μετὰ … ἰδού introducing as usual in an independent clause (instead of a simple accus., Vit. ii. 8 f., 31, 173, 174, to which he reverts in Revelation 4:4) some fresh and weighty revelation; lesser phases are heralded by the simpler καὶ εἶδον. The phrase indicates a pause, which of course may have co... [ Continue Reading ]
A fresh wave of ecstasy catches up the seer. εὐθέως … πνεύματι, repeating Revelation 1:10, not because the author had forgotten his previous statement, and still less because a new source begins here (Vischer), but simply because every successive phase of this Spirit-consciousness, every new access... [ Continue Reading ]
The sources of the general conception lie far back in passages like Isaiah 6:1 f., Ezekiel 1:26 f., Daniel 7:9 f., Enoch xxxix., xl., xlvi., mediated by rabbinical interpretations. But it should be noted that in the palace-temple of Hatra, the Parthian capital, one well-known frieze contained a row... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse breaks the continuous description of 3 and 5; it is evidently an original touch of the writer introduced into the more or less traditional scenery of the eternal court where “all the sanctities of heaven stood thick as stars” (_cf._ Revelation 5:11). The conception of twenty-four πρεσβύτε... [ Continue Reading ]
The impression of awe is heightened by traits from the primitive Semitic theophany which, especially in judgment, was commonly associated with a thunderstorm (φωναί = the shrieks and roaring blasts of the storm). Thunder in the Apocalypse is either a sort of chorus in praise of God (as here) or puni... [ Continue Reading ]
For a sea in heaven, _cf._ above (on Revelation 4:4). In _Test. Patr. Leviticus 2; Leviticus 2_ the sea lies within the second (first) heaven ὕδωρ κρεμάμενον ἀνάμεσον τούτου κἀκείνου, and in the Egyptian paradise the triumphant soul goes to “the great lake in the Fields of Peace,” where the gods dwe... [ Continue Reading ]
μόσχῳ, “an ox or steer” (as LXX). The four animals are freely compounded out of the classical figures of Ezekiel's cherubim and the seraphim in Isaiah 6; the latter supply the six wings apiece. This function of ceaseless praise (Revelation 4:8-9) is taken from Enoch lxi. 10 f., where the cherubim an... [ Continue Reading ]
A description of the sounds and songs of heaven follows the picture of its sights. γέμουσιν, either with τὰ τ. ζ. (ἔχων for once a real participle) or an asyndeton (if ἔχων here, as elsewhere in the Apocalypse, must be supplied with a copula). κυκλ. κ. ἐ. = “round their bodies and on the inside” (_i... [ Continue Reading ]
The frequentative meaning of δώσουσι comes from the sense rather than from the grammar of the passage. “Whenever,” etc. (_i.e._, throughout the course of this book, Revelation 5:8 f., Revelation 11:16 f., Revelation 19:4) is “a sort of stage-direction” (Simcox). It would be harsh to take the words a... [ Continue Reading ]
To cast a crown before the throne was a token that the wearer disclaimed independence; an Oriental (Parthian) token of respect for royalty (reff.). _Cf._ Spenser's _Hymne of Heavenly Beautie_ (141 154) and the pretty fancy in Slav. En. xiv. 2 where the sun's crown is taken from him as he passes thro... [ Continue Reading ]
An implicit refutation of the dualistic idea, developed by Cerinthus, the traditional opponent of John in Asia Minor, that creation was the work of some angel or power separate from God (Iren. i. 26, iv. 32, Hippol. _Haer._ vii. 33, x. 1). The enthusiastic assent of the πρεσβύτεροι to the adoration... [ Continue Reading ]