Revelation 21:21-"like transparent glass"

καὶ οἱ δώδεκα πυλῶνες δώδεκα μαργαρῖται· ἀνὰ εἷς ἕκαστος τῶν πυλώνων ἦν ἐξ ἑνὸς μαργαρίτου. καὶ ἡ πλατεῖα τῆς πόλεως χρυσίον καθαρὸν ὡς ὕαλος διαυγής. (Revelation 21:21, Nestle GNT)

"And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass." (ESV)

Compare Revelation 21:18-καὶ ἡ ἐνδώμησις τοῦ τείχους αὐτῆς ἴασπις, καὶ ἡ πόλις χρυσίον καθαρὸν ὅμοιον ὑάλῳ καθαρῷ·(WH).

John uses ὅμοιον ὑάλῳ καθαρῷ in Rev. 21:18; ὡς ὕαλος διαυγής occurs in Rev. 21:21.

E.W. Bullinger on Revelation 21:21: "as it were. Not that it is glass, but gold of a kind unknown to us."

Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament: "Transparent (διαυγής — diaugēs). Old word (from δια — dia through, αυγη — augē ray, shining through), here alone in N.T."

Stephen Smalley, Revelation, page 556: 

Revelation 21:4 ("He will wipe away every tear")

Greek (WH): καὶ ἐξαλείψει πᾶν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι· οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγὴ οὔτε πόνος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι. τὰ πρῶτα ἀπῆλθαν.

ἐξαλείψει is the future active indicative 3rd singular of ἐξαλείφω.

Denotations for ἐξαλείφω: "to cause to disappear by wiping" or "wipe away" (both from BDAG).

Louw-Nida (Semantic Domain 47.18): "to remove a liquid by wiping off - ‘to wipe away.’"

EGF: It is possible that Revelation 7:17; 21:4 allude to Isaiah 25:8 although there are potential difficulties with trying to link these verses in terms of how John words them. Nevertheless, it seems clear that God is the subject of the verb "wipe away." See Dave Mathewson. A New Heaven and a New Earth: The Meaning and Function of the Old Testament in Revelation 21.1-22.5. LNTS. T&T Clark, 2003. Pages 57-58.

"Sword" in the Book of Revelation

All of these references are taken from the SBLGNT:

Revelation 1:16: καὶ ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ ἀστέρας ἑπτά, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ῥομφαία δίστομος ὀξεῖα ἐκπορευομένη, καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος φαίνει ἐν τῇ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ.

Revelation 2:12: Καὶ τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Περγάμῳ ἐκκλησίας γράψον· Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἔχων τὴν ῥομφαίαν τὴν δίστομον τὴν ὀξεῖαν·

Revelation 2:16: μετανόησον οὖν· εἰ δὲ μή, ἔρχομαί σοι ταχύ, καὶ πολεμήσω μετ’ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ στόματός μου.

Revelation 6:4: καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἄλλος ἵππος πυρρός, καὶ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἐδόθη αὐτῷ λαβεῖν τὴν εἰρήνην ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἵνα ἀλλήλους σφάξουσιν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ μάχαιρα μεγάλη.

Revelation 6:8: καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος χλωρός, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ ὄνομα αὐτῷ ὁ Θάνατος, καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἠκολούθει μετ’ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἐξουσία ἐπὶ τὸ τέταρτον τῆς γῆς, ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν λιμῷ καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς.

Revelation 13:10: εἴ τις εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν, εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν ὑπάγει· εἴ τις ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀποκτανθῆναι. ὧδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονὴ καὶ ἡ πίστις τῶν ἁγίων.

Revelation 13:14: καὶ πλανᾷ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς διὰ τὰ σημεῖα ἃ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θηρίου, λέγων τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ποιῆσαι εἰκόνα τῷ θηρίῳ, ὃς ἔχει τὴν πληγὴν τῆς μαχαίρης καὶ ἔζησεν.

Revelation 19:15: καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ἐκπορεύεται ῥομφαία ὀξεῖα, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ πατάξῃ τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ αὐτὸς ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ· καὶ αὐτὸς πατεῖ τὴν ληνὸν τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος.

Revelation 19:21: καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ ἵππου τῇ ἐξελθούσῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν.

Stephen Smalley (The Revelation to John, page 494): 

First, the Warrior-Messiah is said to ‘strike down the nations’ with a sharp sword projecting from his mouth. The ‘sharp sword’ (ῥομφαία ὀξεῖα, hromphaia oxeia) is a symbol for Christ’s powerful word of judgement (cf. Prigent 546). For this metaphor, variously expressed in relation to the judgemental activity of the exalted Jesus, see also Rev. 1.16; 2.12, 16; 19.21. The ‘sword of the Lord’ is regularly mentioned in the Old Testament (Deut. 32.41; 1 Chron. 21.12; Ps. 17.13; Jer. 47.6; Ezek. 30.24; Zech. 13.7; et al.); and this expression is used at times as a symbol of eschatological judgement (Isa. 27.1; 66.16; Jer. 9.16; Ezek. 29.8–9; et al.; cf. 1QM 12.11–12; 4QpIsaa frags. 8–10 [col. 3] 22–24). But the exact image of a sword of judgement coming from the mouth of the Messiah occurs nowhere in the literature of Judaism; and this suggests that the idea originated with John himself (but see Heb. 4.12). It may well have been inspired by combining the messianic use of Isa. 11.4 (‘he shall strike the earth with the rod [lxx “word”] of his mouth’) with an allusion to the servant song of Isa. 49 (verse 2, ‘he made my mouth like a sharp sword’); so that Rev. 19.15 not only reaffirms the Isaianic prophecy but also identifies Jesus as the ‘servant Israel’ (Luke 2.32; Acts 26.23). Cf. Aune 1060–61; Beale 961.

Revelation (Apocalypse): A Book of Love?

This post was inspired by the recent shooting in Germany and it extracts ideas from a book written by C. Spicq entitled Agape in the New Testament (3 Volumes).

The book of Revelation admittedly has a lot to say about war (πόλεμος). See Revelation 2:12-16, 20-23; 6:1-4; 9:7, 9; 11:7; 12:7-12, 17; 13:7; 16:14-16; 19:11-21; 20:1-3, 7-10. I believe that out of eighteen occurrences in the GNT, 1/2 of the occurences for πόλεμος can be found in Revelation. See https://fosterheologicalreflections.blogspot.com/2018/12/warbattle-motifs-in-revelation.html

Nevertheless, war is not the only theme of this "apocalyptic" work, but the book deals with love too:

Revelation 1:5-6; 2:4, 19; 3:9; 12:11; 20:9.

How heartwarming that John refers to Christ as the one who loved "us" (Revelation 1:5). While Christ loves those whom God has called to be kings and priests (1:6; 5:9-10; 20:4-6), Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Almighty God equally loves those who look forward to life in the new earth: the love of Jesus and his Father for humankind is unfathomable. No creature will ever fully understand such love (Ephesians 2:4-6).

Christ Jesus lovingly acknowledged the righteous deeds of the Ephesian congregation (Revelation 2:1-3). Nevertheless, he sternly corrected them since they had lost their first love. The first love (the love they had at first) possibly refers to their initial ardent love for Jehovah God and his Son, a love which they allowed to wane over time. Hence, Jesus did another loving thing by supplying correction to the Ephesians for as he later exclaims, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:19 ESV). Compare Hebrews 12:3-11.

Jesus lovingly commended the congregation at Thyatira although he had strong counsel for them: "I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first" (Revelation 2:19).

Does Jesus ever forget our righteous deeds or the love that we show for Jehovah's name? Our Lord assured the congregation in Philadelphia: "Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you" (Revelation 3:9 ESV).

Jesus never forgets the love that we show for Jehovah's name; he knows our deeds and appreciates our work.

Revelation 12:7-12 reports a conflict that took place in heaven between Michael and his angels against Satan and his angels. Satan the Devil was ousted from heaven, then an unidentified loud voice was heard from heaven that revealed the love which Christian martyrs have for their God, and their Savior Christ Jesus:

"They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not love their lives
in the face of death" (HCSB).

Those who give their lives (souls) in service to Jehovah God and his Christ--Christian martyrs anointed by God's spirit--conquer the Devil (the figurative dragon) because they exercise faith in the ransom sacrifice of Jesus while they boldly give the "word of their testimony" via the preaching and teaching work (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20). In this manner, they show that the present life is not more important than faithful service to God: their love for God exceeds love for life itself.

Finally, in Revelation 20:9, we read about the "beloved city" (τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἠγαπημένην): this figurative city is the Lamb's wife (the bride of Christ) composed of 144,000 kings-priests. When Satan's hordes attack people in the new earthly society, it will also be an attack on those in heaven. Rev. 20:9 unfolds the outcome of Satan's attack. Ultimately, Jehovah will show love for New Jerusalem by consuming all who oppose Kingdom rule. One might say that the motifs of war and love are combined in this verse as John writes: καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ^[b]ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτούς·

SBLGNT supplies the variants: ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ WH NIV ] ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Treg; ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ RP

In my estimation, Revelation has a lot to tell us about love.

Revelation 3:5 ("you will be clothed like them in white robes"-NRSV)

Greek: Ὁ νικῶν οὕτως περιβαλεῖται ἐν ἱματίοις λευκοῖς καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐξαλείψω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ὁμολογήσω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ.

The Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, assures the "angel" of the Sardis congregation that those who conquer will walk in white robes (garments) like the Christians mentioned in Rev. 3:4. Additionally, the conquerors will not have their name blotted out from the book of life, but Christ will profess the conquering one's name before his Father and before the Father's angels. What a privilege those who conquer this world will have: they walk eternally in imitation of their Master (John 16:33; 1 John 5:4).

Some interesting comparisons are made in The New Interpreter's Bible (Volume XII, page 583). The commentary references Revelation 2:1; 3:18; 4:4; 6:9-10; 7:14; 14:4; 16:15; 19:14. Cf. Revelation 15:1-8; 19:11-21. We also read that Christ is a "heavenly scribe" who possesses the ability to blot out names from the book of life. Compare Revelation 13:8; 17:8; 20:12; 21:27.

The congregation at Sardis receives correction because it has the name of being spiritually alive, but it's largely dead in the eyes of Jehovah and Christ (Revelation 3:1). However, there are still some in Sardis, who have kept their spiritual robes clean. If they continue in their Christian course and conquer, they can look forward to eternal blessings as God and Christ put their names indelibly in the book of life.

G.K. Beale (The Book of Revelation) perceives allusions to Daniel 11:35; 12:10. Cf. Daniel 12:1-2.

περιβαλεῖται is the future middle indicative third person singular of περιβάλλω. Buist Fanning III calls the verb, "middle intransitive" (Revelation, page 166). Compare Song of Solomon 1:7 (LXX); Revelation 19:8.

StepBible Apparatus Criticus: περιπατήσουσιν] ς WH περιπατήσουσι] Byz

A Reflection on Revelation 12:10

Greek (NA28): καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν μεγάλην ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λέγουσαν·

ἄρτι ἐγένετο ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δύναμις

καὶ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν
καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ,
ὅτι ἐβλήθη ὁ κατήγωρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν,
ὁ κατηγορῶν αὐτοὺς ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός.

John now hears a "loud voice" (φωνὴν μεγάλην) in heaven: the voice is not identified, but based on what the voice utters, I would submit that it issues from Christians who have been raised to heaven postmortem (brothers of Christ).

In what sense does salvation and power (ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δύναμις) come to pass? Within the context of this utterance, Satan the Devil and his angels (demons) previously have been expelled from heaven after warring with Michael and his angels (Revelation 12:7-9). The Devil's expulsion causes great joy in heaven and it's a sign that Christ is ruling as Jehovah's appointed king.

G.K. Beale (The Book of Revelation) offers these remarks:

The kingdom formulas in 4:11 and 5:12–13 confirm that here the focus is on Christ’s resurrection, which has launched the initial stage of the kingdom. The introductory ἄρτι (“now”) emphasizes the beginning aspect of fulfillment (this use of ἄρτι is equivalent to the same use of νῦν or νυνί [“now”] by Paul — e.g., Rom. 3:21, 26; 2 Cor. 5:16; 6:2; Eph. 3:5, 10).Therefore, v 10 does not merely anticipate the future kingdom, but celebrates the fact that the kingdom has begun immediately following Christ’s death and resurrection.The second part of v 10 elaborates on how the kingdom has begun, specifically on what it means that Christ’s death and resurrection have resulted in Satan’s expulsion from heaven. This will require detailed comments.

I believe that one can extract something useful from Beale's comments but I don't believe it necessarily follows that the salvation and the power came to pass in the first century CE after Christ's death and resurrection. However, the issue of when Christ started to rule goes outside the scope of this blog entry. I find Beale more utile when it comes to his observations about ἄρτι and it's certainly true that Christ's death and resurrection paved the way for the Kingdom of God and his Christ.

 

Revelation 22:3 and the Anchor Bible Commentary for Revelation

J. Massyngberde Ford (Anchor Bible Commentary on Revelation) brings a couple of interesting issues to the table.

Ford thinks that the phrase καὶ τοῦ Ἀρνίου is "suspect" and she notes that "some [textual?] critics see it as an insertion" (page 362). Furthermore, the claim is made that καὶ τοῦ Ἀρνίου is "awkward in the context" and conflicts with οἱ δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ λατρεύσουσιν (I am using Ford's 1975 commentary).

Personally, I do not think that we need to exclude the phrase to make sense of the passage, but just what do the textual critics specifically observe?

David Aune (Revelation 17-22, page 1242) reckons that the mention of the Lamb in 22:1 reflects an "expansion" of a previous apocalyptic text, but he feels it's possible that Psalm 110:1; Revelation 3:21 background and influence the current lectio. Concerning Rev. 22:3, Aune writes:

This phrase is somewhat redundant since “the throne of God and of the Lamb” has already been mentioned as the source of the river of the water of life in 22:1. The future indicative ἔσται, “will be,” reflects the prophetic tenor of the passage. As in v 1, the phrase “and of the Lamb” is probably a later gloss.

Aune, Dr. David. Revelation 17-22, Volume 52C (Word Biblical Commentary) (p. 1242). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Ford observes that God (not Christ) must be the antecedent of αὐτῷ in Rev. 22:3. She points out that Rev. 22:4 speaks of God's face and God's name (καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων αὐτῶν). Rev 22:5 also tells us the following: ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς φωτίσει ἐπ’ αὐτούς. In other words, the context of Rev. 22:3 strongly indicates that God (the Father or YHWH) is being discussed and made prominent in this context, not the Lamb. As we can see by examining Aune above, he concurs with Ford in viewing Rev. 22:1-3 as "suspect" or not original.

Ford concludes her remarks pertaining to Rev. 22:3 this way:

"One would expect the third person plural instead of singular if the Lamb was originally part of the text. Rev 22:3-4, therefore, should probably read, 'and the throne of God will be in her (the city) and His servants will worship Him . . ."

So much for the assertion that the third person singular pronoun must refer to God and the Lamb "as a unit." Ford contends that if John meant to include the Lamb in this text, he would probably have employed the third person plural verb instead of the singular form. However one views this debate, at least this shows another possible way of understanding Rev. 22:3.

Grammatically Breaking Down Revelation 7:9 with a Side of Ad Sensum

Greek (WH): Μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ὄχλος πολύς, ὃν ἀριθμῆσαι αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο, ἐκ παντὸς ἔθνους καὶ φυλῶν καὶ λαῶν καὶ γλωσσῶν, ἑστῶτες ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἀρνίου, περιβεβλημένους στολὰς λευκάς, καὶ φοίνικες ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν·

Μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον-see Revelation 4:1; 15:5; 18:1 and Smalley, The Revelation to John, page 476; James L. Resseguie, The Revelation to John: A Narrative Commentary, page 233. Contrast Rev. 19:1, but compare Rev. 7:1; 20:3. ταῦτα is accusative plural neuter going with the preposition Μετὰ; εἶδον is aorist active indicative first-person singular.

καὶ ἰδοὺ ὄχλος πολύς-in this sequence of words, we have a "demonstrative particle" (Grant Osborne) or interjection (Bill Mounce) followed by a nominative singular masculine noun and adjective. Stephen S. Smalley (The Revelation to John, pages 190-191) points out that ὄχλος πολύς should be accusative as the object of  ἰδοὺ. However, see Rev. 4:1-2; 14:14, et al.  ἰδοὺ "is often followed by a Nominative without verb" (T. Cowden Laughlin, The Solecisms of the Apocalypse, page 5). Compare Genesis 12:19; 19:2; Daniel 7:13; 1:7; 14:14; Revelation 21:3, 5.

αὐτὸν is evidently resumptive and pleonastic; grammatically, αὐτὸν modifies ὃν and further defines πολύς: David Aune suggests that the construction could be a "Semitism" (cf. Smalley, 190-191; Aune, Revelation 6-16, pages 549-550). Both sources state that the pronoun functions resumptively or pleonastically.

ὃν ἀριθμῆσαι αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο-"which to number it, no one was able." ἀριθμῆσαι is aorist active infinitive and occurs 1x in the GNT, but see Genesis 41:49; 2 Samuel 24:10; 1 Chronicles 21:1, 17. ἐδύνατο is imperfect passive indicative third-person singular of δύναμαι.

ἐκ παντὸς ἔθνους καὶ φυλῶν καὶ λαῶν καὶ γλωσσῶν-preposition + the genitive case. Aune contends that παντὸς is distributive rather than collective. In other words, we should understand the adjective to mean "every" rather than "all" since παντὸς ἔθνους is anarthous.

Aune: "The three nouns that follow are gen. pls., φυλῶν, λαῶν, and γλωσσῶν, and it is clear that the author intends the reader to extend the distributive sense of παντός to each of these nouns."

See Aune, Dr. David. Revelation 6-16, Volume 52B (Word Biblical Commentary) (pp. 549-550). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

ἑστῶτες ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἀρνίου-the masculine nominative plural participle used here modifies ὄχλος πολύς, which is nominative singular masculine. This brings up the issue of solecisms in Revelation or constructio ad sensum instances.

Daniel B. Wallace explains:

"Although there is a lack of concord in such constructions, they are not infrequent. Indeed, a neuter plural subject normally takes a singular verb. It is an example of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense, rather than according to strict grammatical concord). Since the neuter usually refers to impersonal things (including animals), the singular verb regards the plural subject as a collective whole. It is appropriate to translate the subject as a plural as well as the verb, rather than translate both as singulars" (Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 399).

Examples of ad sensum constructions are:

Acts 2:43; 1 Corinthians 10:7; Revelation 8:9; 11:18.

περιβεβλημένους στολὰς λευκάς, καὶ φοίνικες ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν:

Grant Osborne writes: "Περιβεβλημένους parallels ἑστῶτες in modifying ὄχλος, but it is accusative rather than nominative. However, this type of solecism is common in Revelation. As Thomas (1992: 488 n. 85, following Robertson and N. Turner) brings out, this is especially common following εἶδον and ἰδού in Revelation."

Revelation 14:3 ("redeemed from the earth")

Greek (WH): καὶ ᾄδουσιν ὡς ᾠδὴν καινὴν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου καὶ ἐνώπιον τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων· καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο μαθεῖν τὴν ᾠδὴν εἰ μὴ αἱ ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες, οἱ ἠγορασμένοι ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς.

Stephen S. Smalley (The Revelation to John, page 357):



Robert L. Thomas (Revelation 8-22, page 194):



Craig R. Koester (Revelation, page 609):



Grant R. Osborne (Revelation):

"The substantival perfect participle ἠγορασμένοι (eḡorasmenoi, have been redeemed) emphasizes the resultant state, namely that these victorious saints are the redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (5:9). On the basis of aspect theory, this would also be the 'frontgrounding' (Porter 1994: 23) or important element in the discourse. These 'redeemed' saints are the focus of the statement."