The following is a paper written for Professor Halsted in Exegesis & Application of Revelation on May 28, 2023:
Introduction:
When reading “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1) which he gave to John, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the symbols and images that saturate every page. Many modern readers do not understand the background of the diverse references to the battle of Armageddon, the mark of the beast, or the throne room vision in this work of literature. Although there is a variety of interpretations of what these images mean, there is overwhelming consensus among scholars that the vocabulary and imagery of the Revelation is thoroughly shaped by the Hebrew Scriptures. American pastor and author Eugene Peterson, in his book on the Revelation, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination provocatively stated, “The Revelation has 404 verses. In those 404 verses, there are 518 references to earlier scripture. If we are not familiar with the preceding writings, quite obviously we are not going to understand the Revelation” (Peterson, 23). Peterson is not alone in this undertaking to perceive the Jewish Scriptures background on the Revelation as evidenced in the rest of this paper. This research paper sets out to explore the three different ways that the Revelation references back to the Hebrew Scriptures in quotations, allusions, and echoes in order to better understand this prophetic and apocalyptic letter.
Quotations:
First, John goes about his work of composing the Revelation of Jesus given to him from Jesus using Old Testament quotations. There are different perspectives on John’s quotation of the Hebrew Scriptures. In relation to quotations in Revelation, Swedish Theologian, Kristen Stendahl wrote, “…There is no attempt to quote exactly in this form and the citing is certainly freely given from memory. The prophetic spirit creates, it does not quote in order to teach or argue” (Stendahl, 159). In many ways it seems that Stendahl is correct. In this case it seems that Stendahl holds a rigid definition of “quote”. If, however, we are more flexible with our definition of “quote” so as to not require that John provides a clean academic quotations that we find in academic writing but where he has the freedom to paraphrase or reorder the words then we will see clear examples of a quotation of a sort.
One such example is at the end of Revelation. John writes, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” (Rev. 22:18-19). Although not a direct quotation, John employs the vocabulary of the Torah where it says, “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you” (Deut 4:2). This indirect quotation demonstrates John's intention to present his work in alignment with the authoritative and sufficient revelation of God. By referencing Deuteronomy, he emphasizes the weight of the Torah and the associated blessings and curses..
Another perspective on quotations in Revelation is held by David deSilva. deSilva writes, “Greg Beale has observed that several of John’s grammatical hiccups ‘occur in the midst of Old Testament allusions’, sometimes because John is preserving ‘the exact grammatical form of the Old Testament wording (often from the Greek Old Testament)’” (deSilva). So maybe John is actually quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures but his familiarity with the Masoretic Text and the LXX and our own English translations have blurred those quotations to many.
The example deSilva gives is that of Revelation 1:4, which says, “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne” although our English translations smooth over the hiccup here, deSilva points out that the greek John wrote would have actually conveyed “grace and peace ... from “he who is”. So he says, “Just as proper English would have required ‘from “him who is”’, proper Greek would have required John to write the divine name, which John quotes from the Greek version of Exodus 3.14 (‘I am “he who is”’), in a different case. John’s decision to retain the subjective case from Exodus against those rules, however, makes the connection between Revelation 1.4 and Exodus 3.14 jump off the page (deSilva). In this case the quotation of Exodus illustrates the continuity of the God revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures and the God revealed in Jesus through the Revelation. More powerfully than telling, John shows this through quotation. Whether John is quoting directly from the LXX or simply reordering words from the Masoretic text it is clear that he in some sense quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures throughout his work.
Allusions:
In addition to quotations, John is charged by many with the literary use of allusion. American Theologian, Craig Keener explains this perspective when he says:
Revelation…is full of implicit allusions to the Old Testament; indeed, it contains more biblical allusions than any other early Christian work, which some estimate appear in nearly 70 percent of Revelation's verses. But unlike John's Gospel it includes no extended quotations of the Old Testament. Many of the allusions recall also the context of their biblical source; many, however, blend various biblical allusions, and Revelation regularly recycles its images to apply them in a fresh way (Keener, 31)
Allusions have a powerful way of recalling the context of the expression. Oregon State University says, “Allusions are generally regarded as brief but purposeful references, within a literary text, to a person, place, event, or to another work of literature. Allusion is distinguished from other forms of reference…by its brevity and often by its indirection, though just how indirect an allusion is can vary by a wide degree” (OSU). Unlike the quotations in the previous section, allusions pack more bandwidth of correlation in in a more dense use of words. OSU goes on to give a helpful example, “When the narrator of Moby Dick introduces himself to the reader, he refers to himself as Ishmael…Without having to do much work at all—we’re only three words into the novel itself, we already learn a lot about Ishmael: that he is at odds with the world and with those around him” (OSU).
One of the first of such allusions in Revelation is in chapter one. John says, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen…and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest” (Rev 1:7, 13). With the use of the phrase “coming with the clouds”, John's readers, as well as careful Bible scholars, would have recognized the significance This was stock language for the coming of Yahweh used in biblical and extra-biblical literature. Then if that was not enough of a hint, he hammers it home in verse 13 by using the phrase son of man. This phrase had it’s own history and associations but by referring to the cloud riding son of man he refers back to when the limits of this phrase had the roof blown off. Immediately his readers would have gone to the writings of another apocalypse in scripture, that of Daniel. The language used here in Revelation is founder saying, “ “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him” (Dan. 7:13). The power of allusion though allows John to refer to the greater context and meaning namely that Daniel had associated this Son of Man as riding the clouds as Yahweh does and receiving glory and a kingdom as Yahweh should placing him on the same level as Yahweh which is exactly what John does with Jesus in Revelation.
Echoes:
In addition to quotations and allusions. John makes use of Biblical echoes. Author David deSilva writes:
The visionary accounts of the Jewish Scriptures may have exercised so profound an influence on Revelation not because John is cutting and pasting material, but because he himself has used those accounts as the launch pads for his own flights ‘in a spirit’. Acknowledging the role of experiences in alternative states of consciousness in John’s process of composition helps account for the kaleidoscopic bending and blending of images known from texts across the Jewish Scriptures (deSilva).
The last way that John refers back to the Old Testament is through echoing. Echoing is distinct from the previous two because it refers to the development of a theme or type without necessitating specificity. deSilva introduces this idea when he says, “The number of martyrs remains ominously incomplete (6.11); the career of the archetypal witnesses ends in execution (11.7–10), though that is not God’s final word on their story.” (deSilva).
He goes on to say more succinctly and poignantly than I can:
Discussion concerning the significance of the story of the two witnesses has tended to focus on solving the problem of their identity…The anonymity of these witnesses, however, may not be a mystery to be solved but rather a rhetorical potentiality, ‘a point of orientation for the hearers’, who ‘aspired to being God’s witnesses, to giving testimony about God’s cause in the world’ The story of the witnesses is less a prediction of events involving two specific people (or, even less likely, the Scriptures themselves), but constitutes rather an appeal to emulation.
This is the idea of echoing Scripture in Revelation. The Two witnesses are themes that have developed throughout the Biblical story with leaders like Moses and Joshua and prophets like Samuel and Elijah. The emphasis lies not on the specific character but rather on the significance of the role and the continued development of the theme through echoes. Echoes do not have to look the same but simply further the plot. Witnesses in the Hebrew Scriptures were pointing forward to the new covenant, new hearts, and new relationship they would have whereas these witnesses can point to the fulfillment of these promises but still call people to faithfulness.
Another example of these echoes in Revelation is pointed out by New Testament scholar, Michael Gorman. He points out the line “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (22:20b). Then he says, “Revelation also ends liturgically, with a benediction and a final Amen (22:21). Together these texts glorify God, celebrating God’s being, creation, reign, salvation, and justice, and they also glorify Christ the Lamb, celebrating his redemptive death, salvation, reign, and coming. They echo the themes of Psalms 96–98 that also sing a (new) song about the victorious salvation and coming of the Lord, the King” (Gorman). Because of the more encompassing power of echo, John can pick on the theme of the new song of salvation and the coming of the king and incorporate it into his apocalyptic, prophetic letter. If it were simply a repetition it would be a mirror but because of the way it has grown and blossomed from the Psalms to Revelation it can be called an echo.
Conclusion:
This paper has set out to show the diverse means used by John in his literary work to refer back to the Hebrew Scriptures. Through quotation, John gains the credibility and authority prescribed to the Scriptures in his own letter as he shows continuity. Through allusion, John can densely pack his writing with meaning that refers to the associations of titles like cloud rider and son of man without having to take the time to unpack them in his poetry. Lastly, through echo, John is able to connect with larger themes, types and forms in the story thus far and show the ways they develop. Ultimately this paper seeks to show the importance of understanding the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures in order to responsibly discover the meaning and significance of Revelation.
Bibliography
deSilva, David A.. Discovering Revelation : Content, Interpretation, Reception, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/eternity/detail.action?docID=6549822.
Gorman, Michael J.. Reading Revelation Responsibly : Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2011. Accessed May 28, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Keener, Craig S. Revelation: The NIV Application Commentary. Michigan: Zondervan, 2000
Peterson, Eugene H. Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John & the Praying Imagination. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991.
Schwartz, Sam. What is an Allusion? | Definition & Examples, https://oregonstate.edu, May 2021, https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-allusion Stendahl, Krister. The School of St. Matthew Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Crossway 2016