparted by God and at- tested by Christ; the phrase occurs again, with some modifications in form or meaning; in i. 9, vi. 9, xii. 17, xx. 4. This word and witness reached John in a vision (So-a εϊ&εν. the reading 00-a re εΐδεν has arisen from a misunder- standing). Είδε ν strikes a note which is heard repeatedly throughout the book (cf. i. 12, 17, i9f., iv. ι, v. 1 f, etc.) and indicates its general character, which is that of a prophetic vision (cf. Isa. i. Γ). The aorist έμαρτνρησεν is epistolary; from the reader's point of view John's testimony was borne at the time when the book was written. Dr Hort regards ίμαρτ. as referring to John's "confessing of Jesus Christ before men," and not to the visions of the Apocalypse. 3. μακάριοι. 6 άναγινωσκων κτ-λ.] Felicitation of the reader and hearers of the vision; similar χ μακαρισμοί, mak- ing with tho present instance seven in all, occur at intervals throughout the second half of the book (Apoc. xiv. 13, xvi. 15, xix. 9, xx. 6, xxii. 7, 14). "Ο άναγινωσκων is not the private student (cf. Mc. xiii. 14, note), but, as οί. άκ. shews, the person who reads aloud in the congregation. The Church inherited the Jewish practice of reading in the congregation (cf. Exod. xxiv. 7, Neh. viii. 2, Lc. iv. l6, Acts xiii. 15, xv. 21, 2 Cor. iii. 15), ■and extended it to such Christian documents, as Apostolic letters (Col. iv. 16, 1 Th. v. 27, and see also Justin ap, i. 67, Dionys. Cor. ap. Eus. Η. E. iv. 23); and the writer of the Apoca- lypse clearly desires to encourage this public use of his book. The reader (αναγνώστης, lector), soon acquired an official position, and became a member of the clerus• (Tert. de praescr. 41; see Wordsworth, Ministry of Grace, p. 187 f.). But no such character was attributed to him in the first century; in the Apostolic Church as in the Synagogue the reading of the Scriptures was probably deputed by the presbyters or the president to any member of the congregation who was able and willing to perform it. The μακαρισμός of the reader (μακά- ριος = Τί^β as in Deut. xxxiii. 29, Ps. i. 1) is extended to the hearers if they keep what they have heard. There is here a scarcely doubtful reference to our Lord's saying in Lc. xi. 28 μακάριοι οι άκουοντες τον λόγοι/ τον θεον και φυλάσσοντες, though the Johannine τηρε'ιν (Jo. viii. 51 f., xiv. 23, xv. 20, xvii. 6, 1 Jo. ii. 5, etc.) takes the place of φνΚάσσιιν. The thought is worked out by St James (i. 22 f.). Της προφητεία:: the Apocalyptist claims for his book that it shall take rank with the prophetic books of the O.T.; cf. 2 Chr. xxxii. 32 iv rji προ- φητεία Ήσαίου, Sir. prol. 15 at προ- ' φητεΊαι. The claim is repeated in Apoc. xxii. 7, io, 18 f. Ό yap καιρός εγγύς: a motive for hearing and keeping : the season (cf. xi. 18, xxii. 10; Acts i. 7) for tho fulfilment of the vision is at hand ; tho 1 — 2 4 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [I. 4 4 4 Ίωάννης ταΐς ίτηά εκκλησίας ταΐε ev τίρ Άσιά• 4 Iwaxtjs tt | arro ο ων KACP ι 2 s 6 7 ΙΟ 3§ 9 1 «Ί™" 1 30 ρ^™ 8 Ar ed otto "0eoi/'o ac Q 36 95 J 3° al ,ere40 Vict Prim 1 g h vg syrr] cwro του ο ων hopesand fears which it arouses belong to the near future; cf. Beatus: "per- ficientibus enim 11011 longum tempus remunevationis facit." The words, like iv τάχιι (v. 1), are repeated in xxii. 10. They rest ultimately on such sayings of Christ asMc. xiii. 28 f. and are among the commonplaces of primitive Chris- tianity ; cf. Rom. xiii 1 1, 1 Cor. vii. '29, Phil. iv. 5 (where see Lightfoot's note). 4 — 8. The writer's greeting to the Churches addressed. 4• Ίωάννηι rais «ττά ε κκλ^σ/ακ κτλ.] The customary form for beginning a letter; cf. Gal. i. ι Παΰλοε—ταΐ: c'k- κλησίαιι tt)s Τάλατίαί, I Th. L Ι,ΊΙ. τί} εκκλησία θίσσαλονικίων, I Cor. i. I, 2 Cor. i. 1, Ign. Eph. 1 etc. Though we are not again reminded of the fact till we reach the closing benediction (xxii. 21), the Apocalypse is in fact a letter from i. 4 onwards; it might have borne the title Π /jos ras ζ' εκκλη- σία!, or Hpus 'Aaiavovs. Ή Ασία in the Books of Maccabees (1 Mace. viii. 6, xi. 13, xii. 39, xiii. 32-; 2 Mace. iii. 3, x. 24; 3 Mace. iii. 14; 4Macc.iii. 2o)is conterminous with the empire of the Seleucids. But before N.T. times it had acquired another meaning. The Romans identified Asia with the Pergamene kingdom, and when in B.C. 129 the possessions of Attalus III. passed into their handa, they gave thename to the newprovince. The province of Asia at first included only the western sea-board of Asia Minor, but after B.C. 49 two dioeceses of Phrygia were added to it; see Cic. pro Flacco 27 "Asia vestra constat ex Phrygia Mysia Caria Lycia." In the N.T..ij Ασία is always Proconsular Asia, with the possible exception of Acts ii. 9, where Phrygia appears, to be definitely excluded; on this see, however, the Introduction, c: v. In addition to the cities named below in v. 1 1, there wore Christian communities at Troas (Acts xx. 5 ft., 2 Cor. ii. 12), Hierapolis and Colossae (Col. i. 1, ii. 1, iv. 13), possibly also at Magnesia and Tralles; and the question arises why John addresses only the seven churches which are specified {rais ίπτα (ΚκΚησίαΐ!). The selection may be explained by cir- cumstances ; Troas lay far off the road which the messenger would -naturally follow, while Hierapolis and Colossae were so near to Laodicea and Mag- nesia and Tralles to Ephesus that they might be disregarded. The seven Churches addressed were fairly re- presentative of Asiatic Christianity; and as Ramsay points out {Exp. 1904, i. p. 29), the "seven cities were the• best points of communication with 4 seven districts." But the repeated occurrence of the number seven in this book (i. 4 b , 12, 16, iv. 5, v. 1, 6, viii. 2, x. 3, xi. 13, xii. 3, xiii. 1, xiv. 6 f.) sug- gests another reason for the limita- tion. Seven, the number of the days of the week, presented to the Semitic mind the idea of completeness (Adrian Isagoge 83 ή ■γραφή.. .τον ΐτττα αριθμόν ...Xcy«..,«rl ΤΕλίΐοδ αριθμού). Thus "the seven Churches" may represent to us not only the Churches of Asia as a whole, b.ut(caw. Murat. 57 f.) all the Churches of Christ ; and Andreas is probably not altogether wide of the mark when he writes : δια τον 4βδο- ματικοΰ αριθμού το μυστικόν των απαν- τοχή ΐκκΚησιων σημαίνων. So Prima- sius: "id est, uni ecclesiaeseptiformi; septenario numero saepe universitas figuratur"; and Rupert of Deutz: "idem nobis sit ac si dixerit 'Ioannes omnibus ecclesiis quae sunt in mun- do"'; cf. Beatus: "quid sibi Asianus populus esse videtur ut solus suscipere revelationem apostolicam mereatur?" But any such application of rats arro έκκλη&ϊαις is only in the background of Ι•4] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN χαριζ ύμΐν και ειρήνη άπο ρ ων και ό ην και ό ερχό- μενος, και άπο των επτά πνευμάτων α ενώπιον του 4 α ενώπιον CQ 6 14 93 95 &l fere4 ° syrr vlli ] α εστίν εν. Ρ ι 38 49 α €ισίν €ν • 3^ των ev. fciA 47 79 99 om 80 the words ; as they stand, they have a definite reference from winch they must not be diverted to mystical vises. Χάρις ύμϊν και ειρήνη.- So all the Pauline Epistles open except 1, 2 Tim., where and in 2 Jo. we find χάρις έλεος ειρήνη. The same saluta- tion is used in 1, 2 Peter; St James prefers the classical χαίρειν (Acts xv. 23, Jac. i. ι). 'Αττο ο ων και 6 ην και ο ερχόμενος i.e. άττο βεοΰ πατρός (Rom. i. 7, ι Cor. i. 3 etc.). That this is the true interpretation appears from καϊ άπο Ί. X. which follows ; the view of Andreas (από της τρισυπόστατου βεό- τητος), and that of Primasius ("ad per- sonam tamen filii hjc proprie redigen- dus est locus") are equally excluded by the context. As to the phrase itself, ό &v is the lxx. rendering of ΪΤΠΚ Ίψ$ in Exod. iii. 14; cf. Philo de Abr. 24 εν ταΐς Ίεραΐς γραφάίς κυρίω ονόματι καλείται Ό ων. Aquila, however, followed by Theodotion, translated ιΤί}Κ "ψ&ξ ΓΡΓΙΚ by εσομαι [os] εσομαι, and the Targums read into the words a reference to the infinite past and future of God's, eternal 'now'; thus the. Jerusalem Targum.interprets "qui fuit est et erit," and the T. of Jonathan on Deut. xxxii. 39 renders Ν-ΊΠ »3ξξ 'JS. "ego Me qui est et qui fuit et qui erit." Similar descriptions of the Divine Life are cited' from Greek poetry, e.g. the saying ascribed to Heracleitus: κόσμος... ην άε\ καϊ tort και εσται ; the oracle iu Paus. χ. 12 Ζευς r)v, Ζευς εστί, Ζευς εσσεται, and the Orphic lines Ζευς πρώτος γενετο, Ζευς ύστατος άρχικέραυνος' \ Ζευς κεφάΚή, Ζευς μέσος. Thus the Apocalyptist strikes a note familiar both to Jewish and Hellenic ears. But he expresses his thought more suo : ό %v (Benson : 'the Was') is a characteristically bold attempt to supply the want of a past part, of ειμί, while ό ερχόμενος is perhaps preferred to ό εσόμενος be- cause it adumbrates at the outset the general purpose of the book, which is to exhibit the comings of God in human history ; if ερχεσβαι is• used elsewhere chiefly of the Son, the father also may be said ' to come when He reveals Himself in His work- ings ; cf. e.g. Jo. XIV. 23 \εγβ> και] ό πατήρ μου...ελευσόμεθα. As a whole the phrase exhibits the Divine Life under the categories into which it falls when it becomes the subject of human thought, which can conceive of the eternal only in the terms of time. Such a title of the Eternal Father stands fitly among the first words of a book which reveals the present in the light both of the past and of the future. The construction άπο ό ων κτλ. must be explained by regarding the whole phrase as an indeclinable noun (Viteau, Etude, ii. pp. 12, 126); a more exact writer would perhaps have said άπο του Ό ων-κτλ. (cf. WM. p. 79 f..). και άπο των- επτά πνευμάτων κτλ.] Cf. iii. ι, iv. 5, v. 6, where after πν. the writer adds roC βεοΰ. Jewish angelology recognised seven angels of the Presence (Tob. xii. 1 5, Enoch xx. 7, xc. 21; cf. Targum Jon. on Gen. xi. 7 : "dixit Deus vii angelis qui stant coram illo"). Seven angels are men- tioned in Apoc. viii. 2 ff., xv. 1 if. ; and some early interpreters were dis- "posed to identify the "seven spirits of God" with such a group of angelic beings. Thus Andreas : επτά δε πνεύματα Τους επτά αγγέλους νοε\ν δυνατόν, and Arethas more confidently : δοκιμωτερον- δε αγγέλους ταύτα νοειν, Urging that α εστίν ενώπιον του θρόνου 6 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [I. 4 5 θρόνου αύτου, 3 και άττο Ίησοΰ Χρίστου, ό μάρτυς ό implies την οίκετικην τάξιν, ου την ισότιμον. But against this view must be set (1) the description of the 'seven spirits' in c: v. 6, with obvious re- ference to Zech. iv. 10; and (2) the apparent coordination of the spirits in this place with the Father and the Son. Bousset finds a parallel to this in Justin, ap. i. 6, but Justin's Chris- tology is less consistent than that of the Apocalypse, where Christ is dis- tinguished from the angels (see upon this the* notes to c. xxii. 8 f., 16). Moreover, the NT. rarely uses πνεύ- ματα of angels ; Heb. i. 7, 14 is based on a quotation, and in Apoc. xvi. 13 f. πνεύματα is qualified by ακάθαρτα or δαιμονίων, which removes all ambiguity.' On the whole, there- fore, it is safer to accept the alterna- tive followed by the best Latin com- mentators, Victorinus, Primasius, Apringius, Beatus ("sanctus scilicet Spiritus unus in nominej virtutibus septiformis") and offered as an al- ternative by Andreas (ίσως 8e και ετερως τούτο νοηθησεται . .•. δια ...των επτά πνευμάτων των ενεργειών τοΰ άγιου ΤΙνενματος [σημαινόμενων^). "We may compare Heb. ii. 4 πνεύματος άγιου μερισμοϊς, I Cor. xii. ΙΟ διακρίσεις πνευμάτων, ib. ΧΪν. 3 2 πνεύματα προ- φητών, Apoc. xxii. 6 ό θεός των πνευμάτων των προφητών. Here the 'spirits' are seven, because the Churches in which they operate are seven. An early interpretation con- nected them with the aspects of the Π1Π' ΙΤΠ enumerated in Isa. xi. 2 LXX.J cf. Justin, dial. 87, and Ps.- Hippolytus (ed. Lagarde,p. 198), where the passage in Isaiah is quote.d in the form άναπαύσεται ε'π' αύτον επτά πνεύ- ματα τοΰ θεοΰ. Hence the Spiritus septiformis of Latin devotional theo- logy. But there is nothing to shew that the writer of the Apocalypse had Isa. I.e. in his thoughts ; moreover the septenary number appears there only in the lxx., to which comparatively little weight is assigned in this book. ά ενώπιον τον θρόνου αυτόν antici- pates the vision of iv. 2, 5, q.v. The readings τών, α εστίν (εισιν), are gram- matical corrections for the rougher a: for the omission of the verb cf. c. v. 13 πάν κτίσμα b iv κτλ. ' Nestle (Textual, Criticism, p. 331) suggests that the original reading was τά. 5- και άπο Ί. Χρ., ο μάρτυς ό πιστοί] Grace and peace come also from the Person who received and communi- cated the revelation. Άπο Ί. Xp., as in the Pauline form of salutation from Bom. i. 7 onwards; St John (2 Jo. 3) has παρά in the same sense. Since our Lord is the medium rather than the source of the Divine favour we might have expected διό, as in Jo. i. 17 ή χάρκ και ή άΧήθεια δια Ί. Χρ. εγενετο. But the Son in His oneness with the Father may also be regarded as the source of the gifts which He communicates. From this point the full title Ίησονς Χριστός disappears, unless we read it in the closing benediction (xxii 21); else- where throughout the Apoc. Ίησοϋς stands alone (i. 9 bis, xii. 17, xiv. 12, xvii. 6, xix. 10 bis, xx. 4, xxii. 16, 20) — a use which is rare except in the Gospels and the Ep. to the Hebrews. It may be the purpose of the, writer to emphasize in this way the humanity of the glorified Christ, and His identity with the historical Person who lived and suffered. Ο μάρτνς 6 πιστός, and the other nominatives which follow, are the first examples of an anomaly which is common in the Apoc; cf. ii. 13, 20, iii. 12 etc. Such irregularities may be partly attributable to Semitic habits of thought — a Greek could scarcely have permitted himself to use them ; but they are partly due to the cha- racter of the book and perhaps are parenthetic rather than solecistic; Ι•5] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN ττιστος, ο πρωτότοκο? των νεκρών και ο άρχων των βαοτιΧεων της γης. τω ά<γαττώντι ημάς και Χυσαντι ημάς έκ των αμαρτιών ημών ev τώ α'ιματι αύτοΰ, 5 των νεκρών] pr εκ ι §ι 96 al arm 99 Andr Ar | Χυσαντι RAC ι 6 12* 28 36 38 69 79 99 ( s y rr ) arm Prim] λουσοκτ» PQ ramP 1 vg me aeth Andr Ar | om ημάς 2° Κ* (hab X c - a ) | ck RAC 112 28* 36 38 79 92 m e 99 arm Prim] οπό PQ min* 1 vg me aeth Ar | om ημών Α ι 12 16 arm 4 Prim vld see the Introduction, c. xi. Μάρτυς looks back to β. 2 την μαρτυρίαν Ίηαοΰ, but the phrase ό μ. 6 moras has a wider reference; cf. Jo. iii. 11, 32 f., viii. 14 f., xviii. 37, 1 Tim. vi. 13; so Victorinus : "in nomine suscepto per- hibuit testimonium in mmido"; we are reminded also of Prov. xiv. 5 DrjiOK IS, lea. Iv. 4 1>ΡΙΓ15 DISiK^ IB. It occurs again in c. iii. 14 (y.».), where it is amplified (ό Αμήν, δ μάρτυς 6 π. καϊ αληθινός). ο πρωτότοκοι των νεκρών] So St Paul in Col. i. 18 01 tarty ή αρχή, πρωτό- τοκος i< τών νικρων, and ι Cor. xv. 20 tyryycpTai tK νικρών, απαρχή τών κΐκοι- μημίνων. Though others had risen, those e.g. who were raised by Him, yet as Alcuin (quoted by Trench) well observes, "nullus ante ipsum non moriturus surrexit." In His capacity of 'firstborn' Jesus is further ό άρχων των βασιλέων της γης. Here John follows another line of thought, sug- gested by Ps. lxxxviii. (lxxxix.) 28 Kay ω πρωτότοκον (113?) θήσομαι αυτόν, ΰψηΚον πάρα. (J }Ί νϊ?) τοις βασϊλεΰσιν της γής. The Resurrection carried with it a potential lordship over all humanity (Rom. xiv. 9), not only over the Church (Col. I.e.). The Lord won by His Death what the Tempter had offered Him as the reward of sin (Mt. iv. 8 f.); He rose and ascended to receive universal empire ; cf. c. xix. 12, 16 eVt την κιφάλήν αύτοΰ διαδήματα πολλά. ..ΐχ(ΐ... όνομα γίγραμμίνον Βασί- Xffrr βασιλέων. The Words ό άρχων τ. β. τής γης, imperator regum terrae, stand, appropriately at the head of a book which represents the glorified Christ as presiding over the destinies of nations. The threefold title μάρτυς. ..πρωτό- τοκος... άρχων answers to the three- fold purpose of the Apocalypse, which is at once a Divine testimony, a reve- lation of the Risen Lord, and a fore- cast of the issues of history. τω άγαπωντι ημάς κτλ.] The first of , the many doxologies of the book (iv. 11, v. 9, 12 f., vii. 10, 12 etc.) is offered to Jesus Christ. " To Him that loves us and — the crucial instance of His love — loosed us from our sins at the cost of His blood." The reading άγαπήσαντι, though it represents a fact (Jo. xiii. 1, 34, xv. 9, Rom. viii. 37, Apoc. iii. 9) misses the contrast between the abiding αγάπη and the completed act of redemption. Be- tween λΰσαντι and λοΰσαντι it is not so easy to decide. Αΰίΐν άμαρτίαν is Biblical, see Job xlii. 9 (lxx.), -and the construction λύει» από occurs in Lc. xiii. 16, 1 Cor. vhV 27; cf. Apoc. xx. 7 λυθήσιται t< της φυλακής. On the other hand λοίσαντι yields a good sense, and presents a more usual metaphor; cf. Ps. 1. (li.) 4, Isa. i. 16, 18, 1 Cor. vi. 11, Eph. v. 26, Tit. iii. 5, Heb. x. 22; but it rests on inferior authority and may be "due to failure to understand the Hebraic use of iv to denote a price... and a natural misapplication of vii. 14" (WH. 2 ,• Notes, p. 136; cf. .Nestle, Textual Criticism, p. 332). It is' interesting to find Plato by a play upon the words bringing together the two verbs in a very similar connexion : Crat. THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [L6 6 6 και έποίησ -ev r/uas βασιλείαν, iepeis τω θεω καϊ 6 ετοι-ησεν KACP minP 1 syrr] ποιησαντι Q 7 13 14 16 2 5 2 9 3 6 43 55 9 2 "" 'if"*™' arm | ημα, KPQ alP 1 syrr Vict Prim Andr Ar] -ημα A 13 23 *7 3 1 3» 55 η6-ημων Q ygamruharitoi ( n0S ii-ttm regnum) \ βασιλειαν tepeis] βασιλειαν και tepeis K ca 99 vg"» 1 Tert Vict Prim βασιλεΐ! και tepeis Ρ 1 28 36 79 80 81 161 βασιλειον ιερείί Q βασιλειον tepare^a (9) 13 14 23 27 55 92'" 130 me'" βασιλειαν ιεραν syrr* 4 βασίλεια, arm (ed. Charles, p. 1 16 note). As Dr Hort has shewn, the lxx. probably read DdSdd. and the same reading is re- ' presented by Th. and in the Apoc. (on the frequent agreement of the latter with Th. see Salmon, Iritrod. to tlie N. TJ, p. 548 if., and the writer's Introd. to the O.T. in Greek, p. 48). It is a further question whether βασι- λεία in this passage means a nation under the government of a. king, or a nation of kings; for the latter inter- pretation see the Jer. Targum cited by Charles I.e. (ΜΠ31 p!?D). But, as Hort observes, "in Exodus 'Kingdom' is little more than a synonym of 'people' or nation, with the idea of government by a king added"; and this sense suits the present context. The Apoc. is largely a protest against the Caesar-cult and the attitude of the Empire towards the Church, and at the outset it places the Divine Kingdom in sharp contrast to the im- perial power. As Israel when set free from Egypt acquired a national life under its Divine King, so the Church, redeemed by the Blood of Christ, con- stituted a holy nation, a new theocracy. 'ltpels stands in apposition to βα- σιλειαν; Ίεράν (Syrr., v£h\iiaX2>), κα\ U pets are needless attempts to save the grammar. The members of the Church, a Kingdom in their corporate life, are individually priests ; as Bede truly says : "nemo sanctorum est qui spiritualiter sacerdotii officio careat, cum sit membrum aeterni Sacerdotis." Baptism inaugurates this priestly service (Eph. v. 26, Heb. x. 22, Tit. iii. 5), which is fulfilled by the offering of living, reasonable, and spiritual sacri- fices (Rom. xii. 1, Heb. xiii. 15 f., 405 Β ουκονν 6 καθαιρων Bebs και ο άποΚνων re καϊ άπολούων των τοιούτων κακών αίτιο! αν εϊη; ' The assonance of λοΰειν and λύειν abundantly accounts for the interchange of the two, not- withstanding the difference of mean- ing: one spelling or the other was adopted according to the sense pre- ferred; cf. Arethas: δισσογραφεΐται ταΰτα προ! &ιάφορον εννοιαν. Έχ τω αΐματι: the blood, emblem of the sacrificed life, was the λΰτρον (Mc. x. 45, note ; cf. Rom. v. 9, 1 Pet. i. 19, 1 Jo. i. 7); for ev 'at the price of' (= 3) see 1 Chron. xxi. 24, Jer. xxxix. (xxxii.) 44, ApOC. V. 9 ήγόρασα! τω ΰ(ω iv τω αϊματί σου. The gift of αφεσκ άμαρτι&ν bestowed upon the Church on the very day of the Resur- rection (Jo. xx. 23) was an immediate result of the 'loosing' effected by the Cross ; cf. Jo. xi. 44 λύσατε avrbv και αφετε, and Aug. ad, loc. 6. κα'ι εποίησεν ημάς βασιλειαν, iepels κτλ.] Beatus : "quia pro nobis passus est et resurrexit a mortuis, nostrum regnum ipse construxit." The con- struction of the sentence requires και ποιήσαντι, but the writer more suo (see on v. 5, <5 μάρτυς) suffers the new thought that rises in his mind to take the form of a parenthesis. As the apparatus testifies, early students of the book were driven to despair by the words which follow. They rest on Exod. xix. 6 "ye shall be to Me a kingdom of priests" (D^HB DDJPP, LXX. βασιλειον Ίεράτε υ- μα, Aq. βασιλεία ιερέων, Symm., Th. βα- σιλεία iepels, Vg. regnum sacerdotale). Exod. I.e. is quoted also in 1 Pet. ii. 9 (where see Hort's noto), Apoc. v. 9 (βασιλείαν καϊ iepett), Jubilees xvi. 13 1-7] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 9 πατρι αύτοΰ, αύτώ η ΰοζα και το κράτος εις τους αιώρας [των αιώνων]' αμήν. 7 ίδου έρχεται μετά 7 των νεφελών, και άγεται αύτον πάς όψθαΧμος και 6 τον αιώνα ti* (τους atavas K c •*) syrs" | om των αιώνων ΑΡ ο 28 79 97 99 me I om > 49> 79. 8 °) 9 2 ™ g 99 I i° al m " Tld vg mo generic (WM., p. 209), pointing not so much to the original crucifiers as to those who in every age share the indifference or hostility which lay behind the act. Και κάθονται ίπ αυ- τόν ('over Him,' Vulg. super eum; cf. xviii. 9) ττασαι al φυΧαϊ της γης ', the first three words are from Zech. xii. 12 κα\ κόβεται ή γη κατά φυλάς φυλάς. Mt., who also (xxiv. 30) blends Dan. vii. 13 with Zech. xii. 10, turns the sentence precisely as John does — a circumstance which increases the probability that the quotation came as it stands from a book of excerpts. Prim, renders : " et videbit eum omnis terra" talem * ; other Latin texts give " omnis caro terrae " or " omnes tribus terrae." Did they read, with the Coptic and Armenian versions, o-fyov- ται αυτόν and add talem (i. q. ίκκεν- τηθίντα) to relieve the monotony of the repeated οψονται 1 Hippolytus (ed. Lag. p. 117) inter- prets too narrowly : θεάσονται ό των 'Εβραίων δήμος και κοψονται. Πάσαι αϊ φύλαί strikes quite another note. Ναί, άμην unites the Greek and He- ■ brew forms of affirmation, as Andreas remarks : τον αύτον νουν τ}) tc ΈλληνίόΊ tji T€ 'Εβραϊκή γΚωτττ) ίσήμανεν. A somewhat similar combination is the άββά ό πατήρ of Mc. xiv. 36, where seo note. The words ναί, αμήν, however, are not quite synonymous ; from its associations αμήν possesses a religious character, which gives it greater solemnity; cf. 2 Cor. i. 20 οο-αι γαρ eVayyeXiai 0eoO, iv αντω το ναί• διο και fit' αΰτοΰ τό αμήν. Christ is Him- self 6 αμήν (iii. 14) ; ό ναί would be felt to be -unbecoming. Elsewhere in the book (xiv. 13, xvi. 7, xxii. 20) the writer contents himself with the simple affirmation which sufficed for Christians in their ordinary inter- course (Mt.. v. 37, Jas. v. 12) ; but in this extremely solemn announcement- of the coming Parousiathe double asseveration is in place. Hort inter- prets otherwise: "ναί the Divine promise, αμήν the human acceptance." δ. £γώ €ΐμι το άλφα καί το ω κτλ.] The solemn opening of the book reaches its climax here with words ascribed to the Eternal and Almighty Father. To άλφα κα\ το ω is interpreted by ή αρχή καϊ το τέλος (xxi. 6), ό πρώτος- κα\ ό Έσχατος (χχϋ. 13) ; cf. Isa. xii. 4ι xliiL 10, xliv. 6, xlviii. 12. The book being for Greek readers, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet are used, but there is doubtless a reference to the Jewish employment of Χ, Π ; cf. e.g. Jalkui Bub. f. 17. 4 " Adamus totam legem transgressus es, t ab Aleph usque ad Tau" ('Π "tin 'XB) ; ib. f. 48. 4, where the contrary is said of Abra- ham. The symbol ΓΙΧ was regarded as including the intermediate letters, and stood for totality ; and thus it fitly represented the Shekinah (Schoettgeu, i. p. 1086). Early Christian writers enter at large into the mystical im- port of AQ, e.g. Tertullian, de monog. "duas Graecas litteras, summam et ultimain...sibi lnduit Dominus, uti... ostenderet in se esse initii decursum ad finem, et finis recursum ad initium; ut omnis dispositio in eum desinens per quern coepta est...proinde desinat quemadinodumetcoepit." So Clement of Alexandria, strom. iv. 25 § 158 sq. cis πάντα tv ϋνθιν και πάντα• κύκλος γαρ ο αυτός πασών των δυνάμεων εις 1.9] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN II θεός, ό ων και ό ην και ό ερχόμενος, ό παντο- κράτωρ . 9 '€γω Ιωάννης, ό άΰεΑώος υμών και συνκοινωνος 9 έν τη θ\ί-ψβι και βαο -iXeia και υπομονή έν Ίησοΰ, 8 ο παντοκράτωρ] om ο Q pr ο ffeos Hipp"™' 9 I&mu"7> tt* | κοινωνοί 6 γ 8 Ar | και βασίλεια] και ev τη β. Ρ ι 7 49 &1 ηοηη om syrr aeth | om και υττομονη ev I. arm | ev l -ησου] ev Χριστώ A 25 » Xp. Ιησού Q min 50 syr Prim Ar ev I. Xp. X 00 syr Iijffou Χρίστου ι 28 79 130 al" onn ev εΐΚονμίνων και ένονμενων. δια τοντα άλφα και (3 ό λόγοϊ e'Lpr)Tai, ου μόνον το τίλος άρχη y'lveTal και τελ(ντ<} πάλιν 4πι την ανωθίν αρχήν, οϋδομοΰ διάστασιν λαβών. See also Origen in Joann. t. i. 31. The phrase is seen to express not eternity only, but infinitude, the boundless life which embraces all while it transcends all, "fons et clausula om- nium quae sunt" (Prudentius, cathem. ix. 10 ff.). In xxii. 13 το άλφα καΐ το ω is applied by Jesus to Himself, and this reference is assumed by the ancient interpreters in the present case (cf. Hippolytus adv. Noet. (ed. Lag. p. 48) emev παντοκράτορα Χριστό», Clem. AL strom. iv. 25 § 159, Orig. de princ. i. 2, 10 "qui enim venturus est, quis est alius nisi Christus?" .Andreas : ό χριστοί ενταύθα δηλονται, and the passages cited above), but in- correctly, as the next words shew. Xey« Kiipioj ό θεάς = ΠΪ.Τ tflK. 11}» } a phrase specially common in Ezekiel (vi. 3, 1 1, vii. 2 etc.), with whom and the rest of the Ο. T. prophets the Christian prophet of the Apocalypse associates himself by his use of it. Ό' Sv κτλ., see v. 4, note. Ό παντο- κράτωρ, which in other books of the N.T. is found but once and then in a quotation (2 Cor. yi. 18), occurs again in Apoq. iv. 8, xi. 17, xv. 3, xvi. 7, 1 4s xix. 6, 15, xxi. 22. Like Κ. ό 6e6t, 6 παντοκράτωρ is from the O.T., where the lxx. use it for v l£' in Job and in the other books for niiOV. Κ. ό debs 6 π. occurs in Hos. xii. 5 (6), and in Amos passim ; in 2, 3 Mace, ό π. often stands alone." Ο παντοκράτωρ = 6 πάντων κρατών,, 6 πάντων έξουσιάζων (Cyril. Hier. catech. viii. 3), the All-Ruler rather than the Almighty (ό παντοδύναμος, Sap. vii. 23, xi. 17, xviii. 15) ; see Suicer ad v., and Kattenbusch, Das apost. Symbol, ii. P• 533 f-> ol " the editor's Apostles' Creed*, p. 20 f. 9 — 20. Vision op the Rises' and Glohified Christ. 9. εγω Ιωάννης, 6 αδελφός υμών κτλ.] Prom the ecstatic utterances of vv. 7, 8 the writer returns to his address to< the Churches. Έγώ Ί. identifies him with the John of vv. 2, 4, and is after the manner of the apocalyptic prophets when they relate their visions ; cf. Dan. vii. 28, viii. 1 eya> Δανιήλ, Enoch xii. 3 έστώς ημην Ένωχ, 4 Esdr. ii. 33 " ego Esdras ac- cepi praeceptum," Apoc. xxii. 8 κάγώ Ί. ό ακονων. Ό αδελφός νμών, while not claiming for John an official cha- racter, does not exclude it ; cf. 2 Pet iii. 1 5 ό a -γαπητος ημών αδελφός Παΰλοε. His puipose being to establish a com- munity of interests with the Churches, he is content with the title which Apostles and presbyters shared with other. Christians (cf. Acts xv. 23 ol απόστολοι και οί πρεσβύτεροι αδελφοί τοΐς...άδιλφοΐς...χαίρειν). Και σννκοι- νωνός κτλ. : κοινωνύν (-νια, -νΰς, -νικάς) συνκοινωνεΐν (-κόι) are Paulino words, but not exclusively so,: cf. 1 Pet. iv. I J THE APOCALYPSE OF' ST JOHN [1.9 έγβνόμην ev τη νήσω τη καλούμενη Πατμω δια τον 13, ν. ι, ι Jo. i. 3ι Apoc. xviii. 4; for the construction with iv cf. Mt. xxiii. 30. The thought of a κοινωνία in suffering belongs to the stock of primitive Christian ideas ; see 1 Pet. /. c, 2 Cor. i. 7, Phil. iii. 10, iv. 14 συνκοινωνήσαντίί μου Ty θλίψα. θλίψίΐ ...βασιλεία.... υπομονή : for ΰλίψΐ! see Mc. iv. 17, note, xiii. 19, Jo. xvi. 33; for βασιλεία, Lc. xii. 32, xxii. 29, Jas. ii. 5, 1 Th. ii. 12, 2 Th. i. 5 ; υπομονή is not less constantly connected with the Christian life (Lc. viii. 15, xxi. 19, Rom. V. 3 ή ΰλίψις ΰπομονήν Karepya- ζιται, viii. 25 f., Apoc. ii. 2 f , 19, iii. 10, xiii. 10, xiv. 12), and with the coming Kingdom (2 Tim. ii. 12 el ΰπομίνομιν και σνμβασϊλεύσομεν). The obvious order is θλίψις, υπομονή, βασιλεία ; but that which is adopted here has the advantage of leaving on the reader's mind the thought of the struggle which still remains before the kingdom is attained. The juxta- position οΐθλίψί! and βασιλεία (Beatus: "retributionem tribulationis regnum") is quite usual, cf. Acts xiv. 22 δια πολλών &λί^ξων bei ημάς ίίσΐλθέϊν els την βασιλείαν τον θεοΰ. Έν Ίησοΰ, equivalent to the Pauline iv Χριστώ, iv Χριστώ Ίησοΰ : on the use of the personal name in the Apoc. see v. 5, note. The whole life of a Christian, whether he suffers or reigns or waits, is in union with the life , of the In- carnate Son. On the question whether John of the Apocalypse is the sou of Zebedee see the Introduction, c. xv. (γενόμην iv rij νήσω tji καλ. ΐΐάτμω κτλ.] Patmos, Patino, one of the Sporades, though seldom mentioned by ancient writers (Time. iii. 33, Strab. x. 5, 13, Plin. Η. N. iv. 23), finds a place in the inscriptions (UIG 2261, 2262 etc.), and its safe harbourage must have made it a place of some importance to navigators ; see Renan, L'Antechrist, p. 372 f., who remarks : "on a tort de la representor comme un 6cueil, comme un desert. Patmos fut et redeviendra peut-etre une des stations maritimes les plus impor- tantes de TArchipeL" Lying in the Icarian Sea between Icaria and Leros, about 40 miles S.W. by W. from Mile- tus, it was " the first or last stopping- place for the traveller on his way from Ephesus to Rome or from Rome to Ephesus." The island forms a crescent with its horns facing eastward (H. P. Tozer, Islands of the Aegean, p. 179).; the traditional scene of the Apoca- lypse (το σπήλαιον τη! ώτοκαλί/ψίωί) and the monastery of St John are towards the southern horn. The locality has doubtless shaped to some extent the scenery of the Apocalypse, into which the mountains and the sea enter largely; see Stanley, Sermons in the East, p. 230. John found himself (ϊγινόμην, v. 10) in Patmos, not as a traveller or a visitor, but δίά τον λόγον τον 6eov καϊ την μαρ- τνρίαν Ίησον. For the phrase as a whole cf. v. 2, note ; ή μαρτ. Ί. occurs again xii. 17, xix. 10 (where see note), xx. 4. Here "the word of God and the witness of Jesus" are not as in v. 2 the Apocalypse itself, but the preaching of the Gospel : for ό λ. τ. θ. in this sense -cf. 1 Jo. ii. 7, 1 Th. ii. 13, 2 Tim. ii. 9, and for ή μ. τ. Ί., Jo. viii. 13 f. The meaning may be either that John had gone to the island to carry the Gospel thither, or that he was sent to Patmos as an exile (cf. Pliny, I. c.) because of his preaching. The latter view is confirmed (a) by the use of διά in vi. 9, xx. 4 ; (b) by συι-- κοινωνοί iv rjj βλίψ^ι, whjch suggests that the writer has in view his own sufferings iv Ίησοΰ ; (c) by an early and practically unanimous tradition of the Church : cf. Tert. de pracscr. 36 "apostolus loauiics...in insulani relegatur," Clem. Al. quis dives 42 του τυράννου τελεντήσαί/τοί άπο της ΐίάτμου ttjs νήσου μ(τηλθ*ν ίπ\ την "Εφεσον, Orig. in Mt. t. xvi. 6 ό fie Ι. ίο] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 13 Χογον τοΰ θεού και την μαρτυρίαν Ίησοΰ. ^έ'γενόμην ΙΟ έν ττνευματι εν τη κνριακη ήμερα., και γικουσα οπίσω 9 την μαρτυρίαν'] pr δια KPQ mini" 1 Syrr ] Ιησού] + Χρίστου ϋ." Λ Q al? 1 me syrr ' (arm) aeth Prim . jio εγενομην] pr 670 A | οπίσω μου φ. μεγ. NCP minI' , ] φ. οπίσω μου μεγάλη Q ι η 8 13 14 al'™ 6,10 φ. μεγ. όπισθεν μου Α 38 aeth om οπίσω μου 'Ρωμαίων βασιλεύς, <■)£ ή παράδοσίί δι- δάσκει, καταδίκασε τον Ίωάννην μαρτν- ρονντα δια τον της αληθείας \uyov els Πάτμον την νήσον. See also Eus. Η. Ε. iii. 18 ; Hieron. de virr. ill. 10. ΙΟ. εγενόμην iv πνεύματι κτλ.] Έιναι iv ψΐΐνματι is the normal condition of Christians, in contrast mill clvai iv σαρκί (Rom. viii. 9) ; γενέσθαι iv πν. denotes the exaltation of the prophet under inspiration; see Ez. iii. 12, 14, xxxvii. 1, and cf. Acts xxii. 17 εγένετο... γενέσθαι με εν εκστάσει — the return to a non-ecstatic state being described as iv εαυτω γ. (Acts xii. 1 1). The phrase ey. εν πν. is repeated c. iv. 2 q.v. Έν τ% κνριακη ήμερα. : the second iv dates the revelation ; it was vouchsafed on the Lord's Day; on the dative of time, with or without a preceding iv, see Blass, Gr.T). nc;f. Ή κνριακη ήμερα, the day consecrated to the Lord ; cf. 1 Cor. xi. 20 ουκ εστίν κυριακον δεΐπνον φαγεΐν, 'it is not (possible) to eat a Supper of the Lord.' ' The Lord's day,' according to the analogy of writings some of which are but a few decades later than the Apoc, is the first day of the week, the day of the Lord's Resurrection; cf. Didache .14 κατά ■ κνριακήν δε Κυρίου σνναχθίντες κλάσατε αρτον, Ign. Magn. 9 κατά κνριακήν ζώντες (see Lightfoot's note), Εν. Petri 9 επεφωσκεν η κνριακη, ib. II ορθρον δε τήί κνριακήί ; Melito of Sardis wrote περί κνριακήί (Evts.'H.E. iv. 26). Since all the early examples are from Asia Minor, it is not improbable that the term arose in Asiatic circles ; but be- • fore the end of the second century it was used generally, cf. Dionysius of Corinth ap. Eus. H. E. iv. 23 τήν σήμερον ovv κνριακήν άγίαν ήμςραν διηγάγομεν, Clem. ΑΙ. strom. νϋ. 12, Tert. cor. 3, or at. 23, anim. 9 {dies dominicus, or dominicae resurrec- tionis, dominica sollemnia): To in- terpret iv Trj κνριακη ήμ. here as = ^c τί; παρονσία (Hort) seems to introduce a thought foreign to the context; it is ' not Christ at His coming who is revealed, but Christ present with the Church on earth. The exile of Pat- mos, shut out from the weekly Break- ing of the Bread in the Christian assembly at Ephesus, finds the Lord's Presence in his solitude. Bede : "con- gruum quoque spirituali visioni teni- pus indicat." και ήκονσα οπίσω μον φωνήν κτλ;] The Seer follows Ez. iii. 12 καϊάνε- λαβέν με.πνενμα, και ήκονσα κατόπισθεν μον και ήκονσα φωνήν. Cf. Plutarch, Lye. 23, cited by Wetstein : ακονσαι ^δε φωνήν ωσπερ• ανθρώπου τίνος εξό- πισθεν επιτιμώντας αντώ. The Voice comes with startling suddenness as from one who, approaching from be- hind, is unobserved until he speaks. "Οπισθεν is a correction for the less exact οπίσω : for οπίσω ' behind ' cf. xii. 1 5. Μεγάλην : cf. V. 22 ; ώς σάλ- πιγγο? looks back to the theophany of Sinai (Exod. xix. 16 φωνή της σάλπιγγος ήχει μέγα : cf. Heb. xii. 19 σάλπιγγας ηχω και φωνή ρημάτων), but the trumpet blast had , already acquired Christian assqciations (Mt. xxiv. 31, 1 Th. iv. 16). Here it is probably the voice of Christ's Angel (».• 1) rather than of Christ Himself, whose.utterance is otherwise described {v. 15); see Benson, Apocalypse p. 95η. Αεγονσης ίοηλέγονσαν, by hypallage ; the true antecedent, is not σάλπιγγας but φωνήν μεγάλην. Η THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [I. 10 11 μου φωνην μβγαΧην ws σάλπιγγος "Χεγούσης Ό βλέπει? γράψον eis βιβλίον καί πεμψον rats επτά έκκλησίακ, εις 'Έ,φεσον και eis Ομΰρναν και εις Περγαμον και εις θυάτειραν και eis CdpSeis και eis 12 Φιλαδελφίαν και eis Λασδί/ααν. "καί επέστρεφα βλέπειν την φωνην ήτις έλάλει μετ έμοϋ• και ίο 9 al | ο] α 34 3S 38 ,7 2 8 7 sy rgw me Prim \^βιβ\ιον] pr το Κ | om και τεμψον arm* | om και 2° Κ* (hab Χ"•») | Ζμυρναν Ν T gnmfu(h:iri) syr gw arm | els θυάτειραν (AC)(Q) 6 8 II 14 34 35 87 130 latt (in Thyatiram, Thyatirae)] eis θυατειρα Κ η 38 91 99 al» 1 Andr Ar ec Qvareipois Ρ 12 36 46 88 | om και eis ZapBeis K* (hab post Ααοδ. Ν •") | φιλαδελφειαν mini 11 | AaoSuceiav PQ mini 11 Andr Ar 12 και i"] + eKei Q 7 91 95 al fere40 | επέστρεψα βλεττειν] eirurrp. eii 130 converses respexi ut viderevi...et vidi (quasi εττιστρεψας εβλεψα,.,και ειδον) g (me) Cypr Prim | ελαλει] λάλα A ελαλησεν Ρ ι 7 al mu syrr Ephesus along the valley of the Mae- ander; the reverse order (Ephesus, Laodicea, Philadelphia, Sardis, Thya- tira, Pergamum, and Smyrna) would have been less natural in view of the importance of Smyrna and Pergamunl• As to the roads which connected the II. ο βλέπεις ypayjrov els. βιβλίον] The vision was not for John's per- sonal benefit only, but for transmission to the Church ; cf. Mc. iv. 22, note. It brought with it to the Seer the responsibility of witnessing to what he had seen (v. 2), and the witness must be borne in a literary form (v. 19). Βιβλίο? (cf. v. 1 if., x. 2, 8), a papyrus roll, as distinguished from a parch- ment book ; cf. 2 Tim. iv. 13 τα βιβλία, μάλιστα ras μεμβράνα!. The Apoca- lypse formed a μονόβιβλον, the length of which "maybe estimated at 1 5 feet" (Kenyon, Text. Crit. p. 30); on the length to which such rolls sometimes ran see the same writer's Palaeo- graphy of Greek papyri, p. 17 f. καί πεμψον rats επτά εκκλησίακ κτλ.] Cf. v. 4, note. The messenger would carry the roll to each of the Churches in turn, and by each it would be read and probably copied ; cf. Col. iv. 16, Polyc. Phil. 13. His route is indicated by the order in which the Churches are named. Starting from Ephesus, ho is to proceed northward to Smyrna and Pergamum, and from Pergamum in a south-easterly direction to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, doubtless making his way back to seven cities see Ramsay, History of the Geography of Asia Minor, p. 164 flf. ; and his art. on Roads and Travel in N.T. times, in Hastings' Ώ.Β. v. Starting from Ephesus ■ the Cyzican road conducted the traveller to Per- gamum, whence another road led through Thyatira Sardis and Phila- delphia to the valley of the Lycus. See the Introduction, c. v., and the accompanying map. The book is sent to the several cities (els "Έ,φεσον κτλ. ; on the direc- tive sense of tit see Blase, Gr. p. Ϊ22, and cf. Acts xxi. i\ for the use of the Christian communities in them (rats ίκκλησίακ : cf. Gal. i. 2). On the localities see the notes to ii. 1, 8, 12, 18, iii. 1, 7, 14. 12. και ϊπίστρίψα βλέπειν την φω- νην κτλ.] For (πιστρέφΐΐν convertere se cf. Acts xv. 36, xvi. 18, and for λαλίΐν μετά (= Qt> Ί?Π, Gen. xxxi. 24, 29) see Mc. vi. 50 (note), Jo. iv. 27, ix. 1 13] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN IS έπιστρέψας elhov επτά Χνχνίας ^jOixras, * 3 και ev 13 μέσω των \νχνιων ομοιον ν'ιον άνθρωπου, ένΰεδυμα/ον 12 ιδον K C "CQ al 13 «ι μέσω {εμμ. AC)] μέσον Ν | λυχνιών] pr επτά 64Q minP 1 -ygam"«fah>riai Ar +των χρυσών 34 35 49 "7 vg dem arm 4 | ομοιον} ομοίωμα A.siinUitudinem ygimri me Ojttotos !j ] ul0( , t 88 97 ιοο /xafois Λ ίο 17 28 37 49 8ο * 9 1 9^ Ι Χρνσψ fci c PQ 130 14 <■« ι° NAQ πύη'»'"" 1 ] ωσει CP ι 28 49 19 9 1 9*> Ι0 ° Ι 3° a ^ Andr ωοττε/ι 46 48 P r *<" Q min 20 | om Xei/sot A Prim | Xeu/coy] + frai 36 vg aeth Viot και 8, 7t Byre»' Prim καβαρπν arm 4 | om wr χιω^ arm sarily 4he office of High Priest (cf. Sap. xviii. 24, Sir. xlv. 8) ; the ancient commentators are perhaps too positive on this point, e.g. Irenaeus (iv. 20. 11) "aliquid vero sacerdotale, ut podere"; Victorinus: "in veste talari, id est sacerdotali" ; Arethas : 'cos αρχιερέα τον ανω κατά την τάξιν Μελχισεδεκ. Nov does the ζώνη χρυσά, quite determine the highpriestly character of the costume : the High Priest's girdle was of linen richly embroidered (Exod. xxxix. 29 = xxxvi. 37 lxx.), with a liberal use of gold thread (Jos. antt. I. C, χρυσού συνυφασμένου) ; the golden girdle points rather to Daniel's vision (x. 5 Th. η όσφίς αΰτοΐ περιεζωσμένη iv χρυσίω Ώφάζ). In I Mace. Χ. 89 a golden clasp (πόρπη) is a royal distinc- tion. On the whole, as Hort says, "not improbably the conception is that of sacred repose.... So the gods were represented in a ποδήρης." Xpv- o-av is characterised by. Blass (Gr., p. 24) as a gross blunder ; more pro- bably it is a colloquialism to which the writer was accustomed— that it is from his pen its retention in N* A C leaves little doubt. Ilpor tols μαστοΐι. High girding is said to have been usual when the ■ποδήρης was worn : Jos. antt. vii. 2 eon δε τοντο τό ένδυμα ποδήρης χιτών ...bv (πιζώννυνται κατά στήθος ολίγον τής μασχάλης υπεράνω. Of. Apoc. XV. 6, where beings of angelic rank are. περιεζωσμενοι περί τα στήθη ζωναι χρυσάς. For npos ( with the dat. cf. Μα v. ιι note, Jo. xx. 11, see Blass, Gr. p. 140. The mss. vary (see app. crit.) between μαστοϊς, μασθοις, μαζοϊς \ cf. W. Schm., p. 59, Blass, Gr. p. 24. The lexicographers endeavour to dis- tinguish the forms (e.g. Suidas: μαζος κυρίως επί ανδρός... μασθος κα\ μαστός κυρίως επ\ -γυναικός), but the distinction does not seem to have been observed. 14. η δί κεφαλή αϋτοΰ.,.ως χιών] Prom the costume the Seer proceeds to describe the person of the Central Figure. He has in view the locus classicus Dan. vii. 9 (Th. το ένδυμα αύτοΰ cos χιών Χευκόν, και ή θρί£ της κεφαλής αύτου ωσει εριον καθαρον), where however the white hair belongs to the Ancient of Days. The transfer of this feature to the Son of Man is the more striking since Enoch (xlvi. I, ed. Charles, p. 127) adheres strictly to Daniel's account. Our writer's Christology leads him frequently to assign to the glorified Christ attri- butes and titles which belong to the Father, e.g. in i. 18, ii. 8, v. 12, xxii. 13. Ancient expositors find in the hair white as snow a symbol of the eternal preexistence of the Son ; e.g. Andreas : ει yap καϊ πρόσφατος δί ημάς, άλλα και αρχαίος, μάλλον δnri). Χάλκολίβανο! (here and c. ii. 18 only) is a word of unusual difficulty. Suidas defines it as είδος ήλεκτρου τιμιώτερον χρυσού, adding : εστί δε το ήλεκτρον άλλότυπον χρυσίον μεμιγμενον νελω και λιθεία (cf. Plill. Η. Ν. 33• 4 where ήλεκτρον is a mix- ture of gold and silver). A somewhat similar sense is yielded by the Latin versions, which render χαλκολιβάνω by aurichalco or orichalco (so, "with or without the addition of Libani, Cypr. test. ii. 26, Victorinus, Primasius, Bea- tus, etc. ), a word which seems to have meant a mixture of metals similar to brass or bronze; cf. Verg. Aen.- xii. 87 "auro squalentem alboque orichalco . . .loricam," on which Servius remarks : "apud maiores orichalcum pretiosius metallis omnibus fuit." A precious metal, bright and flashing, would suit the present context well, but the explanation leaves the form χαλκολί- βανος unexplained. Arethas offers the alternatives : εϊτε τον ευ τω Αιβάνω τω ορει μεταλλευόμενον...φησίν, εϊτε καϊ τον χαλκοειδή λίβανον νοητεον ον Ιατρών παίδες Άρρενα καλοϋσιν. The former conjecture" is unsupported, and seems to require λιβανοχάλκω ; the latter finds some confirmation in a fragment of Ausonius, cited by Salmasius exercit. 8lO ο λ'ιβανος έχει τρία είδη δένδρων, και ό μεν αρρην επονομάζεται χαλκολί- βανος,ήλιοειδης και πυρροί rjyovv ξανθοί. But ' brass-coloured frankincense' is not a very apposite metaphor, not- withstanding^the efforts of the Greek interpreters to educe, a mystical mean- ing from it. The etymology proposed by Bochart (]2?, χαλκός, brass at a white heat) is even less tolerable. On the whole, with our present know- ledge, it is best to follow the guidance of Suidas and the Latin versions and regard χαλκολ. as the name of a mixed metal of great brilliance, leaving the etymology uncertain. Feet of brass represent strength and stability (contrast Dan. ii. 33, 41) ; such a mystical interpretation as that ■ of Andreas (πόδες τοΰ χριστού oi απόστολοι) is unnecessary and impro- bable. The reading cos εν καμίνω πεπυρω- μενης (sc. της χαλκολιβάνου), is recom- mended by its difficulty. If πεπυρω- μένω is preferred, the reference must still be to χαλκολιβάνω, for κάμινος seems to be invariably fem. (cf. Mt xiii. 42, 50, Apoc. ix. 2) ; πεπυρωμενοι is probably a correction intended to ι8 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [LiS cos έν καμίνω ττεπυρωμενης, και η φωνή αυτού ως 1 6 φωνή υδάτων ττοΧΚων, ϊ6 και έχων έν τί} ΰεξια χαρι αύτοΰ αστέρας επτά, και έκ του στόματος αύτοΰ 15 om os εν. ..πολλών arm 4 | om us ev κ. πεπνρωμ. 97 Ι πεπυρωμενης AC] πεπνρωμενω ei 1 6 46 6g 88 h vg aegg syrr vid aeth Ir lnt Cypr Vict Prim πεπυρωμενοι PQ minP' Andr Ar 16 και έχων NCPQ Ar] και ειχεν Κ* 34 3£ 36 87 g h vg arm Cypr Vict Prim (et habebat) om και 130 me | om ev τη S. χειρι arm 4 | χειρι αυτού τη δεξιά Q δ. αυτού χ. ι 38 loo 811"""= om χειρι ίο ϊ8 95 ν 8 Prim al | αστέρα Α 4ΐ aeth bring the part, into line with oi πόδες ...όμοιοι. Por πνρονσθαι used of a glowing metal see Eph. vi. 16 τα βέλη ...τα πεπνρωμενα σβεσαι, with Dean Robinson's note. In Apoc. iii. 18, χρνσίον πιπυρωμίνυν, the sense clearly is 'refined by having passed through the fire,' and R.V. adopts this meaning here ; but 'glowing' suits the context better ; the metal is not only of the finest and brightest, but it is aglow as if still in the crucible. και ή' φωνή αυτόν ως φ. υδάτων πολλών] Cf. Εζ. xliii. 2, where• the voice of the God of Israel is D.'P >lp3 E'iPi. In Dan. x. 6, from which many of the details of this description are taken, the voice of the Angel is 7lp| fion, like the confused roar of a great multitude; but at Patmos it is the roar of the Aegean which is in the ear of the Seer. It is instructive to contrast 3 Regn. xix. 12 φωνή αν pas Xe πτης : the Divine Voice can be of the gentlest or the most appalling as occasion requires. Irenaeus (iv. 14. 2) finds a mystical sense in υδάτων πολλών: "vere enim aquae multae Spiritus.' ; 16. κα\ έχων ev ttj δεξιΰ χειρί airov αστέρας επτά] To the Semitic mind the stars of heaven were in the Hand of God (cf. Job xxxviii. 31 f., Isa. xl. 12), and would fall (Mc. xiii. 25, Apoc. vi. 13) if the support were withdrawn. No particular constellation or group of planets can be intended by the anarthrous en•™ αστέρας ; the number is determined by the requirements of the symbolism (v. 20). και εκ τον στόμαϊος αντον ρομφαία δίστομος] The elements of this bold conception are as usual from the O.T. ; see Isa. xi. 4 πατάξει γην τω λόγω τον στόματος αντον, χΐΐχ. 2 εθηκεν το στόμα μου ως μάχαιραν οξείαν :ι cf. Eph. vi. 17 την μάχαιραν τον πνεύ- ματος ο εστίν ρήμα θεοϊι, Heb. iv. 12 ό λόγος τον θεον,.,τομωτερος νπερ πασαν μάχαιραν δίστομον. The image is repeated in Apoc. xix. 15 in the de- scription of the armed and militant 'Word of God.' There is a fine parallel in Sap. xviiL 15 ό παντοδύ- ναμος σον λόγος απ ουρανών. ..απότομος πολεμιστής ...ηλατο.. .ξίφος οξν την άννπέκριτον επιταγήν σον φέρων. Por ρομφαία δίστομος see Ps. cxlix. 6, Sir. xxi. 3. 'Ρομφαία, used in N.T. in the Apoc. only, except Lc. ii. 35, occurs frequently throughout the lxx. from Gen. iii. 24 onwards as a synonym of μάχαιρα, boih words being used to translate 3}Π ; in strictness, it was a large blade of Thracian origin (for a full account see Hastings, D.B. iv. p. 634). Δίστομος answers to the Heb. ni'S »Jt? or n'l s B*E5, but it is used in connexion with the sword even by the Greek poets (e.g. Eur. Hel. 983 δίστομον ξίφος): The sword is re- garded as proceeding, like the spoken word, from the mouth ; "this last image is not so strange as appears at first sight, for the short Roman sword was . tongue-like in shape" (Hastings, I. C.). With εκπορενομένη Ι. ι8] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 19 ρομφαία Βίστομος όζεΐα έκπορευομενη, και t) o\jsis αύτοΰ ως ό ηΧιος φαίνει εν τη δυνάμει αύτοΰ. 11 και Ότε εΊΒον αυτόν, έπεσα προς τους πόδας αύτου I J ώς νεκρός' και εθηκεν την Ζεζιαν αύτοΰ έπ' έμε Xiyuxv Μη φοβοΰ• έ<γω ειμί ό πρώτος και ό έσχατος τ% και 1 8 ι6 om ojeio 46 48 s. rm Ι ο ηλιοί] om ο 37 4*> 47 6° 88 97 ΙΟ ° Ι φαίνει ροη ante ω$ Κ 7ι Cypr Prim | om ev τη Συνάμα αυτού arm 17 iSov CQ 7 | ετεσον min" ltm " Ar | irpos] eis X 13 fTi 72 syrS" | us] ωσβι Κ(*)°•" om 130 | εθηκεν] εττεθηκεν Κ ι a8 49 79 93*" s al" "" I tijk Sejiov αι/του] Η- χείρα ι 28 91 92 96 al°° ,m syrr Andr την χείρα αυτόν 130 I om μη φόβου Κ* (hab tt ") | nyjoiTos] πρωτοτόκου A 18 om και ι" Κ* (hab fci c * a ) J om και ο ζων... των αιώνων arm cf. Eph. iv. 29, Apoc. ix. 17 f., xL 5. . και η οψιε αύτοΰ cos ό ifkips κτλ.] Cf. Jud. V. 31 όί άγαπωντεε αυτόν as έξοδος {ανατολή, Α) ηλίου εν δυνάμει αύτοΰ, Mt. xiii. 43 οί δίκαιοι έκλάμ- ψονσιν cos ο ήλιοι, Apoc. Χ. Ι το πρόσωπον αύτοΰ as ο ήλιοι. Slav. Enoch i. 5, ed. Charles, p. 2, "their faces shone like the sun." If the John of the Apocalypse is the son of Zebedee, he could scarcely have failed to think of the Transfiguration which antici- pated the glory of the ascended Christ, when ελαμ^τεν το πρόσωπον αντον ώς . ό ήλιοε (Mt. xvii. 2). Andreas refers to MaL iv. 2 : fjXios yap εστί δικαιο- σύνη!. "θψιε=πρόσωπον, though fairly common in the lxx., occurs in the N.T. only here and in Jo. xi. 44 (cf. "vii. 24). Or φαίνει, a conslructio praegnam: "as the sun shines [when he shines] in his might."• 17• και ore' είδον αυτόν, έπεσα κτλ.] Cf. Isa. vi. 5, Ez. i. 28, Dan. viii. 17, x. 9, 11, Enoch xiv. 14, 24, Lc. v. 8. Beaius : "fragilitatis suae et humili- tatis et subiectionis pavore perter- ritus con-uit. " As a'whole the passage is moulded on Dan. x. 8 f. lxx. ϊδοΰ πνεΰμα επεστράφη επ έμε είι φθοράν, και ον κατίσχυσα. . .εγώ η μην πεπτωκωε ■έπϊ πρόσωπον μον έπϊ την γη ν. και ιδού χείρα προσηγαγέ μοι (Til. χε\ρ απτομενη μον), και ηγειρέν με. That the right hand holds seven stars does not hinder it from being laid on the Seer, for the whole representation is symbol and not art. The Hand which sustains Nature and the Churches at the same time quickens and raises individual lives. With εθηκεν την δεξιάν αύτοΰ κτλ., cf. Mt. XVU. 7 προσηλθεν ό Ίησοΰε και άψάμενοι αύτων εΐπεν Έγέρ- θητε και μη φοβεϊσθε — another point of contact between this vision and the history of the Transfiguration. Irenaeus (iv. 20. 11) reminds us that the awful Form which John saw was that of Him on whose breast he had lain at the Last Supper. μη φοβοΰ- έγω εϊμι κτλ.'} The words recall another scene in the Gospels (Mc. vi. 50) ; both μη φοβοΰ and ε'γώ ειμί were familiar sounds to the ear of an Apostle. On the other hand ό πρώτοι και ό έσχατοι go back to Isa. xliv. 6 (fl-ins ">m frs-l ^, xlvUL 12, a title of the God of Israel ascribed, according ίο the writer's habitual practice, to the exalted Christ (cf. vv. 5 f., 8 notes and the Introduction, p. clxi..). It is given to Him again in, c. xxii. with enlargements which leave no doubt as to its significance (xxii. 13 iyti εϊμι το άλφα καϊ το ώ, ό πρ. και ό ε., ή άρχη και το τέλος•, see note ad I.). The reading of Α (πρωτότοκο:) here and in ii. 8 is probably a mere re- miniscence of i. 5. 18. κα\ ό ζων, και ε'γενόμην νεκρός κτλ.] Ό ζων is another Divine title 20 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [Ι. 1 8 ό ζΰν, και έγενόμην νεκρός και ίΰου ζών ειμί εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων, και έχω tocs κλεΪ5 του ι8 om των αιώνων Yg aeth Ir'"' Cypr του αιώνος me | αιώνων] + αμήν N C Q mini' 1 syrrAndrAr | εχω] ο έχων aim* | κλ« 5 KACP minP' Andr Ar""] κλείδας Q mini' 1 '» 30 | Τ ου αδου και του βαΐΌτου ι 28 36 99 al του θανάτου και του αδου rat κλεις 9 1 based on the O.T., cf. 0ebs ζών ('Π h#) in Jos. iii. 10, Ps. xli. (xlii.) -3, lxxxiii. (lxxxiv.) 3, Hos. i. 10 (ii. 1), and the fonnulae ζη Κύριοι, ζώ εγώ (Π1Π* ''Π, \?Κ »Π) in Deut. xxxii. 40, Isa. xlix. 18, Jer» v. 2, Dan. xii. 7. In the N.T. debs ζων or <5 6ebs 6 ζ. is used freely (Mt. xvi. 16, xxvi. 63, Acts xiv. 15, Rom. ix. 26, 2 Cor. iii. 3, vi. 16, I Th. i. 9, 1 Tim. iii. 15, iv. 10, Heb. iii. 12, ix. 14, x. 31, 1 Pet. i. 23). A fuller phrase is 6 ζων els τον αιώνα (Sir. xviii. i) or els rovs αιώνας των αιώνων (Apoc. iv. 9 f., x. 6, xv. 7). On 6 ζων as applied to Christ we have a comment in words ascribed to Christ Himself, Jo. V. 26 : ώσπερ γαρ 6 πατήρ έχει ζωην iv εαυτώ, οϋτω5 και τω υιω εδωκεν ζωην εχειν e'v ίαυτω. According to the Johannine Christology, the Son is ό ζων by the communication of the Father's Life ; He is ό ζών εκ τοΰ ζώντο5• As a title of the God of Israel and of the Church ό ζών places Him in sharp contrast with the dead or in- animate gods of heathenism. Here, in its reference to Christ, it draws another contrast scarcely.less pointed : εγω ειμί... ο ζών, καϊ έγενόμην νεκρός. The antithesis is twofold ; ίγενόμην is opposed to elpl as in Jo. i. 1, 14, viil 58, and νεκρός to ζών (Orig. in Jbann. t. i. 31 (34)), cf. Phil. ii. 5 iv μορφϋ θεοΰ υπάρχων. . .γενόμενος xmfaoos μέχρι θανάτου, where howeverthe shock of the contrast is broken by the intervening clause σχημάτι eif>e6e\s o5r άνθρωποι. Nefcpos takes up ώϊ νεκροί of v. 17; the Lord Who says Μη φοβοΰ, had experience, not of the semblance of death, but of its reality, lial Ζδου ζών €ΐμι (Burton, § 409) ; not here ό ζών, for it is the restored human life which is now in view, not the essential life of Godhead; nor again ζών iye- νόμην or έζησα (Rom. xiv. 9), for atten- tion is directed to the life which the Lord still lives, and not to the historical fact of His resurrection. The risen life of Jesus Christ is henceforth concurrent with His Divine life, els tovs αιώνας των αιώνων } cf. Roni. VL 9 iyepBAs i< νεκρών ονκετι αποθνήσκει, και %χω ras κΚεΐς τοΰ θανάτου καϊ τοΰ αδου] Death and Hades are joined again in vi. 8, xx. 13 f. ; the conception fluctuates between two localities (xx. 13), and two personalities (vi. 8) ; here it is difficult to determine which view is uppermost. Other instances of quasi-personification of Death and Hades foxf) are Ps. xlviii. (xlix.) 15, Hos. xiii. 14 (cited 1 Cor. xv. 54 f.). The 'gates of Death' appear in Ps. is. 14, cvi. (cvii.) 18, and the 'gates of Hades 1 in Isa. xxxviiL 10, Sap. xvi. 13, Mt. xvi. 18 ; see also Job xxxviiL 17 πυλωροί Se αδου iHovres σε επτηξαν, a passage connected by Christian inter- preters with the descensus ad inferos. To "have the keys of Death and of Hades" is to possess authority over their domain; cf. Mt. xvi. 19, Apoc. iii. 7, ix. 1, xx. 1 (notes). According to Rabbinical teaching, this is the sole prerogative of God; see Targ. Jon. on Deut. xxviii. 12 "quatuor sunt claves in maim Domini, clavis vitae et sepulchrorum et ciborum et pluviae"; Sanhedrin f. 113. 1 " Elias petiit ut dai-etur sibi clavis pluviae, petiit ut daretur sibi clavis resurrectionis mor- tiiorum; dixeruut ipsi: 'tres claves in manum legati non dantur, clavis partus, pluviarum, et resurrectionis mortuorum."' The claim to possess potentially the keys of death is made I. 20] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 21 θάνατον και του αδου. 19 Ύράψον ούν α είδε? και ig ά ε'ισιν και ά μέ\\ει >γίνεσθαι μετά Ταύτα. *°το 2θ μυστηριον των επτά αστέρων ους είδε? eirl τη? ΰεζια? μου, και τα? ετττα \υ•χνια? τα? χρυσά?• οι επτά 19 om ουν ι 38 97 al n °"™ Ar | ειδεί NOP minI ,, ] iSes AQ 7 | om και α εισιν και me | μέλλει] δα μέλλει^) K*(C) | 7ΐ»ε<Γ0αι K C -"A 1 17 38 all» Ar] ye νεσθαι. K*CPQ min"°"» 20 ovsj ων Q 6 7 14 38 91 all• 1 Andr Ar | iSei Q 7 36 | em tijs ieftos tiCPQ syrr Andr Ar min omnvld ] ev τη δε£ια A vg arm Prim (in dextera) | om ras χρ. 97 syrs w by Christ Himself in Jo. v. 28 ; the Apoc. connects the actual possession of the keys with His victory . over death ; they are from that moment in His keeping (ΐχω). For κλεΪΓ= κλεϊδαε see Blass, Gr. p. 26 ; κλεΐν is beyond dispute in iii. 7, xx. 1. In the Gospels, on the other hand, κλείδα, κλεΐδαϊ are well supported (Mt. xvi. 19, Lc. xi. 52), though there also cod. D gives the shorter form. 19. γράψον ovv a eiSes κτλ..] Ουν resumes (Blass, Gr. p. 273)* the direc- tion given in v. 11, enforcing it with the authority of One Who has declared Himself conqueror of Death : cf. Mt. XXVUi. 18 f'Soflij μοι πάσα ίξουσία... iropevBevrcs ovv κτλ. Ά ,ειδεί, i.e. the vision of the Glorified Christ. Besides this the book contains a revelation of the present state of the Church and the world (ά εισίν), and a revelation of the future (ά με'λλει γίνεσθαι μετά ταίτα). The former is chiefly to be found in cc. ii., iii. ; the latter begins at C. IV. Ι δείξω σοι ά δει γενίσθαι μετά ταύτα. But the division is rough and superficial ; for cc. ii., iii. look forward to the future, while cc. iv. — xxii. are by no means limited to it. On eio-iv, με'λλει see WM. p. 645 f. ; things present are seen distinctly and separ- ately, while things future are blended in a more or less confused whole. For μέλλει followed by a pres. inf. see Blass, Gr. pp. 197, 202. 20. το μνστήριον των επτά αστέρων κτλ.'] On μνστήριον in Biblical Greek see the note to Mc. iv. 11. Here το μνστ. is the inner meaning of a sym- bolical vision, as in Dan. ii. 47 ; cf. Apoc. XVU. 7 ey$ *p& σοι το μνστήριον τής ywaiKos. The grammar presents some difficulty. To μνστήριον... ras λυχνίας are not governed by γράψον or in apposition to α...γίνεσθαι (WM. p. 290), for the secret about to be revealed relates onjy to certain points of interpretation. A new sentence begins with v. 20, yet the verse opens with two accusatives without a verb. There are partial parallels in Rom. viii. 3 το yap αδύνατον τον νόμου... 6 6eos κτΧ. (see SH. ad I:), and 2 Cor. VI. 13 την δε αυτήν άντιμισθίαν... πΚατννθητί, where the ace. anticipates the contents of the sentence which it opens. In the present instance the construction is further complicated by a second accusative ; for τάι ε. λυχνίας we expect των έ. λυχνιών. Translate : 'As for the secret of the seven stars..., and as for [the secret of] the seven lampstands.' 'En rrjs δςξιάι interprets ev rfi δεξιά χεφί (v. 16); the stars rested on the open palm ; cf. v. I «rl την δεξιαν.,.βιβλίον. oi επτά aorepes άγγελοι των ε. εκκλη- σιών €ΐσιν\ The usage of the Ν.Ί. permits us to translate άγγελοι as 'messengers'; cf. Mt xi. 10, Lc. vii. 24, ix. 52, Jac. ii. 25. The seven stars, therefore, might represent certain delegates from the Asiatic Churches (cf. 2 Cpr. viii.,23 άττόστολοι εκκλησιών), presumably delegates sent to Patmos who were returning with the book of the Apocalypse. Or we might accept the interpretation of Primasius (fol- lowed by Bede) : "angeli ecclesiarum. 22 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [I. 20 αστέρες ayyeXoi των ίτττά εκκλησιών εισιν, και αι Χυγνίαι at επτά έπτα έκκΧησιαι εισιν. ία άγγελοι] pr ετττα me | om euru> ι° Κ* (nab Χ") | και αι "Κνχνιαι αι e -πτα] και (αι) ετττα λ. ta*)°-»^8 91 13° alPl om <" elrTa arm4 h 2™™ + ™ et5es p ' '+"" 79 9 1 9 2 ™ B g3 al muvld me syre" hie intellegendi sunt rectores popiili," i.e. either the Bishops, or if the monarchical episcopate had not yet established itself in Asia, the presby- teral colleges, in the several cities. In support of the view that the rulers of the Churches are intended it has been usual to quote Mai. ii. 7 ayye\os Κυρίου (^5^'• IS?©) ΪΙαντοκράτορός ea -τιν [6 iepevs], or to refer to the title 1-iay iy?P borne by the messenger of the Synagogue ; this person however was in no sense a Church-ruler, and offers no true analogy (see Schiirer^ ii. p. 442, and cf. Lightfoot, Philip- pians, p. 199 note). And tempting as it is to discover in these ayyeXoi an allusion to . the rising order of the Episcopate, the invariable practice of our writer forbids such an inter- pretation. The Apocalypse uses ayyekos some sixty times, excluding those in which it is followed by της ίκκΚησίας or των ίκκΚησιων, and always in the technical sense of a super- human being employed in the service of God or of Satan. There is therefore a strong presumption that the άγγελοι, τάν .εκκλησιών are 'angels' in the sense which the word bears elsewhere throughout the book. In Dan. x. 13, xii. 1 a προστασία over particular nations is ascribed to certain angelic beings, arid a like relation to indi- viduals is implied in Mt. xviii. 10 ol Hyythoi αυτών (sc. των μικρών τούτων), Acts xii. 15 ό άγγελος εστίν αυτού. That John should have extended this conception to Churches (Andreas : τούτων be έκαστη &yyf\os φύλαξ εφί- στηκ() is not surprising, especially in view of the highly developed angelo- logy of the book; cf. Ascension of Isaiah iii. 15, "the descent of the angel of the Christian Church, which is in the heavens." The objection that the angel is in that case ' unduly credited with the praise or blame which belongs to his Church had occurred to Origen, who however was not deterred by it ; horn, in Num. xx. 3 "admiratione permoveor quod in tantum Deo cura de nobis sit ut etiam angelos suos culpari pro nobis et confutari patiatur." As a π-αιδα- yayos is blamed if his pupils go wrong, so, he adds (§ 4), "venient. enim angeli ad iudicium nobiscum... ne forte minus "erga nos operis et laboris expenderint quo nos a pecca- torum labe revocarint." But in this symbolical book the angel of a Church may be simply an expression for its prevailing spirit, and thus be identi- fied with the Church itself (Beatus : " ecclesias et angelos earam intellegas unum esse "). An interesting parallel to this idea is presented by the fravashis of Zoroastrianism : cf. Hastings, Ώ.Β. iv. p. 991, J. Th. St. iii. p. 521. ai λνχνίαι ai επτά ε. εκκλησίαι είσίν] If the angels of the Churches are represented by stars, the Churches themselves are lampstands, both giving light in their own measure and degree ; cf. Lightfoot, Philippians I.e.: "[the] contrast between the heavenly and the earthly fires. . .cannot be devoid of meaning. The star is the suprasensual counterpart, the heavenly representative ; the lamp, the earthly realisation, the outward embodiment." For the use of stars as symbols of angelic beings see Enoch lxxxvi. 1 if., and cf. Ramsay, Letters to the Seven Churclies, p. 62 if. On. ίπτά (2°) cf. WH. 2 Notes, p. 156. Π. ι] THE APOCALYPSE OE ST JOHN 23 1 Τω ayyeXio τω ev '€ψέσω εκκλησίας γράψ-ον I II. II ι τω 2° AC (36) 130 syrs™] τψ XPQ min™" : of. Hort, Apoc. p. 38 sqq. | εν Έφεσω] Εφέσου 1 6 syre»' Prim Έφεαιων ι 2 8 arm Or 1 "' II. ι — 7'. The Message to the Angel op the Church in Ephesus. Ι. τω άγγέλω.,.γράψον] A formula repeated at the head of each address. The mss. fluctuate between τω εκκλ. aud της ε'κκλ. ; the former has the best support in ii. 1, and is found in ii. 8, 18, iii. 1, j, but is without MS. authority in ii. 12, iii. 14. WH., who (Notes, p. 136 f.) believe τ<£ to be the original reading in all the seven occurrences of the phrase, compare the title of the highpriests of the Augustan cult (άρχιερεύς της 'Ασίας ναού τον εν [Έφ«π»]), where ναοΰ is anarthrous as εκκλησίας in the form τω αγγ. τω εν. ..εκκλ. κτλ. τω έν'Εφεο'ω εκκλησίας] 111 primitive Christian letters to Churches this is the usual mode of locating a Church, e.g. I Cor. i. 2 tjJ εκκλησία τον θεον τί; ονστ) iv Κορίνθω, PhiL i. I τοις άγίοις.,.τοϊς ονσϊν εν Φίλιπποι?, Ign. Eph. ad init. τη εκκλησία. ..ttj ονση εν Έφε'σω : less frequent forms are to be found ill Gal. i. 2 τοις εκκλησίας της Γαλατία?, I (2) Thess. i. I Trj εκκλησία t - των θεσσαλονικέων, Clem. R. Cot. ad init. τ!) εκκλησία τοϊι θεοΐι τη παροικούση Κόρινθον. The Christian communities had as yet no territorial settlements ; there was a * Church in Ephesus,' but no ecclesia Ephesina in the stricter sense. Ephesus stands first among the cities to which addresses are sent. Thither the messenger from Patmos would sail by an easy course of 60 miles. Moreover on many grounds this city took first rank In a series of in- scriptions found at Ayasaluk, near the site of Ephesus, it receives the proud title ή πρώτη και μεγίστη μητρόπολις τής 'Ασίας (Hicks s Inscriptions in. ii., dxli., dxlviL, dli., dlv., dlxiii.). A libera urbs, with its own βουλή, γερουσία, and εκκλησία, and the head of a conventus — an assize town, — Ephesus was also a seat of proconsular government (Acts xix. 38). Its com- mercial prosperity kept pace with its political importance ; cf. Strabo c. 641 εμπόριον ούσα μεγίστη τοΰ κατά την Άσίαν την εντός τον Ταύρου. The great road which brought the trade of the East from the Euphrates to the Aegean reached the sea at Ephesus ; and though the port of Ephesus suffered from the silting up of the mouth of the Cayster, this process had been arrested for a time by works undertaken in Α.Γ. 65. Ephesus was not less conspicuous as a centre of religious life. It was proud to be known as Warden (νεωκόρος} of the Temple of Artemis, a shrine of world- wide reputation (Acts xix. 27, 35). Further it was the headquarters of the magical. arts which at this time were widely practised in Asia Minor (cf. Acts xix. 19); the Έφεσια γράμ- ματα were famous everywhere. The, city was a hotbed of cults and super- stitions, a meeting-place of East and "West, where Greeks Romans and Asiatics jostled one another in the streets. See further the Introduction to this commentary, p. lix. ft". The founder of the Ephesian Church was the Apostle PauL As early as a.d. 50 (? 51, ? 52) he made an in- effectual effort to reach the province, of Asia (Acts xvi. 6), and his first visit to Ephesus (xviii. 19 if.) was too brief to hear permanent fruit But he realized the importance of the place as a field of Christian work, and in S3(?S4>?55) returned to spend over two years there (xix. 8, 10). Though he does not seem, to have visited any other city in Asia, his Ephesian resi- dence was the occasion of a general evangelization of the province (I. c. ώστε παντας τους κατοικονντας ,την 24 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. ι Τάδε λέγει ό κρατών roi)s επτά αστέρας εν τη ΰεξια αύτοΰ, ό περίπατων ev μέσω των επτά Χυχνιών των 2 χρυσέων. *ο7δα τα έργα σου και τον κόπον και την Ι Βεζια αυτού] + χεφι Κ* (j5 87) [ εν μέσω (εμμ. AC)] en I | om επτά 38 66 97 syrs" arm | χρυσεων AC] χρυσών NPQ min oninvid 1 τον κοτον] + σου NQ minP 1 me syre"" arm 4 aeth Andr Ar Α,σίαν άκοΰσαι τον λόγον τον κυρίου). St Paul's work at Ephesus was carried on by Timothy (1 Tim. i. 3) and, after the Apostle's, death and the with- drawal of Timothy, by St John, if we may believe the traditions of the second century; see Iren. iii. 1. i, 3. 4 ; Polycrates ap. Eus. H.E. iii. 31, v. 24, and cf. the Introduction, c. vi. γράψον Τάδε λε'γει] Another part of the introductory formula. It is followed in each case by a description of the Speaker, in which He is charac- terised by one or more of the features in the vision of ch. i. (ii. 1, 12, 18, iii. .1, 7), or by one or more of His titles (ii.• 8, iii. 7, 14); the features or titles selected appear to correspond with the circumstances of the church which is addressed. "With τάδε λέγει ("per- haps from Am. i. 6" (Hort)) cf. λέγεί Ίησοϋϋ, with which each of the Oxy- rhynchus Sayings begins. The seven so-called letters are not 'epistles of Christ,' but rather utterances, pro- nouncements, judgements passed upon the churches as they pass in succession under the eye of the supreme Έπ-ί- o-Konos. See p. 65 f., infra. 6 κρατών. ..6 περίπατων κτλ. recalls i. 13, 16 ev μέσω των λυχνιών... έχων ev rfj δεξιά χειρϊ αντον αστέρας επτά but in a stronger form ; έχων has become κρατών, and ev μέσω is -qualified by περίπατων, Κρατεϊν, the opposite to άφιίναι, is to hold in one's grip (e.g. Mt. xxvi. 4, Acts ii. 24), whether for the purpose of retaining (Jo. xx. 23) or of restraining (Apoc. vii. 1); here the former meaning is evidently in view, as in ii. 13 ff., 25, iii. 1 1 ; the ace. follows, because the Church as a whole is thus firmly grasped, and not only a part of it (cf Blass, Gr. p. 101). As the Enemy περιπατεί ζητών καταπιεΐν (i Pet. V. 8, cf. Job i. 7), so the Lord patrols the ground, is ever on the spot when He is needed ; His Presence is not localized, but coextensive with the Church (Mt. xviii. 20, xxviiL 20, 2 Cor. vi. 16 ff.) ; cf. Arethas : ev μέσω <5 ενοικεΧν άύτοϊς κα\ εμπεριπατείν επαγ- γειλάμενοϋ Κύριοι. The two images are complementary, representing the security which comes from strength and vigilance. To v the .Church in Ephesus, the mother of the Churches of Asia, the Lord writes under titles which express His relation to the Churches gener- ally. As Ephesus represented the Province (cf. Άο-ία ή "Εφεο -os, cited by Ramsay, Letters, p. 238), so the Ephesian Church stands here for the seven. Yet the message shews the special need which the Ephesian Church had both of a firm grasp and a watchful safeguarding. 2. οϊδα το ερ -ya σου] θ'δα is a note often struck in these letters (cf. ii. 9, 13, 19, iii. 1, 8, 15). The Apostles were deeply impressed by the Master's knowledge of men ;' see Jo. ii. 25, xxi. 1 5 if., Acts i. 24. The Apocalypse does not use γινώσκω of Christ ; οιδα em- phasizes better the absolute clearness of mental vision which photographs all the facts of life as they pass. The distinction is well seen in Jo. xxi. 17 Κύριε, πάντα σν οιδαί• σύ γινωσκεις οτι φϊλώ . σε, where the universal knowledge passes into the field of special ' observation, θ'δα τα ε. σου is in itself neither praise nor blame, for 'works' may be either good (καλά, II. 2] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 25 ύττομονην σου, και οτι ου ΰννη βαστασαι κακούς, και €•7ΓΒΐρασας τους \β<γοντας εαυτούς αποστόλους , και 2 υττομ. σοι/] om σου arm 1 Prim | και οτι] om και A me | βασταξαι Ρ ι 38 8ι | a7rooroXous] + είναι N CC Q min fer ° 50 Tg syr* syr*" Vict Prim Andr Ar neighbours (Eph. iv. 17 ff.), but the false brethren mentioned in the next clause ; cf. Ign. Eph. 9 ov! οϋκ ε ίάσατε σπεΐραι [την κακήν διδαχήν] ει! ΰμάί, βΰσαντε! τα ώτα είι το μη παραδεξασθαι τα σπειρόμενα ύπ αυτών, βάσταζαν is to cany a burden {βάρος, Mt. xx. 12 ; σταυρόν, Lc. xiv. 27, Jo. xix. 17 ; φορτίον, Gal. vi. 5). Hort compares Epict. i. 3, 2, οϋδείί σου τ. όφρνν βαστάσει. The form δύνη = δϋνασαι, condemned by Phrynichus, occurs also in Mc. ix. 22 f., Lc. xvi. 2 (Blass, Gr. P-49)-, και επείρασα! tovs . λέγοντα! κτλ. ] The λύκοι βαρεί! foreseen by St Paul (Acts xx. 29) had come, and in sheep's clothing (Mt. vii. 15) ; cf. 2 Cor. xi. 13 ol γαρ τοιούτοι ψευδαπόστρλοι, εργάται δόλιοι, μετασχηματιζόμενοι ει! αποστό- λου! Χρίστου. The false teachers claimed to be απόστολοι in the wider sense, itinerant teachers with a mission which placed them on a higher level f;han the local elders (1 Cor. xii. 28, Eph. iv. 11; cf. Lightfoot, Galatians, 'The name and office of an Apostle,' Harnack,Z)ie Lehre der zwolfApostel, p. 93 ff.). When such itinerants, whether 'Apostles' or 'Prophets,' visited a church where they were unknown, unless they brought 'com- mendatory letters' (2 Cor. iii. 1), it was necessary to test their claims (1 Th. v. 20 f., 1 Jo.iv. 1). A strangely superficial test, such as that enjoined in Didache c. 11 (πάι δ« απόστολοι ερχόμενο! προ! ΰμάί δεχθήτω ) 49 79 (^8) 9 1 om καί υτο μ• e X els 33 34 35 om καί εβασταο -dt 37 ^°* Ι καί ου κεκοπιακες (-«as si) AC 51] tm ουκ εκοπιασα; KPQ min fere50 και κεκοπιακας (ι) 1637 3 8 39 ^9 arm 4 αλλά KQ min 13 | την πρωτην σου α•γαπην Α prescribes in Mt. vii. 16 άπο των καρπών αυτών γνωσεσθε αυτούς, and the Didache itself regards as the ultimate test {infra, iav ΐχβ τους τρόπους Κυρίου, αποουν των τροπών •γνασθήσεταΐ) ; cf. Hernias I.e. άπο της ζωής δοκίμαζε τί>ν ανθρωπον τον Έχοντα το πνεύμα το θείον. With τουςΧεγοντας εαυτορςάπ. c£ ii. 20 η λέγουσα έαυτήν'προφήτιν ; the full form appears ill ii. 9 των Χεγόντων 'Ιουδαίους είναι εαυτούς. Και ουκ εϊσίν, a paren- thesis = και ουκ οντάς : cf. i. 6, ii: 9, iii. 9. κα\ ευρες αυτούς ψευδείς : not merely false apostles, for such might be self- deceived, but deceivers ; for this use of ψευδής, cf. XXI. 8 πάσι τοις ψευδέσι. 3• κα\ ύπομονην έχεις, και ε'βάστασας κτλ.] With ύπομ. έχεις cf. V. 6 τοϋτο έχεις, οτι κτ\., iii. II κρατεί ο έχεις. Endurance was one of the best assets of the Ephesiau augeL Unable «to bear the society of the deceivers, the faithful at Ephesus had for the sake of Christ (δια το όνομα, cf. Mc. xiii. 13, note) patiently borne the labour of resisting them or enduring their taunts (Arethas), and had not grown weary of the task. The play in vv. 3, 3 011 βαστάζειν and κοπιάν (οΰ δύιη] βαστάσαι.,.εβάστασας, οιδα τον κόποι» σου... οϋ κεκοπίακες) has perplexed the scribes; see app. crit. Καί οΰ κεκμη- κας of the Τ. R. appears to rest on no better authority than a conjecture of Erasmus, but it gives the sense ; for κοπιαν, to be weary, cf. Mt. xi. 28, Jo. iv. 6, and for the form κεκοπίακες see W. Schm. p. 113, note 16, and cf. άφήκες, πεπτωκες (w. 4, 5). Έχεις ... ε'βάστασας. ..κεκοπ.: such combina- tions are frequent in the Apoc. (e.g. v. 7, vii 13 f. T viiL 5) and not always easy to explain ; here the perf. κεκοπ. indicates a condition which continued when the endurance (εβάσταο-ας) was at an end 4. αλλ' εχω κατά σου οτι κτλ. J Χ et on the other hand (άλλα) there is ground for complaint; for εχειν (τι) κατά τίνος cf. Job xxxi. 35 (lxx.), Mt. v. 23, Mc. xi. 25, note, and below, w. 14, 20. Patience and un re mitting t oil in His cause are not all that Christ JC?i3ffiili& I L ( i indeed are of jjttje value^ ifthe spirit of love is absent. But at Ephesus love was waning, perhaps as the result of the controversies through which the Church had passed. Την άγάπην σου την πρωτην '. the adj. ill this position limits and corrects : 'thou hast left thy love, at least the love of the first days,' i.e. the days of St Paul's ministry at Ephesus; how fervent it was' appears from Acts xix. 20, xx. 37, cf. Epli. i. 3 fF. Another genera- tion has taken the place of the first converts ; the loyalty and activity of the Church have been well maintained, but there is some falling' off in the greatest of Christian gifts (cf. Mt. ΧΧΪν. 12ψυγησεται ή αγάπη των πολλών), shewn perhaps, as the Greek com- mentators suggest, by a comparative indifference to the necessities of the poorer brethren. The phrase την άγ. τ . πρ. άφήκες is probably a reminiscence of Jer. ii. 2, Ez. xvi. 8 ff. The new Israel had begun too soon to follow the example of the ancient people. of God. II• 5]• THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN 2^ σου την πρωτην άφηκες. s μνημόνευε ούν πόθεν 5 και τα πρώτα epya την πο'ιησον ει δε μη, έρχομαι σοι και κινήσω Χυχνιαν σου εκ του τόπου αύτης, έαν μη μετανοησης. 4 αφηκες N*°-"C] αφηκας K 0C APQ min°" mvld 5 μνημόνευσαν 38 130 | om ονν syrs" Prim | πεπτωκες Ν (-ko.s ACQ mini'i 40 )] εκπεττωκα! Ρ ι 7 ^8 49 Ί9 9 1 Φ a * 3 vg syre» [ om και τα irp. ε. ποιησοι» me | σοι] + ταχύ Q min toeomn vg hari * syr Prim | om εκ του το7του au-njs Byrs" 5• μνημόνευε ουν πόθεν πεπτωκε! Κτλ.] Comp. ϋΐ. 3 μνημόνευε ουν πώς εΐληφας και rjieov 757 5 Burton, § 275. 'Έρχομαι refers to a special coming or visita- tion, affecting a Church or an individual, as in v. 16, iii. 11 ; throughout the Apoc. the present of this verb is used in a quasi-future sense ; Cf. Blass, Or. p. 189. Σοι is a dativus incorninodi ("WM. p. 265); for another view, see Blass, Gr. p. 113. Και κινήσω rfjv Χυχνίαν σου, ί.θ. thy church. Since the \υχνίαι are separate and do not form a single candelabrum, any one of them can be removed at pleasure. ΚινεΊν (cf. vi. 14) is preferred to άφαψεΐν, perhaps as indicating deliberation and judicial calmness ; there would be no sudden uprooting as in anger, but a movement which would end in the loss of the place that the Church had been called to fill ; unless "there came a change for the better, the first of the seven lamps of Asia must disappear; its place must be filled by another (cf. Apoc. iii. 11, Mt. xxi. 43). This warning seems to have been taken to heart,' since in the next generation Ignatius (Eph. prol. 1) could pronounce the 'church in Ephesus' to be άξιομακάριστος, and speak of its πολναγάπητον όνομα. But , though deferred, the visitation came at last. The Greek commentators mention the curious fancy that the removal of the candlestick from 28 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN •[II. 6 6 6 ά\\ά τοΰτο βχβκ, οτι μισείς τα έργα των Νίκο' 7 Χαιτών, α κάγώ μισώ. 7 σ έχων ούς άκουσατω τ 6 om α A sicut aeth Prim | καγω] eya syrs" me (ita pene ubique) >j ous] aures vg ™ 14 Prim+a«roue Ephesus had its fulfilment in the rise of the See of Constantinople, which eclipsed the glory of the older Church. But the Church and See of Ephesus lived on for centuries after the creation of the patriarchate of Constantinople. After the eleventh century however the line of Ephesian Bishops seems to have become extinct (Gams, series episc. p. 443 ; see however Ramsay, Letters, p. 243), and in 1308 the place was finally surrendered to the Turks (Murray, Handbook, p. 280). The little railway station and hotel and few poor dwelling-houses of Ayasaluk CAytos 6eoXoyor), which now command the ruins of the city, are eloquent of the doom which has overtaken both Ephesus and its church. 6. άλλο τοΰτο 'έχει!, ore μισεί! κτλ."] This second αλλά modifies the άλλα of υ. 4. If the loss of her first love was a heavy charge against the Church in Ephesus, there must be set against it and in her favour her hatred of deeds which Christ hated. Irenaeus (i. 26. 3, iii. 10. 7), followed by Hippolytus (philos. vii. 36), asserts that the Nicolaitans of the Apocalypse werefounded by Nicolaus the proselyte of Antioch who was one of the Seven (Acts VI. 5) '• άποσται rrjs κατ evSelav διδασκαλίας έδίδασκεν άδιαφορίαν βίου' re και βρώσεωι (Hipp. Ι. α). There was a sect which bore the name at the end of the second century, but its identity with the Νίκολαΐται of the Apoc. cannot be assumed (Tert. de praescr. 33 "sunt et nunc alii Nico- laitae") and its claim to be spiritually descended from Nicolaus of Antioch was questioned (Clem. Al. strom. ii. 20, § 118 φάσκοντα eavrois Νικολάω ίπεσθαι, απομνημόνευμα τι τάνδμο! φέ- ροντες : cf. ib. iii. 4, § 25 ; Ens. H. Έ. iii. 29 ; Constitutions vi. 8 ol νΰν ψευδώνυμοι ΝικολαΪΓαί, with which Ct the interpolated Ignatius, Trail. 1 1, Philad. 6; Victorinus ad I. "ficti homines et pestiferi qui sub nomine Wicplai niinistii' fecerunt sibi haere- sim"). A modem conjecture (due to C. A Heumann, 1 7 1 2) takes Νικολαΐται in Apoc. ii. 6, 15 as = ΒαΚααμιται (cf. v. 14), DJJ73 being derived either from W 1^3 or Dl/ VlO. But (1) a play upon the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words is perhaps too subtle for the genius of the writer, and (2) no etymology has been suggested which makes Νικόλαο! atrue equivalent of Dk?3. On the whole it seems best to fall back upon the supposition that a party bearing this name existed in Asia when the Apoc. was written, whether it owed its origin to Nicolaus of Antioch, which is not improbable (see Eightfoot, Galatians, p. 297, 11.), or to some other false teacher of that name. According to Ps.-Dorotheus he was a Samaritan Christian who joined the party of Simon Magus, but the statement lacks confirmation. On the teaching of this sect see v. 14, note, and the Introduction, c. vi. * Α κάγω μισά. Hatred of evil deeds (a, not oCs ; contrast Ps. exxxix. 21 f.) is a true counterpart of the love of good, and both are Divine; cf. Isa. lxi. 8, Zech. viii. 17. There is a μίσος as well as an op -γή (Mc iii. 5, Apoc. vi. 16 f.) which can be predicated of Christ. To share His hatred of evil is to manifest an affinity of character with Him, which is a sign of grace in Churches and in individuals. 7. ό έχων ου! άκουσάτω κτλ.] An- other formula common to the seven messages preceding the promise to the conqueror in the first three, and following it in the last four. It II. 7] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN . 29 το πνεύμα Xeyei ταΐς έκκΧησίαις. τω νικώντι δώσω αι)τω (bayeiv εκ του ξυΑου της ζωής, ο εστίν εν τω •παραΖε'ισω του θεοΰ. 1 εκκλησία»] pr eirra A + rais επτά C | pikowti A | om αυτω Ν ίο 17 46 49 88 pi 96 J ygcie hurl lips» S y r gw arm J ] e „ τω ηταραδασω] εν μέσω τω jr. t4 c ' c P εν μέσω τον παρά- δεισου ι 28 35 36 49 79 gi 92 me 96 al me Andr | tou 0ίου] + μου Q niini ,1 i 45 g vg me syr arm aeth Or int Gypr Prim al recalls a familiar saying of Christ which is found in the three Synoptists (Mt. xi. 15, xiii. 9, 43 ; Mc. iv. 9, 23 ; Lc. viii. 8, xiv. 35), but not in the Gospel of St John. On variations in the form of the saying see Mc. iv. 9, note; the consistent use. of ovs for ωτα in the Apoc, even in xiii. 9, shews independence ; yet»see Mt. x. 27, Lc. xii. 3. At the end of each of these instructions ό έχων ovs is an indi- vidualizing note, calling upon each of the hearers of the book (i. 3) to appropriate thewarningsand promises addressed to the Churches. Talr ε'κ- κλησίαΐ!, not rrj εκκλησία : cf. Pri- masius : " Si quae singulis partiliter ecclesiis praedicat universam gene- raliter convenire dicatiu• ecclesiam. neque euim dicit ' Quid spiritus dicat ecclesiae' sed 'ecclesiis.'" Bede: "quae singulis scribit universis se dicere denionstrat ecclesiis." To πνεϋμα λέγει, cf. Acts viii. 29, xiii. 2, Apoc. xiv. 13, xxii. 17. Ac- cording to the opening formula (ii. 1) the Speaker is Christ ; but the Spirit of 'Christ in the prophet is the inter- preter of Christ's voice. τώ νικώντι δώσω αυτω φαγεΐν κτλ."] In τω νικ. there is a possible allusion to Νικολαϊτώι», but νικαν is a charac- teristically Johannine word (Jo. xvi. 33, 1 Jo. ii. 13 £, iv. 4, v. 4 f.), and specially frequent in the Apoc. Qi. 7, 11, 17, 26, iii. s, 12, 21, v. 5, xii. 11, xv. 2, xvii. 14, xxi. 7) ; the book is a record and a prophecy of victories won by Christ and the Church. The note of victory is dominant in St John, as that of faith in St Paid ; or rather, faith presents itself to St John in the light of a victory (1 Jo. v. 4).. Τώ νικωντι: so or with ο νικών the promise at the end of each utterance begins, not τώ νικησαντι or τώ νενικηκοτι. The pres. part, here is timeless, like ό βάπτιζαν, ο πειράζων (Mc. ί. 4 note, Mt. iv. 3) ; ο νικών (vincens, qui vi- cerit) is 'the conqueror,' the victorious member of the Church, as such, apart from all consideration of the circum- stances; cf. Tert. scorp. 12 "victori cuique promittit nunc arborem vitae." Δώσω is another Apocalyptic word (ii. 10, 17, 23, 26, 28, iii. 21, xxi. 6). There is here nothing inconsistent with Mc. X. 4° ϋν> κ * °" Γιν *μον δοΰναι ; Christ give's it as Judge to those for whom it has been prepared by the Father ; see Mt. xxv. 34, 2 Tim. iv. 8, and cf. Rom. vi. 23 το Se χάρισμα τοϋ θεοΰ ζωή αιώνιος εν Χριστώ Ίησου. The hands of the ascended Christ are full of gifts (cf. Eph. iv. 7 ff.). With the promise δώσω αυτώ φαγεΐν κτλ., cf. xxii. 14 ΐνα εσται ή it -ουσία αυτών επί το ξύλον τ. ζ. and Test, xiipatr., Levi 18 δώσει toXs άγιοι: φαγεϊν εκ τοΰ ξύλου τ. ζ. ; for the construction see vi. 4 4δόθη αυτώ λαβείν, yii. 2, xiii. 7, 14, xvi. 8. To ξύλον rtjs ζωή! κτλ. (cf. xxii. 2, 14, 19) 'is of course from Gen. ii. 9; on ξύλον = δενδρον see WM., p. 23. In the lxx. παράδεισο: represents either ]l (Gen. ii., iii., passim), or D^*13 a pleasauuce (2 Esdr. xii. 8, Eccl. ii. 5, Cant. iv. 13) "from the old Persian pairida&za" {Encycl. Bibl. s.v.) ; and once |"l$ (Isa. Ii. 3) ; τοΰ θεού has been added from Gen. xiii. 10 or Ez. xxviii. 1 3, xxxi. 8. The Rabbinical writers use the word of the heavenly )11? II which 3θ THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. 8 8 s Kai to άγγέ\ω τώ kv Ομνρνη εκκλησίας ypa^ov TaSe Xeyei ό πρώτος και ό έσχατο?, os βγενετο 8 τω 2° Α] τη! XCPQ rell | εν Σμύρνη (Ζμ. Κ) εκκλησία!] εκκλ., Σμυρναίων Ι (28 79) arm tijs εκκλησία! Σμύρνη! (s. Ζμυρνηή vg me syrs" Prim | irparosj πρωτότοκο! A [ om os min 20 is the opposite state to their 03 Π 'Jj see Weber, JiXd. Theol. p. 344 ff. Of the idealized Tree of Life we read already in Prov. iii. 18 (cf. Isa. lxv. 22, lxx., 4 Mace, xviii. 16), but its first appearance in a vision of the ce^ lestial Paradise is in Enoch xxiv. f. τα φύλλα αυτής και το άνθος καϊ το δένδρον ου φθίνει els τον αιώνα... και ουδεμία σαρξ εξονσίαν έχει αψασθαι αύτοΰ μέχρι της μεγάλη? κρίσεως. ..τότε οΊκαίοις καϊ οσίοις δοθήσεται ο καρπός αυτών ; cf. Slavonic Enoch 8, and Ps. Sol. xiy. 3. In the ΕΓ.Τ. 'Paradise' is either the state of the blessed dead (Lc. xxiii. 43), or a supra-mundane sphere identified with the third heaven into which men pass in an ecstasy (2 Cor. xii. 2 f.) ; or, as here, the final joy of the saints in the presence of God and of Christ. On the history of the subject gen- erally see Tenuant, Sources of the Doctrine of the Fall and of Original Sin, passim. The general sense of the promise δώσω κτλ. is clear. Man's exclusion from the Tree of Life (Gen. iii. 22 i.) is repealed by Christ on condition of a personal victory over evil. To eat of the Tree is to enjoy all that the life of the world to come has in store for redeemed humanity. Apringius : "pomum ligni vitae aeternitatem im- marcescibilem subministrat." Bede : "lignum vitae Christus est, cuius in caelesti paradiso visione sanctae re- ficiuntur animae." 8 — 11. The Message to the Angel of the Church in Smyrna. 8. τω εν Σμύρνη] The road from Ephesus — a distance of about 35 miles — entered Smyrna by the 'Ephesian Gate.' The city, which had been rebuilt by Lysimachus, was now the finest of the Asiatic towns (Strabo, 646), and boasted of being το της 'Α,σίας άγαλμα. Situated at the head of a well pro- tected gulf, with an ample harbour, it possessed an export trade second only to that of Ephesus, while like Ephesus it was the terminus of a great road, which tapped the rich valley of the Hermus and penetrated to the in- terior. As far back as the reign of Tiberius the loyalty of Smyrna ,to Rome procured for it the privilege of erecting a temple to the Emperor, and the city henceforth claimed the title of νεωκόρο: of the new cult. She disputed .with her neighbour Ephesus the honour of being styled πρώτη τής Ασίας and μητρόπολις. But the writer of the Apocalypse follows an order to which Ephesus itself would have assented, when he assigns to Smyrna the second place among the seven. The N.T. throws no light ou the origin of the Church in Smyrna beyond the general statement as to the evan- gelization of Asia in Acts xix. 10 ; see Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. p. 462. But according to Vita Polycarpi 1 St Paul visited Smyrna on his way to Ephesus (cf. Acts ΧΪΧ. Ι διελθόντα τα άνωτερικά μέρη), and found disciples there, as he did at Ephesus. The Church is still strong at Smyrna ; out of a population of perhaps 2 50,000 more than half are Christians, while the Ευαγγελική Σχολή with its fine library witnesses to the vigour and intelligence of the Orthodox community. On the form Ζμϋρνα see "WH. 2 , Notes, p. 155; Blass, Gr. p. 10. It occurs on coins of the period and in inscriptions (see e.g. CIG iii. 3276 ff.). On Smyrna itself see further the Introduction, p. Ixi. f. τάδε λέγει 6 πρώτος και 6 έσχατος κτλ.] These titles (from i. 17 f.) are II. 9 ] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 31 νβκρος και βζησβν. 9 οίΰα σου την θλίψιν και την fy τττω-χιαν, άΚΚ,ά ιτΚουσιος ει, και την βΧασώημίαν έκ των XeyovTcav 'Ιουδαίους eivai εαυτούς, και ουκ 9 την θλιψιν] pr τα έργα σου και NQ mini• 1 syr Andr' 1 ' Ar pr τα e. σ. και Την υπομονην και arm | πτωχιαν KAC 11 97] «ταχεία? PQ min ,e "" >m " + σου g vg 6yre w | εκ] om Ρ τ 28 φ 49 79 9i 96 130 al arm aeth Andr pr την ti syrr | Ιουδαώ? Ν* (-ovs N ca ) CP | om εαυτούς Q 16 69 arm chosen with the view of inspiring confidence into a Church threatened with suffering and death ; cf. Bede : "apta praefatio patientiam suasuro." Ramsay {Exp., 1904, i. p. 321 f.) finds a reference also to the early struggles of the city (Strabo, 646 άνηγειρεν αυτήν Αντίγονος). "Έ,ζησεν takes the place of ζών είμι, the purpose being to fix attention upon the fact of the Resurrection.' As the Lord rose, so will His martyrs triumph over death ; cf. 2 Tim. ii. 8- μνημόνευε , Ιησρύν Χριστόν εγηγερμίνον εκ νεκρών. The parallel in Apoc. xiii 14 is in- structive : ra) θηρίω os έχει την πληγην της μαχαίρης και εζησεν (see note ad I.). 9. οϊδά σου την θλιψιν κτλ.] The Church in Smyrna was characterized by its endurance of suffering and poverty in the cause of the GospeL "With the paradox οϊδά σου... την πτω- χε'ιαν, άλλα πλούσιοι ει comp. Jac. ii. 5 ούχ 6 θεός εξελεξατο τους πτωχούς τω κοσμώ πλουσίους εν πίστει; 2 Cor. vi. io cos πτωχοί, πολλούς δε πλουτί- ζοντες, and contrast Apoc. iii. 17 λέγεις οτι Τίλούσιός είμι και πεπλούτηκα ...και ουκ οΐδας οτι συ ει 6. ..πτωχός. The nature of the wealth possessed by the Church in Smyrna but lacking to the Church in Laodicea is well shewn in Lc. Χ». 21 εις θε'ον πλούτων, I Tim. vi. 18 πλουτε'ιν εν εργοις καλοις. The poverty (πτωχία, not merely jrev /α ; cf. Mc. xii. 42, note) of the Apostolic Churches, even in so rich a city as Smyrna, is remarkable; it may have been due p'artly to the fact that the converts were drawn chiefly from the poorer classes (Jac. I. a, 1 Cor. i. 26), partly to the demands made Upon them by their faith (cf. 2 Cor. viii. 2 ή κατά βάθους πτώχεια αυτών επερίσσενσεν εις το πλοΰτος της απλότητας αυτών) ; but also iii some cases to the pillage of their property by a Jewish or pagan mob (Heb. Χ. 34 4 τ^ι> αρπαγην των υπαρ- χόντων υμών μετά χαράς π ροσεδέξασθε). The context suggests that the poverty of the Smyrnaean Church was at least aggravated by the last of these causes, και την βλασφημίαν κτλ.] Andreas : κατά κοινού δε το οιδα και την βλασ- φημίαν... φησίν, ε'πίσταμαι. The Jews 'at Smyrna were both numerous and aggressively hostile ; see Lightfoot, Ignatius, ii p. 468 f., Schiirer, Ge- schichte*, iii. pp. 11, 29, 34. In the martyrdom of Polycarp they took a leading part, even surpassing the heathen in their zeal,, and this, it is added, was their wont: Polyc. mart. 13, f. μάλιστα Ιουδαίων προθύμως, ως εθος αύτόϊς, εϊς ταύτα ύπουργούντων. At present they contented themselves with blaspheming, railing at Christ and Christians (cf. Vg. "et blasphe- maris ab his"), as they had done from the first days of St Paul's syna- gogue preaching in Asia Minor (Acts xiii. 45). Against their sharp tongues the Christians are fortified ,by the reflexion that these blasphemers are Jews in name only. They called themselves Jews (for the constr. see v. 2, note), but were not so in truth; comp. Rom. ii.' 28 οΰ γαρ ό εν τω φανερέρ Ιουδαίος εστίν... αλλ' ό εν τω κρύπτω Ιουδαίος, και περιτομη καρδίας εν πνεΰματι ού γράμματι, GaL VL 1 5 f. ούτε γαρ περιτομη τι εστίν ούτε άκρο-• βυστία, αλλά καινή κτίσις.. .ειρήνη ε'π' αύτους και έλεος, και ε'πϊ τον Ίσραηλ 32 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. 9 IO eicriv, άΧΧά συναγωγή του σατανά. ια μη φοβοΰ ά μέΧΧεις πάσχειν. ίδοι) μέΧΚα βαΧΧειν ό δια/3ολο? έζ υμών ets ψυΧακην, 'ίνα 7τεψασθητ€ και εχητε ΘΧ'ι^ιν ήμβρών Ζεκα. γίνου πιστό? άχρι θανάτου, α σατανά] + εισιν Ν°•° ίο μη ACQ ι 38 49] M-V Sev ΚΡ min pI vg syrr | πασχειν] ■παθαν Q min ,ero35 Ar | ιδού] + δη Q min s0 Ar | βαλλειν] βάλει? Q minP' Ar (βαΧλειν βαλιν Κ* βαλλειν Κ •") | εξ] αφ 130 | εχητε Α 36 130 Prim] έχετε CP ι 11 11 εξετε KQ minP 1 syrr vg Ar | ήμερα! Q min teef10 g yg syrr Ar | om γίνου N* (hab K ca ) So far from being αληθώς Satan was the firm belief of the early τον αεον. Ίσραηλεΐται (Jo. i. 47), such men were a συναγωγή τον Σατανά (Jo. νϊίί. 44 ύ /iees e/c του πατρός τον διάβολου έστέ), not a συναγωγή KupioiK(JNum. xvi. 3, 24, xxvi. 9, xxxi. 16). On συναγωγή in its relation to εκκλησία seeHort, Ecclesia, p. 4 ff- Ή συναγωγή τον σατανά occurs again in iii. 9; comp. ii. 13 ό θρόνος τον σ., ii. 24 τα βαθέα τον σ. The commentators refer to an in- scription of the time of Hadrian which has been thought to mention Jewish renegades (CIG 3148 οι ποτέ Ιουδαίοι, cf. Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. p. 470 ; see however Ramsay in Hastings, D.B. iv. p- 555, for another view of the words, and cf. Letters, p. 272). But the 'synagogue of Satan' at Smyrna professed Judaism and perhaps sin- cerely, though their hostility may have been partly due to a desire to curry favour with the pagan mob or the Imperial authorities. ΙΟ. μή φοβον α μέλλεις πασχειν κτλ/] There were worse things in store than πτώχεια or even βλασφημία ; im- prisonment, perhaps death,mightawait the faithful at Smyrna. Behind the 'synagogue of Satan' was the Devil 1 himself (ό διάβολο; = 6 κατήγωρ των αδελφών, XU. 10 = 6 "Σατανάς, xii. 9, XX. 2), who by means of false charges laid before the magistrates would cast certain members of the Church (έξ ΰμων) into prison. His purpose was to try the faith of the whole body (ΐνα πειρασθήτε) : cf. Lc. xxii. 31 ό Σατανάς ε£τ)τήσατο υμάς του σινιάσαι <όί τον σΐτον. That its Jewish and pagan adversaries were prompted by Church ; cf. e.g. Polyc. mart. 2 πολλά γαρ εμηχανάτο κατ αϋτων δ διάβολος, Bus. Η. Ε- V. Ι ετέρας μηχανας ό διά- βολοι επενόει, τάς κατά τήν ε'ιρκτήν εν τω σκότει και τω χαλεπωτατω χωρία» συγκλείσεις κτλ. και εχητε θλίψιν ήμερων δέκα] " And that ye may have affliction for(' during,' the temporal gen., see Blass, Gr. p. 109) ten days." A further disclosure of Satan's plans ; it was his purpose to prolong the persecution if the faithful did not yield at once. This point is missed by εξετε, doubtless a correction made in the interests of the sense. Αέκα has perhaps Tbeen Suggested by Dan. i. 14 επείρασεν αυτούς δέκα ημέρας ; cf. Gen. xxiv. 55, Num. xi. 19, xiv. 22, Job xix. 3. Beatus thinks of the ' ten persecutions,' but it is unnecessary to seek for any historical fulfilment. Equally wide of the mark is the intei-pretation preferred by Bede: "totum tempus siguificat in quo Decalogi sunt memoriae maudata." The number ten is probably chosen because, while it is sufficient to sug- gest continued suffering, it points to an approaching end. Ten days of suffering and suspense might seem an eternity while they lasted, yet in the retrospect they would be but a moment (2 Cor. iv. 17 το παραυτ'ικα ελαφρού της θλίψεως : cf. Arethas : εφήμερος ή έπι- φορα, κα\ όσον ε Ι και ήμερων δέκα έξισον- μένη). The trial might be prolonged, but it had a limit known to God. γίνου πιστός άχρι θανάτου κτλ.] 'Prove thyself loyal and time, to the extent of being ready to die for My II. 1 1] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 33. "d 'έχων II και Ζώσω σοι τον στεφανον της ζωής. ους άκουσάτω τι το πνεύμα \eyei ταΐς έκκΧησίαά ό νικόίν ού μη άΰικηθή έκ του θανάτου του δευτέρου. ιι our] aures yg«>4aiioiin Prim | om του δευτέρου 130 sake.' ,Τίνου π., cf. iii. 2 γίνου γρήγορων, Jo. XX. 27 μη γίνου άπιστος άλλα πιστός» Here πιστός is 'trustworthy' rather than 'believing,' as in Mt. xxv. 21, 23, Lc. xvi. 1 of., Apocii. 13, iii. 14. "Αχρι θανάτου hints that the supreme trial of martyrdom may follow; comp. Phil. ii. 8 γινόμενος υπήκοος μέχρι θ., and contrast Heb. xii. 4 οΰπω μέχρις αίματος άντικατεστητε. "Αχρι Occurs in this book eleven times, μίχρι not once ; the other Johannine writings, as it happens, have neither, but in the rest of the N.T. the proportion is. a little over 2 to 1. καϊ δώσω σοι τον στίφανον της ' ζωής] 'And so,' the consecutive και which is "specially found after imperatives" (Blass, Gr. p. 262): Ζώης stands in sharp contrast with θανάτου, and τ. στίφανον comes naturally- after the prophecy of a coming struggle. The exact phrase ό στέφανος τ. ζ. occurs in the very similar passage, Jac. i. 12 μακάριος άνηρ ος υπομένει πειρασμόν, οτι δόκιμος γενόμενος Χήμ^εται τον στ. τ. ζ., ον επηγγείλατο τοϊς άγαπώσιν αυτόν : elsewhere we have ό στ. της ελπίδος (Isa. XXViii. 5)1 της καυχήσεως (Εζ. xvi 12, xxiii. 42, ι Th. ii. 19),. της 8ncaioirUOTjs (2 Tim. IV. 8), της δόξης (l Pet. V. 4), της αφθαρσίας (Polyc. ■mart. 17, 19, Eus. H.E. v. 1). So. familiar a metaphor need not have been suggested by local circumstances, yet it is noteworthy that Smyrna was famous for its games (Paus. vi. 14. 3, cited in Enc. Bihl., 4662) in which the prize was a garland There may be a reference to this, or again, as Ramsay thinks (Hastings, D.B. iv. p. 555 ff.) the writer may have in his mind the garlands worn in the service of the pagan temples, or the circle of buildings and towers which 'crowned' s. κ. the fairest city in Asia (Ramsay, Let- ters, pp. 256 f., 275). In any case the στέφανος is not a royal diadem, but an emblem of festivity : cf. Mc. xv.' 17, note. Της ζωής is epexegetical : the crown consists of life, so that the promise is practically equivalent to that of v. 7, though it is presented under another aspect. II, ό νικών οϋ μη άδικηθΐ/ κτ-λ.] The special promise of the second mes- sage, appropriate to a Church which, may presently be called to martyr-, dom. He who conquers by proving himself faithful unto death shall possess immunity from the second death. Ό δεύτερος θάνατος occurs again in c.'xx. 6, 14, xxi. 8, where it is defined as ή λίμνη τοΰ πυρός ; see notes ad I. The conception is partly, anticipated in Dan. xii. 3 and Jo. v. 29, and yet more distinctly by Philo, de- proem, et poen. ii. 419 θανάτου γαρ διττον είδος, το μεν κατά το τεθνάναι... το δε μετά το άποθνήσκειν, ο δη κακόν πάντως. But the exact expression was probably current in Jewish circles, for it occurs frequently in the Targums ; cf. e.g. Targ. Hieros. on Deut. xxxiii. 6 " vivat Reuben in hoc saeculo et non moriatur morte secunda " ; other exx. may be seen in Wetstein. ού μη άδι- κηθχι, 'shall in no wise be hurt' ; see. Blass, Gr. p. 209 f. For άδικειν in this sense see Isa. x. 20, Apoc. vi. 6, vii. 2f., ix. 4, 10, 19, xi. 5 bis. The attempt to retain in these contexts the etymological meaning of άδικεϊν (Benson, Apocalypse, pp. xvi. f., 73 n.) cannot be regarded as suc- cessful; in usage άδικεϊν, like our ' injure,' has acquired a weaker sense and is nearly a synonym of βλάπτειν (cf. Thuc. ii; 71, Xen. de re eqiii vi- 3)• 34 12 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. 12 "Και τω άγγέλω της εν Γϊερ^άμω εκκλησίας -γ'ράψον Τάδε λέγει ό έχων την ρομφαίαν την 1 3 Ιίστομον την όξεΐαν. τ3 6ϊδα ποΰ κατοικείς, Όπου 12 tijs] τω syr*" | ev Uepyapici] ΙΙβ/ηαμου vg syr«» Or 1 "' Prim al κατοι /rets] pr τα epya σου και Q min'» 80 "" 1 syr Andr Ar 13 7TOU 12 — 17. The Message to the Angel of the Church in Pergamum. 12. rfjs ev Πέργάμω] After leaving Smyrna the road from Ephesus fol- lowed the coast for about 40 miles and then struck N.E. up the valley of the Caicus, for a further distance of 1 5 miles, when it reached Pergamum. Pergamum in Mysia, on the Caicus (7; Uipyapos in Xenophon, Pausanias, and Dion Cassius, but το ΤΙέρ-γαμον in Strabo and Polybius and most other writers and in the inscriptions; the termination is left uncertain in Apoc. i. 11, ii. 12), now Bergama, the capital of the Attalid Kingdom 4b.c. 241 — 133), held a similar position in Roman Asia (Plin. if. N. v. 30 "longe claris- simum Asiae") until its place was taken by Ephesus. If Pergamum Iiad no Artemision, it was richer in temples and cults than Ephesus. Zeus Soter, Athena Nikephoros, Dio- nysos, Asklepios were the chief local deities ; the temple of Athena crowned the steep hill of the Acropolis, and beneath it on the height was a great altar of Zeus. Beside these, the city possessed as early as a.d. 29 a temple dedicated to Rome and Augustus (Tac. arm. iii. 37); a second temple was erected in the time of Trajan, when Pergamum acquired the title of bit vewKopos. At so strong a centre of paganism the Church was confronted with unusual difficulties, and to these the message to Pergamum refers (υ. 1 3 £.). See further the Introduc- tion, c. v. Τάδε Xeyet 6 %χων την ρομφαίαν : the ρομφαία of c. i. 1 6, where see note. To what use it is to be put at Perga- mum appears below, 0. 16. 13. olda ποΰ κατοικΰι κτλ.] The special point in the life of the Church at Pergamum which the Lord singles out for notice. She resided in a city which was also Satan's residence (όπου 6 σατανάς κατοικεί), nay more, where he had set his throne.' θρόνοι in the Ν. T. is always the seat of office or chair of state, whether of a judge (Mi xix. 28), or a king (Lc. L 32,. 52), or of God or Christ (Mt. v. 34, xxv. 31); in the Apoc. the word occurs 45 times in this sense. At Pergamum Satan was enthroned and held his court. The question arises what there was at Pergamum to gain for it this character. The Nicolaitans were there, but they were also at Ephesus ; the Jews, who at Smyrna formed a 'synagogue of Satan,' are .not mentioned in the Per- gamene message. It remains to seek a justification of the phrase in some peculiarly dangerous form of pagan worship. Pergamum was the chief seat in Asia of the worship of Asklepios (cf. Philostratus, Vit. Apollon. iv. 34 17 Ασία els το ΙΙ(ργαμοι>...ξνν(φοίτα, Herodian, iv. 4. 8 ήπ(Ίχθη els Π. τη* , Άσίαί χρήσασθαι βαυΚόμινο! 6epanelas τον Ασκληπιού, Mart. ix. ι "Aescula- pius Pergamensis deus" : according to Galen a common form of oath was μα τον ev Ιίεργάμω ΆσκΚηπιον), and the serpent which was the symbol of the god (Paus. Cor. 27 κάθηται δ' ϊ'ττΐ θρόνον βακτηρίαν κρατών, την Te erepav των Xe ιρων vwep κίφαλής e%et τοϋ δράκοντοί) is in this book (xii. 9) the symbol of Satan. But attractive as this explana- tion is, it does not altogether satisfy; the Aesculapian cult, with its thera- peutic aims, would scarcely have been marked-out for special reprobation by the Christian brotherhood. It is better to find in 'Satan's throne ' an allusion. ΓΙ. 13] the Apocalypse Of st john 35 ■amfulmrltolal ό θρόνος του σατανά' και κρατέΐϊ το όνομα μου, και ουκ ήρνησω την πίστιν μου και έν. ταΐς ήμίραις 1 3 μου ι°] σου Κ* {μ. Η'•') | om και 3° ^PQ miu'•™ 80 vg*™ aeth Prim Andr Ar (hab AC 91 vg™" me) | ιμκρακ] + ais Q 6 14 29 31 36 38 41 47 51 82 92'*' al ,ere2!i vg d,m syr aeth + e» 01s N° (ev rats Χ*) Ρ (ι) 7 10 I2? 0rt 16 17 28 34 35 36 37 45'™' 46'°'' 79 80 81 87 91 96 121 130 161 vg 1 to the rampant paganism of Perga- mum (Arethas : o!s κατΕΐ'δωλοι» οΐσαν υπέρ την Άσίαν πάσαν), symbolized by the great altar which seemed to dominate the place from its platform cut in the Acropolis rock, but chiefly perhaps to the new Caesar-worship in which Pergamum was preeminent and which above all other pagan rites menaced the existence of the Church. The insidious plea Τί κακόν εστίν ei- πεΐν 'Κύριοι Καίσαρ,' και επιθνσαι, καΐ 'τα τούτοις ακόλουθα, και διασωζεσθαι ; {mart. Polyc. 8), must have appealed to many Christians who would have stood firm against the grosser idolatries of heathenism. If the worship of the Emperor is in view, ό θρόνος roG σατανά may be an occult reference to the agents of this false Imperialism, corresponding with συναγωγή τον σα- τανά, which refers to the hostile Jews. For ποΰ = όπου see "WM. p. 640. Κατοι /eeis, κατοικεί, point to settled residence. There was no possibility of escaping from the situation ; the local Church could not migrate in a body, and Satan would not quit his vantage ground. From another point of view even the residents in any place are, from the Christian standpoint, 'strangers and pilgrims,' and such words as παροικεΐν, πάροικος, παρεπί- δημος are ' usually preferred in de- scribing the relations of the Church to the locality where she is placed ; see 1 Pet. i. 1 (with Hort's note), 17 ; ii. 11, Heb. xL 9, and the opening words of Clem. R. Cor. cited in the note to v. 1. και κρατείς το ονομά μου κτλ.] The • Church in Pergamum maintained her Κύριος Ίη&οΰς (ι Cor. xii. 3), and re- fused to say Κύριος Καίσαρ and to revile her Master ; cf. mart. Polyc. 9. Fol" κρατΐίν see ii. 1 note, and for ουκ άρνεϊσθαι cf. Jo. i. 20 ώμοΧόγησεν και ουκ ηρνησατο. Την πίστιν μου, 'thy faith in Me ' ; μου is the gen. of the object as in Mc. xi. 22 έχετε ττίστιν θεού, ApOC XIV. 12 οι τηροΰντες.,.τηι) πίστιν Ίησου* Και εν ταϊς ήμεραις Άντίπα: 'even in the days of Antipas.' The reading Άντείπας (αντε'ιπας) must be ascribed to itacism, while the proposal to treat Άντίπας as a nom de guerre {αντί, πάς, a primitive Athanasius contra mundum) can scarcely be taken se- .riously. The name is an abbreviated form of Αντίπατρος, as KXfoVas of Κλεοπάτρας, and occurs frequently in Josephus (e.g. antt. xix. 1. 3 ovtos τοίνυν ό Αντίπατρος Αντίπας το πρώτον εκα- λίΐτο). There is little to be gleaned about this primitive martyr from post- canonicalwritings. Tertullian'sallusion to him (scorp. 1 2 "de Antipa fidelissimo martyre, interfecto in habitatione Sa- tanae") shews no independent know- ledge. Andreas had .read his 'acts' , (ουπερ άνεγνων το μαρτυρίου) and there are acts under his name printed by the Bollandists (April 11), according to which he was burnt to death in a brazen bull in the reign of Domitian. But the date at least is probably wrong, for iv ταίς ήμ. Ά. throws the time of the martyrdom back some years before the writing of the Apoca- lypse ; cf. Lc. i. 5, Acts v. 37. Other martyrs connected with Pergamum in the first two centuries, were Carpus, •Papylus, and Agathonice, mentioned by Eusebius (H. E. iv. 1 5) ; Attalus, also, the 'pillar and ground' of the 'persecuted Viennese, was ΐίεργαμηνος τω γίνει {H.E> v. ι)* Yet, as Kamsay 36. THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [Π- 13 't'Atrriwa*, ό μάρτυς μου ό -πιστός μου, os άπεκτανθη 1 4 Trap' ύμΐν, όπου ό σατανάς κατοικεί. Ι4 αλλ εχω ■ κατά σου ολίγα, 'ότι * έχεις έκεΐ κρατούντα? την 13 AvTiiras K*CPQ mini" vg Prim λντειτα! (on•.) K CC A 2 9 13 19 23 41 42 so 5 "™ 97 al ut vid me syrr arm 4 + και 68 87 syrS" | μου 3°] om KPQ mini" vg me syrs" arm aeth Prim Andr Ar + οτι ttos μαρτυ! μου πίστα (152) syre" | om μου 4° me | om 01 6 31 87 vg dem syr«" aeth | υμων^ξ syr*" arm 4 | om οπού... κατοικεί 38 syrs™ 14 άλλα Q minP'i 1 » Ar | om κατά σου Κ* (hab K«) | om οτί C 130 vg amruh.ri*»i Byr p r i m | om οτι «χ«ί exei me | ολΐ7α ονόματα κρατούντα! me vM observes (Hastings, D. B. iii. 75 f.), it is not certain that Antipas was a member of the Pergamene Church ; he suffered at Pergamum, but may. have been brought thither from one of the smaller towns. Άντίπας is indeclinable, if we accept the reading of the best mss. WH., however [but see Hort, Apoc. p. 28J are disposed to favour Lachmaim's con- jecture that the final c arose from an accidental doubling of the following o, while Nestle {Text. Orit. p. 331) thinks that Άντίπα was written Άντίπας in order to conform it to ό μάρτυς. The anomaly, however it may have arisen, has misled the scribes, who have sought to save the grammar by inserting als or omitting os : see app. crit. For ό μάρτύί μου cf. Acts i. 8 εσεσθε μου μάρτνρες, ΧΧΪί. 20 έξεχνννετο το αίμα Στεφάνου του μάρτυρος σου, Apoc. χνϋ. 6 μεΰνουσμν.,.εκ τον αίματος των μαρτύρων Ίησοϋ. It is tempting to translate μάρτυς by 'martyr' in the last two passages, and even R.V. yields to the temptation in Apoc. I. c, though it is content to call Stephen and Antipas 'witnesses.' But it may be doubted whether the word had acquired a technical sense at the end of the first century ; Clem. Cor. 5 μαρ- τυριέσαι επορενθη els τον όφειΧόμενον τόπον της δόξης is not decisive. Even in the second half of the second century the title could be given to confessors at Lyons and Vienne, though it is significant that they dis- claimed it as due only to the Lord (Apoc. i. . 5) and to those who had died for Him. By that time the technical sense had nearly established itself (see Lightfoot's note on Clem. I.e., and Benson's Cyprian, p. 90 f.) ; but in the Ν. T. this stage has not been reached, though the course of events was leading up to ft. The Lord gives Antipas His own title, ό μάρτυς ό πιστός (i. 5, in. Ι4)> qualifying it by a double μου, 'my witness, my faithful one ' ; Antipas bore witness to Christ, was loyal to Christ even unto death, as Christ to the Father (i Tim. VL 13 roO μαρτυρήσαντοε ε'πΐ ΐΐοντίου Πειλάτου την κα\ην όμο\ογίαν). Άπεκτάνθη, see Μα viii. 31 note ; in Attic Greek άπέβανεν would have been preferred, cf. Blass, Gr. pp. 44, 55. Παρ' νμίν... κατοικεί recalls at the end of the sentence the solemn fact with which it began : the home of this Church was also the residence of Satan. 14. αλλ' εχω κατά σου ολ /yaj At Ephesus the attitude of the Church towards the Nicolaitans was matter for praise, but at Pergamum it invited censure ; contrast εχω κατά σοϋ with v. 6 τούτο έχεις. The Church which could resist Satan in the form of the Emperor-cult was not equally proof against an insidious heresy within its own ranks. ότι έχεις ε'κεΐ κρατοΰντας την διδαχην Βαλαάμ, κτλ.] A party in the Church at Pergamum (εκεϊ=#αρ' ϋμΐν) taught as Balaam had done ; cf. J. B. Mayor, St Jude, p. clxxvi. Balaam made it his aim to teach («δίδασκί?) Balak how to beguile Israel into the double sin of idolatry and fornication. The ■II. ι 5 ] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 37 οιόαχήν ΒαΧααμ, os έΰίΰασκεν τω ΒαΧακ βαΧεΐν σκανΰαΧον ενώπιον των νιων ΊσραηΧ, (payelv είδωλο- θυτα και πορνεΰσαι. Ι5 οΰτως βγεις και συ κρατούντα? 15 14 eSiSaife Q minP'i 44 me syrr arm Or 1 "' Ar | τω Βαλοκ A(C) u] ev τω Βαλακ ι 18 92 m s ev τω Βαλααμ τοχ Βαλακ Ρ Andr 001 """ Βαλαακ Q (ita et C 95** 130) om Κ* τον BoXa/c'ti •» 95 φ' Ι βαλαν] βαλλαν N ca βασιλα A | : W?n); but διδάσκων with the dative is found in Plutarch and other later Greek writers (Hort). BaXeiv σκάνδάλον, cf. τιβίναι σκ. in Ps. xlix. (1.) 20, Judith v. 1, Hos. iv. 17, Rom. xiv. 13. Α σκάνδάλον (Att. σκανδάληθρόν) is any object that is apt to trip up one who is walking carelessly ; see Hort on 1 Pet. ii.. 8. The women of Moab were deliberately thrown in the way of unsuspecting Israel, in the hope of bringing about the downfall of the latter. The order φαγεϊν...καΙ πορνΐΰσαι is the Opposite of that in Num. xxv. 1 ff., which is followed below, v. 20; but it doubt- less answers to the experience of the Church at Pergamum, where the mixed company at pagan feasts was the oc- casion of the greater evil. Εΐδωλό- θυτον, see .4 Mace. v. 2, Acts xv. 29, xxi. 25, 1 Cor. viii. I ff.;. cf. Ίερόθυτον in 1 Cor. x. 28. 15• ovTtos ...ομοίως] "Έχας takes up the thread of v. 14 (?*«r ΐκιΐ κρατούνται κτλ.), while ουτωι καϊ σν compares the situation at Pergamum with that of Israel exposed to the wiles of Balaam ; ομοίως at the end of the sentence emphasizes ούτως, and keeps the parallel still in view. The general sense of»». 14, 15 would have been clearer if the Apocalyptist had written : ωσπερ yap ΒαΧααμ έδίδασκεν ...οντάς «χ«ϊ και συ, κτλ.; or ΐχ(ΐς eVcet κρατούντα!... ?χ(ΐς yap κρατούνται την διδαχην Νικολαϊτών. For the Nicolaitans see note on v. 6. As to their teaching, it is clear that they disregarded the restriction imposed upon the Gentile Churches by the Apostolic council held at Jeru- salem in 49 — 50 (Acts xv. 29 άπί- χΐσθαι (ίδώλοθντων, cf. 20 απ. των άλισγημάτων των ιίδώλων) with the practical result that they encouraged a return to pagan laxity of morals (cf. v. 6). Writing to Corinth some fifteen years after the council St Paul had occasion to argue with Christians who regarded the eating of άδωλόθυτα as a m thing indifferent; and though he does not take his stand on the Jerusalem decree, he opposes the practico on the ground that it gave offence to weak brethren (1 Cor. viii. 4, 9 f.), and also because of the connexion 38 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. 15 16 την δίδαχ^ι/ ΝικοΧαϊτων ομοίως. ι6 μετανόησον οΰν el Se μη, έρχομαι σοι ταχύ, και 7Γθ\€μησω μετ 15 Νικολαιτων] pr των ΝΡ ι J 28 38 9 1 al Andr Ar | ομοιω$] ο /ίκτω ι g^™* arm + o μισώ Ρ 12 13 17 vg"" 1 om arm2 aetn "Α 1 " 5 *3° l( > om <""' ^ x J 4 ϊ8 3** 49 76 9i 92 g6 al vg syr Prim (hab ACQ nun' 6 "' 45 me syrs" arm aeth Ar) which he regarded as existing between idol-worship and unclean spirits (1 Cor. X. 20 α θνονσιν τα έθνη δαιμονίοις και ου θεω θΰονσιν, ου θέλω δε υμάς κοινωνούς των δαιμονίων γίνεσθαι) ; to partake of the 'table of unclean spirits' (ib. 21 τραπέζης δαιμονίων) was inconsistent with participation in the Eucharist.' In the face of these facts a perverse theory, originating with the Tubingen school, identifies the. Nicolaitans with the followers of St Paul ; cf. Renan, Saint Paul, p. 303 f. : " on s'habitue k dlsigner l'apdtre des gentils par le sobriquet de Nicolas... ses disciples du meme coup fureiit appeles nicolautes"; and see van Manen's art. Nicolaitans in Enc. Bill. 3410 f. It would be nearer to the truth to say that they were the spiritual descendants of the libertines who perverted the Pauline doctrine and against whom St Paul strongly protests. In the next century these views were embraced by certain Gnostic teachers ; see Justin, dial. 35 χριστιανού: έαυτονς λέγουσιν...και ανό- μοιε κα\ άθεοις τελεταϊς κοινωνουσιν και εισϊν αυτών οι μεν Tives καλούμενοι ΤΛαρκιανοί, οί δε Ουαλεντινιανοί κτλ. Iren. i. 6. 3 και yap είδωλόθυτα άδια- φόρως εσθίονσι, μηδέ μόλννεσθαι , υπ' αυτών ηγούμενοι... οι δε και ταϊς της σαρκός ήδοναις κατακόρως δονλενοντες κτλ. The Nicolaitans of the next century were of this class, cf. Iren. iii. 1. 3 "indiscrete vivunt"; Hippol. philos. Vfi. 36 Νικόλαος ...ε'δίδασκεν άδιαφορίαν βίου re κα\ βρωσεως ; Tert. adv. Marc. i. 29. "aliqui Nicolaitae assertores libidinis atque luxuriae." According to Clement Alex, strom. iii. 4 they quoted a saying of their founder, οτι παραχρήσασθαι rjj σαρκί del, and acted upon it : εκπαρνεύουσιν άναιδην οι την αΐρεσιν αυτόν μετιοντες. It-is noteworthy that the party was strong at Ephesus and Pergamum; they had established themselves at the two most important centres in Asia, the 'metropolis,' and the ancient and perhaps still official capital. 1 6. μετανόησαν ovv\ There Was occasion not only for vigilance, but for an act of repentance (on μετανόησαν see v. 5). The Church was already cpmpromised by undue tolerance of the Nicolaitans ; she had not purged herself of complicity with them as the Church at Ephesus had done (con- trast V. 6 μισείς with V. 1 5 έχεις). ει δε μη, έρχομαι σοι ταχύ κτλ/] Por ει δε μη { = εάν δε μη μετανοήση) see ν. 5 note ; ταχύ is now added, for the matter would brook no delay. Yet the Lord does not say πολεμήσω μετά σον, but μετ αυτών, i.e. μετά των κρα- τούντων την διδαχήν των ΝικολαιΥών ; if the Church had tolerated the Nico- laitans, and some of her members had listened to their teaching, yet she had not as a whole identified herself with the party; cf. Andreas: eV rjj απειλτ) δέ η φιλανθρωπία' ου yap 'μετά σον' φησιν, αλλά 'μετ' εκείνων,' των νοσοΰντων ανίατα. ΊΙολεμείν μετά τίνος, frequent in the lxx., is used in the N.T. only by the Apocalyptist (ii. 16, xii. 7, xiii. 4, xvii. 14), and the verb itself outside the Apoc only in Jac. iv. 2. The glorified Christ is in this book a Warrior, who fights with the sharp sword of the word ; cf. i. 16, xix. 1 3 if., and see Eph. vi. 17,'Heb. iv. 12. The idea of a Divine Warrior, which appears first in the Song of Miriam (Exod. xv. 3 ΠΟΠ 1 ?» Wit. nj\\ y equivocally rendered by the lxx Κΰ- II. ι;] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN Η αυτών έν τη ρομφαία τοΰ στόματος μου. 17 d βχων if ούς άκουσατω τι το πνβΰμα \eyei ταΐς έκκΧησΊαις* τω νικωντι δώσω αύτω τοΰ μάννα τοΰ κεκρυμμβνου, και δώσω αύτω yjsfjcpov \£υκην, και έττι την ψηώον 1 7 oks] aures vg? em Amb Prim | νικουντι AC | αυτω (om Κ 92 g vg cle syr« w )] + (του) φατ/αν Ρ ι 7 ( 13 14) 28 (35) 49 79 (87) gi 92 ra s 96 al arm syrr | του μάννα AC πύη*™ 32 Ar] ck του μάννα ei 36 39 me syrr arm 4 Prim (de manna) το μ. Q Vict Amb απο του μάννα ι 7 28 79 Φ a l α ""° "iu ί"λου Ρ ο. τ. {. τψ ζωής arm 1 | om δώσω αυτω 2° Χ 38 ριος σνντρίβων ποΧεμονς) is associated with the Logos in Sap. xviii. 15 <5 παντοδύναμος σον Χογος άπ ουρανών εκ θρόνων βασιλείων απότομος πο\εμιστης ...ηλατο. The άποτομία of the Divine Word is directed especially against those who "turn the grace of God into lasciviousness," as the Nicolaitans did. Possibly, as in v. 14, there is an allusion to the story of Balaam (Num. , xxii. 23, xxxi. 8). 17• τω νικωντι δώσω αντώ τον μάννα κτλ.] On τω νικ. δ. αύτω see ν. η, note. ΤοΟ μάννα is the partitive geni- tive, WM. p. 247 ; Blass, against the documentary evidence, discounts this solitary instance of the gen. after δίδόναι as "not authentic "(Or. p. 100, note 3). Μάννα (|D, Aram. NJDj lxx. μάν iii Exod. xvi. 31 ff., μάννα else- where) has passed from the lxx. into the N.T. (Jo. vi. 31, 49, Heb. ix. 4) and Josephus (antt. iii. 1. 6). Τον κεκρνμ- μίνου refers no doubt to the golden pot "laid up before God" (Exod. xvi. 23), i.e. in the Ark (Heb. ix. 4) ; the Ark itself was believed to have been hidden by Jeremiah in a place where it would not be discovered until Israel was restored (2 Mace. ii. 5 if. ; cf. the Rabbinical traditions in Abarbanel on 1 Sam. iv. 4 "haec area futuro tempore adveniente Messia nostro manifestabi- tur" ; Tanchuma, 83. 2 "Elias Israelitis restituit...urnam mannae"; other'pas- sages may be seen in 'Wetstein). The Apoc. of Baruch has the story in c. vi. • 7 ff. and adds in xxix. 8 (ed. Charles) : "at that self-same time [when the Messiah is revealed] the treasury of manna will again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years"; cf. Orac. Sibyll. vii. 148 f. κΚηματα δ' ονκ εσται ovde στάχνς, αλλ' άμα πάντες \ μάννην την δροσερήν \εν- κοΐσιν όδοίσι φάγονται. As for the interpretation of the promise, its full meaning is hardly covered by St Paul's θεον σοφία iv μνστηρίω, ή άποκεκρνμ- μίνη (ι Cor. ii. 7)) or by Origen's "intellectus verbi Dei subtilis et dulcis " {horn, on Exod. ix. 4) ; rather by το μάννα το κεκρνμμένον must be understood the life-sustaining power of the Sacred Humanity now "hid with Christ in God" (Col. iii. 3), of which the faithful find a foretaste in the Eucharist but which can be fully known only to the conqueror (Jo. vi. 31 f., 54 ffi). .Victorinus : "manna ahsconditum immortalitas est." Pri- masius, followed by Bede: "panis invisibilis qui de caelo deseendit." Arethas points out the fitness of this reference to the heavenly food at the end of a message which condemns participation in heathen feasts ; ro> νικωντι δοθήναι φαγεΊν τον μάννα ,άντι της ακαθάρτου βρώσεως [sc. των ειδώλο- θΰτων] νπεσχετο. και δώσω αντψ ψηφον λευκήν κτλ.] Ψήφος is a rare word in Biblical Greek (lxx. , N.T. 3 ), where it is used to denote (1) a piece of rock (IV, Exod. iv. 25 ; fSn, Lam. iii.. 1 6, cf. Sir. xviii. 10) ; (2) a counter or voting pebble, calculus (4 Regn. xii. 4 (5) A, Eccl. vii. 26, 4 Mace. xv. 26, Acts xxvi. 10). Here it is to be noted that the ψήφος is white, and that it bears a mystical 4θ THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. i 7 Λ Ο vBe )iBep όνομα καινόν ι γε•γραμμ€νον, ο ovoeis otoev ei μη ο Χαμβανων. 1 7 ο oi/5eis otJcy] om ο Κ* (hab ti° ■') ο οι/δ. ewer me"' * name which only the possessor can read. Few of the solutions hitherto proposed satisfy these conditions. The Rabbinical tradition that precious stones fell with the manna (Joma 8) may have suggested the collocation of the manna and the ψήφο:, but it carries us no further. Ziillig's theory, adopted by- Trench, that there is an allusion to the Urim (Exod. xxviii. 30), supposed to have been a diamond engraved with the Tetragrammaton, is too purely conjectural to be satis- factory, even if it were not open to other objections. If we turn to the Greek surroundings of the Asiatic Churches, which must not be excluded, as Trench maintains, from the field of Apocalyptic hermeneutics, there is a larger choice of interpretations. Ψήφος may refer to the ballot thrown into the voting urn (Ovid, met. xv. 41 "mos erat antiquis niveis atrisque lapillis, | his dainnare reos, illis ab- solvere culpa") or to the counters used for calculation (cf. Apoc. xiii. 18 ψηφισάτω τον άριβμόν) ; or the ψήφοι λευκή might bo the symbol of a good time (Plin. ep. vi. 4. 3 "o diem no- tandum candidissimo calculo "), or of ' victory (Andreas, τουτέστι νικ&σαν ; Arethas, την άπο των iv τοις θεάτροις κα\ τοις σταδιοις αγωνιζομένων γνώριμον οΖσαν, τοις νικώσι παρεχομένην). Or there may be a reference to the tickets which were sometimes distributed to the populace and entitled the holders to freo entertainment or amusement (cf. Xiphilin. epit. 228 σφαίρια yap ξύλινα μικρά Άνωθεν εις το θέατρον ip- ρίπτει σύμβολον έχοντα το μεν εδωδίμου τίνος... άρπάσαντας τινας έδει προς τους Βοτήρας αυτών άπενεγκεϊν και λαβείν το επιγεγραμμίνον), or to the tessera frumentaria or the t. hospitalis of Roman life (cf. Plaut. Poen. v. 1. 8). Each of theso explanations, however, leaves something to be desired ; either the ψήφος is not inscribed or it is not necessarily white. Prof. Ramsay (Hastings, D.B. iii. 751) supposes a contrast with the parchment which took its name (char la Pevgamena) from the city, and interprets : " the name is written not on white parch- ment such as Pergamum boasts of, but on an imperishable white tessera." "The white stone," he writes elsewhere. (Letters, p. 302), "was, doubtless, a tessera." But the tessera does not suggest imperishableness. Possibly ψήφος λευκή may refer to the en- graved stones which were employed for magical purposes and bore mystic names J see King, Engraved Gems, p. 97 if. : Gnostics and their remains, passim. Magic in all its forms entered largely into the life of the great cities of Asia ; for its prevalence at Ephesus see Acts xix. 19. The Divine magic which inscribes on the human char- - acter and life the Name of God and of Christ is placed in contrast with the poor imitations that enthralled pagan society. It may be that the precise reference will be ascertained in the course of explorations which are still in progress in Asia Minor 'and in particular at Pergamum. Meanwhile the general sense is fairly clear. The white stone is the pledge of the Divine favour which carries with it such intimate knowledge of God and of Christ as only the possessor can comprehend : cf. ill. 12 ο νικών... γράψω eV αυτόν το όνομα τον θεού μου. ..και το υνομά μου το καινόν, and on this knowledge as the gift of Christ see Mt. xi. 27. The alternative is to regard the όνομα καινόν as the symbol of the new life and relations into which moral victory transports the conqueror, an inter- pretation supported by Isa. lxii. 2 II. iS] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 41 18 Kat τω άγγβλ,ω τω eu Θυατείροις εκκλησίας 1 8 Ύρα^ον Tahe \eyei ό vlos του θβοΰ, ό έχων toi)s 1 8 τω ι" A syrr Prim] της NPQ min° mnTl ' 1 om C | θυατειροις (-τερο« AC -τηροι; P)] θυατηρα 79 me θυατειρη ι 7 8 9 16 19 23 al θυατιρη {-pa) Q g yg Prim (Thyatirae) me J om εκκλησία: A καλέ<Γει σε το όνομα το καινον ο ο κύριος ονομάσει αυτό, Ιχν. 15 το"ις δε δουλειίουσί μ<Η κληθήσεται όνομα καινόν, and suggesting a reference to the mysteries and the prevalent magical rites (Ramsay, Letters, p. 306 ; see also his reference to a σύνθημα, re- ceived by Aristides of Smyrna from Asklepios, ib. p. 312 ff.). If this view- be accepted — and it is perhaps the more probable — the victorious disciple is represented as resembling in his measure the victorious Master; cf. xix. 12 έχων όνομα γεγραμμενον ο οΰδειε οΐδεν εΐ μη αυτός. The ' new name ' is one of a series of καινά which belong to the Church (καινός άνθρωποι, καινή διαθήκη, διδαχή, εντολή, Ιερουσαλήμ, κτίσις, ωδή, καινοί ουρανοί καϊ καινή γη); cf. 2 Cor. v. 17, Apoc. xxi. 5. ΝεΌϊ is used iu this connexion only hi Heb. xiL 24 ; it is not the recent origin of the Gospel — its νεότης, but its καινοτηί, its unfailing freshness, to which attention is called. The Christian 'name/ i.e. the character or inner life which the Gospel inspires, possesses the property of eternal youth, never losing its power or its joy. 18 — 29. Message to the Angel of the Church in Thyatiea. 18. τω εν θυατείροις] Some 40 miles S.E. of 'Pergamum lay Thyatira (τα θυάτεφα), a Lydian city on the bor- ders of Mysia and sometimes claimed by the latter (Strabo, 625 βαδίζουσιν έπι Σάρδεων πόλις εστίν εν αριστερά θυάτειρα.. .ην Μϋσων εσχάτην τίνες φασίν). It was founded by the Se- leucidae, but since B.C. 190 it had been in the hands of the Romans, and was included in the province of Asia. Though not the equal of Ephesus, Smyrna, or Pergamum (Pliny, Η. N. v. 33 " Thyatireni aliaeque inhonorae civitates"), Thyatira was a thriving centre of trade (Ramsay, Letters, p. 324 ff.) ; the inscriptions shew that the city was remarkable even among Asiatic towns for the number of its guilds (Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics, i. p. 105), among which may be men- tioned the άρτοκόποι, βαφείς, βυρσεΐς, Ίματευόμενοι (clothiers), κεραμείς, λανά- ριοι, λινουργοί, σκυτοτόμοι, χαλκεις, χαλκοτΰποι ; to the βαφείς there is a reference in Acts xvi. 14 γυνή ονόματι Λυδία (was she so called as coming from a Lydian town ΐ), πορφυρίπωλις πόλεως θυατείρων. There were temples of the Tyrimnaean Apollo (Ramsay, Letters, p. 319 if.) and Artemis in the city, and near it the shrine of Sambathe (το Χαμβαθεΐον), an Oriental (Chaldean or Persian) Sibyl ; but Thy- atira had no temple dedicated to the Emperors. The, Church in Th. was probably small, even relatively to the population ; according to Epiphanius (haer. li. 33) the Alogi towards the end of the second century asserted that no Church was then to be found there. Its dangers arose from within rather than from Jews or pagans. Epiphanius (I.e.) represents the place as having become at a later date a stronghold of Montanism. See further the Introduction, p. lxiii. f. τάδε λέγει 6 vios τοϋ θεοΰ κτλ.] Ό νιος τ. θ. occurs here only in the Apoc, but the title is implied in i. 6, ii. 27, iii. 5, 21, xiv. I ; on its import see Dr Sanday's art. Son of God in Hastings' D. B. iv. 570, ff. In this place it adds solemnity to the quasi- human features which are recited from the vision of eh. i. For 6 έχων τους οφθαλμούς. .. και οι πόδες κτλ., See the notes on i. 14 f. This mention of 42 THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN, [II. 18 οφθαλμούς αύτοΰ ως ώ\ό<γα πυρός, και ο'ι πόΖες 19 αύτοΰ όμοιοι χα\κο\ιβάνω. Ι9 οίδα σου τα εριγα και την άγάπην και την πιστιν και την Ζιακονιαν και την ύπομονην σου, και τα epya σου τα έσχατα 2θ πλείονα των πρώτων. ,α αλλ' έχω κατά σου Ότι 18 om αυτού ι° Α φ φ syr« w arm 4 vg Prim | \oya] φλοξ Κ vg [u λαμταδα! 130 | χάλκω λιβανω P vld 7 aeramento Tyrino Quaest 102 19 κ. τ. a -γατην κ. τ. -πιστιν κ. τ. διακονιαν Ν(«)Μ)μ ACPQ 6 7 8 24 28 29 31 36 (38) 48 49 8 7 al"* eSS vg Bm,u » 1 me syrr aeth Or 1 "' Prim Andr Ar] και την πιστιν κ. τ. αγατην κ. τ. διακονιαν $2 $ι go 95 <• τ - , α7αΐΓ97ΐ' κ. τ. δίαΛΌ^ία^ κ. τ. πιστιν ι | om καί την α-γαπην arm ] om σοι/ 2° Κ 49 vg 000 * 1 Or 1 "' Quaest 102 Prim | τα έσχατα] pr και ι 2ο αλλ KCP 6 7 '4 2 8 29 3 1 3& 8ο al] άλλα AQ 8 13 ι8 19 30 33 35 3^ al | κατά ο-ον] + «Όλυ Ν 12 17* φ 43 8ι <7 syr«" arm Η-ιτολλα 28 79 8ο arm 1 Cypr Prim + ολιγα ι τ6 00,lao, • the eyes that flash with righteous in- dignation and the feet that can stamp down the enemies of the truth pre- pares the reader for the severe tone of the utterance which follows. 19. οώά σου τα ?ρν α *»' κΛ.] A fuller and ampler tribute of praise than that awarded to the Church in EphesUS (». 2) : την άγάπην και την πιστιν και την Βιακονίαν enumerates the motive forces of Christian activity and their most characteristic result. Love is characteristically placed first in a Johannine boot, though faith is not overlooked (cf. ii. 13, xiii. id, xiv. 12) ; the Pauline order is the reverse (1 Th. iii. 6, v. 8 ; 1 Tim. i. 14, ii. 15, vi. 11 ; 2 Tim. i. 13, ii. 22 ; Tit. ii. 2 ; the only exception is Philem. 5). The scribes, as the apparatus shews, have endeavoured to conform St John's order to St Paul's. What kind of 'service' is intended by διακονία may be gathered from Rom. xv. 25, 31, 1 Cor.l xvi. 15, 2 Cor. viii. 4, ix. 1, Heb. vi. 10. The acts of service had shewn no tendency to diminish, as at Ephesus (cf. vv. 4, 5) ; on the contrary they were still increasing in number, "the last more than the first." It is noteworthy that in these addresses praise is more liberally given, if it can be given with justice, when blame is to follow ; more is said of tho good deeds of the Ephesians and Thyatir- ans than of those of the Smyrnaeans and Philadelphians, with whom no fault is found. 20. αλλ* ΐχοι κατά σον οτί άφΛι την ■γυναίκα Ί(ζάβ€\ κτλ.] Like the Perga- menes, the Thyativan Christians were harbouring an enemy of Christ but their guilt seems to have been greater, since ιίφίΪΓ implies a tolerance of evil which is not suggested by ?x«r (». 14) ; and their attitude was certainly the very opposite of that of the Ephesians towards the Nicolaitans ; cf. vv. 2, 6 ου' δύνη βαστάσαι, μισΛ. On the form άφίϊς see WH. 2 , Notes, p. 174, W. Schm. p. 123 ; it occurs already in Exod. xxxii. 32 lxx. Jezebel (iSI^, lxx. ΊΐζάβίΚ, Josephus Ί^ζαβίλη, Isabel), the Phoenician wife of Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 31), who sought to force upon the northern kingdom the wor- ship of Baal and Astarte and (2 Kings ix. 22) the immoralities and magical practices connected with it, doubtless represents some person or party at Thyatira in whose doings the writer saw a resemblance to those of Ahab's wife ; cf. his use of the name Balaam in 1: 14. But while 'Balaam' is iden- tified by the context with the Nico- laitans, there is no such clue to the meaning of 'Jezebel.' There is much to be said for Schirrer's suggestion (in Th. Abh. Weizsacker gewidmet, II. 21] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 43 άφβΐς την γυναίκα 7e£a/3e\, t\ Xeyovcra έαντην ττροψητιν, και δίδασκει' και ττΧανα τονι έμούς ΰούΧους ττορνεΰσαι και ψα<γεΐν εΊΒωΧόθυτα. "και έδωκα αύτη 21 χρονον ίνα μβτανοήση, και ού deXei μβτανοησαι εκ 2θ αφειί] αφηκα.! Ν -" ι6 %6 syrr arm Cypr " 1 | ri)» γυναίκα] + σου AQ min 40 syrr arm 1 • 4 Ar Cypr Prim (om KCP ι 7 36 38 95 al vg me arm 2 • 8 a'eth Tert Quaest 102 ) | v λεγοι/σα K*AC] η λέγει Q min 46 Andr Ar την λεγουσαν K C0 P ι 36 38 130 al | εαυτην ACP minP' syre" Prim] αυτήν KQ 7 16 40 69 J ττροψητιν (-τειαν Κ* -τ^ PQ 7 36 87 g6*)] + είναι K* oa syre" arm | και δίδασκα και πλάνα NACPQ min? 1 ' 60 syrr (me) aeth Andr] δίδασκαν και πλαναν vg Cypr Prim Ar 21 αυτή] αυτοί! arm | και ου Θέλα.., αυτής] ck τη! πορνείας outt/s και ου μετενοησεν I (arm) | ieXei] ηθελησεν A Prim 1892), -that the Thyatiran Jezebel is the Sibyl of the Σαμβαθεΐον (see v. 18, note). Her shrine was situated in the 'Chaldean 5 quarter (GIG 3509 προ' της πόλεως προς τω ϋαμβαθείω εν τω Χαλδαι'ωι/ περιβάλω) and she is variously described as Chaldean, Hebrew, Egyp- tian, Persian, and Babylonian (Paus. X. 12. 9 γυνή χρησμόλόγος, όνομα δε αντγι Σάββη.,.οΊ δε αυτήν Βαβυλωνίαν, . έτεροι δε Σίβυλλαν καλονσιν Αϊγυπτίαν : cf. Suidas S.V. Σίβυλλα ; Σ. Χαλδαία, ή καϊ προς τίνων 'Εβραία ονομαζόμενη η και ΙΙερσίς). But it is difficult to believe that this person, even if of Semitic origin, could nave gained admission to the Church under the guise of a Christian prophetess (ή λέγουσα ίαυτήν προφητιν). More pro- bably her success as a χρησμόλόγος was emulated by some female member of the Church who claimed the gift of prophecy and exercised it in the interests of the Nicolaitan party (vo. 14 f.); cf. Tert. depudie. 19, "haereti- cam feminam quae quod didicerat a Nicolaitis docere'susceperat." In the O.T. prophetesses are not infrequent ; προφητις occurs in Exod. xv. 20 (Miriam), Jud. iv. 4 (Deborah), 4 Regn. xxii. 14 (Huldah), Isa. viii. 3 (Isaiah's wife) ; cf. Lc. ii. 36 ήν "Awa προφητις. Moreover, notwithstanding St Paul's rule (i Cor. xiv. 34 al γυναίκες εν ταϊς εκκλησίαις σιγάτωσαν, οΰ γαρ επιτρέπεται αυταΐς λαλε'ιν, I Tim. ii. 12 διδάσκειν δε γυναικι οΰκ επιτρέπω}, female prophets were not unknown in the early Church ; cf. Acts xxi. 9, and the cases of Priscilla and Maximilla (Eus. Η. E, v. 14) and Ammia (ib. 17). This Jezebel of the Thyatiran brotherhood was still teach- ing when the Apocalypse was written (διδάσκει), and making converts to her immoral creed ; with πλανά τους εμους δούλους comp. Μα xiii. 22 εγερθήσονται γάρ...ψευδοπροφήται...προς τό άπο- πλανάν εϊ δυνατόν τους εκλεκτού!. Πορνεΰσαι is here perhaps significantly placed before φαγε'ιν είδωλόθυτα, as justifying the use of the name Jezebel ; cf. 4 Regn. ix. 22 al πορνειαι Ίεζάβελ. The well supported reading την γυναικά . σου (Vg. uxorem tuam) was perhaps suggested by 3 Regn. xix'. 1, xx. (xxi.) 5, 7, 26 ; the Angel of the Church is regarded as the weak Ahab who allows himself to be the tool of a new Jezebel. Grotius, who accepted this reading and believed 1 the Angels of the Churches to be their Bishops, was driven to the strange but logical conclusion that the false prophetess was the wife of the Bishop of the Church at Thyatira. 21. καϊ έδωκα αυττ/ χρόνον κτλ.] Arethas : εγω, φησίν, δ μη θέλων τον θάνατον του αμαρτωλοί) άλλα την επι- στροφην ζητών, έδωκα αυτί} μετανοίας καιρόν. On this use of ha cf. Jo. ΧΠ. 23 ελήλυθεν ή ωρα Ινα δοξασθί/, , xvi. 32. The evil had been going on for some time (cf, v. 13, note), not necessarily, however, at Thyatira, since the prophets were itinerant, though 44 THE - APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. 21 2 2 της πορνείας αυτής, "ίδοι) βαΧΧω αυτήν εις κλίνην, Και τους μοιχεΰοντας μετ αυτής εις ΘΧί-ψιν μεγαΧην, 23 εάν μη μετανοησουσιν εκ των έργων αυτής• 2Ζ και τα τέκνα αυτής άποκτενω έν θανάτω• και <γνω&ονται παχται αχ έκκΧησ'ιαι οτι έγω ειμί ό έραννων νεφρούς 21 πορνιας ΚΑ | αυτής] ταύτης Κ 12 ίδοΐί] + εγω r arm | βάλλω AC ι al p1 syrr vg amft "" Cypr Prim Andr Ar] βάλω Κ°•» (καλώ H*) PQ 38 me vg cle (mittam) Tert (dabo) Ι κλινην] φυλακην Α καμινον arm 1 luctum ' alia transl ' ap Prim (of. arm 4 ) | μετανοησουην HA.] μετανοησωσιν CPQ min omn VId | om εκ τ. epyav αυτής me | awijs] αυτών A 1 12 36 49* 79 92 m e a l ygde»mdemhari**iip«s4,e gyrew arm aeth Cypr Prim Andr 23 om και i° A me | το τεκνον arm 4 | αυτής] αυτών 46 88 arm 1 | εραυνων AC] ερευνών NPQ min 0111 " they might settle in a locality where the Church was willing to provide for them ; see Didache 1 1 f. ' Jezebel/ who was prospering at Thyatira, had up to the present moment shewn no disposition to change her course (ov θέλει μετανοήσαι, cf. Mt. xxiii. 37 ουκ ήθελήσατε). Μετανοεΐν εκ is the usual construction in this book (cf. ii. 22, ix.• 20 f., xvi. 11) ; elsewhere we find μετανοεΐν από Jer. viii. 6, Acts vjii. 22. 22. ίδοίί βάλλω αυτήν els κλινην κτλ.~\ The time for repentance having expired, judgement follows ; βάλλω is preferred to βάλω, since the event is regarded as imminent (cf. v. 5, note). ΚλίΐΊ; may be either a bed (Mt. ix. 2, 6, Mc. vii. 30), or the couch of a triclinium; or even (Hort) the funeral bier. Ramsay {Exp. 1901, p. 99 ff. and in Hastings, D. B. iv. 759), and J. H. Moulton {Exp. 1903, ii. p. 431) adopt the second meaning here, supposing the writer to refer to the guild-feasts. - In this case there is a sharp contrast between the luxurious couch where the sin was committed and the bed of pain (Ps. xl. (xli.) 4 eVl κλίνη! οδύνης αύτοΰ) which the parallelism els θλίψιν μεγά- λην obviously suggests ; cf. Sap. xi. 16 δι' ων Tis άμαρτάνει, δια τούτων κολάζεται. Βάλλω does not imply violence, but merely the prostration of sickness, cf. Mt. I.e. παράλντικον επί κλίνι/Γ βεβλημένον. Καϊ tovs μοι- χεύοντας μετ αύτη! : cf. xvii. 2, XVlli. 3. Μοιχεύοντες suggests a reference to the charges of unfaithfulness laid against Israel by the O.T. prophets (see Hosea ii. 2 (4), Ezek xvi. 17 f., 32). Members of the Church who were led into pagan vices by the teaching of 'Jezebel' were guilty of spiritual adultery (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 2). 'Eon μη μετανοησουσιν εκ των εργωρ αύτήε leaves a door of hope open still for the dupes of the false prophetess ; for the fut. after e'av μη, see Blass, Gr. p. 215. Αύτη! is doubtless right, for πορνεία and μοιχεία are Jezebel's works, not those of the members of Christ (Gal. v. 19, Eph. v. 3ff.). 23. καϊ τα τέκνα αυτής άποκτενω iv θανάτω] Her children, i.e. her spiritual progeny, as distinguished from those who have been misled for a time ; the σπέρμα μοιχών και πόρνης (Isa. lvii. 3), who inherit the parent's character and habits ; contrast Gal. iv. 19 f. The children of the Thya- tiran Jezebel are doomed like those of Ahab (2 Kings X. 7). Άποκτενω e'v θανάτω is an O.T. phrase ; cf. Ez. xxxiii. 27 θανάτω ("13^3) άποκτενω. θάΐΌΓΟΓ is probably 'pestilence,' as in vi. 8 f., where see note. καϊ γνωσονται πασαι ai εκκλησίαι κτλ.] Remote as Thyatira was from the greater cities of Asia, the news would spread through the province, and reach " all the churches." The phrase II. 24] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN 45 και καρδίας, και δώσω ύμϊν έκαστω κατά τά epya υμών. 3 *ύμΐν δε λέγω τοις Χοπτοΐς τοΐς έν θυατβί- 24 ροις, όσοι ουκ βχουσιν την διδαχή ταύτην, ο'ίτινες ουκ έγνωσαν τα βαθεα του σατανά, ως \β<γουσιν 23 καρ&ιαν Byr«" Prim | om νμιν me | τα έργα] ova. τά C | υμών K c •» ACP 'minl' , 7g «mfuai syrr arm 4 aeth.Prim Andr Ar]- αντου Q 38 vge'°«>χά,'ϋμιν. 'to you, members of the Church, even to each individual.' Another Divine prerogative- (Ps. lxi. (lxii.) 13 σίι αποδώσεις εκάστω κατά. τα. έργα αυτού, Jer. I. a), but one which was claimed by the Lord even in the days of His Mesh; see Mt. xvi. 27 6 νιος τον ανθρώπου. ..αποδώσει εκάστω κατά την πράξιν αυτού. 24• ΰμΐν δε Χεγω τοΐί λοιττοΐϊ κτλ.] 'The rest,' i.e. the members of the Church who had not been deceived by 'Jezebel,' not necessarily a mi- nority; see 1 Thess. iv. 13, where oi λ. are the heathen world ; Apoc. ix. 20, where they are two-thirds of the whole, and xix. 21, where they are contrasted with oi δύο. Ύήν διδαχην ταύτην, i.e. the teaching of the pro- phetess, whether professedly Nico- laitan or not ; cf. v. 20 with vv. 14 f. The age was one in which διδαχαϊ ποι- κίλοι καϊ ξεναι abounded (Heb. xiii. 9). 'Doctrine' is an unfortunate render- ing, suggestive of a logical system rather than a heterogeneous mass of wild speculations and loose views of life. οΐτινες ουκ έγνωσαν τά βαθεα του σατανά] A definition of the faithful borrowed from the taunts of the Jezebelites ; they were such as (cf. i. 7, note) "knew not the deep things," were lacking in the intuition which pene- trated below the surface of things, and reached the deeper mysteries of the Nicolaitan 1 creed 1 depths, the writer adds, not of God (1 Cor. ii. 10 τα βάθη τού θεού) but of Satan (cf. ii. 9, 13, iii. 9). Ώϊ Χεγουσιν, SC. ol κρατούντες την διδαχην ταύτην: '"the deep things,' as they speak" or "as they call them." The term, perhaps taken over from St Paul (see 1 Cor. I. c, Rom. xi. 33, Eph. iii. 18) was used by more than one Gnostic sect in the second century ; cf. Jren. ii. 21. 2 "profunda Bythi adinvenisse se dicuiit"; 22. 3 "pro-. 4<5 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [II. 24 25 ού βάΧΚω έφ' ύμας ά'λλο βάρος, * 5 πΧην ό έχετε 2 6 κρατήσατε ά.'χρι ού αν ηζω. * 6 και ό νικών και ό Τηρών α,χρι TeXovs τα epya μον, δώσω αντώ έξουσίαν 24 βάλλω ACP minP 1 » 40 syr Andr Ar Vict (mitto)] βάλω NQ (1) 10 14 28 33 37 47 49 82 91 92 96 vg syr»" me Prim 25 άχρι NC 14 15 82 (αχρ« PQ mini• 1 Andr Ar)] eus A 47 Ι αϊ» ηξω] ανοίξω Q 2 8 13 14 29 82 93 al miserear aeth 26 om και ι" 7 i6 38 69 98 funda Dei adinvenisse ae dicentes"; Hippol. philps. V. 6 Σκάλισαν [ο'ι Ήαασσηνοϊ] εαυτοτις γνωστικούς, φάσ- κοντες μόνοι τα βάθη γινώσκειν ; Tert. adv. Valent. 1 "nihil magis curant quam occultare quod praedicant (si tamen praedicant qui occultant)...si bona fide quaeras, concrete vultu, suspenso supercilio, ' Altum est' aiunt." They professed to commiserate those who remained in ignorance of their secrets: Tert de res. cam. 19 "vae qui 11011 dum in hac came est cogno- verit arcana haeretica." ov βάλλω εφ' νμάς αλ\ο βάρος] Α scarcely doubtful reference to the Apostolic decree in Acts xv. 28 εδοξεν ...μηδέν πλέον επιτίθεσθαι ύμΐν βάρος πλην τούτων των επάναγκες, άπεχεσθαι ει8ωλοθύτων...καϊ πορνείας. The rest of the prohibitions imposed in the year 49—50 (άπεχεσθαι... αίματος και πνικτων) are not reimposed. Contrast this wise concession with the exacting spirit of the Pharisees : Mt. xxiii. 4 δεσμεύουσιν δε φορτία βαρέα και επιτι- θέασιν επ\, τους ωμονς των ανθρώπων. 2$. πλην ο έχετε κρατήσατε κτλ.] After ού βάλλω... άλλο βάρος the reader expects πλην followed by the genitive (Gen. xxxix.' 6, 9, Mc. xii. '32, Acts, I.e.); but άλλο is left standing by itself, and πλην begins a new sentence as a conj.('howbeit'). Neither ό έχετε nor κρατήσατε can well refer to burdens already being borne ; rather they point back to v. 19 τά έργα icai την άγάπην κτλ. : cf. iii. II κράτει ο έχεις : a single decisive effort seems to be indicated by κρατήσατε. "Ηξω may be either the future hid. or the conj. of the aor. ήξα (cf. -W. Schm.• p. 109, 11. 10); on the 'supposed fut. conj.' in the NT. see WE 2 Notes, p. 179, W. Schm. p. 107. 26 f. και' ό νικών και 6 τηρών κτλ.] Primasius rightly : et qui vicerit et qui servaverit. He who conquers is he who keeps, but the. art. is repeated to emphasize the two conditions of suc- cess. At Thyatira the battle was to be won by resolute adherence to the 'works of Christ,' i.e. to the 1 purity of the Christian life, as opposed to the 'works of Jezebel' (v. 22, τα έργα αυτής). ΧηρεΊν (a Joliannine word, Εν. 18 , Ep. ι 7 , Apoc. 1 ') is usually fol- lowed by τον λόγον or τάς ε'ντολάς : τα έργα presents the same thought in a concrete form (cf. Jo. vi. 28 τα έργα τον θεοί). 'Works' are in these addresses to the Churches constantly used as the test of character; cf. ii. 2, 5 f., 19, 22 f., iii. 1 f., 8, 15. Άχρι τέλους corresponds with άχρι ου αν ήξω, v. 25 ; cf. Mc. xiii. 7, note. δώσω αΰτω εξουσίαν κτλ.] The con- struction reverts to that of vv. 7, 17, as if the sentence had begun τβ> νικωντι καϊ τφ τηροϋντι : COllip. the similar auacoluthon in iii. 12,21. The promise is 'based on Ps. ii. 8 f. δώσω σοι έθνη την κληρονομίαν σου. . .ποιμανεΐς αντους εν ραβδω σιδηρά, ως σκεΰος κεραμέας συντρίψεις αυτούς, where the ixx. read DJTtn as Dinn (π-οψακΛ), while M. T. has Dln]|) (Symm. συν- τρίψει? S. συνθλάσεις). Cf. Apoc xii. 5, xix. 15. Ώοιμανΰ, Prim, pascet, Vulg. reget, 'will do the part of the ποιμήν,' whether in the way of feeding (βόσκειν, Jo. xxi. 15 if.) or of ruling (" pastoraliter reges," as Hilary on Ps. ii. 9 well expresses II. 2 9 ] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN 47 '''και ποιμανεΐ αυτού? εν ράβΖω 2j επι των εθνών, σιοηρά, ώς τά σκεύη τα. κεραμικά συντρίβεται, ώς κα<γω εΊΧηψα πάρα του πατρός μου' 3& καί Ζώσω 28 αυτω τον αστέρα τον πρωϊνόν. " 9 ό έχων ους 29 ακουσατω τι το πνεύμα \εγέι ταΐς έκκΧησ'ιαις. i6 om επι H* (hab Ν •") 27 km ποιμανεΐ. ..ως] ινα ποιμανεΐ. ..και o>s syre w | ποιμαινειν 130 | συντρίβεται NAC 17 36 38 40 51 80 8 1 130 g syr»"] άυντριβησιται PQ juJQfereso Tg ( me j syr ( arm j aetll p rim Ar it). Here the second point is em- phasized by iv (instrumental) ράβδω σιδηρά. The "rod of iron" (D3B> λΠ5) is "the shepherd's oaken club, developed on the one hand into the sceptre (Gen. xlix. 10), and on the other into the formidable weapon" (Cheyne, Psalms, p. 6 ;' cf. Hastings, D. B. iv. p. 291); in the latter case it would be capped with iron, and capable of inflicting severe punishment. Such is its character in the Psalm, I. c; the Gentile nations are to be shattered like pottery by the Divine Shepherd of Israel. Τά σκεύη τα κεραμικά, i.e. τοΰ κιραμίως, cf. Vg. vas figuli ; for κεραμικός cf. Dan. ii. 41, lxx. 'fit κάγω εϊληφά πάρα τοΰ πατρός μου carries on the reference to Ps. ii. (cf. V. 7 Κύριος εΐπεν προς με Υιός μον ει συ, εγώ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε). The Only Begotten Son imparts to His brethren, in so far as their son- ship has been confirmed by victory, His own power over the nations ; cf. Mt. xxv. 21, 28, 1 Cor. vi. 2, Apoc. xx. 4, xxi. 5. On the contrast between this promise and the outward conditions' of life at Thyatira see Ramsay, Letters, p. 332, ii. 40 f. Historically the pro- mise fulfils itself in the Church's in- fluence upon the world; no other voluntary society can be compared with her as a factor in the shaping of national character and life, and the individual disciple, in proportion as he is loyal, bears his share in the sub- jugation of the world to Christ; cf. , Horn. XV. 18 κατειργάσατο Χριστοί δι' έμοΰ εϊς ΰπακοην εθνών. But the deeper fulfilment of tnis promise, as of the rest of the series, awaits the Parousia; cf. Lc. xix. 15 ff. εγένετο iv τω επανελ- θεϊν αυτόν λαβόντα την βασιλε'ιαν και ειπεν φωνηθήναι αυτω tovs δούλους... και ειπεν... Ισοι έζονσίαν έχων επάνω δέκα (πέντε) πόλεων. The new order must be preceded by the breaking up of the old (συντρίβεται), but the pur- pose of the Potter is to reconstruct ; out of the fragments of the old life there will rise under the Hand of Christ and of the Church new and better types of social and national organization. 28. κάί , δώσω αυτω τον αστέρα τον πρωϊνόν] The conqueror is not only to share Christ's activities ; he is to possess Christ. The ancient expo- sitors offer a choice of interpreta- tions ; the morning star is " the first resurrection" (Victorinus), or it is the fallen Lucifer put under the feet of the saints (Andreas, citing Isa. XIV. 12 πώς εξέπεσεν εκ τοΰ ούρανοΰ ό εωσφόρος, and adding bv δωσειν νπο τους πόδας των πιστών επήγγελται); or it is Christ Himself (Beatus: "id est, Dominum Jesum Christum quem . Jiumquam suscepit vesper, sed lux sempiterna est, et ipse super in luce est"; and Bede: "Christus est Stella matntina qui nocte saeculi transacta lucem vitae Sanctis promittit et pandet aeternam "). The last explanation is surely right, on the evidence of the Apocalypse itself; see xxii. 16 εγώ ειμί... ο αστήρ ό λάμπρος ό πρωινός. If the Churches are λυχνίαι and their 4 8 III. ι THE APOCALYPSE OB ST JOHN [III. i. 1 Και τω άγγεΧω της ev CapSecriv έκκΧησιας γρα-ψον 7a'e5e Xeyei ό έχων τά επτά πνεύματα τόύ θεού και toi)s επτά αστέρας. οίΒα σου τα ερ•γα, οτι III ι tijs] τω syrr Prim | om εκκΚησιαι Byr | οτι ι°] και Q 6 8 14 2Q 9 2 '*' 95 "^ Αχ~ και on syrs" arm 4 Prim angels αστέρες, the Head of the Church may fitly be the αστήρ ο πρωινοί, the brightest of stars, whose advent ushers in the day; cf. 2 Pet. i. 19 ίως ου ημέρα διαυγάσ^ και φωσφόρο! άνατύλτ/ εν ταΐς καρδίαις νμων. Thus the pro- mise points to the Parousia, and yet does not exclude the foretastes which are given to the faithful in the growing illumination, of the mind and the oc- casional flashings upon it of the yet distant light of "the perfect day" (Proy. iv. 18). III. 1—6. The Address to the Angel op the Church in Sardis. Ι. της ev Σάρδεσιν] A little over 30 miles S.E.S. of Thyatira the messenger would reach Sardis (Σάρδιες, Σάρδεις, Σιίρδίί, Sardis), now Sart, the old capital of Lydia, lying at the foot of Mount Tmolus. Under Roman rule it recovered some of its ancient im- portance, becoming head of the local convent us (Ramsay, Hist. Geogr. p. 120); and though in a.d. 17 it suffered severely from an earthquake, through the liberality of Tiberius (Tac. ann. ii. 47) Sardis rose rapidly from its ruins, so that Strabo (625) is able to characterize it as παΚις μεγάλη. Like Thyatira, it was famous for its woollen manufactures and dyeing in- dustry (cf. Smith, D. Β. p. 1 140), and the ancient system of roads of which it was a meeting-point secured for it the trade of central Asia (cf. Ramsay, Hist. Geogr. p. 42 if., Encycl. Bill. 4286). The chief cult of Sardis was that of Cybele, two columns of. whose temple are still visible (Murray, Turlcey in Asia, p. 305). The in- habitants bore a bad name in antiquity for luxury and loose living, as indeed did the Lydians generally (Herod, i. 59, Aesch. Pers. 41). The Church of Sardis lingered to the fourteenth cen- tury, but did not play a distinguished part in Christian history; among its early Bishops, however, appears the name of Melito (ft 165 — 195 : Bus. H. Έ. iv. 13, 26; v. 24), the earliest inter- preter of the Apocalypse. See the Introduction, p. lxiv. τάδε λέγει ό έχων ktX.J Cf. ii. Ι τ. λ. ό κρατών τους επτά αστέρας. Here Έχων is preferred to κρατών because τά επτά πνεύματα precedes. Not only, are the churches in the hand of Christ, but the spirits also belong to Him ; it is His to guide or withhold the powers of the πνεύμα ζωοποιόν, on which the life of the Churches depends. The Ascended Christ 'has' the spirits of God in virtue of His exaltation, cf. Acts ii. 33 υψωθείς την re «ray- 1 γελιαν του πνεύματος τοΰ άγιου λαβών πάρα τοΰ πατρός εξέχεεν τούτο, Eph. IV. 7 f iv\ δε έκάστω ήμων εδόθη ή χάριί κατά το μέτρον τής δωρεάς τοΰ χριστού κτλ. A further view of the relation of the seven Spirits to the glorified Christ is given in c. v. 6, where see notes. οιδά σου τά έργα, οτι κτλ.] On οιδά σ. τ. ε. see ii. 2 note. Here the words introduce almost unqualified censure : the Church at Sardis presented to the eye of Christ the paradox of death under the name of life. For the constr. όνομα έχεις ότι ζής cf. Herod, vii. 1 38 οΰνομα εΐχε cos eV Αθήνας έλαΰνει, and for the general sense 2 Tim. iii. 5 έχοντες μόρφωσιν ευσέβειας την δε δύνα- μιν αυτής ήρνημένοι. Και νεκρός ει: cf. Mt. "VUi. 22 άφες τους νεκρούς θάψαι τους εαυτών νεκρούς, Lc. XV. 24 ουτοϊ 6 νΙός μου νεκρός ή*ν και άνέζησεν, Jo. ν • 2 5 fpXfTai ω pa και νΰν εστίν δτε . ol νεκροί. ,.ζήσουσιν, Rom. vi. 13- III. 2] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN 49 όνομα e^€is οτι ζής, και νεκρός ei. "'γίνου γρήγορων, 2 και στηρισον τα Χοιπα ά εμεΧΧον άττοθανέΐν ού γαρ βυρηκα σου έργα ττεττΧηρωμβνα ενώπιον τοΰ θβον ι yevov 130 | στηρισον ACP 93* 95 9^°°" & 1 (-{»» KQ Ι 14 37 fort 8° al)] τηρησον α 13 25 27 28 29 3° a l syr Mh | τους λοιπούς ot syr arm 4 | εμελλον KACP min' !' 68 (-λλεν 1 2 (7) 16 vg syr Vict Prim Ar -λλες Q (ημ.) ι 6 8 14 19 91 (94 97) alP 1 ' 20 (me) syre w ) | αποβανειν KACP i m e 7 38 al"?" vg me syrr aeth (-θνησκειν s8 36 79 Ar)] απόβαλλαν Q 2 6-8 14 (91) 95 aU""! 20 (-βαλαν 17 49 91 96) | eupijKay Q | epya AC i m i] pr τα KPQ ώο -ei ex νικρών ζώντας. Sardis, while retaining the Christian name, had relapsed into the state of spiritual death from which Christ had raised her (Eph. ii. I, 5 ; CoL ii. 13). Victo- rinus : "non satis est Christianum dici et Christum confiteri, ipsum'vero in opere non habere." 2. γίνου γρήγορων, καϊ στήρισορκτλϊ] After νεκρός ει we expect the call ανάστα εκ των νεκρών (Eph. Τ. 14). But amid the general reign of spiritual death Christ detected vestiges of life, though they were on the point of be- coming extinct (τα λοιπά a ε μέλλον αιπο- θανε'ιν). There was therefore still room for a final appeal. For γίνου γρ. (Syr. 8 ™' τ^Λι^ -.οφ) see ii. 10 note : an effort must be made' to restore vigilance, and to maintain it when restored ; on γρηγορΰν cf." Mc. xiii. 34 note. The word is frequently on the lips of Christ in the Synoptic narrative of the last days of His intercourse with the Twelve. It has been pointed out that it is specially suitable in an address to the Church at Sardis ; twice during the history of that city the acropolis had fallen into the hands of an enemy through want of vigilance on the part of its citizens (viz. in b.c. 549, 218; see Hastings, t>. B. iv. 49 ; Ramsay, Letters, p. 376 S.); and a similar disaster now threatened the Church' of Sardis from a similar cause. But more than vigilance was needed; the Church must set herself to work for the establishment of any faith, love, or works of piety that were left : cf. Ez. XXXIV. 4, 16 το ησθενηκυς ουκ S. R. ενισχύσατε.. .το εκλιπόν ενισχύσω κτλ. Τα λοιπά — τα λελειμμενα, not = τους λοιπούς (υ. 4), but more generally, whatever remained at Sardis out of the wreck of Christian life, whether persons or institutions : all must be preserved and set on a firmer basis — a principle of reconstruction worthy of the notice of Christian teachers who are called to deal with corrupt or decaying branches of the Church. Ί,τηρίζειν, like βεβαιούν and θεμελιούν, is a technical word in primitive pasto- ralia; cf. Acts xviii. 23, Rom. i. 11, xvi. 25, 1 Th. iii. 2, 13, 2 Th. ii. 17, iii. 3, Jac. v. 8, 1 Pet. v. 10, 2 Pet. i. 12.- This frequent reference to the need of στηριγμόί in Christian communities planted in the heart of a heathen population will readily explain itself to those who are familiar with the history of Missions. On the form στηρισον see WH.' Notes, p. 177 ; W. Schm. p. 105, Blass, Gt. pp. 40, 42.' °A εμελλον άποθανεϊν. the' imperfect looks back from the standpoint of the reader to the time when the vision was seen, and at the same time with a delicate optimism it expresses the conviction of the writer that the worst would soon be past; for another explanation see Burton § 28. , The plural is used because the things that remain are regarded as living realities ; on the aug- ment see W. Schm. p. 99, and on the aor. inf. after μέλλω, Blass, Gr. p. 197. ού γαρ ευρηκά σου έργα κτλ.] Cf. Dan. V. 27 Th. εστάόη iv ζυγω καϊ ευρέθη υστερούσα. Works were not So THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [III. 3 μου' % μνημόνευε ουν 7T£us εϊληφας και ήκουσας, και τηρεί και μετανόησον. εάν ουν μη <γρηγρρηο~ης, ηξω ώς κΧβπτηζ, και ου μη <γνως ττοίαν ώραν ήζω επι σε. 2 om μο,υ ι 8ι ι6ι syrs* arm Prim 3 μνημόνευσαν 130 | om ουν ι° Κ 14 syr*" arm aeth Prim Ai | ηκουσαί και είληφα.! syr»" | om και τηρεί Q 2 6 14 49 al™' n " 1 aeth utr Ar | ουν 2°] δε 36 syr«" Prim | γρηγορησηί\ μετανοησηι Κ* (yp• Ν") (me) arm Prim μεταν.και μη γρηγ. me" d | ηξω] + εττι σε KQ minP 1 vg Κ | »;{α 95 wanting to this Church, but they lacked the πλήρωμα which makes human actions acceptable in the sight of God; in some unexplained way they were 'deficient.' Cf. the use of πληροΰσθαι in Col. ii. 10 core εν αύτω πεπληρωμίνοι, and the Johannine phrase Ινα ή χαρά υμών ?; πεπληρωμένη (Jo. xvi. 24, 1 Jo. i. 4, 2 Jo. 12): here οΰ.,.πεπληρωμένα may be inter- preted by νεκροί ει above; 'works' are 'fulfilled' only when they are animated by the Spiritof life. Οΰχ εΰρηκα recalls Μα xi. 13 ηλθεν el apa τι εΰρήσει e'v αντί], καϊ... ουδέν ευρεν ει μη φύλλα, Lc. xiii. 7 ^ΡΧ Η• αι • ζητ&ν καρπον.,.καϊ ουχ ευρίσκω : the perf. implies* that at Sardis the search was not yet ended. Σου έργα, 'works of thine,' i.e. 'any of thy works'; a more sweeping censure than σ. τα ε., 'thy works as a whole.' Τοΰ θεοΰ μου: cf. Μα xv. 34, Jo. xx. 17, Eph. i. 17, Heb. i. 9, and the phrase 6 θεοί και πατήρ τοΰ κυρίου ημών Ί. Χ. (Rom. χν. 6, etc. ; see Hort on 1 Pet i. 3). The Son of God (ii. 18) does not forget that He is also Son of Man, and as such stands in a creaturely relation to God. Yet this relation is in some sense unique, as μου shews (not ήμων); cf. Jo. I. C. θεόν μου και Bebv υμών, 3• μνημόνευε οΰν πώς ε'ίληφα! κτλ.] Ουν resumes and coordinates, as often in the Fourth Gospel (Blass, Or. p. 272 f.) and in the Apoc. (i. 19, ii. 5, 16, iii. 19). In order to stimulate the Church in her work of self- recovery, her thoughts are sent back to the first days; cf. the appeal to the Church at Ephesus, ii. 5 μν. olv πόθεν πέπτωκεί. ΈΪληφαΐ represents the faith as a trust; cf. Mt xxv. 10 S. ό τα πέντε τάλαντα \αβων...ο τα duo... ο το iv τάλαντον ειΧηφως: I Cor. ίν. 7 τι be έχεις ο ουκ έλαβες; Even the Son confesses (ii. 28), Έϊληφα πάρα τοΰ πατρός μον. Έΐληφας καϊ ηκουσαί'. the aor. looks back to the moment when faith came by hearing (Rom. x. 17, cf. 1 Th. i. 5 f., iL 13); the perf. calls attention to the abiding responsibility of the trust then received. Τήρει καϊ μετανόησον. 'keep that which thou hast received, and promptly turn from thy past neglect.' iav ουν μη γρηγορήσει κτλ.~] Ουν IS again resumptive, looking back to V. 2 γίνου γρήγορων, to which the succeeding imperatives (ο-τήρισον, μνη- μόνευε etc.) are subordinate. "Ή.ξω ώς κλέπτη:, not speedily only (ταχύ, ii 16), but stealthily, at an unexpected moment For the figure cf. Mt. xxiv. 43, Lc. xii. 39, 1 Th. v. 2, 2 Pet iii. 10, Apoc. xvi. 15. Κλέπτης is doubtless preferred to the less ignoble Xijorijr, because the point of comparison is the stealthiness of the thief's approach. In His relation to the faithful the Lord is the opposite of both (Jo. x. 1, 7). καϊ ου μή γνως κτλ.] On ου μη γνως see Blass, Gr. p. 209 f.; γνωο-τ/ (NQ) is a grammatical correction. The whole sentence is another echo of the Synoptic tradition; cf. Μα xiii. 35 ούκ οΐδατε γαρ πότε δ κύριοι της οικίας έρχεται, Lc. xii. 39 '^ ^ει.,.ποία ώρα 6 κλέπτης έρχεται, έγρηγορησεν αν. ΐΐοίαν ωραν (Prim., Vulg. qua hora), strictly 'during what hour'; but the ace. is III. 5] • THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN Si 4 αλλά βγει* ολίγα ονόματα ev Cap$e,ηη vg me syrr arm aeth Prim Ar] ο αληθινό! ο ayios ΧΑ | την κλειν (om την Κ*)] την κλείδα ι al mu | Ααυειδ] αδου 7* ι6 33 45 00 ^ ap Andr et Ar του παραδεκτού arm pr του KPQ min fet0<,m " Andr Ar pr του οίκου me | ο avoiywv] και αν. H OrJ | κλείσει] κλειεί ι 6 31 36 49 92 1 " 1 » al vg (me) syrr arm Prim + αυτην Q min 35 + « μη ο avoiyav Q 7 14 gi 93 94 95 al | om και 3 Ν™" A vg | om καικλειων gi | κλειων] κλειεί C 31 gi" 1 » al g vg syr arm anon""* N.E.andknown as the Katakekaumeue (Burntland), from the . cinders and scoriae with which the ground was strewn. Philadelphia itself was sub- ject to frequent shocks of earthquake - (Strabo, 628 πόλις Φιλαδέλφεια σεισμών πλήρη!); like Sardis it was rebuilt by ■ Tiberius after the great earthquake of a.d. 17 (Tac. ann. ii. 47), and sub- sequently it bore on coins for a ■ time the name of Neocaesarea, but the old name reasserted itself or perhaps never went out of common use. ' The city wag not^ a large one, tbe_£eaE,_Qf jej£th^g,kes_driying most of the inhabitants into the surrounding country (Strabo, I. c. ), and the C hurch was probably proportionately small, at least within the waHs7™As was natural in a vine-growing district, the worship of Dionysos was the chief pagan cult; but the difficulties of this Church arose from tfewish rather than pagan antagonists, and the mes- sage~contains no reference to direct persecution from without or heresy within the brotherhood It offers a strong contrast to - the Sardian utter- ance which precedes it ; for the Church at Philadelphia the Lord has no censure and scarcely a word of warning. It is interesting to note that in later, times, "long aftgr all the country round had passed „ finally under Turkisli "power, Philadelphia held up the banner ^£hjrJsiendom" (Ramsay, Letters, p. 400). The modern city has its resident Bishop, five churches, and about 1000 Christian inhabitants. robe λέγει ο άγιοι, ά αληθινός] 'The Holy, the True,' Vg. sanctus et verus; not, as Arethas, ό αληθινοί άγιοι, 'the True Saint.' Of. νί. 10 6 δεσπότη? ό άγιο! και αληθινοί. Ό άγιοι, a Divine title (Hab. iii. 3, Isa. xl. 25), is applied to Christ with the qualifying words του θεοΰ or παΪ! τ. θ. in Mc. i. 24, Jo. vi. 69, Acts iv. 27, 30, and here absolutely. Ό αληθινοί is used of Him again in iii. 14 ο πιστοί καϊ αληθινοί, xix. 1 1 πιστοί καλούμενο! καϊ αληθινοί. Αληθινοί is verus as distinguished from verax {αληθή!) ; cf. Orig. in Joann. t. ii. 6 προ! άντιδιαστόλήν σκιάί και τύπον καϊ εΐκόνο!, i.e. the ideal, con- trasted with all imperfect representa- tions or approximations; see Jo. iv. 37, vii. 28, viii. 16, and see Lightfoot on 1 Th. i. 9, Westcott on Heb. x. 22, and Trench, syn. 8. The Head of the Church is characterised at once by absolute sanctity (Heb. vii. 26 τοιούτο! yap ήμϊν επρεπεν άρχιερεύί, όσιο! άκακο! αμίαντοι κεχωρισμενο! άπο των αμαρτω- λών), and by absolute truth ; He is all that He claims to be, fulfilling the ideals which He holds forth and the hopes which He inspires. ό έχων την κλεΐν Aaveib κτλ.] Cf. Isa. xxii. 22, where it is said of Hezekiah's faithful vizier (2 K. xviii. i8ff.),-Eliakim the son of Hilkiah ; δώσω την κλείδα οίκου Ααυεϊδ επϊ τοΰ ωμού αντοϋ, καϊ ανοίξει καϊ ονκ εσται ο αποκλείων καϊ κλείσει καϊ ουκ εσται 6 ανοίγων (codd' Qr, with Μ.Τ.). Eliakim, with his key of office (Andreas, σνμβολον τη! εξ- ουσία!) slung over his shoulder, is the • antitype of the exalted Christ, set over the House of God (Eph. i. 22, Heb. iii. 6), and exercising all authority in 54 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [III. 7 8 και oi/Seis avoiyei. ένωπιόν σου θύραν άνεωγμένην, ην ovBeis όυναται *οιΰά σου τα 'έρ<γα• ιδού Μΰωκα άνβω<γμενην, ην ουδείς δύναται κλεΐσαι αυτήν " οτι μικράν έχεις δύναμιν, και έτηρησας 7 ανοίγει] ανοίγει (K)Q mm 40 me Ar 8 τα εργα] + και την πιστοί me | δβίωκα] ■ίσοι 130 I ανεωγμενην ACQ minP 1 ] ηνεωγμενην NP 31 35 38 87 | ην] και r 92 mg all™" om Κ 49 vg ] om αυτήν H 49 vg arm Prim ] μικράν} pr ου 38 μακράν 14 heaven and on earth(Mt xxviii. 1 8), and even in Hades (Apoc. i. 18, cf. Rom. xiv. 9, Phil. ϋ. 9 η 7 .). Την κλειν Ααυείδ, cf. τ • 5 V P L C a Δ., ΧΧΪί. 1 6 ι; ρ. και το γεροί Δ. ; the reference to David recalls the long series of Jjrqphetic : hopes now fulfilled mine exaltation of the Christ. Compare Mi." χνίΓΐέϊ' δώσω σοι τάς κλείδας της βασιλείας των ουρανών. The grant to the Church in the person of St Peter is less comprehensive, for the keys of the Kingdom unlock but one of the great areas of the House of God ; moreover it is significant that the Lord does not say to him ο eav κλείσ^ς. . ,κλεισθήσεται• ο eav άνοιξης άνοιχθήσεται, but ο εάν δήσης, ο εάν λνστί!, changing the metaphor; the supreme power of shutting and open- ing is kept in His own hands (cf. Mt. xxv. 10 f., and comp. the Te Deum : "tu devicto mortis aculeo aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum"). The ancient interpreters blend the present passage with c. v. 5 fl\, and thus unduly limit the meaning of this power: cf. Hippolytus (Lag. 159): τά μεν ουν πάλαι εσφραγισμενα νυν δια της χάριτος τοΖ κυρίου πάντα rots' άγίοις ηνέωγεν αΰτος γαρ ην ή τελεία σφραγϊε κα\ κλε\ς ή εκκλησία [? τ;/ εκκλησία], 6 άνοίγων και ouSeis κλειεί... cos Ιωάννης λέγει• καϊ πάλιν 6 αυτός φησι Και ε ΐδον ...βιβλίον.,.εσφραγισμενον. On κλεΐι» =κλεΐδα see i. 18 note; the v.l. αδου for Ααυείδ is from the same passage. 8. οΐδά σου τα έργα] No description follows as in ii. 2, 19, iii. 1. The Lord's οΐδα is here one of unqualified approv- al (Andreas : τουτέστιν, αποδέχομαι), needing no specification, since there are no deductions to be made. This tacit witness is the more remarkable in view of His claim to be 6 άγιοι, 6 αληθινοί. ίδοΰ δίδωκ,α f κ.- σ. θύραν. dsi a y.ndf UK κτλ.) Thelk^.QtJ)aYidiJiaa,already mdockeda.door,whJchnoxste.ndsopen before, the Church. Cf. Isa. xiv. 1 f. ανοίξω έμπροσθεν αύτοΰ θύρας,καϊπόλεις ού συνκλεισθήσονται... θύρας χαλκάς συντρίψω κα\ μοχλούς σίδηρους συν- κλάσω. The metaphor of the 'open door' was familiar to the Apostolic age : cf. Acts xiv. g^Xthe door of faith), 1 Cor, xvi. q, 2 Cor, ii. i gj. Coljyj^the door of speech and preaching) ; see Lightfoot on CoL /. c. The latter is here probably in view (Arethas: 7 του διδασκαλικού κηρύγματος είσοδος); the faithfulnes s nf thn Pfe'foHelpViiay Church found us„a - eward in_ fresh opportunities, of service , on the prin- ciple of~~Ehe_ Tinrf 1 V famfHav «gyi"g Ο ς ενει δοθήσεται ούτω. The position of Philadelphia on the borders of Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia, and "on the threshold of the eastern country" (Ramsay, in Hastings iii. p. 831 ; Letters, p. 404 ff.), gave this Church peculiar opportunities for spreading the Gospel. If she had already availed herself of 'these, the 'open door' would readily explain itself; her opportunities were to be regarded ' as Christ's gift (δί'δωκα) and she was assured of its continuance (ουδείς δύναται κλεΐσαι αυτήν). Οτι μικράν έχεις δύναμιν resumes the thread broken by the parenthetic clause ιδού δέδωκα... κλεΐσαι αυτήν. "I know thy works. . .that thou hast" etc. ; cf. ο'δα...οτ -t in ii. 2, iii. 1, 15. The Church had little influence in Phila- delphia ; her members were probably drawn from the servile and com- III. 9] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 55 μου τον Χογον και ούκ ήρνησω το όνομα μου. 9 Ίδου φ δίδω εκ της συναγωγής του σατανά, των λεγόντων εαυτού^ 'Ιουδαίους eivai, και ούκ ε'ισιν άΧΧα -ψεύ- δονται — ιδού ποιήσω αυτούς 'ίνα ηξουσιν και προσκυ- νησουσιν ενώπιον των πο δώι/ σου, και γνώσιν οτι 9 δίδω AC] διδωμι PQ min omnvld δεδωκα Κ ddbo vg Prim | ηξωσι Q mini" 1 Andr Ar ηξω ι ] προσκυνησωσιν Q 7 14 38 91 95 130 al Andr Ar | -γνώσιν ACPQ 1 6 7 38 91 95 al pl syr arm aeth Andr Ar] γνωσονται 1536 syrs" ,id -γνώση Κ 14 arm Prim + Traces me mercial classes ; cf. 1 Cor. i. 26 ov ττολλοϊ δυνατοί. And under these cir- cumstances (for the slightly adversa- tive force of καί see ¥M. p. 545, Blass, Gr. p. 261), the word of Christ had been kept (cf. ii. 26, iii. 3), and there had been no backwardness in confess- ing His name (for ούκ άρνεϊσθαι see ii. 13). 'Έτήρησας, ονκ ήρνήσω, point to some period of trial, now for the moment gone by ; its character may be conjectured from the next verse. 9. ιδού διδώ εκ της συναγωγής κτλ.} Andreas : έξεις, φησί, μισβον της ομολογίας τον εμον ονόματος την των Ιουδαίων επιστροφήν re κα\ μετανοιαν. The opposition implied in ετήρησας και ονκ ήρνήσω came at Philadelphia, as at Smyrna, from the Jews ; cf. ii. 9 οίδα. . .την βλασφημΐαν εκ των λεγόντων Ιουδαίους είναι εαυτούς, καϊ ονκ είσίν, άλλα συναγωγή τοϋ σατανά, a descrip- tion repeated here with the addition of άλλα ψεύδονται, which contrasts the Philadelphian Jews with ό αληθινός (v. 7) : they are ψευδώνυμοι, and their claim is a sin against truth.• The construction is broken by the ex- planatory clauses r. nations» ^to Tsrael will .find a fulfilment in the submission of members of the svna- gogue (on εκ τ. σ. see ii. 9, note) to the -ehrrroh^hS^Tsrael of .God." "ΪΙροσκν- "νε'ιν ενώπιον των ποδών describes the cringing attitude of a beaten foe, familiar to us through the Assyrian sculptures ; in what sense the picture was realized in the conversion of Jews and pagans may be gathered from 1 Cor. xiv. 24, where an άπιστοι enter- ing a Christian assembly ελέγχεται νπο πάντων ...και όντως πεσών επι πρόσωπον προσκυνήσει τφ θεω, απάγ- γελλαν οτι "Οντως ό θεοί εν ύμΐν εστίν. It is noteworthy that twenty years later the Philadelphian Church was more in danger from Judaizing Christians than from Jews (Ign. JPhilad.6 εαν δε tis ϊουδαϊσμόν ερμηνεύη νμΐν μη ακονετε αντοΐΐ' αμεινον γάρ εστίν πάρα ανδρός περιτομήν έχοντος χριστιανισμον άκούειν η πάρα άκρο- βύστον ίονδα'ίσμόν). Was this the result of a large influx of converts from Judaism in the previous genera- tion ? For other instances of the fut. ind. after ίνα in the Apoc. see vi. 4, 11, viii. 3, ix. 4 £, xiii. 12, xiv. 13, xxii. 14; and cf. Blass, Gr. p. 211 f. και γνώσιν οτι εγώ ήγάπησά σε] The change to, the aor. conj. perhaps indi- cates that the purpose of the whole action now comes into view. Both the phrase Ινα... γνώσιν and the words εγώ ήγάπησά σε are from Isaiah ; for the former see Isa. xxxvii. 20, xlv. 3, et passim ; for the latter Isa. xliii. 4. The aor. (contrast i. 5 r

όνομα κτλ.^ Each pillar in the sanctuary (Arethas : ότι τον νοητον στύλον) is to be inscribed by the hand of Christ with, three names, the Name of God, the name of the new Jerusalem, and the new name of Christ. (1) The Name of God was ' put on ' every Israelite in the priestly blessing (Num. vi. 27 επιθήσονσιν το ο'νομά μου cVl τους υιούς Ισραήλ) ; on members of the Israel of 58 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [III. 12 σαΧημ, ή καταβαίνουσα έκ του ουρανού άττο του 13 θεού μου, και το ονομά μου το καινον. Ι3 ό e -χων oi/s άκουσατω τι το πνεύμα Xeγυμνοτητος σου, και κο?\Αοΰριον εγχρΐσαι τους όφθαΧμους σου Ίνα ι8 παρ ιμου χρ. NACP ι 28 36 49 79 &l mu * ld S ν 8 sy rr ] ΧΡ• παμςμου Q 6 7 8 14 2g 38 al fere3l) me Ar om παρ εμού 31 34 35 87 97 Prim | ck πι /pas Q | περιβαΚΚη 13 14 28 79* 80 87 92 Ar Ι αισχύνη] ασχημοσυνη Ρ ι 36 | κολλουριον ΑΡ ίο IJ 3° 3^ 3*>49 S 1 8ι 9-1 (130)] κο\(\)υριον KC(Q) 2 6 7 8 14 3 1 35 -(3 8 ) 82 8 7 9 2 "" al ,ereM Ar al κου\(\)ουριον (ι) 28 29 79 ( 8ο ?) I e -γχρισαι-ϋ (evxp.) AC J 16 18 28 36 45 syre"] ργχρισον Ρ ι 49 79 91 9 2 ™ 8 9*> *3° a l Andr ινα ε-γχρισή Q (- ro3s syre» Prim (om AP 1 6 13 17 18 19 28 36 37 38 79 80 81 161 vg syr me arm aeth Or Hil Ar) ευθέως άνοίξωσιν αύτω. The picture is exactly reversed in Lc. xiii. 25, where the Master shuts the door and the servants knock in vain ; cf. Mt. xxv. 10 f. εάν Tis άκούση της φωνή! μου κτλ.] If any Church (or individual) gives heed to the call of Christ (cf. Jo. x. 3 τα πρόβατα φωνής αύτοΰ άκουα, l6 f., XVlii. 37 '"'Ι ύ ων εκ της αληθείας ακούει μου της φωνής) and opens the door, Christ will enter that dwelling (Jo. xiv. 23 προς αύτον ίλευσόμεθα καϊ μονην παρ' αύτω ποιησόμεθα, Bpll. ill. 17 κατοικησαι τον χριστον δια της πίσ- τεως εν τοις καρ&ίαις υμών εν άγάπτ)), • and exchange with such an one the fel- lowship of intimate communion (cf. Jo. vi. 56 6 τρώγων μου την σάρκα και πίνων μου το αίμα iv «μοί μένει κάγώ εν αύτω) in that endless feast of Love of which the Eucharist is the earnest (Mt. Xxvi. 29 εως της ημέρας εκείνης όταν αυτό πίνω, μεθ' υμών καινον εν rjj βασιλεία του πατρός μου). Έίσέρχεσθαι προς τίνα, to enter a man's house; cf. Mc. xv. 43, Acts xi. 3. Δειπνήσω is preferred to άριστήσω partly because the δεΐπνον came at the end of the day and. was the principal meal and the usual occasion for hospitality, but perhaps chiefly with reference to the κυριακον δεΐπνον. Origen's ού yctp δε'ιται εισαγωγής και πράτων μαθημάτων (in Joann. t. xxxii. 2) is ingenious but far-fetched. 21. ό νικών, δώσω αύτω καθίσαι μετ' έμοΰ κτλ.] An extension of the protiise made to the Twelve in Mt. xix. 28 όταν καθίση ο υίος του ανθρώπου επι θρόνον δόξης αύτοΰ, καθήσεσθε και ΰμεΐς επ\ δώδεκα θρόνους : cf. Lc. xxii. 29 f. κάγώ διατίθεμαι ύμΐν, καθώς διέθετα /ιοι ό πατήρ μου βασίλείαν, ίνα εσθητε καϊ π'ινητε επ\ της τραπέζης μου εν rrj βασϊΚεία μου, και καθησθε επί θρόνων τας δώδεκα φυλάς κρίνοντες τοΰ Ισραήλ, where, as here, the enthronement follows immediately after the mention of the heavenly feast. The θρόνοι however (cf. ii. 13, note) are not places on the triclinium, but thrones of dignity and judicial power, cf. 1 Cor. vi. 2 f. ουκ οϊδατε οτι οι άγιοι τον κόσμον κρινοΰσιν ;. . .ούκ οϊδατε δτι αγγέλους κρι- ■ νοΰμεν ; The Apocalyptic promise adds that the conqueror shall not merely be enthroned like Christ, but be His σύνθρονος. Μ,ετ ε'μοΰ might imply association only, but εν τω θρόνω μου implies a share in the same throne, i.e. in the glory and powers of Christ's own triumphant humanity. ois κάγώ ενίκησα κτλ.] Cf. Jo. XVI. 33 εγώ νενίκηκα τον κόσμον, I Jo. V. 4 αΰτη εστίν ή νίκη ή νικήσασα τον κόσμον, ή πίστις ημών. Here ενίκησα looks back upon the historical fact of the Lord's victory as past and complete ; νενίκηκα in Jo. I. c. regards the victory as abiding in its effects. The rewards of victory are not the same in the case of Christ as in the case of the disciple ; the disciple becomes σύνθρονος with Christ in Christ's throne, whereas the Lord is σύνθρονος with the Father; cf. ii. 27 f. δώσω αύτω. . .ως κάγώ εΐληφα πάρα τον πατρός μου. Έκάθισα like ενίκησα is the historical aorist ; the session fol- lowed at the moment of the Ascension, III. 22] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN 65 τώ 'θρόνω αύτοΰ. • 3ϊ ό βχων οϋ? άκουσατω τ'ι το 2 2 πνεύμα Xiyei ταϊς έκκΧησίαις. 22 ous] a«res vgi ual arm Prim whilst the victory was achieved by the Resurrection ; see Mc. xvi. 19, Eph. i. 20, Heb. i. 3, viii. i, xii. 2. The ultimate source of the conception is Ps. ex. 1 ; on its meaning see Apringius ad I. : "quid est in throno Dei sedere, nisi quiescere et gloriari cum Deo et eius adsistere tribunalibus beatis, at- que immensa praesentiae illius felici- tate gaudere 1" "With the parallel as κάγώ κτλ. cf. Jo. xv. 10, xvii. 18, xx. 2i, Apoc. ii. 28. Looking back over the seven λόγοι (ii. 1 — iii. 22), it is easy to see that, widely as their contents differ, they are constructed upon a common plan. Each begins with the* formula Τω άγγελω τώ (τί /s) ε'ν.. εκκλησίας γράψον Ίάδε λέγει ό. . ., and ends with the call Ό 'έχων ous κτλ', followed (ι — 3), or preceded (4 — 7) by a promise to the Christian victor (τω νικώντι δώσω αύτώ (ΐ, 3)ι or ° νικών.. .δώσω αύτω (4, 7)j or ό νικών 7Γ0Η7σω αυτόν (6) ΟΓ ό νικών followed by a verb expressing the reward to be received (2, 5)). Even in the contents of the several messages a certain uniformity may be detected. After the opening words each λόγοι begins with οΐδα- — οιδά σου τα έργα (ι, 4 — 7\ °'δά <τον T h v 6λίψιν (p.), or οΐδα 7τοϋ κατοικείς (3) ; i.e. each is based on the Speaker's knowledge of the conduct or circumstances of the several chm'chea The distinctive merits and faults of each community are then set forth, together with suitable encouragement and reproof. Lastly, advice is given as^ to the future: μνημόνευε οίν...κα\ μετανόησαν (.1, 5), μετανόησαν ουν (3), ζήλευε ουν και μετανόησον (7\ Μ φαβον... γίνου πιστοί άχρι θανάτου (2), ό έχετε κρατήσατε or κράτει ο έχεις (4, 6). Yet uniform as the λόγοι are in Β. R. their general structure, they present a rich variety of detail. As each Church passes under review, it re- ceives a judgement which is evidently 1 based upon a full knowledge of its condition, both external and spiritual. Smyrna and Philadelphia gain un- qualified approval ; Ephesus, Perga- mum, Thyatira, are commended, but with reservations (εχω κατά σοΰ [ολίγα] ότι...): for Laodicea there is only censure, and Sardis would fall under the same category, were it not for a few loyal Christians (έχεις ολίγα ονό- ματα κτλ.) whose fidelity is not over- looked. But the discrimination goes further. The Supreme Pastor descends into, the minutest particulars which affect the well-being of the several brotherhoods : the decay of love at Ephesus, redeemed in part by hatred of Nicolaitan laxity ; the fidelity of the Smyrnaeans under the bitter reproaches of the self-styled Jews; the concessions to Mcolaitanism which marred the zeal of the Pergamenes; the indulgence shewn at Thyatira to a prophetess who, like a new Jezebel, initiated her disciples into "deep things" of Satan ; the deadness of the great majority of the members of the Church at Sardis ; the patient efforts of the Philadelphians to spread the faith of Christ in the teeth of Jewish opposition ; the tepid, nauseous Chris- tianity of the prosperous and self- satisfied Laodiceans. Nothing has escaped the Eye of flame, which reads the secrets of men and of churches. Even in the formulae with which the λόγοι are opened and closed there are variable elements, which shew the same discrimination. Each τάδε λέγει is followed by~a title of the^Speaker, usually borrowed from the vision of , c. i., which has special significance 66 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [IV. ι ι * Μετά ταΰτα ειΰον, και ίδοι) θύρα ήνεω•γμενη έν τω ούρανω, και 'η φωι/η η τΤρωτη ήν ήκουσα ώ? σαΧπιγγος \α\ούσης μετ έμοΰ, λέγων Άναβα ώδε, και δει£ω IV ι eiSov Ρ minP' Ar] ιδοκ KAQ 7 Η 9 2 Ι »»««7/»β>"7 Q min 8a " ru | και 2°] + ι5ου 65 Prim | om η πρώτη syrs w | aakiriyya syrr | λαλονβ-ιρ] λαλοι/σαν Κ Prim έΚαλησαι syrs" | λέγων K*AQ ππηΡ 1 * 3 »] λέγουσα K ca P ι 38 49 79 9 1 '3° al" a " nu και λεγοι/σα /ιοι 36 και λ^γουση! j ι6 om Ρ arm 4 Prim |, αναβηθι Δ or as in iii. 20 the door of the heart, hut the d£Qr-ei;reye2&tion ; cf. Enoch XIV. 13 καϊ Ιδού αλ\η θύρα άνιωγμίνη κατΐναντΊ μου. The conception of the opened heavens occurs first in Ezek. i. Ι ηνοίχθησαν oi ουρανοί και cibOv όράο -eis θεοΰ : cf. Μα i. ΙΟ eihev σχι- ζομίνον! rois ουρανού!, Jo. L 5 1 όψισθε τον oipavov aveayora. In this vision a door only is opened (cf. Test, xiipatr., Levi 5), and not heaven as a whole, i.e. the vision is limited to the Seer ; only one who has been lifted up into the heavenly places can see what is passing'within. The perf. part, ήνιω- γμίνη implies that the door stood open, ready for the Seer's coming. και ή φωνή ή πρώτη ην ήκουσα κτλ.] "The first voice which I heard" is apparently the voice of i. 10 ήκουσα... φωνην μeyaKηv o5s σάλπιγγος, where see note ; cf. Victorinus : " id est spiritus quern paulo ante quam filium hoininis ...se vidisse fatetur"; Bede: "similis utique priori voci quae dixerat Quae vides scribe in libra." Now it comes again to prepare John for the second great vision, and calls him up to the height where the Angel stands. Ae- yav, a constructio ad sensum ; behind the trumpet voice there is a person- ality who. speaks. Άναβα ( = άνάβηθι W. Schm., p. 115, cf. κατάβα Ar. Ban. 35, Vesp. 979 ; μιτάβά, Mt. xvii. 20) recalls the summons at the Lawgiving, Exod. xix. 24 f. ; for £&i, 'hither' (Blass, Gr. p. 58 f.), cf. Jo. vi. 25, xx. 27 ; for δίΐξω, the Hierophant's (Benson, Apocalypse, p. 15) offer of guidance, see i. 1, xvii. 1, xxi. 9 f., xxii. I, 6. a A Set γ&/4σθαι (i. I, xxii. 6) when we consider the circumstances of the Church addressed Each promise to the victor places the final reward in a light which gives it special attractiveness under the circumstances in which the local Church is placed Thus the Ephe- sian Christian, tempted to participate in pagan banquets, is promised that, if he conquers, he shall eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life ; the Smyrnaean, called to face martyrdom, is assured that he shall not be Inirt of the Second Death ; the Pergamene, if he rejects the (Ι&ωλόθντα, shall taste of the Hidden Manna. If it is not always easy to discover the appro- priateness of the form which the victor's prize assumes, there is reason to believe that the problem would be solved were our knowledge of the special circumstances less incomplete. IV. 1 — 11. The Vision of the Throne in Heaven. Ι. μίτα ταΰτα eiBov] This formula, which occurs again vii ι (μ. τοΰτο), g, xv. 5, 1 xviii. i,' serves to introduce a new vision of special importance, καϊ «δον -(v. 1 etc.) being used in other cases. Here μιτα ταΰτα refers to the vision of i. I2ff. (καϊ ΐπιστρίψαι «δον κτλ.) which, with the messages to the Churches arising out of it, has oc- cupied the first three chapters. The vision of the glorified Christ walking among the Churches on earth is fol- lowed by a vision of the Court of Heaven. θύρα ήνιψγμ4νη iv Tip ονρανφ] Not as in iii. 8 the door of opportunity, IV. 3] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 6 7 σοι ά δεΓ <γενεσθαι μετά ταΰτα. % ευθέως εγενόμην 2 εν ττνευματί' και ιδού jovos εκείτο εν τω ουρανω, Καΐ 67Γί τό $ν θρόνον καθήμενοι, 3 και ό καθήμενος όμοιος 3 Ι α] οσα Α ο syrs" ΐ euffeois] pr και Ρ ι 7 13° al» a ' mu syr*" arm aeth και me | om και e. τ. θρ. καθήμενοι me ^επι] pr ο Κ* | τον θρόνον] του θρόνου Ρ ι 28 36 77 9 1 Φ 3 om και ο καθήμενος ι 6 8 14 3' 38 ΐ3θ' al me syre" arm aeth Yiot Andr Ar [ om όμοιο* ι°...του θρόνου V.* \ comes from Dan. ii. 28 f., 45. The vision that follows is an anticipation of a future which is yet to find its accomplishment (jura ταΰτα}. WH. connect μετά ταΰτα (2°) with ευθέως, but the analogy of i. 10 and Dan. I. c. (Th.) seems to berdecisive in favour of the usual punctuation. 2. ευθέως έγενόμην εν τΓΡειίμαπ] 'At once,' as the words were spoken, Ί found myself in the Spirit.' The state of spiritual exaltation which preceded the first vision (i. 10 note) has returned, but in greater force ; then it gave the Seer ears to hear and eyes to see; now it lifts him up and places him by the Angel at the open door. και Ιδού θρόνο: εκείτο εν τω ονρανω κτλ.] When he looked in, the first object that met his eyes was a throne and One seated.on it. The Person is identified by v. 8 with the God of Israel (i. 4, 8), Who is represented in the O.T. sometimes as making the heaven His throne (Isa. Ixvj. 1 ; cf. Mt. v. 34 f., xxiii. 22), sometimes as enthroned in heaven (Ps. x. (xi.) 4 Κύριος, e'v ουρανω b θρόνος αυτοΰ ; cf. Enoch xiv. 18 if. εθεώρονν he και eihov θρόνον νψηλόν κτλ.). The imagery of the Apocalypse requires the latter symbolism, in which the Throne is distinguished from the sphere in which it stands. εκείτο = ετέθη (cf. Dan. vii. 9), 'stood,' rather than ' was set up,' a rendering which permits the English reader to suppose that the placing of the throne entered into the vision. For. κεΐσθαι in this sense ,cf. Jo. ii. 6, xix. 29, xxi. 9, and see Blass; Gr. p. 51•. In this book έπϊ τον θρόνον can scarcely be distinguished fronrVthe more exact e'jrl του θρόνου or en-i τω θ ράνω ; for the gen. see iv. 9 ff., v. 1, 7, 13, vi. 16, ■ vii. 15; for' the dat., vii. 10, xix. .4, xxi. 5; for the ace, iv. 4, vi. 2, 4f., xi. 16, xx. 4. 3. καϊ ό καθήμενος κτλ.] The de- scription rigorously shuns anthropo- morphic details. The Seer's eye is arrested by the flashing of gemlike colours, but he sees no form : cf. Exod. xxiv. 10 eihov τον τόπον οί Ίστήκει 6 θεός τοΰ Ισραήλ (Heb. simply UN 7ΝΊΕ5'? 'UPS)» και τα νπο τους πόδας αϋ- τοΰ ώσε\ έργον πλίνθου σαπφείρου, και ωσπερ εώος στερεώματος τοΰ ουρανού τχι καθαριότητι. .Less reserve is mani- fested in Ezek. i. 26 ώς είδος άνθρωπου, Dan. vii. 9 παλαιός ημερών ε'κάθητο... ή θρ\(; της κεφαλής αντοΰ ώσει εριον καθαρόν; cf. Enoch xlvi. i, lxxi. 10. In the great Christian apocalypse there is no need for anthropomorphic . descriptions of Deity ; one like a Son of Man is always at hand to whom they are naturally transferred (see i. 14; note) ; cf. Andreas : ε'πειδή δε τον. πάτερα τον όραθεντα ενταύθα παρ(στησι, σωματικον αυτ-ω χαρακτήρα ου περιτί- θησιν ωσπερ ev ttj προτεραία, τοΰ νιου οπτασία. The Enthroned Majesty was like in appearance (όράσει = ΠΚΊΟ?, ^ow) to the light of two precious stones, the λίθος ϊασπις and the σάρδιον, and their brilliance was relieved by a circle of emerald green. The three stones are named together as samples of their kind by Plato {Phaed. 1 10 κ σαρδια καϊ ιάσπιδας και σμαράγδους και πάντα τα τοιαΰτα), and hold an honour- S— 2 68 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [IV. 3 opcurei Χίθω ΙασττιΖι και σαρο"ιω, και Ίρις κυκΧοθεν 4 του θρόνου όμοιος όράσβι σμαρα>γΰίνω. *καί κυκΧόθβν του θρόνου θρόνους είκοσι τέσσαρες, και επί τους 3 \l6ou vg syrr | ιασπιδι] + και σμαράγδια Q 13 ^6 41 4 2 44 1 3° ( se( ^ om καί σαρδιω) | σαρδικω Ρ ι 36 al | ipts] lepeis Η*Α. ι8 79 arm B.eth | KWcXoiev] κύκλω 36 3^ 47 I όμοιοι 2°] ΑΡ ι 6 7 ιι 12 3° 3^ 79 τ 8 me s ? r Prim ομοίων X C *Q min ,a ' ,,,u Ar όμοια 7 ίο 14 ι6 17 iS 31 47 41 | opaaei σμαραγδινω] ορασις σμαραγδινων Q min no "" ορασ,ει σμαραγδων 14 syrr ω$ opcurcs σμαραγδου 38 47 4 om και i° Q min" " 11 syr | Bpovom ι" ΧΑ 34,35 87 i2i] βρ 01 "" PQ min•• 1 Andr Ar syr vld +jji(ii arm 4 anon" u B able place in Biblical lists of gems ; thus, ace. to Exod. xxviii. 17 ff., the σάρ&ιην and the emerald stand in the first row of stones in the High Priest's breastplate, and the uunns in the second : among the precious stones which adorn the person of the King» of Tyre (Ezek. xxviii. 13) the same three stones stand first, third, and sixth respectively; and of the twelve foundation stones of Apoc. xxi. 19 the ΐασπίί is first, the emerald fourth, and the σάρδιον sixth. The 'Ιασπΐ! (pS'^l, said to be a Persian word, B. D. B. s. v.) appears to have been translucent like glass or rock- crystal (Apoc. xxi. 11 κρυσταΧΧίζοντι [where see note), Pliny, Η. N. xxxvii. 115 "semper translucent"), whereas the modern jasper is opaque ; the opal has been suggested (Enc. Bibl. n. v.), but it is excluded by the same consideration. The σ-μρΒιον (D^K, 'red- ness,' cf. Epiph. de gemmis πυρωποε τφ etdei καί αίματοίΐδη!) is perhaps the carnelian, or other red stone (see Hastings, D. B. s. v.) '; ace. to Pliny, H.N. I.e., it derived, its name from Sardis, where it was found. Most of the engraved gems of antiquity were of 'sard,' see King, Antique Gems, p. 5. In the vision the flashing lustre of the 'ΐασπίί and the fiery red of the sard are relieved by the halo (ipn) of emerald which encircled the Throne (κυκΧόθεν τοΰ θρόνου, cf. VV. 4, 8). Prom Homer downwards ipir is the rainbow ; the lxx. however use τόΐ-ον in this sense (Gen. ix. 13, Ezek. i. 28), and tpis is perhaps preferred here and in χ. 1 because it may also be used for a complete circle, e.g. a solar or lunar halo. The conception is borrowed from Ezek. I. c. tas 5pao-is το£ον, όταν if iv Tg νεφελτ] ev ημεραΐί verov, όντως ή οτασιε τοΰ φέγγουν KVKkoOev. But the circle of light seen by the Apocalyptist was like (for όμοιο!, used as an adj. of two terminations, cf. WM. p. 80, Blass, Gr. p. 33) in appearance (see v. 3) to an emerald {σμαραγδινω sc. Χίθω), /ιοι/ο- ci8t)s σμαραγδίζουσα, as Arethas says. Σ/χαράγδίΐΌϊ seems to be απ^ Xey., but σμαραγδίτης λίθος occurs in Esth. i. 6 A, and σμάραγδο! X. is used by Herod, ji. 44, iii. 41. Archbp Benson translates 'like to a vision of emerald,' taking ομ. opaaei σμαρ. as if it = σμαραγδώδης, but 6μ. opaaei Χίθω above does not lend itself easily to this construction ; cf. however Vg. similis aspectui lapidis iaspidis...similis visioni smarag- dinae. In Exod. xxxvi. 17 (xxxix. 10) σμάραγδος = Γ\\)Ίϊΐ } which suggests a brilliant like rock-crystal (see Hastings, D. B. iv. 620); on its identification with the emerald see King, Antique Gems; p. 27 flf. Since ipts is sub- stituted for τόξον, it is precarious to press a reference to the rainbow ' of the covenant (Gen. ix. i2ff.); but ο-μαραγδ. (see note on xxi. 19) may perhaps represent the mercy which tempers the revelation of the Divine Majesty. 4• καί κνκΧόθιν τοΰ θρόνου θρόνου: tiKoo-i^rio-o-apes] Sc. elSov, unless with WH. we read θρόνοι ; see their note IV. 5] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 69 θρόνους είκοσι τεσσάρας πρεσβυτέρους καθήμενους περιβεβλημένους Ίματίοις Χευκοΐς, και επι τας κεφάλας αυτών στεφάνους χρυσούς. s kai εκ του θρόνου έκ- 5 πορεύονται άστραπαι και φωναι και βρονταί• και 4 θρόνου? 2°] + ειδον 49 9 Γ Φ a l vld Ι εικοσι τεσσ. 2° ante θρόνου! ροη Αιρ ι8 19 pr tous Q 6 7 8 14 al"" 1 Ar | τέσσερα! Δ | ιματιοκ λευκοί!] pr εν tiQ mini" 1 om ιμ. t? arm 4 εν λευκού 130 (om ψεριβεβλ.) | χρυσεους Ν 5 του θρόνου ι°] των θρόνων syrs" | βρόντοι και φωναι και άστραπαι ι 29 3& 95 ft>; "• "-στρ. *• Φ• syre 1 " (ρ. 138). Ύεσσαρες ace. is weji sup- ported, see WH. 2 Notes, p. 157, Blass, Gr. p. 26. Beyond the emerald halo there is another. circle .round the Throne, an environment of four and twenty other thrones on which are seated four and twenty Elders, white-robed and gold- crowned. The Elders are not σύν- θρονοι (iiL '2l), but περιθρόνιοι or πάρεδροι, forming the γερουσία of Heaven. There may be a reference to the Elders of Israel in Exod. xxiv. 1 1, who ωφθησαν εν τω τόπώ του θεοΰ, and to Isa. xxiv. 23 βασιλεύσει Κύριοι . ...ενώπιον των πρεσβυτέρων δο£ασθη- σεται. But the number is at first sight perplexing. As a symbolical number 24 occurs in the Apocalypse only, and there only when these Elders are mentioned (iv. 4, 10, v. 8, " xi. 16, xix. 4). It has been supposed to refer to the 24 courses of the sons of Aaron (1 Chron. xxiv. 1 — 19); but the Elders do not fulfil any special priesthood, though they take their part (iv. 10, v. 8) in the worship of Him Who sits on the Throne. Gun- kel suggests (Schopfung u. Chaos, p. 302 ff.) that they answer to the 24 stars of the Babylonian astrology (cf. Diod. Sic.ii. 31 μετά δε τον ζωδια- κον κύκΧον ε'ικοσιν και τετταρας αφορί- ζονσιν αστέρας, ων τοΐτ μεν ημίσειι εν τοις βόρειοι! μερεσι, τουρ δε ήμίσειι εν τοΐί νότιοι! τετάχθαι φασί• καϊ τούτων 'tovs μεν όρωμένουι των ζώντων είναι καταριθμοΰσι, τους δε άφανεϊι τοΐί τετε- λευτηκόσι προσωρίσθαι νομίζουσιν, ovs δικασται των όλων προσαγορεύουσιν) ; but the parallel is only partial, and the whole ; question of the Apocalyptist's indebtedness to Babylonian sources needs further investigation. Mean- while a key which seems to fit the lock is supplied by the earliest Latin commentator on the Apocalypse, Vic- torinus, who sees in the 24 Elders "duodecim Apostoli, duodecim Patri- archae" ; similarly Andreas and Are- thas. The symbol appears to be based on the number of the tribes of Israel ; the δωδεκάφυλον is represented by 24 Elders^ two for each tribe, the double representation suggesting the two elements which coexisted in the new Israel, the Jewish and Gentile be- lievers who were one in Christ. Thus the 24 Elders are the Church in its totality, but the Church idealized and therefore seen as already clad in white, ,crowued, and enthroned in the Divine Presence — a state yet future (α δει -γενέσθαι), but already potentially realized in the ' Resur- rection and Ascension of the Head ; cf. Eph. ii. 6 σννψ/ειρεν ημάς καϊ συνεκά- θισεν αντω εν τοΐί επουράνιοι!. 5- καϊ εκ τον θρόνου εκπορεύονται άστραπαι κτλ.] The eye of the Seer returns to the central Throne. What he sees there reminds him of the Law- giving ; cf. Exod. xix. 16 iyivovro φωναι και άστραπαι, and Ezek. i. 13 εκ του πύροι εξεπορεύετο αστραπή. The same imagery occurs again in xi. 19, xvi. 18, and (with the- order βρονταί καϊ φωναι καϊ άστραπαι), in viii. 5. The thunder- storm is in Hebrew poetry a familiar symbol of the Divine power and glory : 70 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [IV. S επτά λαμπάδες πυρός καιόμεναι ενώπιον τοΰ θρόνου, a eio-iv τα επτά πνεύματα του θεοΰ. 6 και ενώπιον τοΰ θρόνου ως θάλασσα ύαΧινη όμοια κρυσταΧΚω, και εν μέσω τοΰ θρόνου και κΰκΧω τοΰ θρόνου τέσσερα 5 om irupos syr£" | του θρόνου 2°] + αι>τοι> Q(*) corr min mu syrr | α εισιν K ca P ι φ 8r 94 syr] αι εισιν Q min'' 1 Syr« w g vg ,ra α εστίν Α και εισιν 130 και ι\ 9 2 '*' Ι τα Ε ""'" α ] om 6 flpocou] + ourot; 7 4 46 + ">" * β0 " me I om ωϊ υελινη 9-io3538al| κρύσταλλα] βηρυλλω arm 4 | οονου 28 29 3θ 98 vg hM ' 1 * me arm 1011 | τέσσαρα KPQ το Q min"»'" 111 syrr vld Andr Ar 1 80 94 161 al syre" aeth Prim j εμμεσω A 130 | om και κύκλω του θ, cf. e.g. 1 Sam. ii. 10, Ps. xviii. gS., Job xxxvii 4 f. και επτά λαμπάδες πυρός κτλ.] Ααμ- πάδες occur also in Ezekiel's vision (I. ft ώς οψίί λαμπάδων) ; but whereas Ezekiel's torch-like lights flashed hither and thither (σννστρεφομένων άνα μέσον τών ζωών), these burn stead- ily before the Throne, and they are seven in number, corresponding, as the Seer recognises, with the Seven Spirits of God (i. 4, iii. 1). They are λαμπάδες, not λυχνίαι as in i. 12, where the reference is different; the idea presented here is rather that of the άστηρ μέγας καιόμενος as λαμπάς (c. viii. 10), except that the torch-like star is seen falling across the sky, whereas these torches blaze perpetually before the Throne of God 6. kal ενώπιον τοΰ θρόνου ώς θάλασσα κτλ.] In Exod xxiv. 10 the Elders see under the Feet of God ώσε\ έργον πλίνθου σαπφείρου, και άίσπερ είδος στερεώματος τοΰ ουρανού τΰ. καθαριό- τητι, and this conception is repro- duced in Ezekiel '(i. 22, 26). But instead of the 'firmament,' the Seer of the Apocalypse sees a glassy Sea before the Throne. The idea of a celestial sea was current in Jewish cir- , cles, cf. Enoch xiv. 9, Secrets of Enoch, ed Charles, p. 4; Test, etii Pair., Levi 2, where a sea greater than any on earth is seen suspended between the first heaven and the second : cf. Gen. i. 7 τοΰ ϋδατος τον. επάνω Τοΰ στερεώ- ματος, Ps. ciii. (civ.) 3- The Apoca- lyptic sea is υαλίνη, a pavement of glass resembling an expanse of water; comp. a legend in the Qur'an (xxv.), that the Queen of Sheba mistook for water a glass pavement in Solo- mon's palace. The Seer, still looking through the door, sees between him- self and the Throne a vast surface which flashes back the light that falls upon it, like the Aegean when on summer days he looked upon it from the heights of Patmos ; cf. xv. 2 εϊδον ώς θάλασσαν ναλίνην μεμιγμένην πνρί. Though of glass, the sea was όμοιο κρυστάλλω, not semi-opaque, like much ancient glass, but clear as rock-crystal. Κρύσταλλος may be 'ice,' both here and in Ezek. i. 22, but the mineral is more probably intended in a context which mentions precious stones ; the metaphor occurs again in xxii. r ποταμον.,.λαμπρον ώς κρΰσταΧλον. The costliness of glass in ancient days enhances the splendour of the con- ception ; cf. Job xxviii. 17..LXX. ονκ ισωθήσεται αϋτη χρυσίον και ύαλος. But the Sea of glass is not only a striking and splendid feature in the scene ; it suggests the vast distance which, even in the case of one who stood at the door of heaven, intervened be- tween himself and the Throne of God και εν μέσω τοΰ θρόνου... τέσσερα ζωα κτλ.] Cf. Enoch xl. 2, Apoc. of Baruch li. 11 (ed Charles). The exact position assigned to the ζωα is not easy to grasp. Έ» μέσω is from Ezek. i. 5 *v τω μέσω (τον πνρος) ώς ομοίωμα τεσσάρων ζώων, λνΐίβΐ'θ some cursives and Versions of the lxx. add IV. 7] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN n ζώα <γέμοντα όώθαΚμών -έμπροσθεν και όπισθεν, ''και J το ζωον το πρώτον ομοιον Χεοντι, και το δεύτερον ζωον ομοιον μόσ-χω, και το τρίτον ζωον 'εγων το πρόσωπον ω? άνθρωπου, και το τέταρτον ζωον ομοιον 6 οφθαλμούς ι6 28 36 Ι ενπροσθεν NAP 7 om και ι° syre" Prim | έχων AQ 7 28 3° 3 2 33 34] C X 0V ^ mini» 1 ] το πρόσωπον] om το Q min" atn111 Andr Ar | \ o cta.tsA^ ^sn) seems to have arisen from Ez. i. 27 (lxx.); see Gwynn ad loc. κυκΧόθεν κα\ εσωθεν γεμ. οφθ. It is tempting to connect κυκλ. with the previous clause, especially if we read' with Q καί έξωθεν καΐ εσωθεν : cf. Vict "habentes alas senas in circuitu et oculos intus et foris " ; but Ezekiel i. 18 (x. 12) seems to decide in favour of the punctuation given in the text, and κυκΚοθεν corresponds with έμ- προσθεν κ. όπισθεν (iv. 6). "Εσωθεν adds a new feature, pointing to the . secret energies of Nature. και ανάπαυσα/ ονκ εχουσιν κτλ.] While man and the• other animals divide the twenty-four hours between work and repose, and are allowed by the Creator one day in seven for rest (Exod. xvi. 23 άναπαυσΐ! ayia τω κυρίω), and the individual worker rests at length in the grave (Apoc. vi. 11, xiv. 13), the wheel of Nature (Jac. iii. 6 τον τροχον της γενέσεως), i.e. the Divine activity immanent in Nature, pursues an un- broken course : cf. Jo. v. 17 6 πατήρ μου εως άρτι εργάζεται, κάγώ εργάζομαι. This ceaseless activity of Nature under the Hand of God is a ceaseless tribute of praise. Cf. Enoch xxxix. 12 "those who sleep not" bless Thee " ; lxxi. 7 " round about were Seraphim, Cheru- bim, and Ophanim; these are they who sleep not and guard the throne of His glory." Arethas well remarks : ου το εγκ,οπον tL• Αναπαυσιν ουκ εχουσιν παριστά, α\\α το περί θείαν ιμνωδίαν avevhoTOVi \εγοντε! "Ayior ayios άγιο! κτλ.] Another loan from Isaiah's description IV. 9 ] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 73 V KCU * Ayios ayios ayios Κύριος ό 6eos ό παντοκράτωρ, ό ην και ό ων και ό ερχόμενος. Όταν ΰωσουσιν τα ζωα ΰοζαν και τιμήν και g εύχαριστίαν τω καθημένω έπι τω θρόνω τω ζώντι eis 8 ayios ter] ayios ooties tt* 29 novies Q min 25 sexies 38 40 bis 12 51 \ fleos] σαβαωΟ 7 17* 28 36 39 79 I ° παντοκράτωρ] om fci 36 ] t\v\ os f\v 130 ] ο ων και ο ην me 9 δωσουσιν ΑΡ (-σι) ι 28 $6 38 79 al 3 """"] δωσωσιν KQ 7 " 14 ιδ. 32** 39 8ι 9 2 !3° δωο-ι J 69 2 9 3' 35 49 %7 9 1 al"* tm ™ Byrs wvicl | τα τέσσερα fwa 68 87 syr« w Ι ευχαριστειας Α | τω Α/ιονω ΧΑ] του flpoyou PQ min omn vld Andr Ar of the Seraphim (vi. 3 εκεκραγεν «-epos προς τον έτερον καϊ εΧεγον "Ayios άγιος ayios Κύριος σαβαωθ). The Apocalyp- tist, as usual, does not tie himself to his source ; he inserts <5 θεός after Ki'pios-, changes σαβαώθ into παντοκρά- 'τωρ, and adds ό ην κτλ. from i. 8, dropping altogether Isaiah's πλήρης πάσα ή γη της δόξης αντοϊι, as less appropriate in a tribute of praise which is offered in heaven. On παντο- κράτωρ as a rendering of n'lN3V see i. 8, note. The Liturgies retain the Isaianic form (Brightman, pp. 18 f., 50, 132, etc.; cf. Clem. R., Cor. '34), which has also found its way into the, Te Deurn ; but v they attribute the Ter Sanctus to " Cherubim and Sera- phim," as if meaning to blend Isaiah's with Ezekiel's vision, after the manner of the Apocalypse. Ό ερχόμενος (God in His future self-manifestations) in the mouth of the ζώα suggests the άποκαραδοκία of Creation (Rom. viii. 19 ff., Apoc. xxi. 1 if.). 9. καϊ όταν δωσουσιν τα ζωα δόξαν κτλ.] The difficult δωσουσιν, which is probably the true reading, is not without example, see WH, 2 Notes, p. 178, WM. p. 388, Burton, § 308 ; Viteau, Mude, i. pp. 125, 227 ff., and cf. Mc. viii. 35, note. Translate : "whensoever the living creatures shall give " (i.e. as often as they give) "glory... the Four and twenty Elders shall fall" etc. The two actions are coordinated as simultaneous. Nature and the Church must ever unite in the praise of God ; when the one begins its anthem, it is thesigiial for the other to fall upon its knees before the Throne. The Seer states this fact, of which "the vision made him cognisant, in the form of a law. This concurrence of the κόσμο? and the ε'κκλησία in the worship of God was keenly realised by the Ancient Church; cf. e.g. the Liturgy of St Mark (Brightman, p. 132), πάντοτε μεν πάντα σε αγιάζει, αλλά καϊ μετά πάντων των σε άγιαζόντων δέξαι, δέσποτα ΤΟνριε, και τον ήμετερον άγιασμον συν αντο'ις νμ- νονντων κτλ. There is certainly not less cause for its recognition in an age which like our own is replete with new revelations of the wonders of the physical universe. Every fresh dis- covery of physical science should deepen the adoration of the faithful. Άόξα καϊ τιμή (=~ΠζΤ) " ,i|3 ?) ?S from the lxx. (Ps. viii. 6, xxviii. (xxix.) 1, xcv. (xcvi.) 7). The phrase is coupled in the N.T. with αφθαρσία (Rom. ii. 7), έπαινος (i Pet. i. 7), δύναμις (ApOC. IV. II, v. 12). Ευχαριστία, a word which with its cognate verb is unknown to the canonical books of the lxx., occurs in a theological sense Paul 12 , Apoc. 2 , and iri both the Apocalyptic passages is found in a doxology. While τιμή and- δόξα have regard to the Divine perfections, ευχαριστία refers to the Divine gifts in creation and redemp- tion. τω ζώντι els τοίος αιώνας των αιώνων] The Living Creatures and the Elders offer t;heir tribute to the Living God ; created life adores the Uncreated. 74 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN -[IV. 9 είκοσι T6CT- 10 τους αιώνας των αιώνων, πεσουνται οι (Tapes πρεσβύτεροι ενώπιον τον καθήμενου έπι του θρόνου, και π ροσκυνησουσιν τω ζώντι εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων, και βαΧοΰσιν τ'ούς στέφανους αυτών ενώπιον του θρόνου, Χε^οντες 11 ""Αξιος εΊ, ό κύριος και ό θεός ημών, λαβείν την hopav και την τιμήν και την Ζυναμιν Ότι συ εκτισας τα πάντα, και δζα το θεΧημα σου ήσαν και εκτισθησαν. 9 των αιώνων (om ι$ο)] + αμην Κ 3 2 95* s y rew ΙΟ πεσουνται] pr και H | om του καθήμενου επι arm 4 Prim | προσκυνησουσιν] adorabant vg me Prim | των αιώνων (του αιωνοί ιαβ)] + αμην H 3 2 By**™ | βαλουσιν] βαλλουσιν K*Q i ιι <η 28 3° 1 3° a ^ i^itte- bant vg de me arm no κύριος και ο fleos ημών AQ min' 81 ' 040 syrr arm 4 Ar] κύριε ο θεοί ημών Ρ 7 I4 vid ι( > ί8 3<> 3 8 39 47 79 8o I 3° v g aetn Κύριε ο κύριο! κ. ο θ. ημ. b\ + o αγιοδ Q min 40 syr arm Ar | την τιμήν] om την Ν | την δυναμιν"] om την Α | τα πάντα om τα Q Andr Ar | δια θεληματι (sic) Α | ήσαν ΝΑ min fere4 ° g vg (me) syrr aeth al tr ap Prim Ar] ουκ ήσαν Q 14 38 51 εισι Ρ ι 7 35 49 79 87 9 1 Ι 3° I om ν σαν και 3** P" m Ι om και εκτισθησαν Α και εισιν arm 4 On ό ζων see i. 18 ; here it is evidently a title of the Father (ό καθήμενοι επί τοΰ θρόνου), though not to the ex- clusion of the Son, Who is the Father's σ-ίνθρονος (Hi. 2Ϊ ), or of the Spirit, "Who is represented by the Seven Spirits before the Throne. With Cfjv εις Toiis αιώνας cf. Deut. xxxii. 40, Dan. iv. 31 (34), Apoe. x. 6, xv. 7. ΙΟ. πεσουνται ol είκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι κτλ.~\ Hitherto the Elders have been silent assessors ; now they rise from their thrones (». 4), fall upon their knees, and prostrate themselves (προσκυνήσουσιν, cf. 1 Regn. xxv. 23) on the floor of heaven, in readiness to offer their tribute of praise, laying their crowns of victory at the foot of the central Throne. The last act is suggestive either of the homage paid to an overlord, or of the submission of a suppliant, seeking mercy from a conqueror. Cf. Plutarch, Lucutt., p. 522 Τϊγράνης το διάδημα της κεφαλής άφελόμενος εθηκε προ των ποδών; Cicero, pro P. Sesu. 27 "hunc Cn.iPompeius, quum in suis castris supplicem abiec- tumque,vidisset, erexit, atque insigne regium, quod ille de suo capite abie- cerat, reposuit"; Tac. arm. xv. 29 " ad quam [Sc. effigiem Neronis] pro- gressus Tiridates sublatum capite dia- dema imagini subiecit." In Jabbuk, 1 f. 55, Pharaoh and the Kings of the East are represented as taking off their crowns in the presence of Moses and Aaron. The 'crowns' of the Elders however were not διαδήματα but στέφανοι, symbols of victory and eternal life, and in their case the act is equivalent to an acknowledgement that their victory and their glory were from God, and were theirs only of His grace. Cf. Andreas : σΰ, φησί, Αέσποτά, των στεφάνων της νίκης αίτιος καϊ χορηγός γεγονας. Are til as : τ'ι αν άλλο η την κατά πάντων νίκην τω επϊ πάντων άνατιθεασι θεώ ; II. Άξιος ει, ό κύριος κτλ.] The ζώα addressed the Creator simply as ό Θε6ς 6 παντοκράτωρ. The Elders recognise a relation to Him which the Creation as such cannot claim. He is (1) the Lord, the ΠΊΠ' of revelation, V.i] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 75 1 Και elBov έττι την ΰβζιάν τοΰ καθήμενου βττι του ι V. θρόνου βιβΧιον γεγραμμβνον ίσωθβν και όπισθεν, "V ι ειδον HP minP 1 ] iSov AQ 7 14 36 92 130: item ap V 2 \ εσωθεν APQ min°"" ,v, ' a ] έμπροσθεν H Or 2 | όπισθεν ΚΑ ι 14 al syr] έξωθεν PQ min 40 eyre" me arm aeth Hipp d "> Andr Ar and (2) their God (6 θεός ήμων, cf. iii. 120 θεός μου). On the use of the nominatives ό κύριος, ό θεός, for the vocatives see Blass, Gr. p. 87. To the δόξα and τιμή which the ζωα ascribe to God the Elders add δύναμις, cf. v. 12, vii. 12, xix. 1, and the doxologies in Mt. vi. 13, T.B., and Didache 8. Glory, honour, and power are rightly ascribed to the Creator of the universe (τα πάντα), which owes its existence to His will. 'Ησαν καϊ εκτίσθησαν is at first sight perplexing; we expect εκτίσθησαν και εισίν, cf. Acts xvii. 28 iv αϋτω γαρ ζωμεν καί κινούμεθα και εσμεν. ' Ουκ ήσαν κ. εκτ, (Q), 'they were not, and out of that state of non-existence were -called into being by the act of creation,' is an ingenious correction. But the better supported τ/σα» also yields a good sense. It places the potential existence of the universe before its creation. The Divine Will had made the ' universe a fact in . the scheme of things before the Divine Power gave material expres- sion to the fact. Thus ήσαν looks back to the eternal past, εκτίσθησαν to the genesis of Nature.' Both are ascribed to the Father; His Will was the cause (δίά το θελημά σου), as His Logos was the Agent of Creation : cf.'I Cor. viii. 6 ήμΐν εις θεός ό πατήρ, εξ ου τα πάντα... καϊ εκ κύριοι Ιησούς Χριστοί, δι ου τα πάντα. Of this chapter as a whole it may well be said with Tertullian de coron. 15 "si tales imagines in visione, quales veritates in repraesentatione V V. 1 — 14. The Sealed Book and the Lamb. Ι. καϊ εώον επϊ την δεξιάν κτλ.] Looking again at the Majesty upon the central Throne the Seer sees a book-roll upon (επί with ace, cf. xx. 1) the open palm of his right hand. Έιβλίον, a roll of papyrus (Maunde Thompson, Palaeography,• p. 54 f.) ; cf. Ps. xxxix. (xl.) 8 iv κεφαλίδι βιβλίου, Lc. iv. 17 j 20, and 2 Tim. iv. 13 where βιβλία are contrasted with ,μεμβράναι. The present roll was 'sealed down' and made fast (κατε- σφραγισμενον, cf. Isa. ΧΧΪΧ. II ov δύνομαι αναγνωναι, εσφράγισται yap, Sap. ii. 5 κατεσφραγίσθη, και ούδεϊς αναστρέφει) with seven seals, as if to ensure perfect security; cf. Ev. Petr.%, where ίΙπέχρισαν επτά σφραγίδας answers'to Mt. xxvii. 66 ησφαλίσαντο τον τάφοι» σφραγίσαντες τον λίθον. But secret as the contents were, the roll was so full that they had overflowed to the verso of the papyrus, so that it was an όπισθόγραφον (see Maunde Thompson, p. 59, Hastings, iv. p. 946, and cf. Lucian, vit. auct. 9 ή πήρα... μεστή . . . όπισθογράφων βιβλίων, JuV. Sat i. 6 "summi plena iam margine libri I scriptus et in tergo necdum fini- tus Orestes "). The description is based on Ezek. ii. 9 f. Ιδού χειρ εκτεταμένη προς μέ, καϊ εν αύτη κεφαλϊς 0ι/3λίου• καϊ άνείλησεν αυτήν ενώπιον εμού, καϊ εν αυτγι γεγραμμενα ήν τα έμπροσθεν καϊ τα οπίσω (Ϊ1ΠΚ5 D^S). But the Apocalyptic roll is sealed against inspection, and not offered to the Seer to read. It contains no doubt the unknown future (i. 19 ά μέλλει γίνεσθαΐ); it is the Book of -Destiny, to be unrolled and read only as the seals are opened by the course of events. The prevalent view of the ancient expositors, beginning with Hippolytus (ed. Lag. p. 159 ελαβεν ουν το βιβλίον καϊ ελυσεν, Ίνα τα πά\αι περϊ αύτοΰ άποκρύφως λαλούμενα νυν μετά 7 6 THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN [V.! 2 κατβσώρα<γισμβνον σώραγΐσιν έτττα. Λ και eioov α<γ- ye\ov ισγυρόν κηρύσσοντα ev φωνή μεγάλη Τις άξιος άνοΐξαι το βιβΧ'ιον και λ,ΰσαι τάς σφραγίδας αύτοΰ; 3 3 και ουδείς έδΰνατο ev τω ονρανώ ovhe επι της γης ούΒε ΰποκάτω της γης άνοΊξαι το βιβλ,ιον ovoe 4 βΧεπειν αυτό. 4 καϊ εκΧαιον πο\ύ, ότι ουδείς άξιος , 2 ayyekov]j>T άλλο» 35 8 7 ey 1 *"" [ κηρυσσ. ισχυρον Κ 130 | ran ev Ρ ι 28 36 130 al vg arm Or | om μεγάλη 130 J tis a{ios] + εστίν Q miu mu g me syr Cypr Prim Andr Ar 3 eSwaro Κ rain?""' 25 ] ηουνατο APQ min"° ml | ev τω ονρανώ] + ανω Q.7 8 14 al !atmu syr I ουδέ i° AP min fsre83 ] ούτε NQ min mu | ewi τη% γι /s] εκ τη γτ; syrs"" 1 ' 1 | οι/δε 2° Ρ ι 6 7 28 49 79 91] ούτε Q min'°' n,u (om ουδέ ντοκ. r. 7. it 130) | βιβλιον] + και λυσαι tos σφραγίδας αυτού syrs" Prim | ουδέ 3°AP ι 6 7 28 49 79 91] ούτε KQ min fere33 και syr« w 4 totum vers om A 98 | και i°] + εγω Q minP 1 vg Prim Andr Ar | πολύ] πολλοί ι arm c °^ d aeth πάντες me παρρησία: επι τω» δωμάτων κηρνχθη), that the opening of the seals means the interpretation of the O.T. by the coming and teaching of Christ, or the allegorical interpretation of Scripture (Origen philoc. ii. 1, v. 5 ή γαρ πάσα γραφή εστίν ή δηλούμενη δια της βίβλου έμπροσθεν μεν γεγραμμένη δια την προ- χειρον αντης εκδοχήν, όπισθεν Be δια την ανακεχωρηκυΐαν κα\ πνευματικήν) is in- consistent with the account of the process which is given in Apoc. vi. 1 fF. Apringius is nearer to the truth : "liber hie praesentis est mundi totius creatura"; and better still is the comment of Andreas^ /ϊι/^λίο» την πάνσοφον τον θεον μνήμην νοονμεν. . ,κα\ των θείων κριμάτων την άβνσσον. Zahn (EM. ii. p. 596), followed by Nestle (Text. Grit. p. 333), regards the βίβλίον as a papyrus in book-form, connecting καϊ όπισθεν with κατι- σφραγισμένον. But his reasons are not convincing. 2. και ειδοι» αγγελον ίσχυρον κηρύσ- σοντα κτλ.] A "strong angel" (χ. ι, xviii. 21) is needed to.be the herald of a challenge addressed to the whole creation. Tis άξιοι; cf. tis 'ικανός', (2 Cor. ii. .16). The Sfios supports his claims on moral grounds ; the ίκανόε, on grounds which prove him capable whether morally or otherwise. In the present case moral fitness is the only Ικανότης. Άνοΐξαι και λνσαι ; the same order occurs in υ. 5. The hysteron proteron, as in iv. 1 1 ήσαν και ε'κτίσθη- , σαν, is apparent rather than real ; -to be able to open the book is the first necessity and therefore takes the first place in the order of thought. 3• και ούδεΧς εδννατο ev τω ονρανώ κτλ.] The challenge is not taken up by any being in heaven, on earth, or in Hades. For this threefold division of created life see Phil. ii. 10 επου- ρανίων καϊ επιγείων καϊ καταχθόνιων: an earlier grouping in Exod xx. 4 has under the third head εν τοις νδασιν νποκάτω της γης, 01' ( 2?. Ii) την 'θάλασ- σαν. Ou6eis... ουδέ. ..ουδέ 1 implies a quasi-ascensive scale, which has given trouble to the scribes, and the mss. waver between ουδέ and οίτε ; the point appears to be that as one after another of the three regions declines the challenge, the hope that it will be met approaches a vanishing point; cf. Primasius: nee quisquam...neque ...neque...sedneque... In ουδείς. ..οντε βλέπειν (here and in v. 4) there is an implied ούτε before άνοΐξαι, cf. WM. p. 66. For ανοίγει ■> in reference to a roll see Lc. iv. 17. 4 f. καϊ εκλαιον πολύ, οτι κτλ.] With the unrestrained emotion of one V. 6] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 77 ευρέθη άνοΐξαι το βιβΧιον οϋτε βΧεττειν αυτό. 5 και eh εκ των πρεσβυτέρων Χε<γει μοι Μη κΧαΐε' 5 ίδοι) ένίκησεν ό Χεων ό έκ της φυΧής Ίουΰα, η ρίζα Δαι/είδ, άνοϊξαι το βιβΧίον και τας έπτα σφραγίδας αύτου. 6 και εΐΰον εν μέσω του θρόνου και των 6 4 ευρεθησεται H* ] ανοιξ at] + και αρα^ρωκαι Ι 36 49 9 ' I 0VTe βλεπειν αυτό] και λυσαι ras σφρα -yidas αυτού syre™ Prim - 5 ο λεω» ο] om ο j" Κ 14 28** syr«™ + uy ι | εκ ριζης arm vid | ανοιξ αϊ] ο avoiywv Q min fero40 άνοιξα ι 3 syrr | ros ειττα οφραγιδαι] pr λικται Ν vg" 1 " syrs" arm Or inl Cypr cdd Hier 15 *" om επτά 73 me syrs" arm 6 eiSov (tSov 36 92 130 ιδαν Q 9)] tiou Α + και ιδού 35 87 vg in a dream or ecstasy the Seer wept at the result, whether because of his own disappointment, or because of the failure of creation to open the rolL Its inability implied moral incapa- city; ouoVir έδύνατο, because οΰδείϊ άξιος ευρέθη. His weeping continued (ΐκλαιον) until it was stopped by one of the Elders (etr ίκ των πρ.). Here and in vii. 13 the Elder is merely an interlocutor, as an Angel is on other occasions (xvii. 1, ' xxi. 9), and his intervention has no symbolical mean- ing. t /ΐή κλαίε occurs on the lips of Christ in Lc. vii. 13, viii. 52 etc., and τί κλαίει? in Jo. xx. 13 fif. Higher natures see that human grief is often needless, springing from insufficient knowledge. Ihoii ένίκησεν ό λέων κτλ.] Ένίκησεν may be either 'prevailed' (A.V.) =ϊσχυσεν as in Ps. 1. (li.) 6 όπως αν ...νικτ/Οτ/ί εν τω κρίνεσθαί σε, and see Ps. SoL IV. 1 3 ένίκησεν σκορπισαι ; or Overcame' (R.V.), as in iii. 21. But both the usage of the Johannine books, and the position of ένίκησεν, which is separated by a whole line from άνοϊξαι, are in favour of the latter rendering, which places in the forefront the great historical fact of the victory of the Christ; 'behold, a victory was won by Him Who is the Lion, etc.... which gives Him the right to open the book.' Ό λέων 6 έκ τη? φυλή? 'Ιούδα refers to Gen. xlix. 9 σκύμνοι λέοντο?, Ιούδα... άναπεσων έκοιμήθη? ω! λέων. In the Blessing of Jacob Judah is the lion of the tribes (cf. Prov. xxiv. 65 (xxx. 15) σκύμνο? λέοντος ισχυρότερο? κτηνών), as Dan is in the Blessing of Moses (Deut. xxxiii. 22); and the noblest son of the tribe of Judah is fitly styled the Lion of that tribe ; cf. Hippolytus, ed Lag., p. 4, δ«ϊ το βασιλικον και ενδοξον ω? λέοντος προκεκηρυγμένον. With 6 έκ rfjs φ. Ί. comp. Heb. vii. 14 πρό- δηλον γαρ οτι έζ Ιούδα άνατέταλκεν 6 κύριοι ημών. His Judaean origin was bound up in the primitive belief with His descent from David Ή βίζα Δαυείδ looks back to Isa. xi. Ι ε£ελε i- σεται ράβδο? έκ τη? ρίζη? (^!ί.*?) Ίεσσαί, και ανθό? έκ τήί ρίζη? (Ί^ψΊψΙ?) άναβή- σεται, lb. ΙΟ εσται iv τί/ ήμερα εκείνη ή ρίζα (BHS?) τον Ίεσσαί, και ό άνιστάμενο? αρχΛν εθν&ν, the latter verse is quoted as Messianic in Rom. xv. 12. As the Prophet foresaw, the stump of the old tree of the House of David had sent forth a new David to rule the nations. The Apocalyptist evidently finds satis- faction in this title of Christ, for he repeats it in xxii. 16 εγώ (Ίησοΰ?) είμϊ ή ρίζα και το γένο? Ααυείδ (where see note) : cf. also c. iii. 7, note. The Lion of Judah, the Son of David, conquered the world (Jo. xvi. 33, Apoc. i. 18, iii. 21), and one fruit of His victory is that it belongs to Him to open the seals of God's Book of Destiny, i.e. to earry history onward through successive stages to the final revelation. 6. και εώον εν μέσω τον θρόνου κτλ. j 78 •THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [V. 6 τεσσάρων ζωών και εν μέσω των πρεσβυτέρων άρνίον εστηκος ώς εσφαητμενον, έχων κέρατα έτττα και οφθαλμούς επτά, ο'ί ε'ισιν τα επτά πνεύματα του θεοΰ, 6 om εν μέσα (ι°) syr*" ante των τεσσ. ζωών ροη Prim | εστηκο! APQ .min* 1 ] εστηκωί Κ ι 7 2 8 3 2 3<> 87 | om as 31 5° 95 me arm 3 • 4 Hipp 11 *" | εσφα~/μενον] εσφρα-γισμενον 7 31 32 38 | έχων NAQ 7 28 30 32 35] έχον Ρ mini" 1 | οι εισιν ΚΑ I 38 51 87 al] α εισιν Q min B *' n,a | om επτά Am V g»m*fu The Seer, roused from his dejection by the Elder's ϊδού, looks again, and sees, not a Lion but a Lamb (άρνίον). The conception is from Isa. liii. 7 as πρόβατον έπι σφαγην ήχθη, καϊ as apvbs εναντίον τον 'κείροντο: άφωνος. ΆμνρΓ has passed from the lxx. into the other passages in the N.T. where Christ is described as the Lamb (Jo. i. 29, 36, Acts viii. 32, 1 Pet. i. 19), but it does not occur in the Apocalypse, which uses το άρνίον as a' title of our Lord 29 times in 12 chapters. It is possible that the Apocalyptist has taken the latter, word from a non- Septuagmtal version of Isaiah, I. c. ; or he may have had in view Jer. xi. 19 cos άρνίον ακακον άγομενον τον θνεσθαι. The diminutive must not be pressed, since apvos has no noni., but the contrast of the Lamb with the Lion is sufficiently striking in any case, directing attention to the unique com- bination of majesty and meekness which characterized the life of Jesus Christ Cf. Victorinus: "ad devin- cendam mortem leo, ad patiendum vero pro hominibus tanquam agnus ad occisionem ductus est." Έστηκο5 as εσφαγμενον. the sacrifice foreseen by Isaiah and Jeremiah hag taken place and is yielding lasting fruits (perf.),', and there are indications of the fact that it has been offered (as εσφ.); yet the Lamb stands erect and alive in the sight of Heaven (cf. i. 18 έγενόμην νεκρός καϊ ιδού ζων είμι). The position which He occupies in the picture is not . quite clear, for εν μέσω. . .καϊ εν μέσω may mean either 'between the Throne and the Four Living creatures on the one hand and the Elders on the other' (cf. Gen. i 7 άνα μέσον. ..καϊ άνα μέσον = J'S'I • . . Ρ3), or 'in the midst of all,' the Centrepiece of the whole tableau. But the relative positions of the Throne, the ζώα, and the Elders (iv. 4, 6), seem to exclude the former interpretation, and the latter is wholly consistent with the general place assigned to the Lamb throughout the Apocalypse. With έστηκός cf. Acts VU. 56 θεωρώ... τον vlbv τον ανθρώπου εκ δεξιών έστωτα τον θεοΰ, Apoc. XIV. Ι ίΒού το άρνίον εοτοε ε'πϊ το οροί Σιων. The position is that of the Priest offering sacrifice (Heb. x. 11), and the Lamb is both Sacrifice and Priest. But perhaps έ&τ. denotes here no more than the restored life and activity of the Victim; cf. vii. 17, xiv. 1. έχων κέρατα έπτα καϊ οφθαλμούς επτά κτλ.] The horn as the symbol of strength is an old Hebrew metaphor which occurs first in Deut. xxxiiL 17, where Ephraim is said to have the horns of the DN1, lxx. μονοκέρως (a species of wild ox); cf. 1 Regn. ii. 1, 10, 3 Regn. xxii. 1 1, Ps. xvii. (xviii.) 3, cxi. (cxii.) 9. In the later books of the O.T. the horn is the symbol of a dynastic force (Zech. i. 18 (ii. i)ff., Dan. vii. 7 ff., viii. 3 ff.) ; and in this sense it is used in Apoc. xii. 3, xiii. 1, n, xvii. 3 ff. (where see notes). The 'seven horns of the Lamb' symbolize the fulness of His power as the Victorious Christ ; cf. Mt. xxviii. 18 εδόθη μοι πάσα έξονσία εν ονρανω καϊ επϊ yrjs, Jo. xvii. Ι έδωκα? αντω έξονσίαν πάσηs σαρκός. In Enoch xc. 37 £ the Messiah appears as a white DK"] with great black horns (see Υ. 8] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 79, απεσταλμένοι eis ττασαν την γην. 7 και η\θεν και J €ΐλ.ηψεν εκ t»js δεξιάς του καθήμενου έπι του θρόνου, και οτε εΧαβέν το .βιβλίον, τα. τέσσερα ζώα και οι 8 6 απεσταλμένοι A] απεσταλμένα Ν 3^ 49 χ 3° τα απεσταλμ. ι 79 me vld Hipp απο- στελλόμενα Q min"»"»» τα αποστελλ. 7 8 α 1 3 ι( > syrs w,,lli 7 eA^e»] + το βιβλίον ,**m g y 3 g ( 3 g) BJ . r * Byrew me p r j m g eXa/3ei<] ειληφεν 130 | τέσσαρα PQ min°""' vid | Charles, αα? Z.). With the fulness of strength the Lamb possesses also the fulness of vision, symbolized by seven eyes ; cf. iv. 6, 8, where the ζωα have eyes before and behind, around and within, yet do not possess the plenary illumination ascribed to the Lamb. The Apocalyptist has in view Zech. 1U. 9 ^ 7Γ * ' τον λίθον top ενα επτά οφθαλμοί είσιν, iv. ΙΟ επτά ούτοι οφ- ϋαλμο'ι είσιν [Kupiot/1 οι επιβλέποντες (D'tppto'l?). He identifies the "seven eyes of the Lord," which are also the eyes of the Lamb, with the "seven "Spirits of God." The eyes of Christ are cor φλοξ πυρός (i. 14), and" the seven Spirits (i. 4, note) blaze like torches be- fore the Throne of God (iv. 5). Bu£ iu their position before the Throne they are stationary, whilst, as the eyes of the Lamb, they have a mission to all the earth. The reading is uncertain; we have to choose between απεσταλ- μένα (Χ), άποστεΚΚόμενα (Q) and απεσ- ταλμένοι (A). The last agrees with Zech. 1. C. (6φθ. οί επιβλέποντες), and has the merit of being the harder reading. The sense in any case is materially the same ; the eyes, that is the Spirits, are sent. Άποστελλεσθαι, it can hardly be doubted, has reference to the' Mission of the Spirit (cf. Lc. XXIV. 49 Ιδού εγώ εξαποστελλω την επαγγελίαν τον πατρός μου εφ' υμάς, GaL iv. 6 εξαπεστείλεν ό θεός το πνεύμα του νιου αυτοΰ εις τας καρδίας ήμων), though the Johannine Gospel• uses πεμπειν in this connexion (xiv. 26, xv. 26, 'xvi. 7). A mission of the Spirit to the whole world carries us beyond, the earlier conception of His work, yet see Jo. xvi. 8 f. As the Spirit of Jesus• (Acts xvi. 7) and the "Eyes of the Lamb," His mission is oecumenical. 7• καί ηλθεν και εϊληφεν εκ της δεξιάς κτλ.] 'And I saw Him go (aor.), and now He has taken [the book] out of the hand 'of Him Who sits on the Throne.' Cf. iii. $εΐληφας και ηκουσας, viii. 5 εΐληφεν...καϊ εγέμισεν, ΧΪ. 1 7 εϊληφας και εβασίλευσας ; εϊρηκα is similarly joined with an aorist in vii. 13 £, xix. 3. WM. (p. 340) holds the perf. in v. 7, viii 5, to be simply aoristic; cf. Blass, Gr. p, 200, who gives other exx. from the Pauline Epp., and from subapostolic litera- ture. On the other hand see Benson, Apocalypse, p. 150 f., who makes a good case for retaining in the Apoca- lyptic instances a more or less distinct flavour of the sense of the perfect. Here εΐληφεν may point (Weiss, Bousset) to the abiding results of the action, or it may be simply realistic, as explained above. Realism also explains the absence of το βιβλίον, the movement is so rapid that the subject is left to be understood. 8. καϊ οτε έλαβε ν το βιβλίον κτλ.] The aorist of ordinary ■ narration is resumed. When the Lamb took the roll, the representatives of the animate creation and of the universal Church fell before Him. Προσκννησις, though not mentioned as in iv. 10, is perhaps implied; cf. v. 14, where after their praise of God and of the Lamb the Elders έπεσαν καϊ προσεκΰνησαν. "Εχον- τες έκαστος is probably to be referred to the Elders only, for though the masculines might include the ζψα (cf. έχων, iv. 7 f.), the particulars which follow are not appropriate to the, 8ο THE APOCALYPSE OF. ST JOHN [V. 8 είκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι έπεσαν ενώπιον του αρνιού, έχοντες έκαστος κιθάραν και φιάΧας χρ υ(Γα * γεμονσας θυμιαμάτων, α'ί ε'ισιν • α'ι προσενχαι των 9 άγιων. 9 και άΰονσιν ώδην καινην Αεγοντες "8 έπεσαν Q πύη? 1 | έκαστος έχοντες Κ εχ. έκαστο! αυτών syrK"" 1 ' 1 | κιθάρας Ι η 29 36 49 5t 9 1 9 6 al V S Ι φια\ην χρυσην •γεμουσαν syrs" | χρυσεας Κ | α' εισιν ΑΡ minP 1 syrr Andr Ar] α εισιν XQ'36 | αι προσενχαι] om ot Κ* 6 14 '3° a1 ""* νροσευχατ 2 7 8 19 47 29 4i 43 4 8 50 82 93 9 και οϊουο-ιι/] αδοι/τίί syi*" ,vld Prim latter. Each Elder is now seen to carry a κιθάρα, i.e. a lyre or zithem (the 113? of the O.T., in Daniel D"in»p ' (k?ri Dn)pp.)) j ihetraditionalinstrument of psalmody (cf. Ps. xxxii. (xxxiii.) 2, xcvii. (xcviii.) 5, cxlvi. (cxlvii.•) 7, cl. 3); the word is used again by the Apo- calyptist in another description of the celestial music (xiv. 2 ως κιθαρωδών κιθαριζόντων εν reus κιθάραις αυτών, XV. 2 έχοντας κιθάρα! τοΰ θεού). Beside their lyres the Elders had golden bowls or saucers (φιάλαι, paterae, see xvii. 1), full of incense, such as according to Josephus were placed on the shew- bread (antt. iv. 6. 6; in iii. 10. 7 he calls them πίνακα, plates), θυμιά- ματα, pi., as usually in the lxx. (Gen. xxxvii. 25, 1 Chr. vi. 49, Jer. xvii. 26) and elsewhere in this book (Apoc. viii. 3 f., xviii. 13). A? probably refers to θυμ. and not to φιάλας, deriving its gender by attraction (WM, p. 206 f.) from προσενχαι : a (NQ) is the correc- tion of a scribe who has felt the difficulty without realizing the true solution. The prayers of the Church are symbolized by the incense (Ps. Cxi. 2 κατευθυνθήτω ή προσευχή μου ώς θυμίαμα ενώπιον σου, Lc 1. ΙΟ πάν το πλήθος ήν τοϋ Χαοΰ προσευχόμενον εξω Tjj ω pa τον θυμιάματος), as its psal- mody, already an important element in Church worship (1 Cor. χϊτ. is, 26, Eph. v. 19, Col. iii. 16), is represented by the lyres. The Elders are fitly charged with iDoth, since they repre- sent the Church, and in the act which follows symbolize the Church's adora- tion of Christ. For al προσενχαι, the normal, familiar, acts of prayer, indi- vidual or collective, see Acts ii. 42, Rom. i. 10, 1 Tim. ii. 1, v. 5, 1 Pet iii. 7, and esp. Apoc. viii. 3 f. The ceremonial use of incense in the services of the Church, which might have been suggested by this passage, does not seem to have any ante-Nicene support; Christians of the first three centurieswere probably deterred from adopting it by the place which it held in pagan worship (cf. Tert. apoL 30, 42, and other passages cited in D.C.A., ' s. v. 'Incense'). Even 'Silvia' (ed. Gamurrini, p. 49) states the purpose of the thymiamateria in the great Church at Jerusalem to have been merely "ut tota basilica Anastasis repleatur odoribus." The Apostolic Canons, however, recognize incense as a legitimate accessary at the offering of the Eucharist (can. 3 θυμίαμα τω καιρώ τήί άγιας προσφοράς). 9• κα\ αδονσιν ω&ήν καθ/ην] A 'new SOng' (ΒΗΠ ΤΕ», ωδή καινή, άσμα καινόν, ύμνος καινός) is mentioned in Ps. xxxii. (xxxiii.) 3, xxxix. (xl.) 4, xcv. (xcvi.) 1, xcvii. (xcviii.) 1, cxliii. (cxliv.) 9, cxlix. 1, Isa. xlii. 10. Originally denoting only a fresh song of praise, the phrase lent itself especially to songs composed for great occasions; e.g. in Isa. I. c. the new song springs out of a prophecy of the new order which is to be inaugurated by the Servant of Jehovah; and similarly Judith's paean over the death of Holofemes is a νμνος καινός (Judith xvi. 13). In the Apocalypse it is appropriately used for the Church's V., ίο] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 8l• 'Αξιος ει Χαβεϊν το βιβΧιον και avo'ipai τάς σφραγίδα? αύτοΰ, Ότι έσφάγης και η<γόρασας τω θεω εν τω, σάματι σου εκ πάσης ώυΧής και •γλώσσης και \αοΰ και έθνους, τ °και επο'ιησας ι ο αυτούς τω θεω ημών βασιΧείαν και Ιερείς, και βασιΧεύουσιν έπι' της <γης. 9 α»Όΐ£αι] λνστιι syre™ | om (σφαγή; και 130 | τω θεω (om ι vg h * rl * Cypr)] + ^as KPQ mini" 1 me syrr arm Cypr Prim 10 aurous] ημαι vg cl " f " | τω 0εω ημών om A | βαα-ίλααν ΚΑ vg me Cypr Prim] βασίΚαι Q min™»" ' ld syr arm aeth Andr Ar βασιΧααν και tepeis και βασιλεπ syrS" | fiaei\evovatv AQ 7 14 28 29 35 38 al syr] βασίΚευσονσιν KP 1 2 4 5 6 8 30 31 32 36 130 al g vg™ ftll ' M "» 1 me syrs" arm 4 Cypr βασιΚευσομα Vg d " d °» arm 1 AT Prim ,ld (τβ0ηα?>ίτΐ1«ϊ) praise of Redemption (cf. xiv. 3); the ωδη καινή answers to the 'άνομα καινόν (ii If, ΐϋ• 12), the Ί(ρονσα\ήμ καινή (iii. 12, xxL 2), the ovpavbs καινοί και γη καινή (xxi. ΐ), the καινά πάντα (xxi. 5) of the great Christian prophecy. a£tof (ι Χαβίϊν το βιβλίον κτλ.] The Elders recognize in Christ the absolute moral worthiness which has qualified Him to take the Book of Destiny from the hand of God and open its seals (άνοϊξαι ras σφρ. = αν. το βιβΧιον και λνσαι ras σφρ., V. 2). This άξιότη!_ΪΆ based neither on His unique relation to God, nor on the perfection of His human life, but on the fact of His sacrifice (δτι ίσφάγη!, cf. v. 6 as ίσφαγμίνον). Σφάζισθαι is used to describe the Death of Christ only in this book (vv. 6, 9, 12, xiii. 8,), where its use is due to Isa. liii. 7 a>s πρόβατον eVi σφαγήν ηχθη ; it is interesting to find it occuiring also in references to the martyrdoms which were trying the faith of the Churches of Asia (vL 9, xviii. 24). Other Apostolic writings speak of Christ as 'crucified' or 'sacrificed,' or simply as having 'died.' 'Αγοράζων, a Pauline word (1 Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23, and in the compound εξαγ., Gal iii. 13, iv. 5), is used in this sense elsewhere only in Apoc. (here and xiv. 3 f.) and in 2 Peter (ii. ι); it rings with echoes of the Greek άγοραί, familiar both to St Paul and St John. The 'purchase' s. e. was made with the Blood of the slain Lamb (ev τω αϊματί σου, where iv denotes the price, as in i. 5 λΰσαντι ημάς ev τω αϊμ. αντοΰ); see Acts XX. 28, ι Cor. vi. 20, 1 Pet. i. 18 ff. It was made "for God," the thing purchased being destined for His service (Rom. vi. 22j 1 Cor. I. c:). In what it con- sisted, i.e., what was purchased, appears in the words that follow: «κ πάση! φυλή! κτλ., ' representatives of every nationality, without distinction of race or geographical or political distribution ' ; cf. vii. 9, xiv. 6 and the similar enumerations in χ. 1 1, xi. 9, xiii. 7, xvii. 15. The origin of the phrase is perhaps to be sought in Dan. iii. 4, 7, v. 19, vi. 25: cf. also 4 Esdr. iii. 7 (16). The scope which it assigns to the redemptive virtue of the Cross is less wide than that which is contemplated in 1 Tim..ii. 3f., 1 Jo. ii. 2; but the 'new song' refers only to those in whom Redemption has become effective by their incorpora- tion in the Body of Christ. The oecumenical mission of the Church is, however, fully recognized; the Seer sees in it a worldwide Empire ex- tending' far beyond the shores of the Mediterranean and the sway of the Caesars. ΙΟ. και ίποίησα! αυτού; τω Sea ήμων κτλ.] A further result of the Lamb's Sacrifice. Those whom He purchased He made a Kingdom' and 6 82 THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN [V. ii 11 "και εΊδον, και ηκουσα ως φωνην αγγέλων πολλών κύκλω του θρόνου και των ζωών και των πρεσβυτέ- ρων, και ην ό αριθμόν αντών μυριάδες μυριάδων και 12 χιλιάδες χιλιάδων, "λέγοντες φωνή μεγάλη ιι ειδον ΚΡ mini• 1 ] ιδον AQ η 14 9 2 I om ωϊ -^Q* ι r 4 49 1° al τ 8 me arm aetl1 Prim (hab NQ** ππη" ,ι ' η "' syr Andr Ar) ] κυκλοθεν ι | om και των πρεσβυτέρων... μυρι- άδων ι Ι μυριας.,.χϊΚιας syr»" | om και χιλ. χιλ. 38 130 Ι* λεγοντεί] "Κε-γοντων 38 95 97 ν 8 Prim pr και syr»" priests unto God. Cf. i. 6 εποίησεν ημάς βασιλείαν, ιερείς τω &ώ και ττατγϊΐ aurou, XX. 6 έσονται ιερείς τον θεον και τον Χριστον, καΐ βασιλενσονσιν μετ αύτοΰ, and see notes on both verses. The fact that this chord is struck thrice in the Apoc. seems to imply special familiarity on the part of both writer and readers with the words as well as the thought: possibly they entered into a primitive hymn which may have run: έποίησας ημάς βασιλείαν \ ιερείς τω θεω και πατρί σον | και βασι- λεύ[σ]ομε ν επί της -γης. Ill the present passage the harder βασιλειίονσιν (AQ) is perhaps to be preferred; the reign of the Saints had begun in the life of the Spirit, though in the fuller sense it was yet future: cf. Mt. v. 3, 5 αυτών εστίν ή βασίλεια. ,.κληρονομή- σονσι την γην, I Cor. ϊν. 8 χωρ\ς ημών ε βασιλεύσατε ; και οφελόν γε ε'βασιλεύ- σατε, ίνα και ημείς νμϊν σνμβασίλεν- σωμεν. For the future, see Apoc. xx. 6, xxii. 5. The 'new song' vindicates for Jesus Christ the unique place which He has taken in the history of the world. By a supreme act of self-sacrifice He has purchased men of all races and nationalities for the service of God, founded a vast spiritual Empire, and converted human life into a priestly service and a royal dignity. He who has done this is worthy to have com- mitted into His hands the keeping of the Book of Destiny, and to break its Seals and unroll its closely packed lengths; to preside over the whole course of events which connects His Ascension with His Return. 11. καϊ ειδον, και ηκουσα ως φωνην αγγέλων πολλά»» κτλ.] A new feature in the vision introduced by a fresh και ειδον (v. i, 2, 6, vi. i, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12 etc. ; cf. iv. 1, note). Except the 'Hierophant' (iv. 1), and the Strong Angel of v. 2, this vision has been hitherto without angelic appearances; now at length the Angels are seen in their myriads, forming a vast ring around and therefore outside the El- ders, who are themselves around the central Throne (cf. iv. 4). The Seer gives their numbers from Dan. vii. 10 : χιλιαι χιλιάδες ελειτονργουν αυτά, και μνριαι μνριάδες παριστήκεισαν αντω Χ cf. Enoch XIV. 22 κύκλω μνριαι μυριάδες ίστήκασιν ενώπιον αντοΐι ; ib. xl. I, lx. ι, lxxi. 8, and Heb. xii. 22 f. προσελη- Χνθατε μυριάσιν αγγέλων: the source of all th'ese computations is probably Deut. xxxiii. 2 κατέσπενσεν εξ ορούς Φαράν συν μυριάσιν Κάδης (tiHp ΓΠ^Ρ), εκ δεξιών αύτοΰ άγγελοι μετ αύτοΰ : cf. Ps. lxvii. (lxviii.) 1 8. With the phrases μυριάδες μυριάδων, χιλιάδες χιλιάδων' cf. Gen. xxiv. 60 γίνου είς χιλιάδας μυριάδων ) Num. Χ. 36 χιλιάδα; μνριά- δας, Apoc. ΪΧ. 16 δισμυριάδες μυριάδων. The voice of this vast concourse — a μεγάλη φωνή indeed — is a shout rather than a song. There is no mention of κιθάραι or ωδή here ; the Angels simply acclaim the Lamb as worthy. 1 2. άξιον εστίν το άρνίον κτλ.] Not άξιος ει as in v. 9. The terms, more- V. 13] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 83 Άξιον έστιν το άρνίον το έσφαγμένον Χαβεΐν την Ζυναμιν και πΧοΰτον και σοώ'ιαν και Ίσ^χυν και τιμήν και ΖοΡαν και eoXoyiav. τ3 και παν κτίσμα ο iv τω ούρανω και έπι της 13 *γης και ύποκάτω της <γης και έπι της θαΧάσσης και τα ev αύτοΐς πάντα, ήκουσα Χεγοντας 12 άξιον NQ ππη οη " ,γΜ syr] άξιος Α άξιος ei syrs™ | eo-tj>aypjevov~\ εσφραγισμενον 58 | υ-λουτον] pr τον Q min""" 1 " ijo] + εστίν Ρ r 28 35 36 al n " ,vl ' 1 vg syr Prim Andr (conj το Nestle) | επι της 717s] ev τη -γη ι al vlxmu syr»" | om και υποκατω rtjs 717s Κ 12 r 4 33 47 95 v S fu me arm I erl Tr l s θαλάσσης] τα ev τη θαΚασση X vg me syrr arm vM Prim+eoriv A 6 78 130 al + α εστίν PQ 1 30* 34 35 49 al vg + o εστίν syrs" vid | πάντα ηκουσα \eyovras Ρ 6 32 90 130] πάντα ηκ. \eyovTa Α ι 12 παντας ηκ. "Keyovras 278 al aatmu πάντα και ηκ. \eyovTds ς\ 3° 34 35 "3^ ^7 9® a ^ STrr πάντα και παντας ηκ. λέγοντας Q over, are more general — το εσφάγμενον for οτι εσφάγης, and for λαβείν το βιβλίον the usual λ. την δΰναμιν κτλ. (iv. 11). The Angels stand outside the mystery of Redemption, though they are far from being uninterested spectators (Eph. iii. 10, 1 Pet i. 12), and recognize both the grandeur of the Lord's sacrificial act, and its infinite merit. The doxology which they offer to the Lamb is even fuller than that which in iv. 11 is offered by the Elders to the Creator, for to glory and honour and power it adds riches, wisdom, strength, and blessing. Πλούτοι, σοφία, ισχύς, ευλογία, are specially appropriate in a doxology offered to Christ ; cf. 2 Cor. viii. 9 ίπτωχευσεν πλούσιος ων, I Cor. i. 24 θεοϋ δΰναμιν και θεοΰ σοφίαν, Lc. xi. 22 ε'πάν Be Ισχυρότερος αντοΰ [τον ισχυρού] επελθων νικήση αυτόν, Hum. XV. 29 ev πληρωματι ευλογίας Χρίστου. For πλοϋτος and Ισχύς in a doxology see 1 Chron. xxix. 11 f. The seven attributes form a heptad of praise •which leaves nothing wanting in the Angels' acclamation of the Lamb. Arethas compares Mt. xxviii. 18 έ&ϋθη μοι πάσα εξουσία ev ούρανω κτλ., and adds : τω άρνίω ή εξουσία νπερ τοΰ ΐσφάχθαι SeoOrai των επουρανίων και επιγείων καΐ καταχθόνιων (cf. Phil. ϋ. 9f-)• 13- και πάν κτίσμα ο εν τω ούρανω κτλ.] A still wider circle offers its doxology. The whole Creation is summoned from its four great fields of life (cf. v. 3) ; the Sea is now added explicitly. The gathering is no longer representative only, but exhaustive, not one created thing being omitted {πάν κτίσμα, τά εν avTols πάντα). Κτίσμα occurs first in Sirach and Wisdom, where ,it seems to be distinguished from (ή) κτίσις; in the N.T. (Jac. i. 18, 1 Tim. iv. 4, Apoc. v. 13, viii. 9) it is invariably concrete, 'a creature,' 'a created thing.' The Seer does not himself see Creation rising in its in- numerable forms of life to offer its doxology; this is no part of the vision which comes to him through the open door. But he hears the roar of the great acclamation as it rises to heaven, and it is heard also within the circle round the Throne, for the ζωα re- spond (v. 14). John's nearness to the Throne, or (what is the same thing) the elevation of his spirit, enables him to voice the purpose of universal Nature ; he becomes conscious that it exists only, to glorify God and the Lamb. 6—2 84 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [V. 13 Τω καθημενω έττι τω Ορόνω και τω άρνίω ή evXoyia και ή τιμή και η δόξα και το κράτος εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων. 14 14 και τα τέσσερα ζωα ελεγον Άμην, και οι ττρεσ- \ C βύτεροι 'έπεσαν και ^προσεκυνησαν. 13 τω θρονω AQ 1678] του θρόνου ΚΡ ι al"" 1 Andr Ar | και τω αρνιώ] om me om και Ν°•* A syr | η ευλο-για] om η Ρ | και το κράτος] παντοκράτορας Κ* om arm 8 | των αιωνων] + αμήν Q ι al" tmu aeth utr Andr Ar 14 τέσσαρα XPQ | e\eyov 1 7 28 vg] λέγοντα Q min" ,tmu Byre" me Ar ] αμήν] pr το Q min fCTe4 ° Ar | πρεσβύτεροι} pr είκοσι τέσσαρα vg cle Prim | εττεσον Q map**" Andr Ar | και προσεκυνησαν] + risen- tern in saecula saeculorum vg ole Prim om 130 τω καθημενω έπϊ r<5 θρόνω καϊ τώ άρνιω] Cf. νϋ. ίο. In xxii. ι, 3 the Throne belongs to God and to the Lamb conjointly • (see iii. 21 note); but the offering of the doxology to Both in the same terms is scarcely less significant. While the Angels' doxology was sevenfold, the Creation's is fourfold, consisting of the last three points in the former, with the addition of κράτος which takes the place of Ισχύς, active power being here in view rather than a reserve of secret strength (cf. Eph. i. 19, vi. 10). This fourfold attribution of praise agrees with the character of those who offer it, for four is the number of the creature ; see Mc. xiii. 27, Apoc. iv. 6, vii. i ; Iren. iii. II. 8 τέσσαρα κλίματα τον κόσμου εν ω εσμίν είσι, καϊ τέσσαρα καθολικά πνεύματα. It is perhaps not without meaning that each of the perfections named is separately emphasized by the article (17 ίΰλογία κ. ή τιμή κ. ή δό|α it. το κράτος): contrast ν. 12 την δύναμιν και πλοΰτον κτλ. Eis τους αΙώνα: των αιώνων gives infinity to the whole ; the exaltation of the Lamb is not temporary but enduring. 14. και τα τέσσερα ζώα ελε -yov Αμήν] The heavenly representatives of animate creation confirm the dox- ology which rises from the earth. For ελεγον Άμην cf. ι Chron. xvi. 36 καϊ ερε'ι πάς 6 λαοί Άμην, I Cor. xiv. 16 πως ερει το Αμήν επϊ rj crfj ευχαρ- ιστία Justin, apol. i. 65 πάς 6 πάρων λαός επευφημεί λέγων Άμην : ib. 67. The words are probably suggested by the familiar 'Amen' with which at JSphesus and elsewhere in Asia the Seer's own Eucharistic thanksgiving had always been ended. The whole passage is highly suggestive of the devotional attitude of the Asiatic Church in the time of Domitian to- wards the Person of Christ. It con- firms Pliny's report "[Christianos] carmen Christo quasi deo dicere secum invicem," and the statement in Euseb. H.E. V. 2%, ψαλμοί δε όσοι και ωδαϊ αδελφών απ•' αρχής νπο πιστών γραφεΐσαι τον \oyov τον θεον τον χρισ- τον νμνοΰσι θεολογονντες. και οι πρεσβύτεροι έπεσαν καϊ προσ- ε κννησαν] The whole service of praise ends with a fresh act of homage on the part of the Church's representa- tives. Here as in iv. 10 it is the Elders who prostrate themselves. The deepest homage is due from the Church, which has been redeemed and made a royal priesthood unto, God. VI. 1 — 17. The Opening of the, FIRST SIX SEALS ι. και ει8ον κτλ.] The vision pro- ceeds (on καϊ εΐδον see v. 1, 6, 11). The Lamb, who has already taken the roll (v. 7), now opens the seals one by one. The first four openings (vv. 1 — 8) form a series, marked by a common note; each is preceded by an utter- ance from one of the four ζώα, and VI. 2] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 85 1 Kai ε'ιδον οτε ήνοιζεντό αρνίον μίαν έκ των επτά Ι VI. σφραγίδων, και ήκουσα ένος έκ των τεσσάρων Χωων λέγοντος cos φωνή βροντής 'Έ,ρ-χου. Λ καϊ είδον, και ι ίδου ί7Γ7το? λευκός, και ό καθήμενοι έπ αυτόν έχων τοξον, και εδόθη αύτω στέφανοι, και έΡήΚθεν νικών VI ι eiiov CP minf Ar] ιΒον NAQ 7 14 92 [ ore] on Q min"*• 40 arm vgf"»»"">rt Andr Ar | om επτά Ρ ι, 6 28 34 79 al me arm 1 | \eyovros] \?γουσαν Ν syr post βροντψ pon A 130 Ι φωνή! Ρ ι 6 31 φωνην Κ 26 gi 130 vg arm 1 | βροντών syrS"' Tia | ερχου] + και ιδε HQ min rere25 + et vide vg clefil syrr me aeth Vict Prim 1 και ei5. KP 1 a l»tmu ( και lSo „ AC y 3 g)"| om Q m i n fereS0 v gfude m h.rl*tolllp. yi ct p r j m \ τ pr KM ηκου ? α syr*" Ι νικών] pr «A arm'• 4 followed by the appearance of a horse and his rider, whose significance is partly explained. For μίαν ix, ivos in, see v. 5 note; ex with a partitive genitive is especi- ally frequent in the Apoc, cf. Blass,' Gr. p. 96 f. The writer declines to say which seal was opened first, or which of the ζ ώα began ; neither point is material. Ώι φωνή βροντή!, cf. xiv. 2, xix. 6, and for the instrumental dative see v. 12, vi. 10 ; φωνήν (Si), φωνής (Ρ), are corrections. It is unnecessary to create an irregularity by reading φωνή (with Teschendorf, Bousset, Nestle). Each of the ζώα in succession thunders out his Ζρχου (vv. 1, 3, 5, 7). The scribes have understood this as a call to the Seer, and many mss. ac- cordingly add καϊ iSf, or καϊ βλέπε ; see app. crit. But (1) deipo would have been the natural word to invite the approach of the Seer; and (2) no reason can be shewn why he should have been called within the door and across the Sea in order to witness the visions which follow. Many ancient interpreters, regarding the white horse as the "verbum praedicationis " ( Vic- torinus, cf. Zahn, Einl. ii. p. 689), explain Veni as the summons to faith • (e.g. Apringius : " veni dicitur invitatio ad fidem"). But throughout the Apoc. Ζρχεσθαι is used of the comings of God or of Christ (<5 ερχόμενα:, i. 4, 8, ν iv. 8 ; έρχομαι, ii. 5, 16, iii. 11, xvi. 15, xxii. 7j 12, 20; έρχεται, i. 7 > *PX ot, j . xxii. 17, 20). The last two references help to determine the. meaning of ερχου here; the 'Come' of the' ζώα corresponds to the 'Come' of the Spirit and the Bride, and of the hearer and the writer of the book (xxii. 1 7, 20); Nature no less than the Spirit in re- deemed Man calls for the coming of the Christ. Thus the fourfold ερχου of the ζώα represents the άποκαραδοκία rfjs κτίσεως (Rom. viii. 19 flf.) which at each crisis in the preparatory process becomes vocal in the ear of the prophet. 2. και elfiov, και ιδού ίππος λευκοί κτλ.] The vision of the four horsemen, distinguished by the colour of their horses, who follow successively the opening of the first four seals, has evidently been suggested by Zech. vi. I flf., ίδου τεσσαρα,αρματα.,.εν τώ α ρ μάτι τω πρώτα "ίπποι πυρροί, καϊ iv τω αρματι τω δευτερω Ιπποι μίΧανει, καϊ iv τφ αρματι τω τρίτω Γπποί λευκοί, καϊ iv τφ αρματι τω τετάρτω ίπποι ποικίλοι ψαροί (grizzled bay). Zechariah's four horses are "the four winds of heaven " (». s), and their mission is to execute judgement upon Babylon, Egypt, and the other heathen nations of the world. The Apocalyptist borrows only the symbol of the horses and their colours, and instead of yoking the horses to chariots he sets on each 86 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VI. 3 και 'ίνα νικηση. ζ και 6τβ ηνοιξεν την σφραγίδα την οΈντεραν, ηκονσα του Sevrepov ζώου \eyovTO?' €.ρ-χου. ι και ινα νικηση] και ενικηαεν Κ me + και ενικ. 32 36 pr και ενικ. syrs" om και arm Tert 3 την σφραγίδα την δευτεραν} την δευτ. σφρ. Q minP 1 Andr Ar | ερχον] + και ιδε Κ 34 35 3 8 39 alP"" + ei vide vg 0lefudemhar " olll i" 1 me (aeth) Vict Prim Andr of them a rider in whom the interest of the vision is centred. In the first vision the horse is white, the rider carries a bow and receives a conqueror's crown (στέφανο:) ; he goes forth, it is noted, as a conqueror, and with the purpose of winning fresh conquests (ΐνα.ρικήση, not us νικήσων). It is tempting to identify him with the Rider on the white horse in xix. 1 1 ff., whose name is ' the Word of God' ; cf. Iren. iv. 21. 3 "ad hoc enim nascebatur Dominus..,de quo et Ioannes in Apocalypsi ait Exivit vin- cens, ut vinceret." But the two riders have nothing in common beyond the white horse ; the details are distinct ; contrast e.g. the διαδήματα πολλά of xix. 12 with the single στέφανος here, and the ρομφαία οξεία with the τόξον. A vision of the victorious Christ would be inappropriate at the opening of a series which symbolizes bloodshed, famine, and pestilence. Rather we have here a picture of triumphant militarism. The lust of conquest which makes great Empires, whether the Seer had in view the Empire. of the Caesars or the Parthian power which menaced it (for, as Prof. Ramsay says (Letters, p. 58), the bow points specially to the latter ; cf. Mommsen, rom. Gesch. v. 389), was the first and most momentous of the precursors of the final revelation. In a Roman triumphal procession the victorious general did not ride a white horse, but was seated in a four-horse car (Ramsay, Letters, I. c). Yet white was the colour of victory; cf. Verg. Aen. iii. 537 "quattuor hie, primum omen, equos in gramine vidi I tondentes campum late can- dore nivali " ; on which Servius remarks, " hoc ad victoriae omen pertinet." Moreover the horses which drew the quadriga were on occa- sions white; see Plutarch, Camitt. 7 τέθριππον ΰποζενξάμενος λενκόπωλον έπέβη, και διεξήλασε τη! 'Ρώμης. He adds, it is time : οϊιδενος τοΰτο ποιήσαν- tos ήγεμόνος πρίτερον ονδ 9 ύστερον ; but cf. Dio Cassius, Η. R. xliii 14 (C. Julius Caesar) τα έπινίκια τα προεψηφισμενα επί τε λευκών ίππων και μετά ραβδούχων κτλ. 3 f. και οτε ηνοιξεν την σφραγίδα τήν δευτεραν κτλ.] As the white horse and Jiis rider vanish, bent on the career of conquest (Ινα νικήστι), the Lamb opens the second seal, and there comes forth another horse, not white but πυρρός, 'blood red' (cf. 4 Regn. iii. 22 τα νδατα πυρρά (D'ETK) ώσε'ι αίμα) ; the word is used of the red- brown of the heifer (Num. xix. 2), and here, as in Zech. i. 8, vi. 2, of the roan of the horse, not however without allusion to its proper meaning, The rider on the red horse has received (εδόθη αϋτώ) a great sword, as a symbol of his mission. Μαχαίρα may be either a knife carried in a sheath at the girdle (Je. xviii. 10), or a weapon for use in war (see Hastings, D. B. iv. 634); this one is clearly of the latter sort, and it is large of its kind (μεγάλη). Together with the sword the second rider had received power to plunge the world into war; his sword was not the symbol of civil' justice (Rom. xiii. 4) but of bloodshed. "It was given him to take Peace (την ειρήνην) from off the earth and (to cause men) to slay one another" — the negative and positive sides of warfare. The con- struction is rugged and broken, as if in sympathy with the subject (τω καθ. VI. 6] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 87 4 και έζηΧθεν άλλο? Ίππος πυρρός, και τω καθήμενα) έπ' 4 αύτον εδόθη αντω Χαβέϊν την ε'ιρηνην εκ της <γης και Ίνα άΧΧηΧους σφάξονσιν, και έδοθη αντω μάχαιρα μεγάΧη. ! και οτε ηνοιζεν την σφραγίδα την τρί- ζ την, ηκονσα του τρίτου ζώου Χε<γοντος ' £ρχον. και ειδον, και ιδού 'ίππος μέλας, και ό καθήμενος έπ' αύτον 'έχων ζνγόν έν τη χειρί αύτον. 6 και ηκουσα ως 6 φωνην έν μέσω των τεσσάρων ζωών Χέγονσαν Χοϊνιξ σίτου δηναρίου, και τρεις χοίνικες κριθών δηναρίου• 4 και φίλ0«<] και ιδον και ιδού ε|. (34 3θ) ( m e) Andr | om aWos 130 me syr*» | irvppos] nvpos APQ 1678 al fere40 me Andr [ τω καθημενω] pr ε>/ A | eir αυτοί'] εττ αυτω ι 29 87 al I om αιτώ N oa A 31 | εκ rrjs 717s] om tt"•" om εκ A 7 16 39 46 oiro τ. y. 1 36 al | om και 3° Q min fe ™ 40 me eyre 1 » aeth Andr Ar | σφαξωσιν KPQ 1 al" 11 Andr Ar | μεγάλη μάχαιρα A 5 ψΌΐξα> την σφραγίδα την τριτην] ηνοιξεν την τρ. σφρ. ι 36 38 al ηνοι•γη η σφρα -yts η τρίτη 28 73 79 syre™ | ερχου] + και ιδε KQ 689 al m " Andr Ar + βί vide ygciodemhuritoiiipnai syr vi c t p r i m ai | Kal ei s. KCP 28 47 49 al™" me (και ιδον Α ι 7 36)] om Q min 1 "" g vg ctedem t hllrItol "P ,sal syre" aeth Andr Ar | «r αυτοί/] eir αυτω ι alnonn J om αυτου χ j 6 om ωι Q mini" 1 me syrr arm aeth Prim Andr Ar | ev μέσω (εμμ. AC)] ex μέσου syre" | |"ωω«] + ins φωνην αετού me | δηναρίου bis] στατηροί me Ι κριθή! Q mini" 1 syrs" Andr Ar | δηναρίου a°] pr του A έδίθη αντω λαβείν. ..και ϊνα αλλ. on the black horse is not named, but σφάξονσιν, sc. ol κατοικοΰντα «τι τής this description leaves no doubt who 717s)• Fer «-a with the fut hid. see he is. He carries in his hand, not WM. p. 360 f., Blass, Gfr. p. 211 f. ; bow or sword, but the beam of a pair other exx. may be found in Apoc. of scales. For the meaning of fuyor lit 9, VI. II, viii. 3, ix. 4 f., 20, xiii. I2, Cf. Prov. XVi II ροπή ζνγοϋ δικαιοσύνη l6(?), xiv. 13, xxii. 14. πάρα Κυρίω, Ezek. τ. Ι λήμψΐ] ζυγον If the first Seal has been inter- σταθμίων,χίν.ιοζυγοι δίκαιο! καϊμίτρον preted rightly, there can be little δίκαιον καί χοΐνιξ δικαία έστω ΰμΐν τοϋ difficulty in explaining the second, μέτρου ; the muse, is found also in the Victory, white-horsed and crowned, i/XX•, wherever the gender can be de- wears another aspect when viewed termined, and in Mt. xi. 29 f. in the lurid light of the battlefield. 6. και ηκουσα ώϊ φωνην iv μέσω των Triumph spells much bloodshed and «σο-, ζωών] Lest this rider should slaughter in the past, and the main- not be sufficiently identified by his tenance and .extension of an Empire• equipment, there conies from the based on conquest demands more in midst of the ζωα what sounds like the future. On the sword as the a voice ( 3^ 79 Ι 3° clamabant vg syr | φωνην με-γα\ην Q | om ο δεσπότης 13° άντίτυπονοΐ the earthly; cf. Heb.viii. 5. The altar here in view is the counter- part of the Altar of Burnt Offering, and the victims which have been offered at it are the martyred mem- bers of the Church, who have followed their Head in the example of His sacrificial death (των ε'σφαγμένων ; cf. V. 6 ώς ε'σφαγμένον). Their souls (ψυχάς) are seen "under the altar," because in the Levitical rite the blood, which is the ψυχή (Lev. xvii. II η yap ψνχή πάσης σαρκός αίμα αυτοί εστίν), was poured out at the foot of the altar (Lev. iv. 7 πάν το αίμα τοϊι μόσχου ε'κχεεΐ πάρα την βάσιν τοΰ θυσιαστηρίου Ι cf. Pirqe Aboth 26). They had been slain δια τον λόγον τοΰ θεού και δια την μαρτυρίαν ην ειχον — a phrase repeated with a slight change from i. 9, and found again with varia- tions in xii. 11, 17, xix. 10, xx. 4. If the two causes of martyrdom are to be sharply distinguished, as the re- peated διό seems to indicate, the first will be the martyrs' confession of the One Living and True God, as against polytheism and Caesarism, and the second their witness to Jesus Christ. In mart. Polyc. 9 the test offered to Polycarp is twofold : 3/χοσον [την Καίσαρος τΰχην], κα\ άποΧΰω σε' λοι- δόρησον τον χριστόν. On ειΰον.,.ταί ψυχάς see Tertullian anim. 8 "animae corpus invisibile carni, spiritui vero visibile est." ΙΟ. και έκραζαν φων§ μεγαΚγι κτλ.] Beatus: "animarum verba ipsa sunt desideria" ; cf. Bar. iii. 4. As the blood of Abel cried for vengeance on Cain (Gen.iv. ΙΟ φωνή αίματος... βοά, cf. Heb. xii. 24), so in the ears of the Seer the souls of the martyrs(Le. their sacrificed lives) called aloud for judgement on 'the pagan world. It was a quousque tandem? 'how long, Master Holy and True, dost thou not judge and avenge?' For «os πότε see Mc. ix. 19, and cf. Exod. xvi. 28 εως tiVos; 2 Esdr. xii. 16 εως τότε. Δεσπότης, as a title of God (=|ΠΚ *J'-IK : ), in the lxx. usually occurs in the voc, whether alone or with Kupws (Gen. xv. 2, 8, Jer. iv. 10, Dan. ix. 15); on ό δε απάτης = δέσποτα, see Blass, Gr. p. 87. Christ is ό μόνος δεσπότης και κύριος ημών ill Jude 4 (cf. 2 Pet. ii. 1), and receives the epithets ayior, αληθινός in Apoc. iii. 7 ; but in a passage so full of O.T. reminiscences as this is, the Person addressed as δεσπότης is probably the Father, as in Lc. ii. 29, Acts iv. 24. . The martyrs being Christ's are also God's (1 Cor. iii. 23), and the holiness and truth of the Supreme Master demand the punishment of a world responsible for their deaths. The words only assert the principle of Divine retribution, which forbids the exercise of personal revenge (Rom. xii. 19 f. μη εαυτούς έκδικονντες...άλ\ά δότε τόπον tj opyfl (sc. τοΰ θεοΰ), γέγραπταΐ yap 'Euol εκδΐκησις). But it was long before this was fully understood, and the Acts of the martyrs relate many instances in which the sufferers met their judges with threatenings of the coming wrath, not always free from the spirit of viudictiveness ; even Polyc. mart. 11 VI. 1 1] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST JOHN 91 άΑηθινός, ού κρίνεις και e/cStfceis το αίμα ημών έκ των κατοικούνταν έττι της <γης; "και εδόθη αϋτοΐς έκάστω 1 1 στοΧη Χευκη, και έρρεθη αύτοΐς . Ίνα ανατταυσονται ίο αληθινός] pr ο ι 30** 87 | εκδικησεΐί Κ | εκ] απο Ρ τ 7 2 8 35 49 ' J ' εδοβησω ...στολαι \ενκαι vg arm 1 aeth Cypr biB Prim al | αντοις εκαστω] εκαστω αυτών 28 73 me syrr om εκαστω Q mhii ,,( > 25 om αυτού mini"""' Clem-Al | ινα ανατταυσονται APQ 178 28 36 79 98 al] tva ανατταυσονται HC minP' αναπαυσασθε 130 shews something of this tendency. It is not however to be read into this quousque, as the fiery Tertullian more than once implies ; cf. Bede : " non haec odio inimicorum, pro quibus in hoc saeculo rogaverunt, orant, sed amore aequitatis." Oi5 κρίνει; και ε'κδίκε ί? : 'dost Thou refrain from pronouncing judgement and executing vengeance.' Cf. Lc. XVUi. 7 f• ό δε Sfbs ov μη ποιήσ-η την εκδίκησιν των ε'κλεκτωΐ' αύτον των βοών- των αυτώ ;. . ,λεγω νμιν οτι ποιήσει την εκί'ικησιν αυτών iv τάχει — a passage which goes far to answer many ques- tions in theodicy. Έκδικε'ιν το αΐμά twos εκ , occurs again in xix. 2 ; cf. ε'κδικεΐν (βκοΊκάζίΐν) το αίμα in Deut. xxxii. 41 A, 43, Hos. i. 4, Joel iii 21 A, and ε'κδικείν eVe in Deut. xviii. 19 ; other combinations are ε'κδ. τινά, I Regn. xiv. 24 ; περί tivos, ι Mace. xiii. 6 ; tv τινι, Jer. v. 9, 29 ; επί τίνα, Hos. ii. 13, iv. 9, Soph. i. 8, 12 S. ; από tivos, Lc. xviii. 3. 1 1, και ΐοΌθη αντοις έκάστω στο\η \ευκή~\ The present condition of the martyrs is revealed. (1) They have received a white robe (see iii 4 f., 1 iv. 4, viL 9, 13, xix. 14 and cf. Le Blant, Les Actes des Martyrs, p. 240^ n. 2 ; on στολή see Mc. xii. 38, note) ; the honours of victory have already been conferred upon them individu- ally (ίκάστω), though the general and public award is reserved for the Day of the Lord. The Ascension of Isaiah rightly represents the "white array" of the Saints as stored up for them in the seventh heaven, ready against the day when they will descend with Christ (iv. 16), after which all the righteous are seen "in their celestial apparel" (ix. 9 "existentes in stolis excelsis"). But the martyr's individual victory is assured as soon as he is 'with Christ'; he knows himself a conqueror, while on earth the Church recognizes his victory by adding his name to her hagiographies. και Ιρρέθη avTo'is Ίνα άναπανσονται κτλ.] On the other hand (2) for their full reward, for the triumph which they will share with Christ, they must await the completion of the martyro- logion. But their waiting is qualified by two considerations; (1) it is but "for a little while" (ert μικρόν χρόνον ; cf. iv τάχα, ταχύ, i. I, xxii. 6f., 12, 20 — the exact phrase occurs again in another connexion, xx. 3 ; cf. Heb. x. 37 μικρόν όσον όσον); and (2) the waiting is, a rest ; they are not bidden simply to wait (ίνα προσκαρτερήσωσιν), but to enjoy repose (ΐνα άναπαϋσωνται, cf. xiv. 13 Ίνα άναπαήσονται εκ των κόπων αυτών). The delay is itself a part of the reward; to the Church on earth it may be irksome, to the martyrs themselves it is an άνάπαυσις. Further, the cause of the delay is revealed. They are kept waiting ear πΧηρωθώσιν οι συρδουλοι αυτών, till the number of their fellow-slaves is fully made up. For this use of πΧηροΰν, cf. Mt. xxiii. 32, 1 Thess. ii. 16 ; and for the idea see Baruch xxx. 2 " aperientur promptuaria in . quibus custoditus erat numerus animarum iustarum "; and cf. the Anglican Order for the Burial of the Dead; "that it may please Thee... shortly to accom- plish the number of Thine Elect, and to hasten Thy Kingdom." The harder 92 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VI. n 'έτι χρόνον μικρόν, 'έως πληρωθώσιν και οι συνοουλοι αυτών και οι αδελφοί αυτών οι μέλλοντες άποκτεν- 12 νεσθαι ως και αύτο'ι. "και εΊδον ότε ηνοιξεν την σφραγίδα την 'έκτην, και σεισμό? μέγας έ<γενετο, και ό ήλιος έγένετο μέλας ώς σάκκος τρίχινος, και η ιι en χρανον μικρό»] χρ. ετι μ. A v g "»""°i en χρονον Q min f »™ 45 Ar eais καιρού χρ. μ. syre" om en arm | εωή + ου ι 28 36 49 51 al | πλ,ηρωθωσιν AC 29 g vg K i»> 5 • 6 syrs™ Cypr Prim] τληρωσωσιν NPQ 1 al fere50 Andr | om και ante οι συνδ. Q vg me arm 1 Cypr I 01 μέλλοντες] pr και Q min 30 Ar | αιτοκτεννεσθαι KAC 2 17 18 19 130 al] απο- κτεινεσθαι PQ 1 6 14 30 38 91 92 + υπ αυτού Χ* 12 12 ειδον KP 1 al' 1 Andr Ar (iSov ACQ 7 14 32 92)] om 18 29 30 40 90 93 95 aeth | ore] pr και Ρ ι 1 2 13 alvg ,m Priml σεισμός] pr ιδού A V g ...και τα χειροποίητα πάντα κατακρύψονσιν, t εϊσενεγκαντες els τα σπήλαια και εις τας σχισμας των πετρών. ΐ6. και λέγουσιν τοϊς ορεσιν και τάίς πέτραις κτλ.] From Hosea χ. 8 ε'ροΰσιν τοϊς ορεσιν Καλύψατε ημάς, κα\ τοις βουνο'ις ΤΙέσατε εφ' ημάς. The words were quoted by our Lord on His way to the cross, Lc. xxiii. 30 τότε άρξονται λέγειν τοις ορεσιν κτλ. What sinners dread most is not death, but the revealed Presence of God. There is deep psychological truth in the remark of Gen. iii. 8 ε'κρύβησαν ο τε Άδά /i και η γυνή αυτοΰ άπο προσοίπου Κυρίου. The Apocalyptist foresees the same shrinking from the sight of God in the last generation of mankind which Genesis attributes to the parents of the race. But there will then be a ΎΠ. ι] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN ι 95 και άττο της όρ<γης τον αρνιού, ^οτι ηΧθεν η ήμερα η ι J μεγάΚη της όργης αυτών, και τις δύναται σταθηναι; τ Μετά τοΰτο είΰον τεσσάρας άγγελοι/? έστω- ι "VII. τας έττι τάς τεσσάρας <γωνίας της <γης, κρατοΰντας ι6 απο 2°] επι Ν* Ι οργή!] σχολ-η! 130 17 αυτών NO 38 130 vg syrr] αυτού APQ min fepeomn me arm aeth Andr Ar Prim | σταθηναι] στήναι 34 35 36 σωθηναι 40 48 Ar VII ι μετά] pr και NPQ min omnvld syrr arm aeth Andr Ar (om AC vg Prim) | τούτο] ταύτα Ρ r 28 36 al vg me syrr arm 4 | eiSov Ρ rain* 11 Ar] ιδον KACQ 7 14 32 92 | τεσσαροί] τέσσαρα i° et 3 A, 2° Ρ | om τη! γης 38 syrs w arm | κρατούντα!] pr και 28 73 97 syrr ' , further source of terror : the end brings with the revelation of God " the wrath of the Lamb." The words άπο Ttjs οργής τον άρνίον are pregnant with the grave irony which has already shewn itself in v. 5f. 28οΰ...ό λέων... και eiSov... άρνίον. But the situation is now reversed. The Lion standing before the Throne is the Lamb ; the Lamb in the great day of His ap- pearing is once more the Lion, in the terribleness of His wrath. In the Gospels οργή is attributed to Christ once only (Mc. iii. 5, see note), but His scathing denunciations of the Pharisees (Mt.• xxiii. 14 ff.) and His stern predictions of the doom of the impenitent make it evident that the Sacred Humanity is capable of a righteous anger which is the worst punishment that the ungodly have to fear, more insupportable even than the vision of the Divine Purity. 17. on ?jk6ev ή ήμερα ή μεγάΚη τη! οργής αύτων] 'The great day' is a phrase borrowed from the Prophets (Joel ii. 11, 31, Zeph. i. 14; cf. Jude 6). Here it is combined with another prophetic phrase, 'the day of wrath' (Zeph. i. 15, 18, ii. 3; cf. Bom. ii. 5). The Great Day of the Lord is a dies irae to the world. *Ηλ0η>, 'is already come ' (i.e. it came when the signs of the end described in vv. 12 — 14 began). Pear anticipates the actual event, for there is another seal to be opened be- fore the parousia. There have been epochs in history when the conscience of mankind has antedated the judge- ment and believed it imminent. Ύής οργής αυτών, sc. the wrath of God and of the Lamb : cf. v. 13, xxii. 1. κα\ τις δύναται σταθηναι;] 'And who, that has to meet that wrath, can hold his ground V Cf. Nah. i. 6 άττο πρόσωπον opyfjs αυτόν τις ύττοστήσεται; και ris άντιστήσεται iv οργή θυμοΰ αυ- τόν ; Mai. iii. 2 τις υπομένει ήμέραν εισοδον αντον ; η τις νποστήσεται iv rjj οπτασία αντον; Ps. xxxv. (xxxvi.) 13 ου μη δννωνται στήναι. The Only possible answer is given by Christ Himself in Lc. xxi. 36 άγρνπνεΐτε fie εν παντί καιρώ δεομενοι, ινα κατισχνσητε ...σταθηναι έμπροσθεν τον ν'ιοΰ τοΰ άν- θρωπου. VII. ι — 8. The Sealing of i44>p°° from the Tribes of Israel. I. μετά τούτο εΐδον κτλ.] Cf. iv. i, note. The reader expects και ore ηνοιξερ την• σφραγίδα την εβδόμην (viii. ι). But two episodes, Occupying the whole of c. vii., are introduced between the loosings of the sixth and seventh seals. A similar break follows the blowing of the sixth trumpet (x. 1 — xi. 1 3). The purpose of the present pair of visions (1 — 8, 9 — 17) is to con- trast the preparedness of the Church for the coming end with the panic of the unprepared world (vi. 1 5 ff.). eVi τας τέσσαρα! γωνίας της γήε• Cf. χχ. 8. The earth is regarded as τετρά- γωνος, in view of the four quarters from which the winds blow — the }ΗΚΠ ΓΙΊ233, LXX. ol πτέρυγες της γης, φ THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VII. ι τους τεσσάρας άνεμου? της γης, 'ίνα μη ττνεη άνεμος έπι της <γης μήτε έπι της θαΧάσσης μήτε έπι παν 2 ΰένΰρον. *και εΊδον άλλον ά<γ•γε\ον άναβαίνοντα άπρ άνατοΧης ηΧίου, έχοντα σφραγίδα θεού ζώντος' και ι τη! γη! ι°] om 38 me Byre" arm 2 • 8 al | πνεη] πνευση Κ 130 | ove/ios] pr C 14 16 92 93 95 98 I ενι τη! γη!] om A + Ισραήλ 130 [ τη! 0αλ.] om τη! Α + μητε ετι των ποταμών me | em -παν δενδρον Κ ι 10 17 28 al] επι τι δ. CQ min•" 1 em δ. Δ (me) (arm) aeth 2 ειδον KP all• 1 ] ιδον ACQ 7 14 92 | αναβαντα ι me | ανατολών A 90 syi*" | om η\ιου arm 4 of Isa. xi. 12, Ezek. vii. 2. Por oi τέσσαρες άνιμυι cf. Zech. ii. 6, ΤΪ. 5; Dan. vii 2, viii. 8, xi. 4, Mc. xiii. 27 ; Enoch (lxxvi. 7) mentions twelve winds (E. S. "W. N., and the intermediate points), κρατούντος roils τεσσάρας άνεμους κτλ."] At each of the quarters one of the four winds is held prisoner by an angel appointed to the task. Por κρατε'ιν, 'hold fast,' 'detain,' cf. Cant. iii. 4 εκράτησα αντον και ουκ , άφήκα αυτόν, Jo. XX. 23 αν τίνων κρατήτε {τας αμαρτία:] κεκράτηνται. With these angel-custodians of the winds may be compared the angel ό έχων εξουσίαν eVi roO πυρός (xiv. 1 8) and the "angel of the waters" (xvi. 5). The angels of the winds control their movements ; it is their mission to prevent out- breaks of elemental fury. According to Jewish belief a terrific storm was to usher in the end, cf. Orac. Sibytt. viii. 204 f. iroWfj δε τε λαίλαπι τυ,φών \ yalav ερημώσει• νεκρών δ' ε'πανάστασις εσται. Μήτε επι πάν δενδρον: the trees are specified, as suffering most severely from the violence of the winds. The change of case (γής. -θαλάσσης.. .δεν- δρον) answers to a subtle difference in the force of επί ; the winds blow on land and sea, but the trees are singled out for a direct attack. 2. και ειδον άλλον &γγελον άναβαί- νοντα κτλ.] A fifth angel is seen mounting up from the suurising,'ie. from the Orient; άπο~ ανατολών is the usual lxx. phrase (Gen. xi. 2, Mt. ii. 1) or less frequently, άπο ανατολής (Num. iii. 38, B), but ηλίου is some- times expressed (Jos. i. 1 5, xiii. 5 ; Isa. xi. 11, 14, Apoc. xvi 12). Prom the writer's point of view the East is the direction of Palestine and the countries beyond it ; and it was fitting that the angel who is to seal the tribes of Israel should appear from that quarter. Or there may be a re- ference to Ezek. xliii. 2 Ιδού δόξα θεοΰ Ισραήλ ηρχετο κατά την όδον την προς ανατολάς, Mai. iv. 2 (iii 20) άνατελεΐ νμϊν... ήλιος δικαιοσύνης. The angel's ascent implies that he has been em- ployed in some service on the earth, and now rises into the sky to deliver his message. , έχοντα σφραγίδα θεοΰ ζώντος] Σφρα- γίς is here the signet-ring = δακτύλιος (Gen. xli 42, Esther iii 10, viii 2 ff., Dan. vi. 17, 1 Mace, vi 15), which the Oriental monarch uses to give validity to official documents or to mark his property. The symbolism seems to be based on Ezek. ix. 4, where a man provided with an ink- horn is bidden to set a mark (1PI, σημεΐον, i.e. the letter Π which in the older script was cruciform, see Hastings, D. B. i p. 71) on the fore- heads of the righteous in Jerusalem, with a view to their being spared in an impending massacre. But for .a mark made by the pen of a scribe the Apocalyptist, who has lately had before him the vision of the sealed roll, substitutes the impression of the Divine signet-ring. The conception of a Divine sealing occurs freely in VII. 4] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 97 'εκραξεν φωνή μεγάλη τοΐς τεσσαρσιν άγγεΧοις ο'ις εδόθη αύτοΐς άΖικήσαι την γήν και την θάλασσαν, 3 Χεγων Μη άΖικησητε την γήν μήτε την θαΧασσαν 3 μήτε τα δει/δρα, άχρι σφραγίσωμεν τους ΒουΧους του θεού ημών επί των μετωπών αυτών. 4 και ήκουσα 4 τον αριθμόν των έσφραγισ μένων εκατόν τεσσερά- κοντα τέσσαρες χιΧιαΖες Σφραγισμένοι εχ πάσης φυΧής υιών ΊσραηΧ. 2 εκραζεν ΔΡ | το« τεσσαραι St* | om αυτοί: ι6 ι η 28 49 79 8° ] ayyeKois] jwots arm 1 3 αδικησεται Κ | μήτε ι°] μηδέ Κ 130 (item 2 ) και Α 37 3" 4 1 4 2 τ 8 Ι α ΧΡ'1 αχρις ου Q minP' αχ /us αν ί8 28 79 8ο 4 om και ι\κουσα...εαφραγισμενων Δ | εσφρα- γισμενοί] (σφραγισμένων Q 2 6 J 14 si om 130 syrs" | om ιιιων arm is to prohibit the angels of the winds from letting loose the elements until - his work of sealing isdone. For φωνή μεγ. see vi. 10. The angels of the winds are identified with the winds, as the angels of the Churches with the societies they represent (see i. 20, note) ; it is theirs to hurt or not as they will, unless withheld by a special prohibition (οία εδόθη αντοκ άδικησαι... μη άδικήσητε). The restraint which is put upon them represents the Divine postponement of the catastrophe until the Church is ready (xxi. 2). For ols.. .αντοΐι see ii. 7, note ; and for άδικεϊν=βλάπτειν, cf. ii. ii, note, vi. 6. 3. Άχρι σφραγίσωμεν tovs δούλους κτλ.] Cf. Apoc. ix. 4, xiv. 1, xxii. 4 ; a mark (χάραγμα) of the opposite character is mentioned in xiiL 16, xiv. 9, XX. 4. On τ. δούλους τοΰ θεοΰ see Apoc. i. 1, ii. 20, xix. 2, 5, xxii. 3, 6. "'Ημών, addressed by an angel to angels, points to the bond of a common service which links angels with the saints: 'they are the servants of the God whom we also serve.' 4 — 8. και ηκουσα τω» αριθμόν κτλ.] The Seer does not witness the sealing, but he hears the number of the sealed announced, and who they are. Έσφρα- γισμίνοι: the gender is determined by τους δούλους (v. 3) ; "WH. places a. St Paul (2 Cor. i. 22 ό καϊ σφράγισα- μένος ημάς, Eph. i. 1 3 εσφραγίσθητε τω πνενματι, iv. 30 το πνεΰμα το αγιον τοΰ θεού, iv ω εσφραγίσθητε els ήμεραν άπολυτρώσεως), and once in the Fourth Gospel (Jo. vi. 27 τοΰτον yap ό πατήρ εσφράγίσεν ό θεός). In post- Apostolic writings 'the seal of the Lord' is either Baptism (Herm. sim. ix. 16 ή σφραγϊς ovv to ϋδωρ εστίν, Clem. AL quis div. 42 to τελεον αΰτω φυ- λακτήριον επιστησας την σφραγίδα τοΰ κυρίου), or the chrism which followed it. Here the seal, being in the hands of an angel, can hardly be sacramental. The general sense is Well given in 2 Tim. ii. 19 ό μεντοι στερειι! θεμέλιοι τοΰ θεοΰ εστηκεν, έχων την σφραγίδα ταύτην 'Έγνω κύριοι τους οντάς αύτοϋ κτλ. Cf. Orig. in Joann. t. i. 1 τις ovv άλλη ε'ίη η σφραγϊς ή έπι των μετώπων η το όνομα τοΰ αρνιού και το όνομα τον πατρός αντοΰ ; With, θεοΰ ζώντος cf. χ. 6, χν. 7 : the phrase, which is fairly common in the N.T. (Mt. 2 , Acts 1 , Paul 5 , Heb. 4 , Apoc. 3 ), rests on the ^0 ?8 of the O.T. (Jos. iii. 10, Ps. xli.• 3 (xlii. 2), Hos. i. 10 (ii. 2)). In the Apoc; it suggests a contrast between the God of Christ and of Christians and the nonentities (1 Cor. viii. 4) of pagan worship. και εκραξεν φωνή μεγαΚ-η κτλ.] The first care of the Angel with the Seal s. R. 9 8 5 THE APOCALYPSE OE ST JOHN [VII. 5 s 4k ψυΧης Ιούδα δώδεκα χζλίαδε? έο-φραγισμενοι, εκ φυΧής 'Ρουβην δώδεκα χίλίαδε?, εκ φυΧή? Γάδ δώδεκα χιΧιάδες, 6 6 έκ φνΧης Άσηρ δώδεκα χιΧιαδες, εκ φυΧής ΝεφθαΧειμ δώδεκα χιΧιαδες, εκ φυΧής Μανασση δώδεκα χιΧιαδες, 5 εσφρα-γισμενοϊ\ εσφρα-γισμενων min>""" ! om syr* 1 " me arm | Υουβημ,. -βειμ, -βιμ mm nonn -β( ΐν τ $ο | Γαδ] Δαν (1)913 I S° I om ΕΚ φυλής Ταδ δωδ. χιλ. Ν 6 εκ φ. Αχτηρ δ. χ. post εκ φ. Ζαβονλων δ. χ. transpos me f ΝεφθαλειμΊ? ι η 28 τα 3 1 3 2 ] Νί00αλι/ι AQ min'""" ! -λιν Ο -λι ϋί syrr | Μανασση] Μαννασση Α Μαναση Q syrs" Δαν me comma after χιλ., but perhaps un- necessarily. The sum is 12 x 12,009, and each of the tribes of" Israel con- tributes an equal proportion. The tribes are named separately in the order : Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph (i.e. E- phraim), Benjamin. lists of the patriarchs or of the tribes occur in Geii. xxxv. 22 ff., xlvi 8 ff., xlix., Exod i. 1 ff., Num. i., ii., xiii. 4 ff., xxvi., xxxiv., Deut. xxvii. n ff., xxxiii. 6 ff., Josh, xiii — xxii, Judg. v., 1 Chron. ii. — viii., xii. 24 ff., xxvii. i6ff.,Ezek.xlviii.; a comparative table will be found in Hastings, D. B. iv. p. 811. The order differs more or less in every case. The Apocalyptic order starts with the tribe from which Christ came (cf. c. v. 5) ; and theii proceeds to the tribe of the firstborn son of Jacob, which heads most of the O.T. lists ; next come the tribes located in the North, broken by the mention of Simeon and Levi, who in other lists usually follow Reuben or Judah ; while Joseph and Benjamin, bring up the rear. This arrangement seems to have been suggested partly by the birth order of the patriarchs and partly by the geographical situation of the tribes ; Christian associations have pro-r bably determined the place of Judah and of the Galilean tribes. Since Levi is counted in, it has been necessary to omit one of the other tribes ; the omitted name is Dan, a tribe which perhaps is dropped also, together with Zebulun,, in 1 Chron. ii 3 — viii, but see Enc. Bibl. i p. 996, note. 4. A mystical reason was given for the omission of Dan from the Apocalyptic list by Irenaeus v. 30. 2 "Hieremias... et tribum ex qua veniet [Antichristus] manifestavit dicens : ex Dan audie- mus vocem velocitatis equorum eius (Jer. viii. 16).. .et propter hoc non an- numeratur tribus haec in Apocalypsi cum his quae salvantur." Cf. Hippo- lytus de Antichristo 14 ωσπερ γαρ εκ τής Ιούδα φυλής 6 χριστός γεννάται, όντως εκ της Δαν φυΚής 6 αντίχριστος γεννηθησεται. So Arethas : 17 φυλή τοΰ Ααν δια Υο εξ άύτής τον Άντίχριστον τικτεσθαι τοις Χοιπαΐς ον σνντέτακται, αλλ αντί αυτής ή τοΰ Λ«ιϊ ως ιερατική εις μερισμού εχομενη. Either from a misunderstanding of Gen. xlix. 17 or from the story of Judges xviii. (cf Targ. Jon. on Exod xvii 8), Dan is associated in Rabbinical lore with idol- atry and apostasy (see Shabbath 66) ; the Testaments of the xii Patriarchs (Dan 5) seem to predict an alliance between Dan and Beliar. On the late Christian tradition which assigns Antichrist to this tribe, see Bousset Antichrist, p. 112 ff.; it may partly be due to Jewish sources, and partly have been suggested by the omission of Dan from the Apocalyptic list. It is more important to enquire whether the Apocalyptist intends the VII. 9 ] .THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN .9.9 7 ε'κ φυΧης Cv/iewi/ ΰωΰεκα χίλία'δε?, εκ φυ\ης Aevec ΰωΰβκα χίλίαδε?, εκ φυ\ης ' Ισσαγαρ δώδεκα χίλίαδες, 8 εκ ώυΧής ΖαβουΧιαν δώδεκα .χίλίαδε?, εκ φυ\ής Ίωσηφ δώδεκα χίλίαδε?, ε'κ φυ\ης Βενιαμειν ΰωΰβκα χίλίοίδε? &<Γΐφρα•γισμ€νοι. 9 Me τα ταύτα et δον. και ίδοι) όχλοίί 7Γθλΐ/5, oV 9 7 om εκ 0ιιλι;5 Συμεών δωδ. χιλ. Κ 87 | Aewri ti] Aeui ACPQ min 01 "" | Ισσαχαρ XAP] Ισ-αχαρ CQ syrS" g vg fu Prim 8 Ιωσηφ et Βενιαμαν transp Ν 28 | Βενιαμειν AP 161] Βενιαμίν NCQ minP'.| ατφρα-γισμεναι Q mini 11 * 25 ΐσφρα-γισμενων 130 9 μετά. τούτα] pr /col syrB" | eiSov CP min? 1 ] (Sov KA(Q) 7 14 92 130 | om και ιδού Avg me eyrs" aeth Cypr bl " Prim al om ιδού C | οχΚον iro\w A vg me syrs"' aeth Cypr Prim al J op] και A 144,000 sealed Israelites to represent the elect of Israel (cf. Rom. xi 5 Χίμμα κατ έκΧσγήν χάριτοι), the Jewish Christians (Victorinus), or the whole \ numberofthefaithful(Primasius : "om- nis significatur ecclesia," and so Bede). The third of these views is supported, by (a) the tendency of the Apocalypse to regard the Church as the true Israel (cf. e.g. ii. 9, iii. 9 if.), (6) the use of the same number in xiv. 1 for the followers of the Lamb, whose foreheads bear the names of God and Christ, and (c) the circumstance that none are sealed but the 144,000 of Israel. Had it been the purpose of the Apocalyptist to distinguish between two bodies of the elect, he would surely hav N e repre- sented both as alike receiving the seal which was to mark the "servants of God"; but the sealing is expressly limited, to the twelve tribes. It follows that the Israel of the first vision is coextensive with the whole Church (cf. Orig. in Joqnn. t. i. 1, Renan, I'Antechrist, p. 390), and the όχλοι iroXvs of υ. 9 have been sealed already in their capacity of elect Israelites. The two visions depict the same body, under widely different conditions ; in dv. 4 — 8 the true Israelites (Jo. i. 17, Rom. ii. 29, Gal. vi. 16) of a single generation are marshalled under, the banners of their several tribes for the campaign which is yet before them, whereas in vv. 9 — 17 all the generations of the faithful appear in their cduntless numbers, no longer needing the safe- guard of the Divine Seal, but triumph- antandatrest. Cf.Beatus: "cxlivmillia omnino ecclesia est ; quid sit ex omni Iribu exposuit dicens ex omni gente." 9 — 17. The triumph of the innumerable multitude, 9. μιτά ταντα el8ov κτλ.] The second vision, introduced by a fresh μετά ταντα, presents a series of sharp con- trasts when compared with the first In the first, the concourse can be counted ; in the second, it is incalcu- lably great. In the first, it is drawn from the twelve tribes of Israel; in the second, from every nation. In the first, it is being prepared for imminent peril ; in the second, it is victorious and secure. και ISov ϋχΧοε noKvs κτλ.] . Cf. xix. ι, 6. The writer perhaps recalls the vast crowd that thronged our Lord during His ministry ; see Mc. iv. 1, v. 21, 24, Lei xii 1, Jo. vi. 2, xii. 9, 12. Ov άριθμήσαι αντον pv&eis ^διίϊ/ατο, in contrast with v. 4 ηκονσα τον αριθμόν ; possibly there is an allusion to Gen. xv. 5, xxxii. 12 (cf. Heb. xi. 12). In the Church, which is Abraham's seed, the promise of a countless progeny will at length be realised (Gal. iii. 7, 7—2 IOO THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VII. 9 άριθμησαι αυτόν ούδεις εΖύνατο, etc παντός έθνους και φυλών και λαών και γλωσσών, έστώτες ενώπιον του θρόνου και ενώπιον του άρν'ιου, περιβεβλημένους στολάς λεύκας, και φοίνικες εν ταΐς. χερσιν αυτών 9 pm αυτόν Q min n » n » et ut vid vg Cypr Prim | ηδυνατο Ρ ι 14 28 al™" | εστωτας Q minr'" 36 me' ld syrP" 11 εστωτων 38 εστωτα ιιι 19 93 | ενωτιον] ετι Α ] περιβεβλη- μένοι K*ACQ min"»» 35 Ar] περιβεβλημένοι Κ"•» Ρ ι 28 $6 49 9 1 τ 3° V 1 *<" s 7 rgw I φοίνικα Κ" ACP ι 7 3 4 5 36 38 87 130 Andr] φοίνικα! K*Q min""" 1 " 1 Ar κιθαραι me 29). "With εκ παντός έθνους κτλ. cf. Apoc. v. 9, xi. 9, xiii. 7, xiv. 6, xvii. 1 5 ; this favourite formula found a daily illustration in the polyglott cosmo- politan crowd who jostled one another in the agora or on the quays of the Asian seaport towns. Έστωτες (a constructio ad sensum ; the crowd is in thought resolved into the plurality of its countless constituents) ενώπιον τοΐι θρόνου κτλ. Hitherto only the Elders, the ζ$α, and the Angels have had places assigned to them in the presence of God and of the Lamb, but in this prospectivemsion the presence- chamber is crowded with a vast assemblage of men ; drawn from every nation upon earth and by some unex- plained process transported to heaven. Perhaps no passage in the Apocalypse has had so wide an influence on popular eschatology. The symbolism must not however be pressed into the service of the fancy which places redeemed humanity in a localised abode of God and of Angels. Life "before the Throne of God" is life wherever spent, if it is dominated by a joyful consciousness of the Divine Presence and Glory. The present picture must be correlated with that of cc. xxi., xxii., where the future state is pre- sented in the light of a City descending from Heaven, yet. possessing within its walls the Throne of God. The scene of vii. 9 flf. anticipates the final condition of redeemed humanity. Like the Transfiguration before the Passion, it prepares the Seer to face the evil which is yet to come. περιβεβλημένους στολας λεύκας κτλ.] The construction is much broken, as if in sympathy with the rapture and abandon of the moment. (όχλοι ... έστώτες ...περιβεβλημένους ... και φοίνικες. ..και κράζουσιν). The ace. περιβεβλημένους seems to presuppose an εΐ8ον, understood in ιδού (WE pp. 671, 724 ; Blass, Gr. p. 81) ; περιβε- βλημένοι is an obvious correction. The whole company of the elect are now seen clad in the white robes which in vi. 1 1 distinguish the Martyrs ; what thesymbol here represents is explained below, v. 13 f., where see notes. φοίνικες εν ταϊς χερσϊν αυτών] Φοί- νικες, ■palm branches (=κάλλυνθρα φοι- νίκων (Lev. xxiii. 40), φύλλα φ. (2 Esdr. xviii. (viii.) 15) or βαία φ. (Jo. xii. 13)), as in 2 MaCC X. 7 φοίνικας έχοντες ηϋ- χαρίστουν ; cf. Pollux i. 244 τοΰ μέντοι φοίνικος και ό κλάδος ομωνΰμως φοίνιξ καλείται. They were carried at the Feast of Tabernacles, and used in constructing the shelters on the house- tops required on that occasion (Lev. xxiii. 42, 2 Esdras 11. cc.) ; an allusion to these σκηνοί may be latent in v. 15 σκηνώσει επ* αυτούς. But palm- branches were regarded as appro- priate at any season of joy or triumph ; the Triumphal Entry (Jo. I. c.) may be in view, or such a scene as that described in 1 Mace. xiii. 51 εισήλθεν εις αυτήν [sc. την Ιερουσαλήμ]... μετά αινέσεως καί βαΐων.,.οτι συνετρίβη εχθρός μέγας εξ Ισραήλ, or in 2 MaCC l.c. Cf. Verg. Aen. v. 1 1 1 "palmae, pre- tium victoribus"; Pausanias, Arcad. 48 εις Βε την δεξίάν έστι και πανταχού VII. 12] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 'και! κράζουσιν (pwvij μεγάλη AeyovTes Ή σωτηρία τω θεώ ημών τω καθημένω εττι ΙΟΙ ΙΟ τω ιόνω και τω αρνιω. ττ και -πάντες ο'ι άγγελοι Ιστηκεισαν κύκλω τον θρόνου 1 1 και των πρεσβυτέρων και των τεσσάρων ζωών, και επ-εσαν ενώπιον του θρόνους έπι τα πρόσωπα αυτών και προσεκννησαν τω θεώ, ™\έ<γοντες 12 ίο κράζουσιν] εκραζον vg arm Oypr Prim κραξοντε* ι me Ar | του θεού A 38 me | τω καθημένω] pr και Byr8 w | του θρόνου ti ca Q I 7 36 79 al ] του αρχιου K c •* + eis roire ai&was των αιώνων αμήν Κ* II Ίστηκεισαν ΚΑΡ φ 130 (ειστ. Q)] εστηκεισαν (C) 51 | εττεσον Q minP 1 Audr Ar | θρόνου 2°] + αυτού Q minP'i 26 syr aeth Ar | τα πρόσωπα} πρόσωπον ι 48 me aeth [ om και προσεκυνησαν τω θεω syr"" Tert. τω νικωντι επιτιθέμενο! φοίνιξ ; scorp. 12 "palmis victoriae insignes revelantur scilicet de Antichristo triumphantes" ; Andreas: roi/s rfjs νίκη! χαρακτηριστικού! κλάδους.. -φοι- νίκων ταίΓ χερσιν εχοντει. Deissniann S suggestion (Bible Studies, p. 370) needs confirmation. ΙΟ. και κράζουσιν φωντ/ μεγάλη κτλ.] The polyglott multitude (έκ παντο! εθνου!...καϊ γλωσσών, V. 9) shouts its praises as with one voice ; for φωνή μεγάλτι see vi. 10, vii. 2. The key note of the strain is ή σωτηρία (cf. xii. 10, xix. 1) ; those who raise it have all experienced the great deliverance (v. 14) which they ascribe to God and the Lamb : cf. Ps. iii. 9 τοΰ κυρίου ή σωτηρία. To cry Ή σωτηρία τω θεφ καϊ τω άρνίωΪΆ equivalent to attributing to Both the title of Σωτήρ, so freely given by the loyal or pliant cities of Asia»to the Emperors, but belonging in Christian eyes only to God and to His Christ. The Pastoral Epistles supply examples of both applications, (i) I Tim. i. Ι θεοϋ σωτήροι ήμων, Η. 3» Tit. i. 3, iii. 4 τοΰ σωτηρο! ήμ. θεοϋ : (2) Tit. i. 4 Χρίστου Ίησοΰ τοΰ σωτηρο! ημών, Π. 13 τοΰ μεγάΚου θεοΰ και σωτη- ρο! ήμ. Χρίστου Ίησοΰ, iii. 6 δια Ίησοΰ Χρίστου τοΰ σωτηρο! ημών. For ή σωτ. compare Jo. iv. 22 ή σ. έκ των Ιουδαίων εστίν, Acts iv. 12 ουκ εστίν εν ά'λλω οΰδενϊ ή σ., Jude 3 γράφειν... περί τη! κοινή! ήμων σωτηρία!. Τω θεω ημών : cf. ν. 3, note. The elect of mankind claim God as their God, since He is the God of Christ (Jo. xx. 17, Apoc. iii. 12). 1 1, και πάντα οι άγγελοι Ίστηκεισαν κτλ.] Ιδού (exclaims Andreas) μία εκκλησία αγγέλων και ανθρώπων. The Angels endorse the ascription of praise, as in' iv. 1 1 ff. They form, as there, a circle romid the Throne, outside the Elders and the ζ$α ; their position relatively to the οχλοϊ πολύ: is not stated, but the exigencies of the scene appear to require that they should stand nearer the Throne. For the οχΚοι it is sufficient to be ενώπιοι^ τοΰ θρόνου (w. 9, 15), seeing the God, Whom they serve. και 'έπεσαν. ..in \ τα πρόσωπα αυτών κτλ.] Cf. iv. 10, xi. 16; and for αμήν, i. 7, v. 14, xix. 4. The Angels, while adding their 'Amen' to the doxology of the Church, offer their own tribute in other words. It is addressed to the Majesty on the throne, Whom like the redeemed they call their God (v. 12) ; the Lamb is not included as in v. 13. The ascription is sevenfold, as in v. 12, but it does not exactly agree with any of the previous dox- ologies, although each of its features has occurred in one or more of them ; for ευλογία cf. v. 12, 13 ; δόξα, i. 6, iv. II,. V. 12, 13 ; σοφία, V. 12; ευχαριστία, 102 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VII. 12 10 Άμην, η ευλογία και η Βόξα και y σοφία και η ευχαριστία και η τιμή και ή ΰύναμις και ή ισχύς τω θεώ ημών εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων άμην. 13 13 και άπεκρίθη eh εκ των πρεσβυτέρων λέγων μοι Ούτοι οι περιβεβλημένοι τας στολάς τάς λεύκας 14 τίνες είσιν και πόθεν ηλθον ; Ι4 και ε'ίρηκα αύτώ Κύριε μου, συ οΊΒας. και εΊπέν μοι Ούτοι είσιν 11 ο'ι ερχό- 12 om αμήν ι° me \ΐ) δο£α και -η ευλογία 130 8yr«" | om και η σοφία A | om αμψ ι° C «8 36 ι6ι Prim 13 οία εκ Κ αϊ 130 14 ειρηκα'] ειπον Q min 40 Ar I om μου A 1 vg cdd aeth utr arm 1 Prim | om μοι H IV, 9 ; τιμή, IV. 9, II, V. 12, 13 ; ϋυναμις, iv. 11, v. 12 ; ισχύς, v. 12 ; see notes ad II. As in v. 12, each word is emphasized by the article. The con- cluding αμήν is perhaps a liturgical addition, but it rests on good authority. 13. και άπ εκρίθη els εκ των πρεσβυ- τέρων κτλ.] An Elder intervenes, as in v. 5, to interpret the vision. For άπεκρίθη see Mc. ix. 5 note; for a similar use of άποκρίνεσθαι in the lxx. cf. Cant. ii. 10 αποκρίνεται άδίλφιδόί μον καϊ λέγει μοι Ανάστα, ίΚθί. The Elder anticipates the questions which the Seer was ready to put(o5Voi...riV« εισίν ; πόθεν ήλθον;); Bede : "inters rogat ut doceat." The vision was not a mere spectacular display, but a revelation; and its points must not be missed. Tar στολίΐ! ras fyvKas, the white robes which arrest attention : cf. στολάς Χευκάί, v. 9, note. 14- και ε'ίρηκα αύτφ κτλ.] Cf. Zech. iv. 2, 5 και ειπεν προί με Τι σύ βλέπεις •, ...και ειπεν... Ον γινώσκεις τι εστ\ν ταϋτα ; και είπα Ουχί, κύριε. If the perfect (ε'ίρηκα) is Ιο be pressed here, it must be explained as meaning that to the Seer's mind the whole scene was still fresh and vivid, that he seemed to himself to have but just spoken, as if the echoes of his voice were not yet silent. On the quasi- aoristic use of the perfect in this book*, see v. 7, note. Κύριε, so the O.T. apocalyptic writers address a superhuman person ; cf. Dan. x. 16 f, Zech. iv. 5, 13 ; or κύριε may be merely the ' sir ' of courtesy, as in Jo. xx. 1 5, where it is addressed to one who is supposed to be a κηπουροί. Συ οίδας is at once a confession of ignorance, and an appeal for information ; cf. Ezek. xxxvii. 3 καϊ ειπεν προς με.,.Έΐ ζήσεται τα όστέα ταϋτα ; καϊ είπα Κύριε, συ έπίστη ταϋτα. Contrast the σύ οΐδαί of Jo. xxi. ι S ff. και ειπεν μοι Οντοί είσιν οι ερχόμενοι κτλ.] Theanswer covers both questions (τίνες χ και πόθεν;). 'These who wear the white robes are such as come (o£ ερχόμενοι, timeless, cf. WM. p. 444) out of the Great Tribulation.' The reference is probably to Dan. xii. 1 Th. εσται .καιροί θλίψεως, θλίψις οία ου γεγονεν άφ' ης γεγενηται έθνος ; cf. Μθ. xiii. 19• There is a θλίψης "Ι^σοϋ which His servants share (i. 9, ii. 9 £), but the Great Tribulation (17 θλ. ή μεγ., cf. Acts Vlii. ΙΟ ή δύναμις ή θεοϋ ή καλούμενη μεγάλη) is the super- latively great crisis of trial through which all must pass (iii. 10), and from which the servants of God alone emerge unscathed The present vision, which anticipates the issue of the final judgement, represents the latter as already delivered out of the evil to come. VII. i S ] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 103 μβνοι έκ της ΘΧί-ψ-εως της μ6>γάΧης, και βττΧυναν τας στοΧας αυτών και έΧευκαναν αύτας ev τω αϊματι τοΰ άρνίου. IJ Sia τοΰτό βϊσιν ενώπιον τοΰ θρόνου τοΰ 1 5 θεοΰ, και Χατρεύουσιν αύτω ημέρας και νυκτός ev toj 14 ex ttjs βλιψεω? τη! μεγά\φ] ατο θλιψ. /«γ. Δ Cypr oa | ετ\υνα.ν~\ eirKarwav ι ι g 13* 29 3° 4 1 4 2 5° 93 94 95 97 9& Ι 3° I om β•"" 1 " Q min• 1 ^ 80 aeth utr Δι και ϊπλυναν ται στόΚα! αΰτώι/ κτλ.] The conception comes partly from Exod. xix. io, 14, where the Israelites wash their clothes before the law- giving; partly from Gen. xlix. 11 πλνι /tl ev ο'ίνω την στοΚήν αυτόν, καϊ iv αϊματι σταφνΚη! τ'ην ΊΤ^ριβόΚην αντοΰ. The στολαί of the redeemed, however, are not ερυθροί (cf. Isa. lxiii. 1), but λενκαί. Hence Έπλυναν is explained by ίΚΐΰκαναν (Tert. candidaverunt, Prim. candidasjfecerunt, Vg. dealbaverunf) ; cf. Ps. 1. (li.) 9, which may also be in view : nhwei! με, καϊ iitep χιόνα Χευκανθήσομαι : cf. Isa. i. 1 8 eav ωσιν al άμαρτίαι υμών a>s φοινικοΰν, car χιόνα Χινκανω, eav Se ωσιν ώι κόκκινον, οίϊ epiov \cvKava. Aevxaivctv is lised in reference to the fuller's art, cf. Mc. ix. 3 τα Ιμάτια αντοΰ iyevero στιΚβοντα λευκά λίαν, οία yva(pcvs eVt της yr/s ον δύναται οΰτωι \evKavau The whiteness of the saints 1 robes is gained iv τω αΐματι τοΰ άρν'ιον ; cf. i. 5> ν • 9> parallels which ought to have saved some ancient writers (e.g. Tertullian, scorp. 12 ; Arethas : 17 ΰπίρ χριστοΰ ίίκχνσΐ!) from the mistake of under- standing the Blood of the Lamb here to mean the blood of martyrs shed for His sake; the candidates martyrum exercitus itself owes its whiteness to the Great Sacrifice. Cf. Beatus : "hi sunt qui venerunt etc.: non ut aliqui putant martyres soli sunt, sed omnis ecclesia; non enim 'in sanguine suo' lavari dixit... sed in sanguine agni." To aijua τοΰ άρνίου is the Sacrifice of the Cross, cf. 1 Pet. i. 2, 19, 1 Jo. i. 7, Rom. ihv-25, v. 9, Eph. L 7, Col. i. 20, Heb. ix. 14; the paradox TievKaiveiv ev αϊματι is in accord *with the manner of this book, where violent contrasts abound. The aorists eirKwav, ekeinavav, look back to the life on earth when the cleansing was effected (Mc. ii. 10). The act is ascribed to the saints themselves, and not to Christ, as is the act of redemption (i. 5, ™ λΰσαιτι, V. 9 ήγόρασα!); the saints are not passive recipients of redemption, but cooperate with the Divine, grace by repentance and faith and the use of the Sacraments (Acts Xxii. 16 βάπτισαι καϊ άποΚουσαι τα; αμαρτία! σον : Mt. XXVI. 27 f. mere e| αντοΰ πάντ€ί 9 τοΰτο• yap εστίν το αίμα μου τη! διαθήκη! τ6 περϊ ττοΧΚών έκ- χνννόμενον ets. άφίσιν αμαρτιών), and by vigilance and victory over sin (c. xii. 1 1•). 15. δια τοΰτό elaiv evdmiov τον θρόνου τον θεού] Δια τοΰτο refers to the whole of the preceding sentence (και enkvvav... τοΰ' άρνίου). The purifi- cation of the conscience and character derived in their lifetime from faith in the Blood of Jesus Christ (Acts xv. 9, Heb. ix. 14) had fitted them for the Presence of God ; cf. Mt. v. 8 μακάριοι οι καθαροί rrj καρδία, οτι αϋτοϊ τον 0ebv ο-ψονται. See Ephes. v. 26 f. for a picture of the Church in her final purity, fresh from the bath of a perfect absolution — μη Έχουσα σπ'ιΚον η ρυτίδα η τι των τοιούτων, ayia και άμωμοι. και \arpe νουσιν αϋτω ημέρα! καϊ νυκτόί κτλ.] Cf. XXU 3 °* δοΰλοι αντοΰ "Κατρίΰσουσιν αύτφ* ,Οη Xarpeveiv see Lightfoot, Philippians (iii. 3). In the ιχχ. (excepting Daniel) it is the normal equivalent of 13Γ, as distinguished from the priestly TVyt? which is usually 104 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN• [VII, is ναω αύτοΰ, και ό καθήμενος έττι του θρόνου σκηνωσβι ι6 έπ αύτους. τ6 ού πεινάσουσιν ετί οι/δε Ζι^ησονσιν 1 5 τω θρονω PQ minP 1 * 80 syr* w Ar | σκηνωσα eir αυτουί~\"γιι>ωσκα αυτ.Η* inhabitavit in eis Prim (cf arm) 16 om en ι" Κ 36 vg me syrr arm 3 • 4 aeth Cypr Prim | ουδέ I°] ουδβ μη A 14 92 | διψησωπιν Ρ 14 represented by XeiToupyeii/. Since the members of the Church are 'priests unto God' (i. 6, T. 10, xx. 6) Xenovpyeiv might have been expected here and in xxii. 3 rather than Xarpeve iv. But the conception is that of a vast worshipping congregation, and the use of λειτονργεΐν would rather have suggested that of an exclusive priest- hood admitted to the sanctuary, while the great majority were content to pray without (Lc. i. 10, 21). 'Έν τω ναω αντον. The Israelite who was not a Priest or Levite did not proceed beyond the iepov, one tribe alone having access to the ναός. But in the Eternal Temple the Seer sees the whole 'Israel of God' admitted to the vaos•, and the occasion for the \i ιτονργία of a tribal or special priesthood has disappeared, all being priests and all serving in the Presence of God. The mention of a temple must be cor- rected by the later revelation in C. ΧΧΪ. 22 και ναον ονκ eiSov iv airfj, 6 γαρ κύριος... ναός αυτής ΐστιν. The ' temple' is here the Divine Presence, realized and enjoyed ; iv τω ναω αύτον is equivalent to ivamov τον θρόνου (to. 9, 15). The Xarpeia of the Church is not interrupted by nightfall (for ημέρας και νυκτός see Lc. xviii. 7,1 Thess. v. 5, Apoc. iv. 8). Even the Temple had its night offices ; see I Chron. ix. 33 ημέρα και ννξ eV αυτοί! (τοΊς ψάΚτω- Sois) iv το'ις ΐργοις, Ps. cxxxiii. (cxxxiv.) 2 iv rats νυξιν iirapart χΰρας νμων els τα. άγια. The Church inherited the practice, and the stillness of the night was broken by the vigil services of the early times (Batiffol, Breviaire, p. 2 if.) and at a later date, in monastic communities, by the matin-lauds. But the vision of ceaseless worship is realized only when life itself is regarded as a service. The con- secration of all life to the service of God is the goal to which our present worship points, and it is symbolized by the Apocalyptist's λατρινουσιν ημέρας και νυκτός. Here again the later vision of the closing chapter corrects the earlier: cf. Apoc. xxL 25, xxii. 5 νυξ ονκ ?σται ετι. Cf. Andreas: το γαρ ημέρας και νύκτας ίνταΰθα 8η\οΐ , το άκατάπαυστον. και ό καθήμενος επί τοΰ θρόνου σκη- νώσΐί eV αυτούς] Perpetual service will find its stimulus and its reward in the perpetual vision of Him Who is served. 2κηνοΰν represents pB* in the lxx. ( Jud. v. 1 7, viii. 1 1 (B), 3 Regit, viii. 14(A)); in theN.T. its use is limited to the Johannine writings (Jo. L 14, Apoc. vii. 15, xii. 12, xiii. 6, xxi. 3). The reference both here and in xxi. 3 is to the O.T. promise that God would • 'walk' or 'dwell' in Israel (Lev. xxvi. 22 ένπιριπατήσω iv νμιν, Zech. ii. IO κατασκηνώσω iv μέσω σον, ib. viii. 3, 8, Ezek. xxxvii. 27 ίσται ή κατασκήνωσίς μου iv αύτοΐς). The assonance of σκηνονν, \3ψ, HVD^ has probably suggested the use of σκηνοΰν both in Jo. I. C. (ο Χογος.,.εσκήνωσΐν iv ημΐν) and in Apoc. vii., xxi. 2κηνω"σ(ΐ iif αντονς (here only : cf. xxi 3 σκηνώσα /ίϊτ αύτων) brings in the further idea oi God's Presence as a protection from all fear of evil, with reference perhaps to Isa. iv. 5 f., where the Pillar of the Exodus suggests the overshadowing of Israel by the Shekinah. An allusion to the άκηναί of the Feast of Taber- nacles is also possible ; see v. 9, note. The Apocalyptist now passes from the present tense to the future (σκη• ΥΠ. 17] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 105 έτί, ούΰε μη ττεση eV αυτούς ό ήΑιος οι/δε πάν καύμα• %Ί 'ότι το άρν'ιον το άνα μβο~ον του θρόνου ποιμανεΐ ι J αυτούς και οδηγήσει αύτους 'έπι ζωής πηγας ύΰατων ι6 om en 2° Ρ ι 34 & 1 8 ΰ me syre" arm 1 | ουδέ /Μ^ουδ ου μτ; Q min f<,re 40 Andr Ar | ττεση en- ciutous] 7ταισΐ) aureus arm | om καν 6 π 31 arm 17 ποιμαινει 2 \ 13 29 31 al' ™ 25 me | oSiryei 2 4 alP'i 25 | fuijs] fwoxis 1 38 79 96 syr ξωψ και ewi syre" ΐΌοσβι, cf. v. 16 f.); the vision becomes a prediction. 16. ov πεινάσουσιν en κτ\.] An- dreas : (Ικότωι τον γαρ αρτον των ουρανών κα\ το νδωρ της ζωής εξουσι. This verse, with part of the next,' is borrowed from Isa. xlix. 10 where of Israel returning from , exile we read: οι) πεινάσουσιν ονδί διψήσουσιν, ουδί πατάξει avrovs καύσων ovbe 6 rjXwt, άΧΚ' ο e'XetSi» avrovs παρακαΚίσει, και δια πηγών υδάτων αξει avTovs. The changes which the Apocalyptist makes are interesting: καύσων (the sirocco, cf. Mt. xx. 12, Lc. xii. 55, Jac. i. 11) is changed into πάν καύμα (Latt. aestus, scorching heat of any kind), παρα- κάΚεσει (03Π2Ϊ) καΐ αξει into ποιμανει και οδηγήσει, while 6 e\e£v αυτούς becomes το άρνίον. For the interpretation of oi5 πεινά- σουσιν here see Jo. vi. 35, and for ai διψήσουσιν, Jo. iv. 14, vi. 35, vii. 37. With οΰδε πάν καύμα contrast xvi. 9. Tiaio-rj en for πέσ -g cV is an attractive conjecture; it agrees with πατάξω (Isa. I. c), and for the itacism cf. the apparatus here and at ix. 5. 17. ότι το άρνίον κτλ.] To άρνίον τό άνα. μέσον τον θρόνου looks back to C. V. 6 iv μέσα τ. θρ. άρνίον. Άνα μέσον (used here only in Apoc.) is usually 'between,' 'amongst' (cf. Mt xiii. 25, Mc. vii. 31, 1 Cor. vi. 5), but it sometimes stands for iv μέσω (e.g. Jos. xix. 1, Sir. xxvii. 2, Mt. xiii. 25), and this must be its meaning here. To άρνίον... ποιμανΛ is a bold mixture of. two metaphors. Ιίοιμαίνειν has been used of Christ in ii. 27, where and in xii. 5, xix. 15, there is a reference to Ps. ii. 9 ; here the con- text guides us to Isa. xL 11 <»r. ποιμην ποιμανεϊ το ποίμνιον αντοΰ, Or to Ezek/xxxiv. 23, but especially to Ps. xxii. (xxiii.) I ff. Kvplos ποιμαίνει μι... ώδήγησίν με, lxxix. (ΙχχΧ.) I 6 ποιμαίνων τον 'ϊσραηΚ.,.ο οδηγών ώσΑ πρόβατα. In Christ the Shepherd has taken the nature of the sheep ; the ποιμην 6 koXos is Himself of the fold (το άρνίον). On ποιμαίνειν see ii. 27, note. Όδηγεΐν no less than 7roifici(V«i'hasaninteresting history in Biblical Greek. It is used of the Divine guidance of Israel (Exod. xv. 13, Deut. i. 33), of the guidance of individual lives (Ps. v. 9, lxxxv. (Ixxxvi.) 11, Sap. ix. 11); of the work of the Spirit of Christ (Jo. xvi. 13); and lastly, in this place, of the work of Christ Himself in the future order. The Divine shepherding and guidance of men belongs to the future as well as to the present life, and in the future only meets with a full response (cf. Jo. x. 4, Apoc. xiv. 4). hr\ ζωηι πηγας υδάτων] The order emphasizes ζωής — 'to Life's water- springs,' Vg. advitaefontes aquarum; Alford well compares 1 Pet. iii. 21 σαρκός άπόθεσκ ρύπου, Isa. I. c. ?ΰ D?D W-OD supplies ori jr. ύδ. ; ζωής is perhaps from Jer. ii. 13 [ό λαότ μου~\ εμέ ενκατεΧιπον, πηγην νδατοί ζωής Olpi? Ο'ΪΠ'ΒΉ), The change of order gives' prominence to the mention of life. It is to God as the Fountain of life (Ps. XXXV. (xxxvi.) ΙΟ παρά σοι πηγή ζωηί) that the Lamb leads His sheep: cf. xxi. 6, xxii. 1, 17. The interpretation is again supplied by the Johannine Gospel; see Jo. iv. 12, 14; vii. 38 f. The plurals πηγας. υδάτων are perhaps not to be pressed, being merely echoes of the Hebrew (cf. viiL 10, xiv. 7, xvi. ιο6. THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VII. 17 VIII. και εξαλείφει ό θεός πάν §Ζάκρυον έκ των όψθαΧμών αυτών. 1 Και 'όταν ηνοιξβν την σφραγίδα την έβΰομην, 2 εγενετο σιγή ev τω ουράνω ω? ημιωρον. 'και ειοον ISc 17 om ο θΐοί syr« w | εκ] απο Ν 28 al g vg c, °"i"" me | οφθαλμών} προσώπων arm ΥΙΠ ι όταν AC] ore KPQ min" >mnvil1 Andr Ar | ημιωρον AC 91 97] ημίωρων NPQ minP' Andr Ar 2 eiJov Ρ ι al? 1 Andr Ar] lSov NACQ 7 14 92 130 4) ; if they have any significance here, they point to the secondary sources which are replenished by the 'Fountain itself, or to the manifold energies of the one Christ-life (1 Cor. xii. 4 if.), as the πνεύματα of i. 4 etc. re- present the διαιρέσεις χαρισμάτων of the One Spirit. και ΐξάλύψιιι ό Seos πάν δάκρνον κτλ.] Yet another reference to the O.T. ; cf. Isa. xxv. 8 where the lxx. have άφΰλιν Κύριος ό Btos πάν δάκρνον απο παντοι προσώπου, but Synimachus, influenced perhaps by his recollections of this passage, renders ΠΠρ -l by και i £αλ«ίψ•«. The sentence occurs again with verbal changes in c. xxi. 4 ; indeed, the whole of the episode c. vii. 9 — 17 finds echoes in the last two chapters of the book, where the climax here anticipated is fully de- scribed. Ou the main' thought see Tertullian de res. cam. 58 "delebit ileus omnem lacrimam ab oculis eqrum, utique ex iisdem oculis qui retro fleverant, quique adhuc flere potuissent, si non omnem lacrimae imbrem indulgentia divina siccaret... dolor et maeror et gemitus...quomodo auferentur, nisi cessaverint causae ?... ubi casus adversi apud Deum, aut ubi incursus infesti apud Christum?... quae infirmitas post virtutem 1 quae imbecillitas post salutem i" Beati — so Bede sums up in the words of the second /Beatitude — qui luffent, quohiam ipsi consolabuntur. VIII. 1 — 13. The Opening op THE SEVENTH SEAL ; THE HALF- HOUB'S SILENCE : THE FIKST FOUR TRUMPET-BLASTS. Ι. και όταν ήνοιξιν την σφραγίδα την ίβδόμην] The sequence broken by the two visions of c. vii. is resumed. The Lamb opens the last of the seals (cf. vi. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12), and the book can now be unrolled and read. We expect the catastrophe, which had been foreboded by the signs and by the panic that followed the penultimate opening, at length to supervene. But all is still ; there is neither sight nor sound to indicate the approach of the end. "Οταν is substituted for ore, which is used on previous occurrences of the formula, perhaps with the view of emphasizing the uncertainty of the time of the end ; cf. Mc. xi. 19, Apoc. iv. 9, where it implies the indefinite repetition of an act. The construc- tion halts between όταν άνοιξη and SW ^cot|ev. Blass (Gr. p. 218) prefers to regard it as due to linguistic de- terioration,' urging that in late Greek όταν and ore are indistinguishable. "Ήνοιξεν, sc. το apvlov, as in vi. 1. cyevcro σιγή cv τω οΰρανω κτλ.] Heaven, hitherto resonant with voices, now holds its peace : neither Elder nor Angel offers a word of explanation (v. s, vii. 13); there is neither chorus of praise nor cry of adoration (iv. 8, ii; v. 9f., 12 f., vii. 10, 12); no ζωον calls "Ερχου (vi. 3 etc.) ; no thunders issue from the Throne (iv. 5). This silence does not spell a cessation of the Divine workings (Ign. Eph. 19 iv •ησυχία θι-οΰ ίπράχθη, Magn. 8 λό -yos άπο σι•γηι προ(λθων), but a temporary suspension of revelation; cf. Renan, VAntechrist, p. 391 "le premier acte VIII. 3 ] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 107 τους βτττά dyyeXovs o l i ενώπιον του θβον έστηκασιν, και εδόθησαν αύτοΐς ' έτττά σάΧπιγγε^. 3 και αΧΧος 3 a 3 om O77 e ^ os syr 8 ™ I εξ-ηλθεν Ϊ30 al mu [ του θυσιαστήριου KCQ 6 7 14 28 29 31 35 38 al nonn ] το θυσιαστηριον ΔΡ ι 36 49 19, 26), Bemiel (Hieremihel; 4 Esdr. iv. 36); cf. ib. lxxxi. 5, xc. 21 f. 'Angels of the Presence' are men- tioned repeatedly in the Book of Jubilees (i. 27, 29; ii. 1 f., 18, xv. 27, . xxxi. 14, where see Charles's note) ; the title comes from Isa. lxiii. 9 VJB ^K 1 ?!?, and the idea from the practice of Oriental courts (cf. Gen. xlv. 1, 2 Esdr. vii. 24, Esth. i. 14, viii. 4, Job i. 6, Zech. iv. 14, vi. 5, Dan. vii. ίο, 4 Mace. xvii. 18, Lc. i. 19). On the possible connexion • of the later Jewish angelology with Parsism or Zoroastrianism, see Hast- ings, D. B. i. 96, iv. 991 ; Driver, Daniel, p. xcvi., J. T.S. iii., p. 514 if. ; the evidence, so far as it has been produced, is interesting but scarcely conclusive. Οί ενώπιον κτλ. ; cf. Lc. i. 19 iyd> ειμί Υαβριήλ. 6 παρεστηκώς ενοίπιον -τον θεοΰ. και εδόθησαν αϋτοΐς επτά σάΚπιγγα] Trumpets are assigned to Angels in Mt. xxiv. 31, 1 Cor. xv. 52, 1 Thess. iv. 16, Apoc. iv. 1, 4 Esdr. vi. 23, Apoc. Mos. 22 ; the conception rests ultimately on the scene of the Law- giving (Exod. xix. i6ff.), which Jewish thought connected with the ministry of Angels (Acts vii. 38, Gal. iii. 19). The Trumpets of the Seven are pre- sently to break the silence which' followed the opening of the last seal with fresh revelations of the Divine purpose. There is possibly an allusion to Jos. vi. 13 οι ίπτά if pet? οί φέροντες τάς σάλπιγγας τάς ίπτά κτλ. ; cf. also Joel ii. Ι σαλπίσατε σάλτηγγι εν Σειών , . .διότι πάρεστιν ήμερα Κυρίου, δτϊ εγγύς. 3• καί άλλος άγγελος η*λθεν κτλ.] Another Angel, not one of the Seven (cf vii. 2, χ., i, xiv. 6 ff., xviii. 1), came du mystere est tennine." There is a partial parallel in Apoc. x. 4 σφράγισον α ελάλησαν ai επτά βρονταί, καί μη αυτά γράψτ/ς, but there the Seer hears though he may not impart ; here the Seer himself is kept in ignorance. The remark of Victorinus, "signi- ficatur initium quietis aeternae, ' is attractive, but exegetically irrelevant; σιγή is• not characteristic of the heavenly rest. Nor is it more to the point to refer to such passages as Hab. ii. 20, Zeph. i. 7, Zech. ii. 13; the Apocalyptic silence is in heaven and not on earth. ως ήμίωρον, sc. χρόνον (Prim, fere' *emihora, Vg. quasi media• hora), \cc. of duration. The adjective is απ. λεγ., ημιώρων being the usual form. Tor ώρα, as the twelfth part of the natural day, see Jo. i. 40, iv. 6, xix. 14, Acts v. 7, x. 3. Half-an-hour, though a relatively short time, is a long interval in a drama, and makes an impressive break between the Seals and the Trumpets. 2. καί εΐδον τους επτά αγγέλους' κτλ.] Seven Angels are required by the situation, and the number finds a parallel in the 'seven Spirits of God' and other hebdomads in this book. The article seems to point to the well-known group of Angels first mentioned, as it seems, in Tobit xii. 1 5 'Ραφαήλ εις εκ των επτά αγγέλων οι ,.,εϊσπορευονται ενώπιον της δο£ης~του 'Αγίου. In Enoch χχ. 7 (Gr.) they are styled 'archangels,'and their names are given as Uriel (4 Esdr. iv. 1), Raphael (Tob. I.e.), Raguel, Michael (Dan. x. 13, 21, xii. 1, Jude 9, Apoc. xii 7), Sariel (Eth. Saraqael), Gabriel (La i. ιο8 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VIII. 3 €χων Χιβανωτον χρυσοΰν, και εδόθη αύτώ θυμιάματα 7Γθλλα, 'ίνα δώσει ταΐς προσευχάΐς των ayiwv πάντων επί το θυσιαστηριον το χρυσοΰν το ενώπιον του 3 Χιβανωτον) Χιβανον το C | ινα δώσει KAC ι al" ""] ινα ίωση PQ mill••'" ίνα δω 6 9 Γ 4 3 6 om B y r8W Ι om τ0 χρνσουν syr 8 * \ το ενώπιον] om το Κ Ar forward and took his place (έστάθη, cf. Lc. xviii. 1 1, 40, Acts v. 20, xvii. 22) over, i.e. before, the Altar, as in Amos ix. I εΐδον τον κύριον εφεστώτα έπ\ (/S) τοΰ θυσιαστηρίου, where the prep, denotes the position of one who stands (B.D.B., p. 756) "by (prop, leaning over) an altar or sacrifice." The celestial mes- senger takes the place of the priest, and offers the incense ; contrast the position of Gabriel in Lc. i. 11 (έστως εκ δεξιών τοΰ θυσιαστηρίου τοϋ θυμιάματος). The, altar is not as in vi. 9 the Altar of Burnt offering, but the Altar of Incense ; to 6. to χρνσοΰν to ενώπιον τοΰ θρόνου points to Exod. xL 5 θησεις το θυσιαστηριον το χρυσοΰν.. .εναντίον της κιβωτού, cf. Lev. IV. 7 εναντίον Κυρίου ; it iff the θυσιασ- τηριον τοΰ θυμιάματος of Lev. IV. 7, 1 8 — the θυμιατηριον of Heb. IX. 4. Cf. Iren. iv. 18. 6 "est ergo altare in caelis, illuc enim preces nostrae et oblationes nostrae diriguntur." έχων Χιβανωτον χρυσοΰν κτλ.] Λι- βανωτός is elsewhere .'frankincense'; the commentators quote the scholiast on Ar. nul•. Χίβανος.,.αύτό το δένδρον, Χιβανωτυς δε 6 καρποί τον δένδρου, and Ammonius: λιβανοί yap κοινώς το δένδρον καϊ το θυμιώμενον, Χιβανωτος δε μόνον θυμιωμενος. The latter is evidently the meaning, of Χιβανωτός in 1 Chron. ix. 29, 3 Mace. v. 2, as of Χίβανος in Lev. ii. 1, Apoc. xviii. 13; but here and in v. 5 χρυσοΰν shews that a censer is intended; for 'censer' (nnriD, rn$5l?) the ,lxx. use πυρεϊον (Exod. xxvii. 3, xxxviii. 23 (3), Num. xvi. 6ff., Sir. 1. 9), or θυίσκη (3 Itegu. vii. 36 (50)), or θυμιατηριον (2 Chron. xxvi. i9,Ezek. viii. 11, 4 Mace. vii. 11); the later Greek has Χιβανωτίς or Χιβανωτρις. και εδόθη. ..Ινα δώσει κτλ.] The Angel received the incense for a particular purpose. 'Εδόθη, as εδόθησαν in v. 2 (cf. vi. 2, 4, 8, 1 1, vii. 2, et passim), does not describe an act which forms part of the vision, but is simply a recognition of the Divine ordering of all life ; cf. 1 Cor. iv. 7 τι δε έχεις ο ουκ έλαβες; On the future δώσει (XAC) see iii. 9, note ; δάση, δω, are probably _ corrections of the less usual form.' θυμιάματα, as in v. 8, where see note ; but the metaphor is differently hand- led here, for while in c. v. the prayers of the saints are the incense or incense- bowls, in this place they are apparently the live coals on which the grains of incense fall (ΐνα δώσει ταΐς προσευ- χα'ις, Prim, ut daret orationibus, Vg. wrongly, >ut d. de orationibus) ; the meeting of the incense and the hot coals produces the fragrant smoke cloud, the symbol of Divine accept- ance. This change brings into sight the relation of Christ's sacrifice and intercession to the prayers of the Church ; cf. Bede : " Christ» Domino se hostiam suavitatis offerente com- punctio cordis sanctorum acceptabilis facta est." Cf. Eph. v. 2 ό χριστός... παρεδωκεν εαυτόν νπερ υμών προσφοραν και θυσίαΡ τω θεώ εϊς όσμην ενωδίας: the doctrine is substantially that of Jo. xiv. 16, xvi. 23 f, 1 Jo. ii. if., Rom. viii. 34, Heb. xii. 25. ,τώι> άγιων πάντων, not of the martyrs only (vi pf.) but of all the faithful; cf. Eph. iii. 18. The Angel with the golden censer belongs perhaps to the scenery of the vision rather than to its teach- ing; at the same time it does not VIII. 6] THE APOCALYPSE OE ST JOHN 109 θρόνου. Α καϊ άνέβη ό καπνό? των θυμιαμάτων ταΐς ψ π ροσευχαΐς των άγιων έκ -χείρον του ayyeXou ενώπιον του θεοΰ.^ 3 και ειΧηψεν ό άγγεΧος τον Χιβανωτόν, 5 ^ α και έγεμισεν αυτόν έκ του πυρόν του θυσιαστηρίου και εβαΧεν ets την yfjv και eyevovTO βρονται και φωναι και άστραπαι και σεισμός. 6 καϊ οι επτά 6 4 του προσευχαΐί] de orationibvs vg [ του θεού] + ήμερα! χίλια! διακονίας εξηκοντα C 5 το Χιβανωτόν... αυτό 7 33 34 3*> 4° 5° Ι του θυσιαστήριου] τον εππου θυσ. syr*" | εβαΧεν] ελαβο» Α εβαΧΧεν Ρ | βρονται κ. φωναι κ. άστραπαι KQ 6 8 14 20 31 35 &7 ν 8 ^τ^βρ. κ. αστρ. κ. φωναι Α ι6 38 me syr φωναι κ. βρ. κ. αστρ. Ρ ι al mu | om και σεισμοί Ar seem improbable that the λειτουργικά πνεύματα (Heb. i. 1 4) are concerned in some way with the ministry of prayer — an idea anticipated in Tob. XlL 15 εις των επτά αγίων άγγεΧων ot προσαναφερουσιν τας προσευχάς των αγίων, and frequent in Enoch (ix. 3, xv. 2, xL 6, xlvii, 2, civ. ι). Έπι το θνσιαστήριον, 'upon the altar (of in- cense)'; one sees the whole process depicted, the fire kindled on the altar, and then taken up into the censer where it receives the incense : see Lev. Χ. Ι Χαβόντες... έκαστος το πυρειον αΰτοΰ επεθηκαν επ' αντο πΰρ, καϊ επέ- βαΧον επ' αντο θυμίαμα, XVI 12 Χήμψε- ται το πυρειον πΧηρες ανθράκων πύροι άπο τοΰ θυσιαστηρίου, Num. xvi. ύβ (xvii. Ιΐ) \άβε το πυρειον και επίθες επ' αντο πΰρ άπο τοΰ θυσιαστηρίου. 4- καϊ άνέβη 6 καπνοί κτλ.] I.e., from the censer in the Angel's hand; cf. Ezek, viii. II έκαστος θυμιατήριον αύτοϋ εΐχεν εν τβ χειρί, καϊ ή άτμϊς τοΰ θυμιάματος άνεβαινεν. Ταΐς προσευχαΐς, the dat. commodi, 'for the benefit of . the prayers,' i.e. to help them (Blass, Gr. p. m), or perhaps (WM. p. 270) the dative of reference ; the incense- cloud stood in a certain relation to the prayers, as their symbol and representative; it was 'given to them' (v. 3). The symbolical meaning of the incense offered in the Temple was well understood in pre-Christian times, cf. Ps. Cxi. (cxli.) 2 κατευθυνθήτω ή προσευχή μου ως θυμίαμα ίνώπιόν σου. The words added by C (app. crit.) appear to be a gloss from c. xi. 3. 5. καϊ εΐΧηφεν 6 αγγεΧος τον Χιβανω- τόν κτλ.] The Angel had laid aside the censer. But he takes it again (on ε'ίΧηφεν followed by εγέμισεν see v. 7 f, note) in order to fulfil another office; it is to be used now not for intercession but for judgement. The censer is again filled with fire from the altar: cf. Isa. vi. 6 εν rfj χεφϊ εΐχεν άνθρακα bv ττ} Χαβίδι εΧαβεν Απο τον θυσιαστηρίου. But now no incense is added, and no fragrant cloud goes up; the contents of the censer are poured upon the earth; the prayers of the saints return to the earth in wrath : cf. Ezek. x. 2 πΧησον τάι δράκας σου ανθράκων πυρός. ..καϊ δια- σκορπίσεις ε'πϊ τήν πόΧιν. There is perhaps an ultimate reference to the doom of Sodom (Gen. xix. 24). This casting of fire on the earth (cf. Lc. xii. 49) is immediately followed by results (ε'γενοντο βρονται καϊ φωναι καϊ άστραπαι καϊ σεισμός) premonitory of a great visitation; cf. iv. 5, vi. 12, xi. 19, notes, and for σεισμός see Ezek iii. 12 ηκουσα φωνην σεισμού μεγάΧου ΈΰΧογημενη ή δόξα Κυρίου ε'κ τοΰ τόπου αύτοΰ. The whole scene in vv. 3 — 5 is a prelude to the Seven Trumpets, which now begin to sound. 6. και οί επτά αγγεΧοι oi έχοντες κτλ.] The Angels of the Presence, who are charged with the Seven Trumpets know the signal, and make no THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VIII. 6 ayyeXoi οι 'έχοντες τάς επτά σάΧπιτγγας ητοιμασαν 7 αυτούς 'ίνα σαΧπίσωσιν. ' και ό πρώτος ΙσάΧπισεν και eyeveTO χάΧαζα και πΰρ μβμι<γμενα έν αίματι, και έβΧηθη ets την γην. και το τρίτον της •γης κατεκάη, και το τρίτον των δένδρων κατβκαη, και 6 οι εχοχτεϊ] om οι Κ tf arm 4 | aureus Κ* A] εαυτού! Κ° Λ PQ min'™" 1 ™ syrr Andr Ar 7 ο πρώτα] + ayye\os ι 28 36 79 θ 8 al °° n " ν 8 me arm aetn Prim I /«/"Ύ/**»» A Q minP 1 ^ Vg syrr Prim Ar] μεμημενον ttP 12 37 38 46 81 161 anorl 1 "'» | e* αίματι] om ex 1 al ygdemhort* c „ „5 OTl syrs w | εβλήθησαν 34 35 87 syr*" | om και το τρίτον T1)S γη$ κατεκαη 1 35 Ι 3° me I om Kat T0 T P LT0V των δένδρων κατεκαη AQ* al nonn aeth ready. They are seen to take their stand and to raise the trumpets to their mouths. ΣαΧπίσωσιν : σαλπίσω (σαλπιώ, Num. χ. 5 ff-)> (σάλπισα, in Biblical Greek take the place of σαλ- πίγξω, ε'σάλπιγξα (W. Schm. p. 105); cf. σαλπιστών, Apoc. xviii. 22. The first four Trumpet-blasts, like the first four Seal-openings, form a closely connected group. They de- scribe the coming visitation as pri- marily affecting inanimate Nature ; although animals and men are involved in the destruction which is caused (vv. 9, n), direct/ judgements upon mankind are reserved for the last three. The imagery was perhaps in part suggested by the storms, earth- quakes, and ( eclipses of the first century. 7. και 6 πρώτος έσάλπισεν και έγένετο χάλαζα κτλ.] The judgements ushered in by the first four Trumpets borrow many of their features from the Plagues of Egypt ; cf. Iren. iv. 30. 4 : the attentive reader "inveniet easdem plagas universaliter accipere gentes quas tunc particulatim accepit Ae- gyptus." Χάλαζα κα\ πΰρ recalls the seventh plague ; Exodl ix. 24 ην δε ή ■χάλαζα κάί το πΰρ φλογίζον εν τη χαλάζη — a description of a semi- tropical thunderstorm which is height- ened here by μεμιγμένα εν αίματι. Μιγνίιναι εν αίματι ' to mix with blood,' cf. Ps. CV. (cvi.) 35 έμίγησαν ε'ν (2) το'ις εθνεσιν : the usual construction is with μετά (Mt. xxvii. 34, Lc. xiii 1), or the simple dative (Apoc. xv. 2 θάλασσαν νάλίνην μεμιγμένην πυρί). A rain of mingled fire and blood is mentioned also in the Sibyllines, v. 377 πΰρ yap απ' ουρανίων βρέξει... πΰρ κα\ αίμα. Blood-red rain is not unknown in nature; in the spring of 1901 the daily journals contained accounts of this phenomenon, which was then being witnessed in Italy and the South of Europe, the result, it was said, of the air being full of particles of fine red sand from the Sahara.' The interpretation suggested to Andreas by passing events is interesting as a specimen of its kind : το δε πΰρ συν τω αίματι [εμφαίνει] τας εκ βαρβαρικών χειρών γενομένας πυρπολήσεις τε και άνδροκτασίας οσημεραι. The storm flung itself (εβλήθη, cf. vv. 5, 8, xii. 9 f., xx. 14 f.) on the earth, with the result that a third part of its surface and the whole of the verdure were devoured by the fire (κατεκάη = κατε καΰθη, cf. I Cor. iii. 15, 2 Pet. iii. 10(A) κατακαήσεται — an early form which survives in late Gk, cf. W. Schm. p. 108). To τρίτον (sc. μέρος, cf. Num. xxviii. 14) appears again vv. 8f, 11 £, ix. 15, 18, xii. 4. See Zech. xiii. 7 if. τα δύο μέρη αυτή! [sc. της γης] εξολεθρευθήσεται και εκλείψει, το δε τρίτον ΰπολειφθησεται έν αύτη, and compare the Rabbinical parallel cited by Schoettgen : "percussus est mundus, tertia nempe pars olearum, tertia pars VIII. 9] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN III πάς χόρτος χλωρός κατεκάη. *και ό δεύτερος 8 άγγελος έσάλπισεν και ως ορός μέγα πνρι καίομενον εβλήθη εις την θάλασσαν και έγενετο το τρίτον της θαλάσσης αίμα, 9 και άττεθανεν το τρίτον των 9 κτισμάτων των εν τη θαλασσή, τά έχοντα ψνχάς, 7 χόρτο*] + ti/s γη! syr ewvld 8 om ανγΛο? Ν syrs" (item in νν. ίο, 1 2 et c. ix. ι syr»") | om πνρι Q min"* tml1 syrS" arm Ar | εβλήθη] επεσεν syr»" | εγενετο] εγενηθη H 97-0 τρίτον ι°]+μερο5 Ν 35 36 87 of. tertia pan *vg Prim | των κτισματων] + πάντων syrr | των εν τη θαλασσή] om των Q min n °"" Ar om omnia vgnmhari post το εχ. ψυχαί pon vgo'efudemiip»itoi | τα ε χ 0ντα ψυχαϊ] τα εχ. ψνχχν H me aeth το £χοι> ψνχην syre" tritici et tertia hordei." Tfjs yrjs, the land ( = τξϊ ξηράς) as contrasted with the sea (v. 8) and other waters (»». 10 f.). The fire destroyed the whole of the vegetation, which was scorched at once (cf. Jac.i. 12), and one-third of the trees and other perishable things. Two-thirds escaped every- where, i.e. the visitation was partial, and not final ; cf. vi. 8. Των δένδρων : the fruit-trees especially, the olive, the fig, and the vine, on which the inhabitants of Palestine and Asia Minor depended so largely: cf. Vll. 3 μ*Ι αδικήσητε ... τα δένδρα, a prohibition now partly withdrawn. For χόρτοι χλωροί see Mc. vi 39, note, and Apoc, ix. 4; cf. vi 8, note. 8 f. καϊ ό δεύτερος SyyeXos ε'σάΚπισεν κα\ ώς ■ Spos κτλ.] As at the first trumpet-blast the fiery hail was flung npon the earth, so at the second a burning mass falls into the sea. With Spos μέγα πνρι καιόμενον may perhaps be compared Jer. xxviii. (li.) 25, where Babylon is likened to an Spos εμπεπνρισμενον (riBT^ "ID): But Babylon is not in view here, and ώς Spos καιόμ. may be merely a figure of speech for a blazing mass. If a volcano is in the Apocalyptist's mind, the simile may have been suggested ' either by the eruption of Vesuvius• which desolated the Bay of Naples in August, 79, or by some movements among the volcanic islands in the Aegean, of which Thera (Santorin) was the chief (cf. Tozer, Islands of the Aegean, p. 94 ff.); Strabo (i. 3. 16) reports an eruption in b.c. 196 which issued in the formation of a new island afterwards known as Palaea Kaurnene. But volcanoes are not flung bodily into the sea, so that such phenomena were at most but re- motely suggestive of the writer's bold conception. He is possibly indebted to Enoch for the figure of the burning mountain; see En. xviii. 13 ΐδον επτά αστέρας ώς ορη μεγαΚα καιόμενα, which is curiously close to ώς Spos μέγα πνρϊ καιόμενον. The phrase seems to have been proverbial; cf. Plaut. mercat. iii. 4. 32 "montes tu quidem maliin me ardentes iamdudum iacis." not έγενετο τι) τρίτον της θαλάσσης αίμα κτλ.] The sea is smitten, like the Nile in the first plague (Exod. vii. 20 μετεβάΚεν πάν το νδωρ το εν τω ποταμω els αίμα); as the fish in the Nile died (ib. 21), so do the animate inhabitants of the stricken Aegean. With τωνκτ. των iv τχι θαλασσή cf. v. 13 παν κτίσμα ο.,.επϊ rfjs θαλάσσης, Ps. civ. 25 ; and for τα έχοντα ψυχάϊ, Vg. quae habebant animas, 'animate,' see Gen. i. 20 ε'ξαγαγετω τα νδατα ερπετά ■ψυχών ζωσων (Π;Π Bfej). The il- lapse of the burning mass had a still more serious result; the ships in the waters disturbed by its fall were 112 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VIII, 9 ΙΟ και το τρίτον των πΧοίων Ζιβφθαρησαν. τ °και ο τρίτον ayyeXos. έσάΧπισεν και βπβσβν έκ τον ουρανού άστηρ μέγας καιομβνος ω? Χαμττας, και ίττβσεν έπι το τρίτον των ποταμών και έπι τας ,11 πηγάς των υδάτων, "και το όνομα του αστέρος Χβγβται ό 'Άψινθος. και eyeveTO το τρίτον των υδάτων eis ά-φ-ινθον, και ποΧΧοι των ανθρώπων άπβ-* 12 θανόν έκ των υδάτων, οτι έπικρανθησαν. τα, και ό 9 διιφθαρη Q minP 1 syrs" Ar ίο om vid και eveaev 2° Prim | om και επι Tar πψ /as των υδάτων A no αψινβαί] om ο K* c - a ι 7 14 36 38 al αψινθιον Κ* syiF" absinthium vgciedemharnnoiai me Prim aosinthiw vg 1 ™!' 11 ) | eyevcro] yivtrai 1 36 al | eis αψινθον] eis αψινθίον ti 7 8 16 28 49 79 Ar 10s αψινθίον h syrS" Prim | απεθανον on ίτΓίκρ. τα ύδατα syr 8 " | en] eiri A wrecked; for διαφθ(ίρ(σθαι of wrecked or disabled ships see Herod, i. 166 αί μεν γαρ τεσσεράκοντά ρ-φι vijes δκφ- θάρησαν. Yet in the case of the sea as in that of the dry laud, the visitation was partial; two-thirds of the inhabitants of the sea and the ships on its surface were unhurt. The plural διαφθάρησαν, (SC τα πλοία, understood in ro τρίτον των π\.) attributes a quasi-personal life to the ships, in view of their human masters and crews. ΙΟ. και <5 τρίτοι &yye\os ίσαλπισεν καϊ eneaev κτλ.] The fresh water supply is smitten next. At the third trumpet-blast there falls from heaven upon a third of the rivers and upon the water-springs a great meteor {άστηρ, cf. Mt. ii. 2), flashing across the sky like a blazing torch. (λαμπάτ, cf. c. iv. 5); for (us λ. see v. 8 as Spos. With iireo-ev... αστήρ cf. Isa. xiv. 12 efeVfffev eK τοΰ ούρανοϋ ά εωσφόρος, and Mc. xiii. 25, note; here the 'star' is merely a symbol of Divine visitation, like the burning mountain in v. 8. Αί πηγαϊ των υδάτων -=QV3D *}ίίΌ, a common phrase in the lxx. (cf. e.g. 3 Regn. xviii. 5,• Ps. cxiii. (cxiv.) 8, Hos. xiii. 15). 1 1. καϊ το ί'ινημα τοΰ aarepos Xtycrai ό "Αψινΰοι] "Αψινθοι, normally ι; S\jnv3os or το άψίνθιον but here assimilated in gender to αστήρ, does not occur else- where in the N.T. or the lxx., though it is used by Aquila in Prov. v. 4, Jer. ix. 15, xxiii. 15; the lxx. render H3W, wormwood, variously by χο\ή, πικρία, οδύνη, ανάγκη. The Heb. word is em- ■ ployed in the O.T. as a metaphor for (1) the perversion of justice (Amos v. 7, vi. 12); (2) the bitter fruits of idolatry (Deut. xxix. 17); (3) Divine chastise- ments (Jer. ix. 14) ; see B.D.B. s.v. The genus Artemisia, to which wormwood (A. ahsinthiaca) belongs, is represent- ed in the flora of Palestine by several species; see Tristram, N.H., p. 493; Hastings, D. B., iv. p. 941. καϊ c'ye'ciTo το τρίτον των υδάτων «'γ άψινθον κτλ.] The reverse of the- miracle at Marah (Exod. xv. 23). "Wormwood water is more than once in the Prophets a symbol of suffering,' e.g. Jer. ix. 15 (14) ποτιώ αύτου: νδωρ χολήί, xxiii. 15; cf. 4 Esdr. v. 9 "in dulcibus aquis salsae invenientur." Wormwood mixed with water does not kill, but in the Apocalyptic vision the waters are not mixed with wormwood but changedintoit^'-yo/ero els αψινθον). As the creatures in the sea perished when it was smitten by the burning mass (v. 9), so the rivers and fountains converted into wormwood are de- VIII. 1 3 ] THE APOCALYPSE OP ST. JOHN ΪΙ3 τέταρτος ά<γ<γε\ος έσαΧπισεν και βιτ\η'γη το τρίτον του ηΧ'ιου και το τρίτον της σεΧηνης και το τρίτον των αστέρων, 'ίνα σκοτισθη το τρίτον αύτων και η ήμερα μη ώανη το τρίτον αυτής, και ή νυζ ομοίως. τ 3» και εϊΰον, και ηκουσα ενός αετού πετομενου 13 12 τρίτον ι°] τέταρτον 130 | ίνα σκοτκτθη] και εσκοτισθη 35 ^7 syrs" arm aeth | «tit η -ήμερα μη φανη. το τρίτον (τέταρτον Α) αυτής] και το τρίτον αυτή! (β. αυτού) μη φανη (η) ήμερα Q min"•" 1 " (multum hoc loco inter se variant tarn codd min quam verss) ] μη φανη\ μη φαινη (Ρ) 28 49 79 a ^ ^- τ ουκ t 0f"'«' 35 87 syre* arm 13 om και ειδον syrs™ I ειδον X minP 1 ] iSov AQ 7 14 92 | om ενόν Κ me syrr arm | αετού KAQ mm ,ere85 Tg me syrr aeth Ar] αγγέλου Ρ ι η 28 36 47 19 a ' arm ^ c * Audr αγγίλου ws αετού 13 units ut aquilam Prim [ πετωμενου Q 1 6* 7* 32 130 al n0,m structive of human life. For άποθανεΊν εκ, 'to die of,' see WM. p. 460. 12. και δ τέταρτο! άγγελο! έσάλπισε ν και έπλήγη κτλ.] Visitations on land and water are followed by a visitation on the heavenly bodies, having for its object the further punishment of mankind. The conception is borrowed from the ninth of the Egyptian plagues (Exod. X. 2 1 γενηθήτω. . .-ψηλαφητοί/ σκό- τος. . .εγένετο σκότοι, γνόφο!, θύελλα, ε'πϊ πάσαν γήν Αίγίπτου τρεΐι ημέρα!, cf. Am. viii. 9, Joel iii. (iv.) 15). To the Apocalyptic plague no time limit is fixed, but it is limited in its extent; only a third of the sun's and moon's disk is, obscured, and a third of the stars suffer occupation. By this partial eclipse of the lights of• heaven ' a partial darkness would" obviously be produced, but not a shortening of the duration of daylight and moonlight and starlight such as the. following words (ϊνα ή ημέρα μη φανη το ,τρίτον αύτη!) seem to suggest. There is an inconsistency here which shews the writer's independence of the ordinary laws of thought; he is content to produce a desired effect by heaping up symbolism without regard to the consistency of the details. Here his purpose is chiefly to emphasize the partial character of the visitation. Its purpose is the reformation and not the destruction of mankind ; it is charged with serious warning, but not with final doom. Contrast Isa. xxx. 26 το φω! τον ηλίου εσται «τταπλάσίοι/, 1 εν τη ημέρα όταν Ιάσηται Κύριο! το σνντριμμα τον λαον αντον. Eor έ?τ\ήγη see Isa. ix. 13, and for φάντ] (not φανη) c. xviii. 23. The first series of Trumpet-blasts is now complete. It has . set loose the elemental forces of Nature and wrought havoc on a large scale. But the next verse warns the reader that worse things are to follow. 13. και ειδον, και ηκουσα ένο! άετον κτλ.] Eor ειδον και ηκονσα, cf. V. II, vi. ι ; the scene which follows is one which arrests both eye and ear. Άγγέ- λου may be a correction for the harder άετον, suggested by xiv. 6 ; or possibly it is due to the error of a scribe who tead Λβτογ as &ΓΓ"ελογ ; for αετοί πετάμενο!, see iv. 7, Job ix. 26, Prov. xxiv. 54 (xxx. ,19). Had the Apoca- lyptist written αγγέλου, άλλου would probably have taken the place of c'i/os; cf. vii. 2, viii. 3. The eagle is chosen not only for his strength of wing (xii. 14), but as the emblem of coming judgement (Mt. xxiv. 28, Apoc. Bar. Ixxvii. 19 ff.) ; ένόι points perhaps to , the solitary figure projected against the sky (cf. Mt. xxi. 19), but εκ in such instances approaches in meaning to τα or the indefinite article, cf. ix. 1 3, xviii. 21, and see Blass, Gr. p. 144. Έν- α. R. ιΐ4 THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN [VIII. 13 IX. εν μεσουρανηματι λέγοντος φωνή μεγάλη Ούαι ούαι ούαι τους κατοικουντας έπι της γης εκ των λοιπών φωνών της σαλπιγγος των τριών αγγέλων των μελλόντων σαλπίζειν. 1 Και ό πέμπτος άγγελος έσάλπισεν και εΊΒον αστέρα εκ του, ουρανού πεπτωκοτα εις την γη ν, και εδόθη αύτώ η κλεις του φρέατος της αβύσσου. 13 om εν H \.εν μεσουρανηματί\ εν μέσω ουραν αιματι έχοντος syr (efc similiter c-xiv. 6) εν ουράνια syrs" | om φωνή μεγάλη syir | ουαι bis tantum 1 syr aeth | tods κατοικούνται HQ 6 8 14 29 31 35 38 48 51 87 92 130 al n °° n ] rots κατοικονσιν AP r 7 al"' mn Ar I ex τη! φωνής των σαλπίγγων syrs" arm IX : ειδον KP min'' 1 ] lSov AQ 7 14 92 130 | αστέρας... πεπτωκοτας Ν* | εττι της γης 3 8 97 syrr μεσουρανήματι, "in the meridian" or "the zenith"; that part of the sky- where the sun is at noon-day ; cf. xiv.• 6, xix. 17. The eagle μεσουρανεί, i.e. he flies not near the horizon, where he might pass unobserved, but overhead, where his course can be seen by all. The word is said to belong to Alexandrian Greek: Pollux iv. 157 μεσημβριαζειν, υπέρ κεφαλής έσταναι•• το γαρ μεσουρανεΐν Αίγυπτίων. Syr. BW • for μέσου ρανή μάτι has simply/ ι*^*^ητ— ι, λέγοντος φωιή} μεγάλη θύα\ ουαι οναί κτλ.] The eagle is not only- seen but heard. In Ezek. xvi. 23 (A), Apoc. xviii. 10, 16, 19, the double οϋαί is merely for emphasis; the triple ούαι here has reference to the three remaining trumpet-blasts or rather the visitations that will follow them ; see ΪΧ. 12 οΰαϊ ή μία άπηλθεν Ιδού έρχεται ετι δυο ουαι. Toils κατοικούνταν : the ace. after ούαι is unusual, the dativus incommodi might rather have been expected, as in Lc. vi. 24 ff. ; but cf. xii. 12 oval την γην καϊ την θάλασσαν, and see Blass (Gr. p. 112), who compares vae me - me tnihi. The earth has suffered already from the first four Trumpets ; the time has now come for her inhabitants to suffer yet more severely. ΟΙ κατοικοΰντε s eVl της γης, the pagan or non-Christian population of the Empire, as in iii. 10, vi. 10, xi. 10, xiii. 8 ff., xvii. 2 ff. έκ των λοιπών φωνών της σαλπιγγος, "by reason of the remaining trumpet- blasts." Ύής σάλπιγγας modifies φωνών — the sound is that of the trumpet; τών σαλπίγγων is unnecessary, since the reader's attention is not called to the plurality of the trumpets but to the trumpet-like utterance which proceeds from each of the angels. On εκ in • this sense see WM. p. 461. IX. 1 — 12. The Fifth Trumpet, or the First Woe. Ι. ό πέμπτο! άγγελος έσάλπισεν, και εΐδον αστέρα κτλ.] In viii. 8, ΙΟ the ■Seer witnesses the fall of a star ; now he sees only a star lying where it fell (πεπτωκοτα). Cf.>Isa. XIV. 12 πώς έξέπεσεν εκ τον ονρανοΰ 6 εωσφόρος', Lc. Χ. 1 8 εθεωρουν τον σαταναν ώς άστραπην εκ τοΰ ονρανοΰ πεσόντα. As the Sequel shews, this fallen Star represents a ' person, possibly Satan, as a comparison ■ of Lc. I. 0. with Apoc. xii. 9 may suggest. For a personification of the stars comp. Jud. v. 20 εξ ονρανοΰ παρε- τάξαντο oi αστέρες ; for the image of the fallen star see Enoch lxxxviii. 1. εδόθη αντω η κλε\ς τοΰ φρέατος της αβύσσου] "Αβυσσος is the usual equi- valent in the lxx. of Dinn ; whether in the sense of ' deep waters ' (Gen. i. 2 IX• 3] THE APOCALYPSE OF ST JOHN 115 a και ϊ'ινοιξβν το (ppeap της αβύσσου ' και άνέβη καπ.νος 2 έκ του ώρεατος ώς καπνό? καμινου μ€γα\ης, και έσκο- τωθη ό η\ιοι και ό άηρ έκ του καπνού του φρέατος. 3 και έκ του καπνού έ£η\6ον - ακρίδες eis την γήν, και 3 εδόθη αύταϊς εξουσία ως 'έγουσιν έξουσίαν οι σκορ- ι om km ηνοιξεν το ψρεαρ τι?! αβύσσου HQ mini" 1 '' vg" mb " rl * to1 * me syre" arm aeth u,r 'Ar | om εκ του φρέατος ως καπνοί I 35 41 87 | μεγάλης] καιομενης Q min™"" 11 syr Ar με-γ. καιομενης 36 3'/ 38 40 41 42 (130) g syrS" arm 4 | εσκοτωθη Α ιί 14 gi] εσκοτισθη fc