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The foUoA^TLiig are also in the hands of Translators : A Short Protestant Commentary on the Xew Testament ; including Introductions to the Books by Lipsius, Holsten, Lang, Pfleiderer, Holtzmann, Hilgenfeld, and others. Schölten. On the Gospel op St. John. As a means of increasing the number of Subscribers, it has been suggested to us that many of the present supporters will probably be able to furnish us with lists of persons of liberal thought, to whom we would send the Prospectus. We shaU thankfully receive such lists. WILLIAMS & NOEGATE. 14, IIenrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C. DR. FRIEDRICH BLEEKS LECTÜEES ON THE APOCALYPSE. EDITED BY Lie. TH. EOSSBACH, MORNING AND ASSISTANT PREACHER IN THE JERUSALEM CHURCH IN BERLIN. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN. Editel:'by SAMUEL DAVIDSON, D.D. WILLIAMS AITD N"OEGATE, 14, HENRIETTA STREET, CO VENT GARDEN, LONDON; And 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 1875. PKINTK1> BY C. QKEKN AKD Sü», 178, STRANP. ^\r -~ ^ MAR 3 4 PEEFACE OE THE EDITOE. After the publishing house of G. Eeimar has issued Bleek's Introductions to the Old and New Testament, his Lectures on the Apocalypse now appear. The Editor undertakes the com- mission entrusted to him the more willingly, as he is enabled by it to pay publicly a part of the gratitude which he owed his affectionate teacher, who had been to him a fatherly friend. He had certainly many scruples about publishing the latter work. Since Bleek had adapted these Lectures only to two hours in the week in the Wintersemester, we cannot expect in them that profundity and fulness of learning which has made his Epistle to the Hebrews an epoch-making book in exegetical science. He had farther to consider that, with a generosity worthy of recog nition and which should put many scholars to shame, Bleek had placed his Heft at the disposal of his former teacher. De Wette, for the latter's labours on the Apocalypse, so that a con- siderable portion of his researches was already contained in the Commentary of this scholar. Besides, he had himself unfolded Ijis views in several Essays in different periodicals. Lastly, immediately after his death, the more comprehensive Com- mentary of Dlisterdiek had appeared. Notwithstanding this, the Editor, after obtaining the opinion of those more competent iv PREFACE OF THE EDITOR. than himself, still thought that he should no longer retard its puhlication. In the first place, Bleek himself had frequently expressed a wish to collect, in a connected work upon this hook together with a commentary, the scattered results of his re- searches on the Apocalypse already published ; and though such a work, supposing God to have spared him longer to us, might have proved more comprehensive than these Lectures, I still think it will gratify the theological world to have his researches before them even in this form ; so much the rather, that Apo- calyptic literature, and therefore the Apocalypse of John, was the subject of his continual study from youth, as his first Inquiry into the SibyUine books, in the journal edited by Lücke, De Wette and Schleiermacher, and the Researches and Criticisms, afterwards contained in the Studien und Kritiken, testify. More- over, Bleek is so generally esteemed on account of his modera- tion and love of truth in criticism and exegesis, and on account of his clearness of statement, that even though his results are only the same with those already known, the researches being Ms have their special value for theologians. And in my opinion, although it does not become me to pass sentence on the work itself, it will bo found that many things are established more definitely, sharply and clearly, than had been done in his separate treatises on this subject, or by De AVette and Diisterdiek. His "Allgemeine L^ntersuchungen liber die Apokalypse," is certainly a model of clearness and acuteness, as well as of sobriety of cri- ticism, which even those who do not agi-ee with his results must acknowledge. Bleek read seven times on the Apocalypse ; the last time, in the Wintersemester 1856-57, for thiity-six hours. Since, as is well PREFACE OF THE EDITOR. V known, he wrote out his Lectures, the business of the Editor was confined, at most, to alterations in style, and the correcting of some quotations, together with the deciphering of the manuscript, wdiich was sometimes rather illegible. Here it may be remarked that the section on the history of the use of the Apocalypse, as well as the researches on the book in general, were written almost entirely anew for the last Lecture. The Special Inter- pretation was written for the Lecture in the Wintersemester, 1841-42 ; since which it was enlarged and improved by marginal notes for each following Lecture ; even entirely altered here and there. Among the more important and notable works on the same subject which appeared after Bleek's death, only Diister- diek's Commentary has to be mentioned. But I believed that I should abstain from noticing it by adding to the manuscript. A critical examination of the views of Diisterdiek, on my part, ap- peared to me unsuitable in a work of Bleek's, and even though authorized, I could not do it for want of time. Besides, a mere enumeration of the opinions of this scholar, whether in harmony or not with Bleek, appeared to me the more superfluous, as his fundamental views on the Apocalypse, though differing individu- ally in many respects, are the same as those for which Bleek, as one of the first, prepared the way in his earlier dissertations, and procured general recognition. The second edition of Hengsten- berg's Commentary presents so few deviations from the first, that where he w^as quoted it was only necessary for me to sup- plement the page of the first edition by adding that of the second. When the printing had already proceeded as far as twelve sheets, and the rest of the manuscript was no longer in my hands, the treatise of Ewald appeared, " Die Johanneischen vi PREFACE OF THE EDITOR. Schriften ;" the second vol., containing the Apocalypse, presents many variations from his earlier interpretations of single passages. Under these circumstances I was obliged to restrict myself, from the tliirteenth sheet onward, in the passages where he is quoted by Bleek, to remarks inserted in brackets [ ], usually, by the addition (earlier), showing that Ewald now proposes another interpretation. Other additions from my hand, chiefly mere references to Bleek's earher dissertations on the same subject, are likewise marked by brackets. May these Lectures, the last, as far as I know, that will appear of Bleek's legacy, serve to keep the remembrance of thß beloved man in honour as a genuine Protestant inquirer, seeking only the truth ; and may they keep awake and animate the spirit of a truly believing, though not always orthodox, criticism and exegesis ! THE EDITOR Berlin, August, 1862. LIST OF CONTENTS. V^ e "^^'hicli Christ signified l)y his angel unto liis servant John, which latter witnessed what he beheld (oo-a etSe) ; the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed are the readers and hearers of the prophecy who keep what is written in it, for the time is at hand (6 yap Kaipo« tyyus). To this is appended (verses 4 — 8) the dedication of the book by John to the seven churches of Asia (that is, proconsular Asia), which are adduced by name later on. Grace and peace are wished for them from God, from the seven spirits before the throne of God and from Christ ; and they are then referred to the certainty of the glorious appearance of Christ, who shall come with the clouds of heaven, so that all shall see him, those also who pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him (Ko^ovrat). In tlie succeeding verses, Jt)hn (who again names himself as the Avriter, and indicates himself as the brother of his readers, as their companion in tribulation, in the kingdom and patience of the Lord) relates the vision that appeared to him in the Isle of Patmos, where he was for the word of God and for the testimonv of Jesus. CONTENTS OP THE BOOK. 5 He was in the spirit {kv Trvev/xa-L) on the Lord's-day («V Trf KvpiaKij r]fi€p(^), and lieard behind him a loud voice, which com- manded him to write what he saw and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. As he turns round to see the voice, he perceives seven golden candlesticks, and in their midst a shining liuman form (o/xoiov vIm dvdpwTrov), holding in his right hand seven stars. At this sight he falls as dead at the feet of the ajjpearing one, who, however, lays his hand upon him, and desig- nates himself as the First and the Last, as he who had risen from the dead, and would live for evermore, who had the keys of death and of Hades ; and he commands him to write what lie saw, and its interpretation, and what should be hereafter (^ypd\f/ov d €i8cy the voice (i. 10) to enter through an open door into heaven (koI Sel^M a-oi a Sei yevea-dat yucTo, Tavra). Fortliwith the seer falls into rapture («r TTvevfiaTi), and beholds C4od in heaven sitting upon his throne iji glorious majesty ; round about him are twenty-four thrones with twenty-four elders in white raiment and with golden crowns ; from the throne of God proceed lightning and thunder, and before it l;)Urn seven torches (a la-n ra kirra irveviiaTa Tou diov) and a crystal sea Hows ; in the midst of the throne and round about it are four different animal forms (the four cherubim), each with six wings, full of eyes before and behind, who day and night praise God, while they thrice call him holy ; at which the twenty-four elders fall down and cast their crowns before him, who, the Creator of all things, alone is worthy to be praised (ch. iv.). The seer then perceives in the right hand of CJod a book, written on l)oth sides, sealed with seven seals. When an angel asks aloud who is worthy to open the book and to loose its seals, it is shown that none in the whole world is able to do it. As the seer weeps on account of this, he is quieted by one of the elders, who informs him that the Lion of the tril)e of Judah, the root of David, has jirevailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. The seer then perceives the latter person in the form of a Lamb standing in the midst of the throne, as it liad been slain, with seven horns, and seven eyes whicli are tlie spirits of God sent forth into all the CONTENTS OF THE BOOK. 7 M'orld. This Lamb then took tlie IjuoIc out of the riglit hand of Crod, whereupon the four cherubim and the twenty-four elders fell down l:)efore the Lamb, with harps and golden vials full of incense, " which are the prayers of saints." And they sang unto him a new song, as one worthy to open the book, who had re- deemed them to God by his bloody death, out of all nations, and had made them kings and priests. The mmierous host of angels unite in this song of praise, and all creatures in the whole earth praise God and the Lamb ; the four cherubim say " Amen," and the elders fall down and wor- ship. With ch. vi. begins tlie opening of the book, wliich in the sense of the Apocalypse contains the whole future of the Church in its relation to the world, as pre-determined l)y God. This is disclosed to the eyes of the seer gradually, at the gradual opening of the seven seals. What appears at the opening of the four first seals (vi. 1 — 8) is but shortly stated. Each time one of the seals is opened, the seer is asked by one after another of the cherubim to come and see. There appear in succession four horses of different colours — a white, a fiery red, a black and a pale. The three latter indicate by their colour, as well as by other signs, that great plagues will come upon the earth ; according to the second, war ; according to the third, scarcity of the most necessary means of life. Upon the fourth sits Death, accompanied by Hades, to whom power is given to destroy the fourth part of tlie earth in different ways. The first, the white horse, bears a rider crowned, going forth conquering and to conquer, armed with a bow, whom we are certainly not to consider as a tormenting spirit, as is often done, but without doubt as the Lord himself, indicating the final vic- torious issue of his struggle with the hostile powers. At the opening of the fifth seal (vi. 9 — 11), the seer sees under the altar (in lieaven) the souls of the martyi'S who were slain for their Christian faith ; and they ask with a loud voice when at length 8 - LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. the Lord, lioly and true, would avenge tlieir l)lood on the in- habitants of the earth. Tliey receive white robes, and are directed to rest for a time, tOl their fellow-servants and liretln-en, wlio like them should be slain, should be perfected. Tt is signi- fied hereby that still further bloody persecutions should come upon Christendom l)efore due punishment should be executed on the world on account of its hostility to the kingdom of CJod and its members. At the opening of the sixth seal (verses 12 — 17), fearful plie- nomena apjiear, on account of which all men, both great and small, are afraid and in anguisli, seeking in vain to hide them- selves from (lod, and from the anger of the Laml), since the great day of his Avrath is come, and no one can stand before him. Before the opening of the seventh seal, a sort of intermediate act (ch. vii.) follows. Four angels, who hold the four winds of the earth, and have received power to injure land and sea, get from another angel the instruction not to do it till the servants of God should be sealed on their foreliead with the seal of God, and be thus marked as l)elonging to Him. Then the seer hears one hundred and forty-four thousand named as the number of those who are sealed out of the twelve tribes of Israel, twelve thousand out of each tribe, and beholds an innumerable company out of all nations standing Itefore the throne of God and l.tefore the Lamli, in white garments, and Avith branches of palm in their hands, who are described to him by one of the elders as being those who have come out of great tribulation, who have washed their rolies white in the blood of the Lamb, and are now under the immediate i)rotection of God, and under the guidance of the Lamb, Avho shall feed upon the life-giving springs of water, being without hunger or thirst, without pain and sorroAV (to end of ch. vii.) The seventh seal is now opened (viii. 1 and following). Yet its collective disclosures do not appear at once (they are, as it were, too comprehensive and weighty for that), but only gradu- ally and in parts. CONTENTS OP THE BOOK. 9 After tlie silence of half an hour in heaven, trumpets are given to the seven angels standing before God (verse 2). Another angel offers upon the altar (in heaven) incense for the prayers of all the saints; he then fills his censer with the fire of the altar and throws it upon the earth, so that thunder, lightning and earthquakes arise (verses 3 — 5). The seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets, at which, each time, part of the remain- ing contents of the book appears. What comes forth at the four first trumpets is specihed briefly, as it was at the opening of the four first seals (viii. 7 — VI) ; mighty and wonderful phenomena appear one after another — («) on the earth, (Ij) on the sea, (r) on the rivers and fountains of waters, and {d) on the celestial bodies, so that each time a third part of these elements is struck and destroyed. Then, as a preparation for the remaining trumpets, the seer hears an eagle flying through the midst of heaven pro- claiming a threefold woe which should come upon the dwellers of the earth, by the three remaining trumpet-voices (verse 13), wherein it is signified that at the seventh trumpet the last and greatest woe should appear. The first of these three Avoes comes at the fifth trumpet (ix. 1 — 12) ; the seer sees a star fall from heaven to earth and disclose the abyss, out of which ascends dark smoke blackening the air, and there come forth locusts which receive instructions to injure only the men not marked with the seal of God upon earth, and not to kill them, but to torment them for ^\e months M"ith violent scorpion stings, so that they may wish for death without finding it (verses 1 — 6). These locusts (verses 7 — 10) are tlien more minutely described with regard to their extra- ordinarily fearful form and agency. According to verse 11, they have a king over them — Abaddon, Apollyon, destroyer — (verse 12). " One woe is past, and, behold, two more woes come here- after." More copious and compressed is the description of the second woe (ix. 13 — xi. 14), dividing into several sections. The first (ix. 13 — 21) introduces the chief plagues of this woe. At the 10 LECTUliES OX THE APOCALYPSE. sounding of the sixtli tiunipet, four angels of destruction, bound in the Euphrates, are loosed, and there appears a terrible army of horsemen, whose number the seer hears as two hundred mil- lions, horse and rider of fearful, honible shapes ; out of the mouths of the horses proceed fire, smoke and brimstone, which three plagues are to kill a third part of the men upon the earth, whilst the former plagues had only served to torment men vio- lently ; but even these increased plagues do not move the rest of men to repent, and to cease from the worship of demons and idols, or from their murders, sorceries, fornications and tliefts. The following (ch. x.) makes no progress in the unveiling t)f the future, but contains again, as it were, several episodes. The seer sees another angel descend from heaven in shining form, holding a small book open in his hand; who places his feet upon earth and sea. At his cry the seven thunders utter their voices at the same time. When the seer was about to write what they uttered, he is forbidden to do it by a voice from heaven, where- upon that angel, raising his right hand towards heaven, swears by the everlasting Creator that there' should be no more delay (x/>oi'os oi'K€T6 eo-rat), but that, as soon as the seventh angel should sound his trumpet, the mystery of God would be com- pleted ; as he had declared to his servants tlie prophets. At the comniand of the heavenly voice, the seer was to swallow that little open book, wliicli is sweet as honey to his mouth, but when he had swallowed it his stomacli was bitter. Hereupon it was signified to him that he should again prophesy respecting many kings and nations. The seer now receives a measuring- rod, with the command to measure the temple of God, the altar (of burnt incense), and those worshipping there, but not tlie court outside the temple, as that was given to the heathen, who should tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months (xi. 1, 2). Then the divine speech announces to tlie seer that God would cause his two witnesses to prophesy for 1260 days (= forty-two months), clothed in mourning apparel (verse 3). These two witnesses arc then more clearly described as propliets CONTENTS OF THE BOOK. 11 enlightened by CtOcI and endowed with great power, who, after ha\dng finished their testimony, should be overcome and slain by the beast which ascended from the abyss ; their dead bodies were to lie unburied during three and a half days in the streets of Jerusalem (the great city which Trvev/xartKws is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified), to the derision and joy of the nations of the earth ; but afterwards they would ascend to heaven, being again awaked by God, before the eyes of tlieir enemies, to the horror of those seeing it. At the same time a great earthquake takes place, a tenth part of the city falls, seven thousand men perish, the remainder are afraid and give honour to the C4od of heaven (verses 4 — 13.) In the description a change takes place (verse 11) in relation to the preceding; a transition from prophecy in God's address to the seer, to the form of vision, on which account, whilst the preceding verses announce the impending future, the aorist is used in verses 1 1 — 13, so that tlie seer himself appears narrator in the vision. Then it is said, in verse 14, " The second woe is past ; behold, the third woe cometh quickly." It agrees witli this, that the seventh angel now sounds his trumpet (verse 15) ; upon which it is made known by loud voices in heaven that the world-kingdom has become for all eternity that of God and of Christ; and the twenty -four elders, falling down, praise God that he has taken to himself the power, and that the time of his judging the dead is come, in order to reward his prophets, saints and worshippers, both great and small, and to destroy the destroyers of the earth (verse 18). Hereupon the temple of God in heaven opens, and the ark of the covenant appears in it, and there are lightnings, voices of thunder, earthquakes and great hail (verse 19). A nearer de- scription, however, of the third and last woe, in the manner expected from the preceding context, does not follow, at least immediately. In chapter xii. a great wonder which appeared in lieaven is spoken of. A woman, clothed with the sun, the moon under her 12 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. feet, upon her head a crown of twelve stars, was with child, and cried out in travail ; but Satan, as a great fiery-coloured dragon, with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems, places himself l)efore the woman in order to devour the child which slie was about to bear. The boy, whom she brings forth, is indicated as one destined to rule all nations with an iron sceptre, that is, as the Messiah ; he is caught up to God and his throne, whilst the woman flies into the wilderness, to a place which Clod has pre- l)ared for her, to be nourished there for 1260 days (forty-two months, or seven half years) (verses 1 — 6). A war now takes place in heaven between jNIichael and his angels on the one side, and Satan and his angels on the other, in wliich the latter are hurled from heaven to earth ; whereupon a voice in heaven pro- nounces this as the victory of God and of his anointed, but invokes a woe upon the earth and sea, because the devil has descended to them and with great anger, since he knows that he has but a short time, öti oXlyov Kaipov tx^i (verses 7 — 12). Satan, who was hurled to earth, persecutes that woman (the mother of the jNIes- siah), who, being provided with eagle's wings, escapes to her place in the wilderness, where she is nourished three and a hall' times (according to verse 6, 1260 days) in safety from Satan. Earth itself lielps her in swallowing up the flood with which the dragon endeavours to wash her away; whereupon Satan, full of anger at the Avoman, ]n"oceeds to make war with the rest of her seed (the remaining children of the woman) (verses 13 — ITj. The seer now denotes (xii. 18) as his standpoint (in the vision) the sand of the sea, the sea-shore, and relates (xiii. 1 and following) what presented itself to him there. He sees (ch. xiii.) in succession two animals, the one ascending from the sea, the other from the earth. The former (xiii. 1 — 10), which at a later period (verse 14 and following) is denoted as the beast pre- eminently (to dijpiov), in his outward form is represented as similar to Satan, with ten horns, seven heads, and ten diadems upon the horns ; upon the heads the name of Blasphemy. He resembles a panther, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of CONTENTS OF THE BOOK. 13 a lion; Satan gives over to him his power and his throne (verses 1, 2). One of the seven heads is, as it were, wounded to death (verse 3 ; see verse 12 ; according to verse 14, with a sword-wound) ; nevertheless, the deadly wound is healed, to the astonishment of the world. This beast receives power for forty- two months ; and the inhabitants of the earth, whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life, worship the beast and the dragon, viz. Satan. At last it is emphatically expressed (verses 9, 10) that those practising violence would surely meet with corresponding punishment, but that here, on the part of the saints, patience and faith prevail. The second of the beasts ascending out of the earth has the horns of a lamb, but speaks like a dragon ; farther on he is explicitly denoted as the false prophet (xvi. 13, xix. 20, xx. 10). In relation to the first beast, he appears in an inferior position, procures him worshippers, leads men astray by means of great signs, induces them to make an image of the beast and animates it ; whilst all who do not worship this image are killed, and all who do not bear the name of the beast, or the number of his name as a mark upon their right hand or upon their forehead, are excluded from common buying and selling (verses 11 — 17). "Here," it is finally said, " wisdom prevails ; let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man {dpidno'i avOpojrrov), and the number is 666 (x^C)-" The following chapter (xiv.) contains several single visions whicli refer to the purity of the servants of God, to the blessed- ness of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord, and to the judgment threatening the world, and especially the chief seat of the hostile power upon earth, without directly involving special progress in the unveiling of the future, namely, (a) verses 1 — 5, where the seer beholds the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 worehippers, as first fruits ransomed from the earth to God and the Lamb, wlio are without falsehood and maiden-like, who follow the Lamb wherever he goes, who alone can learn the new song which is sung in 1 4 LECTURES ON. THE APOCA L YPSE. heaven before the throne, the cherubim and the elders; (b) verses G — 12, where three angels appear one after another; the first to make known to men an everlasting gospel, and inviting them to honour and worship the Creator of the world, since the hour of liis judgment has come; the second, witli the cry that the great Babylon has fallen, she who made all nations drunk witli the intoxicating wine of her fornication ; the third, with the threat of eternal pain of fire against all the adherents and wor- shippers of the beast and his image (verse 11) : " Here is the patience of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus" (verse 12); (c) verse 13, treating of a heavenly voice, which commands the seer to write down, that blessed are those who have died in the Lord from henceforth (even already), that tliey shall rest from their labours, since their works follow them ; ((7) verses 14 — 20, reference to the execution of the divine punishment on the earth, represented under a two-fold image — that of a harvest, which one similar to a son of man, wlio sits upon a white cloud, and bears on his head a golden crown, accomplishes with a sharp sickle on the earth ripe for harvest ; and under that of a vine, which another angel gathers, whilst he puts his sharp sickle into the vineyard of tlie earth and tln-ows the grapes into the large wine-press of the anger of God, wliich is trodden outside the city, and out of which blood came fortli even to the bridle of the horses, 1600 furlongs wide. There follows (xv. 16) a new vision of the seven last plagues upon the earth. The seer sees upon a glass sea mixed with fire the conquerors of tlie beast, of liis image and the number of his name, who on harps praise God witli the song of Moses and tlie Lamb, as the almiglity and righteous Judge, to whose worship all the nations of the earth should come (xv. 1 — 4). Then seven angels come out of the open temple in heaven, to whom one of the cherubim gives seven golden A'ials i'ull of the WTath of God, whereupon the temple is filled witli smoke from the majesty of God, so that no one can enter until the seven plagues of these angels are past (verses 5 — 8, end). At the demand of a luud CONTEN.T& OE THE BOOK, . 15 voice from the temple, the seven angels now pour out their vials with the anger of God upon the earth (xvi. 1). The pouring out of the four first vials (verses 2 — 9) is but briefly presented. What appears thereupon is quite similar to that which happened at tlie sounding of the four first trumpets (viii. 7 — 12). The first angel pours out his vial upon the earth, and the worshippers of the beast are covered with a vicious poisonous sore; the second pours his into the sea, which changes into blood, whereupon all living beings in the sea die ; the third, upon the rivers and springs of water, which likewise become turned into blood, whereupon the angel of the waters praises God for this just judg- ment, inasmuch as he has given blood to drink to those who shed the blood of the saints and prophets, which price of the justice of the judgment of God the altar confirms ; the fourth, upon the sun, which burns men in the most violent manner, but without changing their dispositions, since they still more blaspheme the name of God, who has power over these plagues ; the fifth plague-vial does not produce any other effect (verses 10, 11) ; it is poured out upon the throne of the beast, whose kingdom is darkened ; the people bite their tongue witli pain, but, without being converted, only blaspheming God the more. The sixth trumpet is similar (ix. 13 — 21) to the sixth vial of torment (verses 12 — 16) ; it is poured out on the Euphrates, the water of which dries up, that the way may be prepared for the kings of the east. The seer then sees three unclean spirits like frogs go out of the moutli of the dragon, of the beast, and of the false prophet, who, working miracles, collect together the kings of the whole world to the battle of the great day of God's judg- ment, at the place called in Hebrew Harmagedon ; whereupon there is a reference to the suddenness of the impending appear- ance of the Lord in an inserted admonition (verse 15). Finallv, the seventh angel pours out his vial upon the air, whereupon a voice calls out of the temple from the throne, " It is done " (yeyoi/ev), and violent thunder, lightning and a great earthquake arise ; the great city is divided into three parts ; the cities of 16 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. the Gentiles fall, and Babylon the great comes into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the M'ine of his wTath ; islands and mountains disappear, and great hail falls from heaven upon men ; but they only blaspheme God on account of this lieavy plague (verses 17 — 21). The following chapter (xvii.) contains a minuter interpreta- tion of the beast, as well as his heads and horns, and of the city already denoted (xiv. 8, xvi. 9) as Babylon ; which interpretation is given to the seer by one of the plague angels, who leads him in the spirit into a wilderness, where he sees a woman sitting upon a crimson-coloured beast full of the names of blas- phemy, with seven heads and ten horns (without doubt the same that was introduced in ch. xiii., whose number there was specified as 666) ; she is clothed in the most brilliant manner, and has in her hand a cup full of the abominations and impurities of her fornication, and by an inscription on her forehead is represented as the mystical great Bal)ylon, drunken with the blood of the saints and the Mdtnesses of Jesus, who sits upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth comnut whoredom, and who intoxicate the inhabitants of the earth with tlie wine of her fornication (verses 1 — 7). The interpretation which the angel gives is this : The beast, he says to tlie seer (verse 8), which thou sawest was (iyi', before) and is not {koX ovk ecmv, at this moment he is not), and will come up out of the abyss (appear anew), and runs into perdition, to the astonishment of the dwellers of the earth who are not written in the book of life, when they see the beast that lie was and is not, and (again) will be (compare witli this xiii. 3, xii. 14, according to wliich the beast lives again after the deadly sword-wound of one of his heads). Farther (verses 9, lU), the seven heads (of the animal) are (a) seven mountains, upon which the woman sits (the great Babylon) and (b) (are at the same time viewed from another aspect) seven kings ; the five (ol ttci'tc, without doubt : the five first of them) have (already) fallen ; one (the sixth) is (6 eU fo-Tu-) ; the other (the still remaining seventh) has not yet cume, and when he CONTENTS OF THE BOOK. 17 comes he shall (again according to God's counsel; that lies in Set) only remain a short time, oAiyov aiVov Set fxiivai. It is farther related (verse 11), and the beast, which was and is not, is likewise the eighth itself, as it also ck twv Ittt« Io-tiv (is one of the seven), and he runs into destruction. The ten horns of the beast are explained (verses 12 — 14) of ten kings, who received no kingdom, but only power as kings for a short time (fitav (apav) with the beast ; they have one mind, and give their power to the beast. They shall make war upon the Lamb, but the Lamb, the Lord of lords and King of kings, together with his called and chosen ones, shall overcome them. Farther, the water upon which (according to verse 1) the whore (Babylon) sat, signifies multitudes of nations and tongues (verse 15). The angel then adds (verses 16, 17) that those ten horns and the beast hate the whore (Babylon), destroy and kill her, eat her flesh and burn it, since God has thus appointed them to perform his counsel. And the woman — thus the angel closes his interpretation (verse 18) — whom thou hast seen is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. In the following section (xviii. 1 — xix. 10) the fall of the woman, the great Babylon, which was already (xiii. 8) announced (compare also xvi. 10, xvii. 16), is farther treated of in several paragraphs, (a) xviii. 1 — 3 : Another angel, whom the seer sees descending from heaven, illuminating the earth with great splen- dour, calls with a loud voice that she is fallen, and has become a dwelling-place for demons and unclean birds, because she seduced nations and kings to fornication (to the worship of idols), and led an evil, riotous life. (6) Verses 4 — 20 : Another voice from heaven commands the people of God to go out of her, that they may not take part in her sins and be subjected to the plagues, which are to be suddenly inflicted upon her, and in fuU measure, so that the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her remain standing and weeping in the distance for fear of her torments ; and the merchants and seamen who enriched them- selves by her means lament over her destruction ; heaven, the c 18 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. saints, tlie apostles and the prophets, on the contrary, rejoice over her, because God lias now avenged them upon Babylon. (c) Verses 21 — 24 : Here the sudden and total destruction of the city is still more vividly portrayed by the symbolical acting of an angel, who casts a millstone into the sea, and by the speech attending the action : " Thy merchants " — is the final sum of it — " were the magnates of the earth ; through thy sorcery all nations were led astray, and in her was found the blood of the prophets and saints, and of all slain upon the earth." {d) xix. 1 — 10 : The seer now hears repeatedly the voices of a great com- pany in heaven, in which the cherubim and the elders worship- ping unite ; praises and the invitation to praise God on account of the righteousness of his judgment upon great Babylon, whereby he has avenged the blood of his servants on her, and that he has taken the sovereignty to himself, that the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready, and that she may adorn herself in shining clean linen, that is, with the innocence or virtues of the saints (verses 1 — 8). The seer is then commanded to write down, that blessed are they wdio are invited to the marriage of the Lamb; and he is assured that those are the true words of God (verse 9) ; but as he is about to fall do\vn and worship (before the angel), he is held back by the exclamation, " I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren who have the testimony of Jesus ; worship God ; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." In the following section (xLx:. 11 — xx. 3) the seer narrates first the aj^pearance of the Logos of God, as a conqueror in the opened heaven, sitting upon a white horse in shining form, bearing a name which no one knows except himself, his dress dipped in blood ; in his train are the heavenly hosts upon white horses, with garments of white pure linen; out of his mouth proceeds a sharp sword in order to slay the nations, whom he shall rule M'ith an iron sceptre ; he treads the wine-presses of the divine anger ; upon his garment and upon his thigh he bears the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (xix. 11 — 16). CONTENTS OF THE BOOK. 19 An angel standing in the sun then calls to the birds to gather themselves together to the feast of God, to eat the flesh of the kings and rulers, and of all, great and small — namely, of those adversaries who were conquered in battle with the Lord (verses 17, 18). The seer then sees how the beast and the kings of the earth collect themselves with their army, to war with him (the Logos) who sits upon the horse and his army ; but the beast and the false prophet are both seized and cast alive into the burning pool of sulphur, the remainder (the kings and armies allied with the beast) are killed with the sword proceeding from the mouth of the Logos, and all the birds sate themselves with their flesh (verses 19 — 21), Then the seer beholds an angel descend from heaven with the key of the abyss and a great" chain ; he seizes the dragon, or Satan, binds him for a thousand years, throws him into the abyss, and locks it up and seals (it) over him (Satan), that he may not farther lead astray the nations till the expiration of the thousand years ; nevertheless it is said, jx^Ta raura Sei avTov XvOrjvat, jiiKpov ^(povov (xx. 1 — 3). During that space of time a thousand years' reign of Christ takes place upon earth (xx. 4 — 6). The seer perceives that the judgment is set, that the souls of the Christian martyrs, and especially of those who have not consented to the worship of the beast, again live and reign with Christ a thousand years, whilst the remaining dead do not return to life till after the expiration of the thousand years. " This is," it is said, " the first resurrection ; blessed and holy is he who takes part in it : over such the second death hath no power ; but they shall become priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." The prophetical discourse continues still (verses 7, 8), but then without farther notice (verses 9, 10) passes into the narrative form of speech, as an indication of what was presented to the prophet in the vision, as is also the case before (verse 6). The substance is this : After the expiration of the thousand years, Satan shall be loosed from his prison, and shall go forth to C2 20 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. mislead the nations at the four ends of the earth, Gog and Magog, and to collect them, an innumerable host, to battle : they march forth upon the breadth of the earth, encircle the camp of the saints, the beloved city, but are consumed by fire from heaven ; and their tempter, the devil, is cast into the pool of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night to all eternity. The seer now sees (ch. xx, 11 and following) a great white throne ; before him who sits upon it disappear heaven and earth ; before the throne stand the dead, great and small ; books are opened (namely, wherein the conduct of eacli one is registered), and another book, that of life ; the dead all together are judged with respect to their conduct according to the evidence of the books ; death and Hades are thrown into the pool of fire ; " this is the second death, the pool of fire, into which each one is thrown who is not found "vviitten in the book of life" (verses 11 — 15). Now follows (xxi. 1 — xxii. 5) the last part of the pro- phecy, or the last section of the chief part of the book, which portrays at large the final development of the kingdom of God, particularly the New Jerusalem the dwelling-place of the saints, and the happiness of which they shall there partake. The seer beholds a new heaven and a new earth, the first heaven and the first earth having disappeared, and there is no more sea ; and he sees Jerusalem, the holy city, descending out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband ; she is indi- cated to him by means of a voice coming from heaven, as a tabernacle of God among men, who shall be his people, and he will be God among them, wiping away all their tears, whilst death shall exist no longer, neither sorrow nor misery ; for former things are past (to, irpCtTa dTrrjXOev) (xxi. 1 — 4). He who sits upon the throne says, " Behold, I make all things new ;" he commands the seer to write that these promises are faitliful and true ; he saith to the seer, " It is done ;" and designates himself the Ever- lasting, who will give to the thirsty freely out of the spring of tlie water of life, bestow the inheritance upon the conqueror CONTENTS OF THE BOOK. 21 as his son ; but will assign the unbelievers, the wicked and the idolaters, their part in the burning pool of fire and brimstone which is the second death (verses 5 — 8). The seer is now led up in the spirit to a high mountain by one of those seven angels with the vial of torments, and shown the bride of the Lamb, the holy city Jerusalem, as she descends from God out of heaven in divine majesty and splendour. It is then described more minutely (partly similar to Ezek. xlviii.). It has twelve gates, three in each quarter of the heavens, and at the gates twelve angels, and engraved on them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel ; its wall has twelve foundations (öe/xeAtovs), upon which are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (verses 9 — 14). At the measuring of the city by the angel who talks with the seer, it is shown that it is four-cornered, its length and breadth of similar extent, and also its height, 12,000 furlongs (which would be 300 German miles). The measure of the walls amounts to 144 ells; walls, city, gates and streets, are gold, precious stones and pearls (verses 15 — 21). The seer does not perceive a temple in the city, for its temple is the Almighty God himself and the Lamb (verse 22) ; it also needs not the sun and the moon to lighten it, since the majesty of God illuminates it and the Lamb is its light (verse 23) ; the nations shaU walk in its light, and kings shall bring their glory and treasures to it ; its gates shall not be closed by day, and night will not exist ; yet nothing pro- fane shall go in, neither he wlro practises abomination and false- hood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life (verses 24 — 27). The angel shows the seer still farther a stream of water of life, which proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb (xxii. 1), in the middle of the street of the city ; upon both sides of the stream is a tree of life which bears fruit twelve times in the year, and whose leaves serve for the healing of the nations (verse 2). Nothing accursed shall be any more; the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; his servants shall serve him and behold his face, and bear his name upon their 22 LECTURES ON TUE APOCALYPSE. Ibreheacls ; God himself sliall be their light, iind they shall reign to all eteruity (verses 3 — 5). Here the properly prophetical and main part of the book, the unveiling of the future of the kingdom of God, ends. There follows still, III. Ch. xxii. 6 — 21, an Epilogue, wherein is especially as- serted the truth and certainty of these utterances, and it is repeatedly expressed, that the time of fulfilment is near. So first (verses 6, 7), where the angel assures the seer that these disclosures are true and proceed from God, that the Lord will come quickly, and that blessed are those who keep the words of the prophecy of this book. John again designates himself as the person who heard and saw these things ; he falls down before the angel, but the latter holds him back, and at the same time com- mands him not to seal the prophetic utterances of the book, since the time of fulfilment is near (6 yap Kaipos «yyvs eo-nv), so that there is no more time for men to change their former walk; the Lord will come quickly, and liis reward with him for each one according to his conduct ; blessed are those who keep themselves pure ; they shall have part in the tree of life and shall enter into the city through the gates, whilst the idolaters and wicked of all kinds shall remain without (verses 8 — 15). Jesus himself testifies that he sent his angel to make known these things to the churches (verse 16). "And the Spirit" — it is farther said (verse 17) — and the bride say, ' Come;' and let him that hears say, 'Come;' and let the thirsty one come ; whoever wishes may take the water of life freely." The author again appears threatening the severest divine punisliment against all wlio hear tlie prophecies of this book, if tliey presume to add or take away aught of the con- tents (verses 18 — 20). "He who testifies this says. Yea, I come quickly. Amen ; come, Lord Jesus" (verse 20). The ending of the book runs after the manner of a New Testament Epistle, wishing divine gi-ace to the readers (verse 21). IL HISTORY OF THE USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. I SHALL attempt to give here a historical survey of the leading views and opinions which have been held one after another, partly together, concerning the book, both (a) as to its origin — apostolic or not apostolic, its genuineness or spurionsness — as well as (h) its credit ; the authority ascribed to it in connection with the view whether and to what extent the contents rest upon actual and immediate divine revelation, by which the visions were presented to the author in the manner here com- municated, or whether the visionary character is to be viewed only as a historical envelope, and the whole as a purely human product ; finally, also, (c) as to the interpretation of the book, in its totality and in single parts, in themselves and in their relation, to one another ; w;lierein we must consider whether the several visions form one connecting series with regard to their meaning or several series running parallel ; how the several numbers in the book are to be taken in themselves, and in their relation to one another ; and especially whether the thousand years and the thousand-years' kingdom are to be taken as a period of time and a condition which has already begun, perhaps has entirely passed, or as entirely future ; lastly, to what persons — a single one, or in a moral sense and collectively, the adversaries and hostile powers which appear in the book are to be referred — namely, the two beasts ascending from the sea and from the earth, of which the 24 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. former is mostly called the beast, Kar f^ox^/i', and ^^Q given as the number of his name. I remark generally that with regard to no other New Testa- ment book is there such a multitude of interpretations as about the Apocalypse, especially among those interpreters who — and they are the greater number — view it as a pure outcome of immediate divine revelations. This necessarily implies that they took the contents of single visions as definite predictions of historical facts or relations which had already been fulfilled in part in the former history of the church and the world, or were still to be fulfilled in part ; and so they inquired what parts of the book and what visions belonged to the former category, what to the latter ; what was still expected, after comparing what had already been. The whole was viewed as a sort of prophetic calendar, which one need only consult in order to know what epoch it is in the kingdom of God. Thus there was a natural proneness among interpreters of different times and different parties to find precisely their own times and their own struggles in the book, and theü' adversaries and persecutors depicted in the hostile powers that appear in it. The interpre- tation of the Apocalypse has therefore borne a very subjective character in many ways more than that of any other New Testa- ment book, and has assumed a more objective character only in union with a freer or larger view of its prophetic character or the character of prophecy in general. Concerning the history of the Apocalypse in the Church more at large, consult especially Lücke's Versuch, &c. (ed. 1, 1832), ed. 2, Bonn, 1852, §34—43, pp. 516 — 651 ; the ecclesiastical tradition respecting tlie author of the book ; and § 68 — 85, pp. Ü52 — 1070, a history of the Interpretation of the Apocalypse.* For the last, compare also De Wette, Kurze Erklärung der Apocalypse (Exegetical Hand- book of the New Testament, Vol. III. l*art ii.), Leipzig, 1848 (2nd ed., witli a Preface by Lücke, 1855), pp. 14 — 22. * Compare respecting this work the copious review of Bleek's in the Tlieolog. Stud, u. Krit., 1864, 4 Heft., and 1855, let Heft, USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 25 We shall here combine both points of view in our statement, but must confine ourselves to the most important, the epoch- making and chief representatives of the different opinions. Defi- nite, certain or probable traces of the Apocalypse's use are not to be found among the so-called Apostolic Fathers in their writings that have been preserved. The contrary has been asserted, it is true, namely, with reference to Hermas and Poly- carp, with regard to the latter by Hengstenberg (die Offenbarung des St. Johannes, für solche die in der Schrift forschen, erläutert, 2 Bände, the 2nd, in two divisions, Berlin, 1849 — 1851, Part ii. pp. 97 and following) ; but in none of the places quoted from these authors does it appear likely on closer consideration that they could have had in view or copied expressions of the Apoca- lypse (see Lücke, pp. 518 — 524, 546 and following).* It is a much disputed question whether Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, is to be considered as a witness in this respect, who belonged to the first half of the second century, and according to the state- ment of Irenseus is said to have heard John (without doubt, the apostle). Two Greek commentators on the Apocalypse, both bishops of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Andreas and Arethas — tlie former of whom lived at the end of the fifth century, the latter not much later — speak of Papias as being among those older teachers who testify to the credibility and inspiration of the Apocalypse (to Öcottvcuo-tov, a^ioir la-rov). Arethas only follows Andreas in this statement, so that the latter alone is here taken into consideration ; his evidence can only refer to the (lost) writing of Papias (Aoytwv KvpiaKwv e^i^y-qo-ets) ; for antiquity is unacquainted with another work of Papias, and it admits of no doubt that Andreas knew it, since he expressly cites a couple of sentences of Papias's. Yet it is not likely, as has been often assumed, that Papias should have quoted the Apocalypse ex- pressly as a work of John's, and an apostolic one ; for in that case the suence of Eusebius could not be explained ; for he ex- * See Bleek's review of the work of Lücke in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1865, Heft. I. p. 181 ff. 26 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. pressly quotes the witnesses of Papias concerniug the authors of New Testament -writings (H. E. iii. 39), and also mentions else- where the statements and opinions of the earlier church writers about the Apocalypse, hut does not say anything about Papias's testimony, which he certainly would not have omitted if Papias had expressly notified the same as an apostolic ^vTiting. After this, it is not probable that Papias could have expressly cited the Apocalypse. Nevertheless, Andreas, in another place, may have believed himself justified in supposing that Papias laid stress upon the Apocalypse. Papias, like most Christians of his time, was a millennarian, and appears to have conceived in a sensuous manner the idea of an impending thousand-years' reign of Christ upon earth, and to have expressed that opinion in his work. Eusebius (H. E.) means that Papias arrived at this opinion, because he misunderstood the airoo-ToXiKa-i 8iip/y'j;- Tcvo-e, Kal jLieTO, raura ttjv KaOoXiK-qv Kal, crvveAovrt (pavab, atwycav ojiodvp-aSov afJLa TravTWV avacrracrtv yevrjcrea-dai, Kai Kpuriv. Jc^USCblUS (H. E. iv. 18) says that Justin makes mention in this Dialogue of the Apocalypse of John, a-a^ds tov airoa-ToXov avTy]V ehai Atywv. Thus, as Justin here expresses himself— against the Jew Try- pho — we are justified in supposing that what he says about the Apocalypse was not only a private opinion of his, but an idea current at his time in the Church, i. e. about the middle of the second century ; and it is very probable tliat Papias also enter- tained the same idea, and that the Apocalypse had such credit as an apostolic writing of John's as early as the first half of the second century. It was much the same after the time of Justin, during the second half of the second century, when the eccle- siastical view shows itself decidedly favourable to the apostolic origin of the Apocalypse. Of this we find decided testimonies, (a) with reference to Melito, Bishop of Sardis about 175, who according to the testimony of Eusebius (iv. 26) and Jerome (vir. illustr. 24), composed, among other things, a work upon the Apocalypse. This implies perhaps, if not an explanation of the whole book, at least some leading points in it ; such a work may be considered as a not unimportant testimony for the authority of the Apocalypse, (b) With regard to Theophilus of Antioch, of whom Eusebius (iv. 24) mentions that he used testi- monies (fiaprvpias) from the Apocalypse of John in a treatise against Hermogenes ; this confirms the opinion that it was then thought highly of in the church at Antioch and in the district about there, (c) In the writing which tlie church of Vienne and Lyons issued to tlie churches of Asia and Phrygia, respecting the persecutions which they had to suffer (about the 28 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. year 177). Eusebius (v. 1 — 3) has commuuicateJ an important portion of it ; in which are to be found several unmistakable allusions to the Apocalypse. In one of them it is said, in refer- ence to the utterance (xxii. 11), tVa i} 7ptt< ox Tin-: apocalypse. Apocalypse, nor in the Apoealy2)se of the Epistles, as one might have expected if both were by the same author, (f) The difference of language, since the Gospel and the Epistles are written in good Greek, in well-turned and correct language ; hut the diction of the Apocalypse is full of Larl)arisms and solecisms. On the other hand, Dionysius will not deny that the Apocalypse is the work of a holy, divinely-inspired man, and of a John, as itself asserts, only not the apostle John, the disciple beloved by the Lord, the l>rother of James, whose it does not give itself out to be ; nor of John Mark, the travel- ling-companion of Paul and Barnabas, but of another John living in Asia. He then mentions that two tombs of two diflerent Johns are to be found in Ephesus. In the same work, as Euse- bius says, Dionysius had gone through the whole Apocalypse, and had sought to show that it could Udt be understood literally (Kara ti]v TTpo^eLpov SLavotav) : he attributes to it, accordingly, a spiritual meaning, in the manner of Origen, though he cannot comprehend, as he says, the deeper meaning. A single, yet not exactly a spiritual interpretation of his, has been preserved to us from another writing, the Epistle to Hermannon, by Eusebius (H. E. vii. 10), where he refers (Apocalypse xiii. 15) to the Emperor Valerian and his persecution of the Christians. As to a judgment upon the origin of the book, as well as its canonical value, no certainty or uniformity is to be found in the Churcli after the third century. The expressions of Euse- bius, of Ctesarea, clearly prove tliis as regards the first half of the fourth century ; and he is the chief witness for the New Testament Canon, in his Church History (written about 32G). He says, of the Apocalypse (B. iii. 424:), that opinions upon it even then wavered (ttJs 5e uTroKaXvifaos ä/j' iKurepov ewl vvv irapa Tots TToWok TrepttAKerai i) 86^a). Hc promises there to pronounce judgment upon the book at a tit time, according to the testi- mony of the ancients. Yet that was not done subsequently, in a definite manner. In the principal passage on the Canon (ib. ch. XXV.), where he divides into several classes the books which USB OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 37 belong to the New Testament Canon, or claim to be reckoned among them, he expresses himself as uncertain whether he should regard the Apocalypse as belonging to the first class, the Honio- logumena; or to the second, the Antilegomena, the latter of which he himself marks as vöda ; he leaves this to the judgment of individuals (etye c^aveii^) ; saying that some dOerova-L this work, others kyKpivova-i Tois o/xoAoyov/^eyots. In Book iü. 39, he points attention to the fact that Papias speaks of a second John — l.)esides the apostle and evangelist — viz. John the presbyter, and bids us observe this, since it was probable that tuv SeiJTepov, et jii] TIS l9kXoi TUV TrpwToi', T7yv ctt' 6v6fJ.aTOS epo/x€vr/v liodvvov aTroKa- Xvxpcv €ojpaKei'aL. To this Supposition, brought forward by Diony- sius, viz. that the Apocaly])se was the work of another John different from the apostle and evangelist, Eusebius himself in- clines most favourably, although he does not venture expressly to declai'e in favour of it ; perhaps he did not find it sufficiently established in older ecclesiastical tradition so far as it was known. Eusebius himself often cites the book as " The Eevela- tion of John ;" nevertheless (H. E. iii. 18) eV tj/ 'Iwduvov Xeyofihrf d-n-oKaXvxpei ; and it is not unimportant that he does not once quote the Apocalypse in his Interpretations of Isaiah and the Psalms, although there were not wanting opportunities of citing passages from this book ; and he also quotes from nearly all other New Testament writings. The only explanation of this is, partly that Eusebius himself was not certain wdiether com- plete canonical authority was due to the Apocalypse ; and partly he knew that such was denied to it by many, and therefore its testimony would not be recognized. This was partly the case with regard to the time after Eusel)ius ; though differently in different parts of the Church, upon which I make the following remarks. (a) The unfavourable opinion which the presbyter Caius, in particular, passed on the Apocalypse, in conflict with the Mon- tanists, in the Latin Church, had no lasting effect. AVe find indeed that Philastrius, Bishop of Brescia, in Up] cr llal\- ^nuirth 38 LECTURES ON THE ArOCALYPSE. century, end), Haares. 88, wliere he enumerates the books which should be read in the churches, according to the prescriptions of the apostles, does not mention the Apocalypse among them ; l)ut the reason of this is because he did not consider it suitable for reading public in the churches, on account of the obscurity of its contents, and not from any doubt of its origin or its authority ; as he already, in a previous jAace (llaeres. GO), reckons those among heretics who did not consider the Gospel and the Apoca- lypse to be the works of the apostle John. V\'e find it every- where used in the Latin Church by the most distinguished teachers, and without hesitation, as a genuine apostolic writing, possessing complete canonical authority ; for example, by Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, &c. Jerome (Ep. 129 to Dardanus) says of the churches of the Greeks that they did not receive the Apocalypse, contrary to the Latins ; and therefore his opinion clearly is that the latter, as far as he knew, received it. And (De Vir. Illustr. c. 9), where he speaks of the apostle John and his writings, he names among tlie latter the Apoca- lypse also, without once speaking of divergent views as to the origin of the book, though he makes mention of such in relation to the second and third Epistles of John. AVe find the Apoca- lypse in the different lists of the New Testament Canon received from the Latin Church after the end of the fourth century — the first being that of the Council of Hippo Uliegius, in the year 393 — directly adduced as an ecclesiastically canonical and apostolic writing. Only Junilius, an African Bishop about the middle of the sixth century, in his treatise De I'artibus Legis Divinai (i. 4), does not include the Apocalypse among the pro- perly canonical books which are perfecta^, auctoritatis, and says that there is mucli doubt about it still among the Easterns. Yet this statement serves as proof that such scruples on the part of the Latin Church of his time were not known to him. It does not therefore probably refer to the AVestern Church of tlie time, when tlie fourth Synod at Toh'do (G33 A.D.) speaks of rimi, who did not accept the autliority of the Apocalypse, and USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 39 refused to preacli (predicare) it in the Cliurch of God. Never- theless, the public reading of it in the Church may not regularly have taken place even in the West, from the obscurity of the contents. The above-named Synod itself designates the Apoca- lypse as a work which was declared to be that of the evan- gelist John and one of the sacred books by the help of many councils and synodical decrees of the Romish Popes ; and excom- municates all who omitted predicare (it) a pascha ad pentecosta- rum tempus in ecclesia. The authority of the book accordingly in the "Western Church experienced no opposition, from the middle ages till the time of the Eeformation, neither on the part of the greater Church, nor on that of the lesser ecclesiastical parties, although both used it for mutual warfare.* (])) The Alexandrian Church also, after the fourth century, agrees completely with the Latin Church in its judgment about the apostolic origin and canonical value of the Apocalypse, without the criticism of Dionysius appearing to have exercised any influence upon it. It was unhesitatingly made use of by the Alexandrian Church teachers as a work of the apostle John ; as by Athanasius in the middle of the fourth century, who, in his list of the New Testament Canon in his Epistola festalis, adduces it directly among the canonical books, the only sources of salvation ; as does also the a-vvoipLs tt/s dela^ ypa^?ß belonging to the Alexandrian Church ; farther, the two Egyptian monks, Macarius and Didymus, at the end of the fourth century ; and later, Bishop Cyril of Alexandria (died 444), Isidore of Pelu- sium, &c. We no longer find different views in this and following time in the Alexandrian Church. Only Cosmas Indicopleustes, who was a monk in Egypt in his later years, does not mention the Apocalypse throughout the whole of his Topographia Chris-. tiana, even where he might have had occasion to name it. (c) The conduct of the rest of the Greek Church at this time * See Lücke, pp. 640 and following, upon Charlemagne's Capitulare Aquipgranense, A.D. 789, ch. XX., where it is prescribed that only those Ei>istles settled by thq SjTiod of Laodicea should be read in the Church. 40 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. does not appear so uniform. As to the lists of the New Testa- ment Canon belonging to that Church, that of Epiphanius (Haeres. 76) adduces the Apocalypse directly as a canonical writing ; and in (Haeres. 77) he says that Tapa TrAeto-rots -fj ßlßXos TrcTrio-reu/xevT; Ktti Tra/Dot Tois dfocreßsa-L. We mustliere remark that Epiphanius in former years had for a long time resided in Egypt. On the con- trary, it is not at all presented among the number of the canonical books of the New Testament in other lists of the Greek Church of this time, although all the other books of the New Testament are, namely, (1) in the Catecli. iv. of Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (died 386) ; elsewhere in his Catechetics he takes notice of the Apocalypse, but without naming and quoting it, even where the contents gave him occasion to do so, e g. Catech. xv., where he speaks of Antichrist, and does not refer to the Apocalypse, but to Daniel, to Matt. xxv. and 2 Thess. ii. He even appears to reject the testimony of the Apocalypse, as that of an apocry- phal wanting : /SacriAet'crei Se 6 'Ai'Tt^ptcrros r/Jta Kal rj fxiav 'Ittj i]6va' ovK e^ airoKpvcfiOH' Xiyofxev (Apoc. xiv. 14), aAAo. eV- tov Aavt7^A' (fii^crl yap K. T. A. (Dan. vii. 25). (2) In that of Gregory of Nazian- zum, in Cappadocia (died 389), in his Carmina, No. 32, where, after he has adduced all the other books of the New Testament, he concludes : «i n tovtwv €ktos, ovk iv y vvjo-tois. Nevertheless, he quotes our book among them in his other writings, even as the composition of John. (3) In the lambis ad Seleucum, perhaps by a contemporary of Gregory of Nazianzum, viz. Bishop Amphi- lochius of Iconium ; who adds, however, at the end of the list, ttjv 8 aTroKaXyxj/Lv ryv lu)dvvov TrdXiv Ttves p-ev eyKpivova-ii', ot TrAetovs 8e ye I'odov Aeyovo-u'. (4) In the 60 Canon of the Council of Laodicea (about 362), where, in the enumeration of the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, the A])ocalypse is not mentioned at all. Likewise (5) in the 85 Canon of the so-called Canoues Apos- tolici, wliich is also of the Iburtli or lifth century. It is not unimportant that Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople (died 407), Theodore of Mopsuestia in Cilicia (died 429), and Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus in Syria (died in 457), never expressly quote the USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 41 Apocalypse, though they had many occasions for doing so in their exegetical and other writings. Two other distinguished Greek Church teachers of that time, the hrothers Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, quote the Apocalypse as a writing of the evangelist John, but both only once or twice ; and the latter thus : the evangelist says Iv ä7ro/7; OF THE apocalypsic in tue church. 45 less worthy of notice ; its relation to the Connnentary of Arethas is also very uncertain (see Lücke, p. 472, Eeniark, 991 and fol- lowing). From the Latin Church at this time, an expositio in Apocalypsin, under the name of the Donatist Ticlionius, has been preserv^ed to us. It is also certain that this contemporary of Augustine and Jerome wrote a commentary on the book. Yet that cannot be regarded as the work lying before us, which may liave proceeded from the former as an extract, with the separation of the Donatist element. Augustine himself and Jerome did not write any commentary on the book ; nevertlie- less, intimations are to be found in their writings showing in what manner they apprehended individual parts, especially in Augustine (de Civ. L). xx. 7 — 17, on Apocalypse xx. xxi.). On the other hand, w^e possess a complete commentary of Primasius's, an African bishop aljout the middle of the sixth century ; and shorter expositions by his contemporary Cassiodorus (Com- plexiones Actuum apostolorum et Apocalypsis S. Johannis). Both do not depart widely from tlie mode of interpretation usual at that time ; as also two expositions belonging to the eighth century, a shorter one of the Venerable Bede (died 738) and that of the Gallic presbyter, Ambrosius Ansbertus (after the middle of the eighth century). In the latter period of the middle ages also, the Apocalypse was frequently treated exegeti- cally in the Western Churcli, but without any of these composi- tions having a scientific value. The usual view of the time was that the thousand-years' kingdom had already begun at the incarnation of Christ or his death, and therefore people expected the end of the world to come at the expiration of the thousand years after Christ. On account of this, the mind of Christendom in the West, towards the end of the tenth, and at the beginning of the eleventh cen- tury, was very much excited in strained and anxious expectation. But when no particular catastrophe happened at the time, the minds of the people gradually became calm, and the opinion prevailed all the more generally that the thousand years are not 4G LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. to be understood as so many ordinary years according to our mode of reckoning, but in a general way and as some sort of symbolical apocalyptic date. But tlie relations of the times and party considerations exercised gi-eat influence upon the definite interpretation of the hostile powers. After the spread of Maho- metanism, it was usual to understand the beast with the false prophet (ch. xiii. and following) of Mahomet and Mahometan- ism. So especially at the time of the Crusades, when Pope Innocent III., at the time he ordered a new crusade in 1215, expressly asserted this interpretation, and announced withal that tlie hostile power of the Saracens would soon be destroyed; referring the number 666 to so many years after the appear- ance of Mahomet and the continuance of JMahometanism. Ne- vertheless, there were other interj^retations, suggested by the relations of the times. Tlius in the contests of the Eomish Church with the Hohenstaufen, the beast was interpreted of this w^orldly powder by the adherents of the former ; as in the struggle of the Church with the sects and heresies which spread especially after the end of the twelfth century, the false prophet of the Apocalypse was referred to these latter. On the con- trary, the same adversaries of the Eomish hierarchy referred pre- cisely to it and to the Pope, the beast full of names of blasphemy and the false prophet; so Prederick II., and also the heretical parties of the time. This was done in a peculiar manner, in the thirteenth century, by the stricter Franciscans, who attached themselves especially to the interpretation of the Apocalypse* which the Cistercian abbot Joachim of Flora, in Calabria (died about 1201) published. Whether that was originally anti-Papal is not certain (see Engelhardt, der Abt. Joachim, und das ewige Evangelium, in liis kirchengeschichtlichen Abhandlungen, 1832, pp. 1 — 150) ; but it certainly had from the commencement a millennarian character ; and was perhaps still further developed by those stricter Franciscans in an anti-Pomish sense. Other • See concerning the interpretation, Lücke, pp. lOüü and following ; De Wette, Commentar zur Offenbarung Johannes, p. 15. USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHUPCII. 47 anti-Eomish parties also, as the Cathari, Walcleiises, Wicklifites and Hussites, made use of the Apocalypse in their polemics against the Romish Church, although the individual sects did it in a very different manner, while believing that the Papacy was prophesied of as Antichristianism : and they thought they, were able to prove that the fall of it was near, even the very year, when it should take place. But in recognizing the book as an apostolic and truly prophetical writing, all parties in the Western Church were then agreed. At tliQ time of the Reformation, critical doubts were again pre- valent, as well about several other books of the New Testament, as also about the origin of the Apocalypse. Erasmus, of Rotter- dam, fell into a dispute with the Paris theologians about the Apocalypse, because he maintained that doubts had for a long time prevailed concerning it ; and that not only among heretics, but orthodox theologians also, chiefly with regard to its author, although they received it as a book written by the 'Holy Ghost. He himself intimates several grounds of doubt without coming to a determination; but seems pretty clearly to incline to the view that the Apocalypse is not a work of the evangelist and apostle John, and is not quite equal in value to the other canonical books. Carlstadt expresses liimself of the same opinion, in two treatises of the year 1520, a Latin and a shorter German one, as to what books are canonical or sacred and biblical. He makes three dif- ferent classes of biblical books, puts the Apocalypse in the third and lowest, describes it as the least of the books of this order, and hints that it was not written by the evangelist John. At the religious conference in Berne, 1528, between Roman Catholics and Reformed theologians, Swiss and South German, when the Roman Catholics appealed to Apocalypse v. 8 on behalf of the doctrine of the intercession of saints, Zwinglius rejected the testi- mony, because the Apocalypse was no biblical book, nor even a work of the evangelist John, but that of another John. Luther before him had already expressed an opinion about the Apoca- lypse much harsher and rougher, in his German translation. He 48 LECTURED ON THE APOCALYPSE. gives prominence to a distinction among the Xew Testament books, between those acknowledged as canonical or right books, and those whose authority is not secure : the latter, in his opi- nion, are the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistles of James and Jude, and the Apocalypse. In his translation he assigns to these four books the last place, and distinguishes them from the others by numbering only the latter in the list of books prefixed, from 1 — 23, and then, after a short pause, he makes these four follow without numbers, just as if they were not at all to be included among the New Testament books. Luther wrote a preface to the Apocalypse in the first edition of the German New Testa- ment (1522), in which he expressed himself very strongly against the book. He said he would allow every one to follow his own opinion with regard to it ; he wished to force his judgment upon no one ; but he could neither hold it to be apostolic nor prophetic, and could not admit that it was prompted by the Holy Ghost ; he held it almost similar to the fourth Book of Esdras, since it has to do with visions throughout, contrary to the manner of the apostolic and other prophetic books, and does not prophesy in clear plain words. He was also offended at the expressions of the book (xxii. 7 — 9, 18 and following), where those are pro- nounced blessed who keep its words, and blessedness is denied to such as take away aught from its contents, since it is so obscure that no one knows whai: it really means ; that there are much more noble books which should be maintained. He appeals also to the fact that many of the old Fathers rejected the book. He concludes, " Every one mtiy judge of the book according to his spirit; his own mind cannot adapt itself to the book, and cannot value it highly, because Christ is neither taught nor recognized in it." Instead of this preface, which perhaps may have excited much offence, and is also openly unjust, at least with regard to the last assertion (that Christ is not taught or recognized in the book), Luther afterwards prefixed another preface, not, as is frequently stated (also by Lücke, pp. 898, 1014), first in 1584, but already in the Wittenberg edition of the New USE OP THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 49 Testament of the year 1530, which runs more smoothly, although in the main it expresses the same doubts. lie says that the book in its past obscurity and uncertainty of interpretation is still a concealed mute prophecy, and without its intended use for Christendom ; that many had tried it, but up to the present day had brought forth nothing certain ; that some had manufac- tured out of their heads much unsuitable stuff, and put it into it. On account of such uncertain interpretation and concealed meaning, he had hitherto left it alone, especially since some old Fathers did not consider the book as the writing of St. John the apostle, as may be seen from Eusebius ; in such uncertainty he would let it remain for his own part, without hindering anybody from holding it to be by St. John the apostle, or whatever he liked. Yet Luther makes an attempt to state the contents of the Apocalypse according to the single visions ; referring indivi^ dual images to individual events and epochs in the history of the Christian Church in succession. The bitter-sweet book (x. 10) he refers to the Papacy with its great spiritual appearance. He reckons the thousand years from the time of the composition of the book down to Gregory VII., and fixes upon the number 666 (xiii. 18) as being so many years of the above-mentioned Pope, the time of the anti-christian Papacy. Yet we may easily per- ceive that Luther himself does not attach much weight to these explanations of his. Already two years earlier he had published an old Latin Commentary, sent to him in manuscript out of Poland or Livonia, by an unknown author, but written before the Council of Constanz (Commentarius in Apocalypsin ante centum annos editus ; Wittenb. 1528, 8), and accompanied it with a Preface, in which he himself does not express an opinion on the Apocalypse, but allows that Antichrist in it refers to the Eomish Papacy. Luther's unfavourable opinion about the Apocalypse exercised an influence upon the Lutheran Church for a long time. After his example, people continued to separate those four books from the proper leading ones of the New Testament. Somewhat later, indeed, Martin Chemnitz, in his Examen Concilii Triden- E 50 LEÜTUREH OX THE APOCALYPSE. tiiii (15G5), began even to specify these four, to which the three other Antilegomena of Eusebius, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, were added, as the Apocrypha of the New Testament, i. e. as writings whose origin is not sufficiently certified, and wliich therefore, though useful for reading and edification, must not be applied in estabUshing doctrines of faith ; as those to which canonical autho- rity did not properly belong (see upon this, Gesch. des Kanons, in my Einl. i. N. T. pp. 609 sqq., and my Eml. z. Hebr. Br. pp. 449 sqq.). Catholics, as well as Eeformed theologians, did not take part in this proceeding in general ;* nor did Zwinglius' con- demnatory opinion with reference to the Apocalypse in particular find any following in the Eeformed Church. Calvin makes use of the book, without hesitation, as a canonical writing, even for dogmatic proofs ; a certain shyness prevented him from treating it exegetically in a continuous commentary. Beza, in his N. T., tries energetically to refute objections against the authenticity of the Apocalypse : in his remarks, he limits himself almost exclu- sively to explanations of the meaning of words, abstaining almost wholly from properly prophetic exposition. In the Lutheran Church also, after the first half of the seventeenth century, theo- logians gradually refrained from distinguishing two classes, of different canonical authority, among the New Testament writings, and therefore from questioning the Apocalypse with regard to its apostolic origin, and from lowering it in comparison with other writings. The interpretation of the book in the Protestant Church was in general directed against the Papacy and the Eomish Church ; the representation of the l)east, of the false prophet and Babylon, being referred to them. At the same time, no continuous progression in the several visions was assumed, but parallels and recapitulations running beside one another. So, among others, Collado (Lausann. 1551), who assumed a complete parallelism • Yet see upon Musculus in Lücke, 907. The Bernese Government hesitated to permit the printing of a work by Bullinger on the Apocalypse (1557), because he reckoned it among the canonical books, in opposition to Zwingli and the ecclesiastical •dition of the Bible. USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 51 between the seals, trumpets and vials of wi-ath ; partly, also, Para3us (1618), who, however, only views the seven seals and the seven trumpets as running parallel, referring to the time between Constantine the Great, on the one hand, with Boniface III. and Mahomet, on the other; but the seven vials of wrath, to the time to come, as far as Luther and thence to the end. Farther, the Englishman, Joseph Mede, whose Clavis Apocalyptica ap- peared at the same time with his Commentary upon the Acts, 1627, who finds in the first part of the book as far as the six trumpets, ch. ix. inclusive, the destinies of the kingdom foretold ; in the second part, those of the Church, running parallel with the former ; but in the second part he assumes a number of synchronisms. He places the thousand-years' kingdom, however, at the end, departing from the usual interpretation, which makes it to commence already with the first appearance of Christ, M^hich also was firmly held by most of the Protestant interpreters, — in opposition to the fanatical chiliasm of the Anabaptists and others. The interpretations of these expositors individually were very copious, wanting throughout in certainty, and presenting little to promote scientific interpretation. Hugo Grotius (died 1645) departs most from the ordinary mode of interpretation. He assumes in the book different visions, and visions received at different times, of wdiich those in the first part, as far as ch. xi. inclusive, refer to the relations of the Jews ; the following, as far as ch. XX. inclusive, to the relations of the Eomans from Claudius to Vespasian ; the remaining chapters to the later relations of the Church, as far as the end. He reckons the thousand years from Constantine the Great to the beginning of the fourteenth century, when the Turks and Mahometanism penetrated into Asia and Greece. Hence Grotius, with whom also Hammond and Clericus agreed, entirely forsook the usual way of the Protestant Church in applying the Apocalypse polemically against the Romish Church, and in finding the destruction of that Church described in it; yet a simple comparison of the contents of the book does not make it at all probable that in his interpretation he E 2 52 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. attained to the proper aim and ess^ential meaning of it, or tliat he penetrated into its depths. Of Catholic commentators he- longing to this period, I name here only the three following : — {a) In the end of the sixteenth century, Francis Eibeira, pro- fessor in Salamanca (1591), who tries to explain the book liy the relations of time as much as possible ; for example, he understands the Babylonian whore as heathen IJome, in oppo- sition to the Protestants of the time, (b) Another Spaniard, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Jesuit Ludwig ab Alcassar, wdiose copious Commentary (1614) attained great authority in the Eomish Church. In apprehending the economy of the book, he may be viewed, in a manner, as the forerunner of Hugo Grotius ; he interprets v. 11 of the struggle of Christ's church with the Jewish synagogue ; xii. 19, with Eoman hea- thenism, both its worldly power and fleshly wisdom ; xx. 22, of the victory, rest and glorious excellency of the Church, (c) The French bishop, Jacob Benignus Bossuet (died 1701), who as an interpreter of the Apocalypse (Commentaire sur 1' Apoca- lypse ; Paris, 1G89, 8) also attained to great authority in the Catholic Church, partly too outside the Church. His expla- nation is allied to that of Alcassar and Grotius ; naturally in opposition to the usual interpretation of Protestant expositors against the Papacy and its hostility to the true Church of God. He refers the thousand years (xx. 1 — 10) to the time of the sovereignty of the Church upon earth ; the preceding visions (iv. 19), to the war of Judaism and that of Eomish heathenism (especially under Diocletian) against the Church ; he also refers the number QQQ to Diocletian ; the letting loose of Satan at the end of the thousand years, to the spread of the Turks in Europe and to Lutheianism ; the last chapters, to the impending final attack of Satan on the Church, and the general resurrection immediately following it, with the last judgment.* In opposition to Bossuet, appeared on the Protestant side * On Noel Aubert de Verse, see Lücke, 1031 fif. USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 53 the Commentary of a Dutch theologian, Campegius Vitringa, Professor at Franeker (died 1722), AvaKpicns Apocalypseos Joan- nis Apostoli, &c., 1715 (1719 and 1721), a work distinguished for philological erudition and accuracy, as well as its literary and historical apparatus. He adheres in general to the mode of expo- sition usual in the Protestant Church against the Eomish, which he seeks to justify against Grotius and Bossuet in particular. Like many commentators of that time, he also understands the Apocalyptic Epistles (ch. ii. iii.) as prophecy, as prophetically showing forth the inner condition of the Christian Church, ac- cording to tlie succession of the Epistles, in different periods, from the date of the composition of the book up to that time ; what follows, on the contrary, from cli. iv., as a prophecy of the outward destinies of the Church running parallel to its internal condition, in several divisions again running parallel to one another. He refers the seven seals (iv. 8) to the destinies of the Church in general, from Trajan until the end of the world ; viii. 11 he takes as a prophecy concerning Eome, both heathen and papal, under the ügure of Jerusalem. In xii. 19 is more exactly presented the struggle of the true Church of Christ with Ptomish anti-christianism until its destruction; ch. xx., the condition of the Church in Europe after the destruction of anti- christian Ptome, and its triumphs over new enemies who should arise at the end of the thousand-years' reign; so that he considers the millennial kingdom, which he understands mystically as one entirely future. In ch. xxi. xxii., the eternal blessedness of the Church triumphing over the whole world is set forth. Vitringa abstains from more exact chronological calculations of the future, of the time of the fall of anti-christianism, &c. But different attempts were made in different quarters, after the beginning of the eighteenth century, to investigate the future more closely, setting out with the idea of discovering the chronological system of the Apocalypse, and herewith the time of the final decisive leading points, and of determining the future 54 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. according to year and day ; in doing which the numbers in the Apocalypse were compared with the Old Testament ones, especially with those in the book of Daniel, I mention here only the most famous and influential attempt of the kind by Johann Albrecht Bengel (died 17G2) : Erklärte Offenbarung Johannes oder vielmehr Jesu Christi .... übersetzt und durch die prophetischen Zahlen aufgeschlossen ; Stuttg. 1740, 8; again printed 1834, 8 (as also with other WTitings of Bengel ; see Lücke, p. 1039, f. Anm. a). He believed he was able to discover, liy means of several very complicated and artistic combinations, it is true, that a prophetic month amounts to ISi years (namely ^-f^\ according to xiii. 18, comp, with verse 5); accordingly a proplietical day consists of nearly half a year ; an apocalyptic xpovos, 1111^ years Q^^); the dXiyos Katplx; (xii. 12) = 888f years (^^) ; the apocalyptic auov (xiv. 6) = 2222| years, &c. Accord- ing to Bengel also, the Apocalypse is taken up in great part with a prophetic representation of the struggle of the true Church of Christ with the Papacy and the world. He believes he found the 18th of June, 1836, to be the date of the coming of Christ after the last raging of Antichrist ; from that time Satan should be bound for a thousand years, until 2836 ; the thousand- years' kingdom of the saints in heaven was to begin in 2836, lasting until 3836. This ajiocalyptic system of Bengel found much acceptance, even admiration and following, in a considerable portion of the Evangelical Church, not merely in AViirtcmlierg, but also in England and elsewhere, and lias been firmly held in its essential features even till later times, until it found its refutation in the liistorical course of affairs, at least partly; as Bengel himself, with all confidence in the correctness of his manner of interpre- tation, expressed his opinion to the effect, that if the year 1836 should pass without perceptible change, undoubtedly there must be a main fault in his system. Nevertheless, lie thinks tliat even if the disclosure of the mnubers given liy him should be incorrect, which he is not, however, inclined to grant, still USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 55 the explanation of the things, together with their practical application, will maintain its correctness. But the entire Bengelian and similar modes of treating the Apocalypse rest upon the supposition, not merely of the genuine- ness and apostolic composition of the Look, but also upon its inspiration in the strictest sense, viz. that it was communicated to the apostle in its whole contents by immediate divine reve- lation, and is therefore thoroughly credible in all its prophetic statements, if it is only explained in a right way. Yet this view of the book at the time of Bengel, about the middle of the 18th century, was not the one generally prevalent in the Protestant Church. On the one side, a freer, less strict view of the character of prophecy in general was taken, whence there arose a tendency to interpret the Apocalypse in a simple manner ; and inore by the relations out of which the book arose, scruples about the apostolic origin of the book were again rife, and it was soon attacked with great eagerness. The latter attacks and disputes began already about 1730, and in England too, first in the Greek English New Testament pub- lished anonymously and by an unknown writer (The New Testament in Greek and English, &c. ; London, 1729). The editor in his remarks attacks the genuineness of the Apocalypse in a very decided manner, relying mainly upon the criticism of Dionysius of Alexandria. It is further assailed in a treatise that likewise appeared anonymously (A Discourse, Historical and Critical, on the Eevelation ascribed to St. John ; London, 1730). The author is the Genevan librarian, Firmin Abauzit, distinguished for abundant erudition, who with much energy seeks to show that reasons preponderate against the apostolic origin of the book. He wrote the treatise originally in French, and at the inducement of an English friend, in order to coun- teract the assiduous study of apocalyptic chronology ; yet it was at first published in the English translation. A refutation of these two attacks by the English theologian, Leonhard Twells, appeared in the third part of his criticism of 56 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. that Greek-English edition of the New Testament, 1732. The treatise relating to the Apocalypse is somewhat aliridged in tlie Latin translation taken by Wolf into his Cura? Philol. et Criticte on the New Testament, and prefixed to the remarks upon the Apocalypse. Twells knows how to make the most of external as well as internal grounds in favour of the composition of the hook by the apostle John, with learning and sagacity, and his defence met with much approbation. The same Abauzit wrote another treatise which belongs to this place (Essai sur lApocalypse, 1730), in which he tries to show that the book was written under Nero, and is in its pro- phecy only a development of the sayings of Christ about the fall of Jerusalem ; that all refers to the destruction of this Jewish capital and the Eoman-Jewish M^ar (ch. xxi. and xxii.) ; to the more extensive spread of the Christian Church after that catas- trophe. Similar is the interpretation of Wetstein (De Interpretatione libri Apocalypseos) in his New Testament, IL 889 and following ; 1752), who refers the main contents to the Eomish- Jewish war and the contemporary civil war in Italy, but understands the thousand years (ch. xx.) as the fifty years after the death of Domitian until the insurrection of the Jews under Bar Cochba, and takes the heavenly Jerusalem as a type of the gi'eat spread and rest of the Christian Church after the complete subjection of the Jews. Further, Johann Christoph Harenberg's (Professor at Brunswick, died 1774) Erklärung der Offenbarung Johannis : Es entwickelt sich zugleich die Frage, wo wir jetzt in der Zeit der Anzeigen solcher Offenbarung leben; Braunschw. 1759,4), which refers all to Jerusalem as far as cli. xviii., understandinjr Babylon as that city ; but the following chapters he refers to the development of the Christian Church till the last day. Semler, on the contrary, in his edition of Wetstein's Li])ell. ad crisin et interpretationem N. T. (17GG), wlicre lie (pp. 217 — 246) gives Observationes breves de interpretatione Apocalypseos, considers the book as chiefly directed against the Romans, the USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 57 protectors of idolatry and enemies of the Christian Church, but views the prophetical images as merely borroN\'ed from Jewish Apocalyptic, without imputing to them any special value. In the same treatise, Semler also expresses doubts about the apostolic origin of the Apocalypse. But the contest respecting it raged far more vigorously in the German Protestant Clmrch a few years later, when Semler published the treatise of a defunct theologian (Georg Ludwig Oeder, Dean at Feuchtwangen in the Ansbach district, died 1760), "Christlich freie Untersuchung über die sogenannte Offenbarung Johanuis, aus der nachgelassenen Handschrift eines fränkischen Gelehrten," herausgegeben mit einigen Anmerk. von J. S. Semler ; Halle, 1769, 8. The treatise is divided into two parts ; in the first, Oeder contests the genuine- ness of the Apocalypse on historical grounds by considering the testimonies of the ancients ; in the second, on dogmatic grounds, from a consideration of its contents. He agrees with the Alogi and Caius that it is a work of Cerinthus. Semler, in his re- marks, almost everywhere approves of the judgment of Oeder. Subsequently, Semler treated of the same subject still farther, w^ith reference to counter works that had appeared meanwhile : («) in his Abhandlung von freier Untersuchung des Kanons, Thl. i. ; nebst Antwort auf die Tübingische Vertheidigung der Apokalypse (von Beust), Halle, 1771, 8 ; (h) in his Xeuen Untersuchungen über die Apokalypse, Halle, 1776, where he seeks to prove that it was not at all known in the Church before the middle of the second century, and that it was first brought to Italy and Gaul by Montanists (in opposition to Knittel) ; and (c) in his theological Epistles, two collections, Leipzig, 1781, 8 (against Hartwig). The spuriousness of the Apocalypse was also sought to be proved («) by F. A. Stroth : Freymüthige Untersuchungen, die Offenbarung Johannis betreffend (against C. F. Schmidt), mit Vorrede von Semler, Halle, 1771, 8 : the treatise appeared anonymously ; the author studied at that time in Halle, and afterwards became rector in Gotha (died 1785) ; and (V) by Michael Merkel, candi- 58 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. date of theology, in two treatises, Frankf. and Leipzig, 1782 and 1785 (against Hartwig and StoiT). The Clerman theologians who sought to justify the apostolic origin of the Apocalypse against these attacks of Sender and his friends, have heen already mentioned, for the most part inci- dentally. Here belong {a) the Wiirtemberg Chancellor, Jeremias Eeuss (17G7 and 1772) ; (/;) tlie Leipzig, afterwards Wittenberg theologian. Christian Friedrich Schmidt (1771 and 1775) ; (c) the Brunswick General Superintendent, Franz Antony Knittel (1773) ; {d) the Wiirtemberg theologian. Gottlob Christian Storr (1782 and 1786). One of the most valuaUe among the apo- logetic treatises of this time in favour of the Apocalypse is the following : Apologie der Apokalypse wider falschen Tadel und falsches Lob. Chemnitz 4 Theile, 1780-83. The writer is Friedrich Gotthold Hartwig, pastor at Grosshartmannsdorf, near Freiberg. The first part of the work, written with much cir- cumspection and calmness, but witli too great diff'useness, is chiefly taken up with the investigation of the testimony of the presbyter Caius, and with the refutation of the view that the Apocalypse teaches an earthly kingdom of Christ ; the second part, among others, with the investigation of the testimony of Dionysius of Alexandria ; the third part answers Sender's reply to the two first parts (in his Theolog. Briefe), and then seeks to imfold the plan of the book as a symbolic-dramatic poem in several acts and scenes ; the fourth part treats of (1) the apostolic genuineness of the Apocalypse from internal signs — {a) from the seven epistles (ch. ii. and iii.) ; and (h) from the exact agreement of the book with the other writings and entire character of John; giving (2) an answer to the historical grounds of doubt still remaining, including a historical proof of the genuineness of the book. But l)efore this work of Hartwig, there had appeared an exegetical treatise on tlie Apocalypse by J. G. Herder : " MAPAN A9A," das Buch von der Zukuid't des Herrn, des Neuen Testamentes Siegel ; Riga, 177'.' (in Herder's Werken zur Religion USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 59 u. Theologie, Tlil. xii.). He views the book as a work of the apostle John, but refers the whole contents, as Abauzit among others did, to the destruction of Jerusalem, which he also understands by Babylon, and to the disturbances and wars in Palestine preceding that catastrophe. In his letters on the Study of Theology (1780), Part ii. Br. 21, he expresses himself to the effect that he viewed the entire destruction of Jerusalem only as a sign, pledge, type of the final and greater end of things, and that the proper object of prophecy is to develop this end in such sign and pledge. Yet this point of view does not appear definitely in the interpreta- tion itself But he gives prominence to the practical particulars whereby the Apocalypse is a book for all hearts and for all times. By means of its warm and enthusiastic character, the Herder- treatment of the Apocalypse obtained much approval in its time, and succeeded in interesting many new friends in the book, at least in directing them to its formal and aesthetic beauties. Hartwig, in the above-mentioned work, attached himself specially to Herder in the historical relations of the Apocalypse. Fully two years later appeared the work of Johann Gottfried Eichhorn, Commentarius in Apocalypsin Joannis, 2 vols., Gott. 1791, 8. He also considers the Apocalypse as a genuine writ- ing of the apostle John, but brings out very little of its pro- phetic character. With regard to its meaning, he agrees essentially with the Strasburg theologian Johann Samuel Her- renschneider (in his Inaugural Dissertation, Tentamen Apocalyp- seos a capite 4 usque ad finem illustrandte ; Strasburg, 1786, 4). Eichhorn takes the whole as a general poetical representation of the victory of Christianity over Judaism which is symbol- ized by Jerusalem ; and over heathenism, which is symbolized by Eome designated as Babylon ; referring the phenomena of the fifth and sixth trumpets, exactly in the same way as Herder, to definite historical relations in the Eomish-Jewish war which preceded the destruction of Jerusalem. In respect to form, he views the Apocalypse as a drama with different acts and scenes, as Hartwig and David Para:'us (1628) did. This mode 60 LECTUIIES ON THE APOCALYPSE. of treatment by Eichhorn certainly met with opposition in his time ; for example, from Joh. Friedr. Kleuker (lieber den Ur- sprung und Zweck der Offenbarung Johannis ; Hamb. 1800), who objected to it on the ground that the properly prophetic charac- ter of the book M'as done away with. But in general it found much approval. It had the effect of making people more dis- posed to recognize the genuineness and the apostolic origin of the book, even without regard to its prophetic value ; and it also found many followers w4th respect to the main points of inter- pretation, and the essential character of the whole. So also Joli. Heinrich Heinrichs mostly agrees with the interpretation of Eichhorn, in his Latin work on the Apocalypse, in the N. T. of Koppe, Vol. X. 2 parts, 1818 — 21, who, however, tries to make out that John the presbyter is the author of the book. Another theologian, Paul Joachim Sigismund Vogel, in Erlangen (died 1834), had tried to prove in seven programmes (1811, 16, 4), that the Apocalypse is the work of two different writers ; that i. 9 — xi. 29 was written by the apostle John ; the remainder, probably by Jolm the presbyter. An essay of mine, in the Theolog. Zeitschrift, Heft 2 (Berlin, 1820), pp. 240—315, " Beiträge zur Kritik und Deutung der Of!enljarung Johannis," the former edited by Schleiermacher, De Wette and Lücke, refers to the two last- named writings, namely, to the first part of Heinrichs' Commen- tary and Vogcl's Programmes. Some further contributions by me towards this object are to be found in my Beitrüge zur Evangelien-Kritik (184G), especially pp. 182—200, 267 ti. 81, as well as in the before-mentioned copious review of the second edition of Lücke's Einl. in die Apok. (Tlieolog. Stud. u. Krit., 1854, HefL 4, 1855, Heit 1). Li the first-named essay, I expressed my opinion tliat the whole Apocalypse was, without doubt, from one and the same writer, but was partly written before the destruction of Jerusalem, partly (from ch. xii. onwards) after it. This I ex- pressly retracted afterwards (in the l^eitriige), and declared myself in favour of tlic unity of the l)ook, and the composition of the whole not lon;f Ijeforc the destruction of «Terusalcm. On tlie USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. Gl other hand, I liave also, at a later period, held firmly other lead- ing points which I sought to malce conclusive in the first trea- tise, namely, {a) that the Apocalypse is not a work of the apostle and evangelist John, nor even falsely attributed to him hy a later writer, but was composed by another John, the presbyter of Papias ; (h) that it is not, according to the view of Eich- horn, merely a general poetical representation of the victory of Christianity over Judaism and heathenism, but has the deter- minate object of comforting and consoling the oppressed Chris- tians of the time, by directing them to the nearness of the second coming of the Lord to earth ; (c) that this advent of Christ is annexed to the fall of anti-christian paganism and particularly of Eome as its chief seat ; that, on the contrary, the destruction of Jerusalem is nothing peculiar in the prophetic representation, and that even the visions in the first part, particularly in ch. ix., contain no references to definite historical events at the time of the Eoniish- Jewish w^ar, which the author may have had in view. In these points, Ewald and De Wette, among succeeding inter- preters of the Apocalypse, agree with me in the main. Ewald, in his Latin work, by which the interpretation of individual portions is very much advanced : Commentarius in Apocalypsin Joannis exegeticus et criticus ; Gott. 1828, 8. De Wette, in his Einl. in N.T., and his Kurze Erklärung der Offenbarung Johannis (Kurzgefasstes exeget. Handb. über das N. T., Band III. Thl. ii., Leipzig, 1848, 8 ; 2 Ausg. mit Vorrede von Lücke, 1853). This Commentary is the last work of De Wette (died the 16th June, 1849), closing his literary and theological career in a highly worthy and edifying manner; particularly the Preface, written amid the severe political and social relations of the time. The Commentary itself is, with all its brevity, rich in matter and instructive, both for the interpretation of single parts, as well as for the right understanding of the object and spirit of the whole book.* * De Wette in Lis Commentary made much use of Bleak's Heft on the Revelation of John, which the latter handed over to him complete. 62 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. A very significant and important work is that of Lücke, already mentioned in its first edition, which appeared a few years after the Commentary of Ewald : Versucli einer Vollständigen Einleitung in die Offenbarung Johannes und in die gesammte Apokalyptische Litteratur; Bonn, 1832, 8; 2nd edition (Versuch einer Vollständi- gen Einl. in die Offenh. Joh., oder allgemeine Untersuchungen über die Apokalyptische Litteratur überhaupt, und die Apokalypse des Johannes insbesondere), Bonn, 1852. This second edition is almost double the size of the first, fully thirty sheets more, and there- fore as good as a complete revision. The work is divided into hree books: (1) Conception and History of Apocalyptic Lite- rature. (2) Consideration of the Apocalypse of John. (3) Theory and History of the Interpretation of the Book. With reference to the explanation of the Apocalypse, Lücke had already, in an earlier treatise. Theolog. Stud. u. Kritiken, 1829, Heft 2 (Apo- kalyptische Studien, in Beziehung auf Ewald's Commentar), so far apjaroached nearer to Eichhorn, as to believe that not only Eoman paganism but also Judaism is the anti-christianism which is to be overcome, without assuming a definite reference to the destruction of Jerusalem ; and he held essentially the same opinion in the work already named, as well as in the second edition, although he admits that Jerusalem is not conceived of in such absolute opposition to the kingdom of Christ, as Eonie, the new Babylon (against it, see my remarks in the Beiträge zur Ev. Krit. pp. 187 ff. and Stud. u. Krit. 1855, p. 163). With re- gard to the origin of the book, Lücke decides that it could not be written by the evangelist and apostle John. In the first edition, however, he had sought to make good the conjecture that it was written in the apostle's name by another, not exactly with the intention to deceive, who based it upon a revelation communicated to the apostle, partly corres])onding to wliat the same apostle may have orally expressed, and developed it in his own manner. (Schott, Isagoge in N. T., § 110, Not. 5, had already put forward a similar view, that some Aramaic notes, made by the apostle John for his private use, lay at the foun- USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 63 datioii of the visions communicated to him, whicli a pupil of his worked out farther). Yet Lücke at a later period retracted this view, in Theol. Stud. u. Krit, 1836. 3, pp. 654 fl, and agreed in the opinion that the Look is the work of another John, who Avrote and published it in his own name. And he expressed still more decidedly the same opinion in the second edition of the Introduction, holding it as most probable that the author was the presbyter of Papias. Very great care and diligence are here applied in proving that the Apocalypse could not be written by the author of the Gospel. Other scholars of later times, who are likewise convinced that the fourth Gospel and the Apocalyj^se cannot belong to one and the same writer, have decided that the Apocalypse is by the apostle John, but not the Gospel. Thus Dr. Christ. Friedr. Jak. Züllig, Die Offenbarung Johannis vollständig erklärt, 2 Thle., 1834, 41, 8. The first part is in a popular style, for readers who are not learned; a form of treatment which is given up in the second part. The author refers the second part of the book, with Herder and others, to Jerusalem and Judaism, and explains Babylon of it also ; he advances besides many sin- gular, unnatural explanations. Still much valuable matter is to be found, especially in his remarks about the distinction between the essential in the prophetic contents of the book and the non-essential that belongs to prophetic form and dress. He places the composition of the Apocalypse earlier than any other of the more . modern interpreters, 44 — 47 after Christ, and ascribes it to the apostle John, though the latter did not write the fourth Gospel. In the same light is the subject viewed still more decidedly by the entire Tübingen school of Baur, which considers it almost an article of faith that the apostle John wrote the Apocalypse. Schwegier first expressed this opinion in his treatise on Montanism (1841), and repeated it in his Nachapos- tolisches Zeitalter, Band IL (1846), pp. 249 sqq., as well as Baur himself (Kritische Untersuchung über die 4 Kanonischen Evan- gelien, pp. 345 sqq.), Schnitzer, Zeller, &c. These scholars find in the Apocalypse the judaizing standpoint which, as they 64 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. believe, must be pre-sujiposecl in the apostle John, and there- fore think themselves justified in refusing him the fourth Gospel. Ferdinand Hitzig tried to establish another view respecting the author of the Apocalypse : Über Johannes jMarcus und seine Schriften oder welcher Johannes hat die Offenbarung ver- fasst ? Zurich, 1 843, 8. Dionysius of Alexandria had already mentioned John jNIark the evangelist, as one who might be con- sidered the writer of the Apocalypse ; and Beza brietiy mentions the assumption. Hitzig, however, asserts decidedly that this very person wrote the Apocalypse ; and is able to give some plausibility to the assumption by his usual acute and confident manner. Weisse agrees with him ; in a review of the book, Neue Jen. A. L. Z. (1843), No. 225 sqq. The supposition is rejected by Lücke, pp. 778 — 796, as it had been already by Ebrard in his treatise : Das Evangelium Johannis und die neueste Hypothese über seine Entstehung (1845), pp. 137 — 217. Ebrard declares himself decidedly in favour of identity of authorship between the fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, and the composition of both by the apostle John. So also in his ex- planation of the lievelation of John (in the continuation of 01s- hausen's Bibl. Commentaiy, Vol. VII.); Königsberg, 1853. The same has again been asserted in other quarters, in the last twenty or thirty years, for example, by Kolthoff (Apocalj^Dsis Johanni Aj)Ostolo vindicata ; Copenhagen, 1834) ; by Dannemann (Wer ist der Verfasser der Off enb. Johannis? mit einem Vorwort von Lücke; Hannov. 1841) ; by Guerike (lastly in the second edition of his Introduction to the New Testament) ; by Hengstenberg (die Offen- barung des h. Joliannes, für solche die in der Schrift forschen erläutert; Berlin, 1849-51, 2 vols., the second in two divisions; 2nd edition, 1861, without essential alterations), and by others. A revolution in the interpretation of the book and the estimation of its value as a prophetic wi-iting, is connected with the fact of taking the whole, as well as the single visions and images, as absolutely inspired predictions of the fortunes of the Church in USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 65 its struggles with the worhl, and so rejecting the assumption of a poetic envelope. The political relations of the times exercised a particular influence upon it at the time of the war of freedom, as it had done before during the heavy oppression which weighed on Europe, particularly on GTcrmany ; and afterwards too, when the minds of the people were directed in excited expectation to the farther development of affairs, and were therefore led to seek for disclosures respecting them in the prophetic parts of the Bihle, particularly in the Apocalypse. This had the effect of leading men to use the book much, and also tended to refer its con- tents in an especial manner to existing temporal relations as if foretold in it. Accordingly many interpretations of the book appeared, for a long time only of a popular kind, without a proper philological, historical foundation ; and without receiving particular attention from scientific theologians. I may mention among these only the treatise of Friedr. Sander (Versuch eimer Erklärung der Offenbarung Johannes; Stuttg. 1829, 8), who agTees Avith Bengel in particular, and finds in many things the relations and occurrences of his times, viewing 1847 as- the decisive year when the millennial kingdom should begin, yet without disguising from himself the uncertainty of the calcula- tion, so that he would not look upon it as a sure designation of time. It was not till a somewliat later period that a stricter representation of the prophetic character of the Apocalypse in general prevailed among scientific Protestant theologians ; with which idea several attempts at interpretation appeared, which do not, however, refer precisely all the single visions to individual events in the history of the world and of the Church, as did many earlier interpretations ; and do not (lifter very much in their spirit from one another. I mention, in particular, tlie following : — (1) J. Chr. A. Hofmann : Weissagung und Erfüllung, 2 Hälfte (1844), pp. 300—378. He ascribes the Apocalyjise to the apostle and evangelist John and the age of Domitian, believing that the F 66 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. büuk may be best expLiiued from this staudpoiut of the seer, according- to which the destruction of Jerusalem had already happened a considerable time before. He does not assume a continuous series of prophecies, but several series running in •part beside one another. For example, he characterizes it as a false supposition that the events introduced by the seven trumpets should follow the opening of the seven seals in temporal succession. The woman (eh. xii) he interprets as the Hebrew Church ; the wilderness to which she flees, the land of Israel ; but so as to refer the contents of this cliapter to the last time, the last half M'eek of years, assuming that the land of Israel should actually become again the theatre of sacred history. He understands Babylon of Eome, and the seven kings in ch. xvii, not of single Eoman emperors, but of seven different forms of worldly power : (1) Asshur with Nineveh, (2) Chaldea with Babylon, (3) Persia with Suza, (4) Greece, (5) Antiochus Epi- phanes ; these are the five which had fallen ; (G) Eome's Cresar. The seventh liad not appeared at that time, Avhicli he takes to be •the Germanic empire, and explains the oAtyov jitivai of remaining for a considerable time. The beast ascending out of the abyss he refers to Antiochus Epiphanes. Many things are not quite clear, as Hofmann properly supposes. (2) Hengstenberg. He also puts the writing of the book -under Domitian, towards the end of his reign. In this work, produced under severe illness according to the Preface, he differs from Hofmann in general, in explaining the Apocalypse as a whole and in single visions, by the former history of the world and the Church, viewing it for the most part as already fulfilled, which involves the fact of generalizing very nnich the interpretation of many single visions, pressing exceedingly the individual contents in other cases " as it serves his purpose. He refers the prophecies of the book to the whole time, from the seer's age tiQ the New Jerusalem ; and withal to the external destiny as well as the internal condition of the Chiircli, i)aiti- cularly its struggles with paganism. He assumes in the book USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 67 a uuniber (7) of independent and completed groups, each giving prominence to special particulars, and supplementing one ano- ther. He attributes only a general preparatory character to the first of these seven groups (as far as ch xi. inclusive), i.e. to the phenomena at the opening of the seven seals and at the seven trumpet voices. The beast ascending up out of the sea, with the seven heads, he understands of the world-power, hostile to God in general, with seven phases ; and refers the five heads notified as fallen to five earlier world monarchies — (1) the Egyp- tian, (2) Assyrian, (3) Chaldean, (4) Medo-Persian, (5) Grecian. He takes the sixth — the head wounded to death — as the Eoman world-power. He views its apparently deadly wound as having been inflicted upon it by Christ's atonement ; the seventh head and the ten horns he refers to the Germans, their kings and tribes, in round numbers, whose Christianizing (ch. xix.) is repre- sented under the type of their conquest by Christ in battle. He looks upon the thousand-years' kingdom as having already ex- pired, referring it to the period from the Christianizing of the Germanic nations to the expiration of the German kingdom, as the devil was bound during that period, so that he includes in it the period before and after the Eeformation. He does not assume any reference to the Eomisli Church as a power hostile either to Judaism as such, or even to the worship of idols ; but considers the essence of paganism here pictured to be only the fleshly mind with its determined hatred against God, against Christ and his Church. He does not accept the appearance of a personal Anti- christ. He does not take the first resurrection in a literal sense, but refers it to the blessedness which begins to the faithful immediately at their departure from this life. The loosing again of Satan he refers to our present time, especially after 1848, the period of Gog and Magog. His looking at the phenomena of modern times in a moral and religious aspect exercised an un- mistakable influence upon Hengstenberg's interpretation of the Apocalypse. (3) Ebrard. This expositor, according to his own declaration r2 68 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. (p. 29),M-ishes to make a first attempt, different from all interpreters of tlie book before liim, to separate strictly and throughout the interpretation of prophecy from the question of its fulfilment. Yet the entire character of his interpretation does not exactly produce the impression that he had this end in view through- out, in good earnest. Tlie way in which he interprets the seven epistles (ch. ii. iii.) proves this ; for he believes that types of the Church of later times are to be found in the condition of the Asiatic Churches here represented, as in the four first consecutively, from the apostolic time to the middle ages. He has much in common with Hengstenberg and Hofmann, but differs from them in many points ; amongst other things, in assuming a definite reference to the Eomish Church and the Papacy. He explains the seven heads of the beast as seven monarchies, of which the first is Assp'ia ; the sixth — represented l)y the head wounded to death — the Romish, which is the beast ascending out of the sea (ch. xiii.), the same as the whore or Babylon (ch. xvii.) ; the ten horns are the Germanic and Slavic peoples of the dispersed nations, which inflict the wound upon the worldly power of the Romans, and bring it almost to destruc- tion, but again recover, and figure in the new Roman empire formed with Rome into the spiritual centre, which still exists, compounded of Romish and Germanic elements ; though in it, since the thirteenth century, the Rope, instead of the Emperor, always appears more and more as the real and ideal represen- tative of such power. Of the Papacy itself, the Roman Chair as a spiritual power, he explains the beast ascending out of the earth (the false prophet). He refers the seventh head to the fact that those ten kingdoms, which first appear at the dispersion of the nations, will duo day emerge as an in(k'])endent jiower in place of the Romish ; i.e. in the last time, that of Antichrist, yet only for a short time ; whereupon the three-and-a-half years of the personal Antichrist, Babylon's fearful destruction and Christ's visible advent, will take place (ch. xvii. and following). He understands the 42 months or 12G0 days (.\i. 2, 3, xii. 6, xiii. 5) USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. G9 as a mystic sign for the whole period from the destruction of Jerusalem hy Titus to the conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation, or until the downfall of the Eoman power, in its second phase, after the healing again of the wound that had appeared deadly ; in short, till the appearing of Antichrist, during which time also fleshly Israel, in spite of their present unbelief, will be wonderfully upheld. He understands the two witnesses (ch. xi.) of the law and gospel. The three-and-a-half days (xi. 9, 11) he reckons, like the three-and-a-half times (xii. 14) as three-and-a-half years. (4) Carl August Auberlen : Der Pro]3het Daniel und die Offenbarung Johannis, in ibrem gegenseitigen Verhältniss be- trachtet, und in ihren Haupstellen erläutert; Basel, 1854, 2 Aufl., 1857. Auberlen is chiefly concerned Avith the book of Daniel, starts with it, and interprets the Apocalypse on its basis (from ch. xii, onwards) ; as is also the case with the interpreters already considered (2nd ed. pp. 266 and following). The beast ascending out of the sea he also understands of the world-power ■ in general, and refers the seven heads of the beast to seven universal monarchies, of which the five fallen are, according to him, as well as Hengstenberg, the Egyptian, the Assyrian, Baby- lon, Medo-Persia, Greece ; the sixth, the Eomish kingdom ; the seventh, the Germanic-Sclavonic kingdom, is that still continuing. Peculiar to himself is the interpretation of the woman (xvii. 3 and following), whom he holds to be the same as the woman with child (ch. xii.) ; this latter he understands to be the Church of God in its Old Testament and in its New Testament form. The wilderness to which she flies before the dragon (xii. 14), he refers to the taking away of the kingdom of God from the Jews, and its transference to the Gentiles, especially to Eome ; all the time from the destruction of Jerusalem to the coming again of Christ. He holds the great whore (ch. xvii.) to be tlie same woman that sits upon the beast, understanding that the Chm^ch of God in the world has become a whore through apostasy ; that is, the whole of Christendom all over the world ; the Catholic 70 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Church (tlie Roman and Greek), in a mucli deeper sense than the Evangelical ; yet not that or any special single Church or ecclesiastical party. He thinks that the seven hills (xvii. 9) are, at the most, only an incidental allusion to Eonie, "which should not be considered the proper sense of the passage ; by the hills, great kings, the gi'eat world-powers, are much more pro- bably signified ; that the beast slain as it were to death (xiii. 3) points to similarity Avith Christ (v. G) and signifies outward Christianizing ; tliat the death-wound should be referred to the seventh head, the seventh kingdom, which had become a Chris- tian kingdom of the world, since the woman, the whore, allows lierself to be carried by the beast. The pointed oiiposition be- tween world and church is done away with ; both make mutual concessions : secularized Christiaiuty and a Christianized world is the fundamental type of the Christian centuries until the Avound of the beast should be healed. Tlie same beast revives, and returns out of the abyss, signifying that the Christian-Ger- manic world should again fall away from Clnnstianity (modern paganism) ; tliat this healing of the wound of the beast has already begun in our time, in the beastly outbreak of the French Eevolution, &c.; the eighth (xvii. 11) is the kingdom of Antichrist, which is to bring the entire world of beastly exist- ences into complete manifestation, Auberlen takes the thousand- years' reign, as well as the first resurrection, in the proper millennarian sense, as still future, yet he leaves it undecided whetlier that number is intended to denote with chronological precision the continuance of the kingdom. He thinks that it should be especially taken in its symbolical significance — ten as the number of world-fullness, potentiated by the divine num- ber tlirce, viz. tliat the world is then actually penetrated by the divine. I omit here the interpretations of modern Catholic theologians, as well as of non-German Protestants : sec; Auberleu,pp. 381 and following, on two of the latter ; the Englishman Elliott (Hone Apocalypticse, &c., 4th ed., London, 1851, 4 vols.), and the Gene- USE OF THE APOCALYPSE IN THE CHURCH. 71 vese Gaussen (Daniel le Prophete, edit. 1850, in several volumes). Both interpret in an anti-Eomisli sense (especially Elliott), and adopt far more and exacter references to chronology and the his- torical relations of the Church down to our time than even the last-named German interpreters. [Eemark of the Editor : -After Bleek's death there appeared as a worthy conclusion to the Commentary of Meyer on the New Testament, from Dr. Fr. Diisterdieck, Kritisch-exegetische Hand- buch über die Offenbarung Johannis (des Meyer'schen Com- mentars 16. Abtheilung). Diisterdieck returns to the beaten track of Bleek, De Wette and Lücke. Whilst rejecting, on the one hand, the idea developed by Eichhorn, that the Apocalypse is a poetic description of the victory of Christianity over Judaism and Paganism ; he opposes, on the other, those interpreters who find the most specific predictions of time, from the period of John to the final appearance of the Lord, whether they view the Aj)ocalypse as a prophetic compendium of Church history (as Bengel), or (as Hofmann, Ebrard, Hengstenberg, Anberlen) find described " the great epochs and leading forces of the develop- ment of the kingdom of God in its relation to the world-power." Like Bleek, he finds the object of the Apocalypse to comfort oppressed Christians, by instructing them concerning the ap- pearing of the Lord, wherein the present form of the Eomish world-kingdom appears to the author as the last phenomenon of the kind that is to be overthrown by the speedy coming of the Lord. Diisterdieck puts over against Eichhorn's " rationalistic idea of inspiration," as well as Hengstenberg's " magic one," &c., the " ethical " idea, according to which the prophetic vision, which shapes itself by divine inspiration in the soul of the prophet, is conditioned by the whole subjectivity of the man (p. 45). This is pretty much the same view as that expressed by Bleek (Section iii.), "that the visions and prophecies are not an absolutely pure creation of the divine spirit ; but that human weakness, worldly or personal individuality, has more or less influenced their form." But whilst it is uncertain to 72 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. lUeek whether the form of representatiou in the visions is not a mere envelope (see Section iii. 4), Diisterdieck holds firmly that the visions presented theraselves to the writer just as he actually describes them, only " that the objects viewed shaped themselves in a moral way, according to the measure of the prophet's human sul)jectivity." Diisterdieck also contests decidedly, as did De Wettj, Ewald, Lücke, Bleek, the authorship of the Apocalypse by the apostle John ; and, like them, expresses it as a possible conjecture that the writer is identical wäth the presbyter John, who wrote the book shortly before the destruc- tion of Jerusalem.] III. GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCAJ^YPSE. We shall treat in succession : 1. Of its leadinsj meaning and object. 2. Of its unity and time of composition. 3. Of its author. 4. Of its literary form, particularly the visions here presented. 5. Of the canonicity of the book, I. On the leading Sense and Design of the Book. "VVe have seen how manifold the interpretations of the book are, even with regard to chief points, down to the latest time, and that not merely according to the different theological tendencies of inter- preters, but also among those who take the same point of view in general, especially the stricter one. These latter so far agree, that they suppose the book to contain true disclosures of the future, such as have found or will yet find their actual fulfilment in the history of the Church. Yet we must not proceed at once upon this supposition, even according to the character of pro- phecy in general (upon which Bleek, Alttest. Einl. pp. 409 — 447) ; here especially, since our judgment upon the origin of the book is not yet established. We must therefore, a 'priori, supj)ose it possible that the prophecy contained in the book, or much that is prophesied in it, has not been fulfilled ; and in the manner in which it is announced will not perhaps be fulfilled. We should, therefore, honestly endeavour, a thing wliich Ebrard justly sets forth as a condition of interpretation, not to be influenced by the 74 LECTURES OX TUE APOCALYPSE. later history of the Church in discovering the meaning of the Apocalypse as a wliole and in single parts. If we have searched out the sense as far as possible from the book itself, we may then direct our attention to this, viz. whether and how far it has already been confirmed in the course of the Church, and hoM^ far we are justified, accordingly, in expecting further verifi- cation and fulfilment from the future. Another thing which I wish to mention beforehand is this. The key to the under- standing of the Apocalypse has been abundantly sought for in the prophecies of the Old Testament, especially those of Daniel. This appears natural, since so many prophetic representations of the Apocaly|3se remind one unmistakably of Old Testament descriptions, especially Ezekiel's and Daniel's. But the inter- pretation of Daniel's visions themselves is still disputed in many ways ; then it is a main point in using them for the interpretation of the Apocalyjise, to know not merely the proper original meaning, for example, of the visions of Daniel, but also, and still more, the way in which they were apprehended, at the time of the composition of the Apocalypse, among the Jews and in the Christian Church. It is at least possible to suppose that, even where the Apocalypse has borrowed certain images and re- presentations from the Old Testament, for example from Daniel, it has them in a different relation and a somewhat different meaning to the Old Testament Scripture. But it is of import- ance, for the proper understanding of the Apocalypse, to compare throughout the religious conceptions and prophetic expectations tliat prevailed among the later Jews and in the early Christian Church, as we get to know them from other writings of the early Christian Church, particularly the New Testament, and also from those of tlie later Jewi.sh literature ; since we cannot doubt that these ideas were known to the author, and tliat he has had respect to them in many ways. If we pass to an examination of the literal leading sense and design of the Apocalypse, we shall have no doubt, after the sur- vey of the contents of the book previously given, that it is a GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 75 prophetic allusion to the future of the Church of the Lord until its completion. As to the economy of the book in general, ch. i. — v. readily show that they are an introduction to the prophetic dis- closures of the future communicated in the following chapters. In them the seer is described to whom the revelation is communi- cated ; the churches to which, in the first place, he is to commu- nicate it ; the transporting of the seer into heaven T)efore the divine throne ; the book closed,.with seven seals, which contains in itself the future; and he ^vho alone is able and worthy to open the book and to loose its seals. In the following chapters the seven seals are successively loosed, and what takes place thereupon is set forth ; a narrative which continues in uninter- rupted succession as far as ch. xi. The seven seals are divided into 4 -f 8, or 4 -h 2 -f 1 ; the opening of the four first is but briefly described, vi. 1 — 8 ; more fully is that of the two following, verses 9 — 17. The opening of the seventh seal is at first somewhat delayed by the preceding description of the servant of Christ with the divine seal, ch. vii. : even after the opening of it, silence takes place in order to fix the attention still more on its weighty contents, which, however, do not appear at once, but in a gradual development attaching itself to the trvmipets of the seven angels. At this seven- fold blowing of trumpets, a division into 4 -|- 3, or 4 -|- 2 -I- 1, again takes place, similar to that of the opening of the seven seals. What appears at the four first trumpet-sounds is again specified very briefly and symmetrically (viii. 7 — 12) ; what was to be expected at the last three is then (verse 13), notified as a three- fold woe to the earth ; the two first woes, which appear at the fifth and sixth trumpet-sounds, are then descril)ed somewhat more fully, the former from ix. 13, as far as xi. 14. Hereupon it is again pointed out that the third (therefore last) woe will come quickly, and at the blowing of tlie trumpet of the seventh angel the mystery of God will be fulfilled (x. 6 and following, xi. 14) ; yet there is at the same time (x. 11) an intimation that the seer had a further commission to prophesy about many kings and nations. It is then related (xi. 15 and foUowing) tliat tlie seventh 76 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. augel caused liis trumpet to sound. After the i^recediug, one would expect that a description of the third and last woe would immediately follow, witli which agrees also A\luit is notified in heaven (verses 15 — 1 9) respecting the impression of this trumpet- sound. Yet we are led away thence Ly the following visions, from ch. xii. onward, which manifestly do not stand in so close a relation to tlie preceding, as to contents and form, as the pre- ceding chapters to one another. On the contrary, what follows is closely connected with itself as far as the end, whilst the single visions are closely united to one another, describing the conflict of the Church of the Lord witli the powers of the world and of darkness till its complete victory. The last struggle which Satan begins, and which ends for ever with his complete subjugation, is described, xx. 7 — 10. To it is annexed a description of the general resurrection, the last judgment, and the everlasting glory of the faithful and pious, as well as the place prepared for tliem after the renewal of heaven and earth. These representa- tions have unmistakably a very poetical character ; and it is clear that they cannot be meant literally, but have mostly a figm-ative, symbolical sense : yet we may doubt how far this is the case, and therefore such descriptions, particularly that of eternal glory, are sometimes taken spiritually, sometimes more sensuously and materially, according to the peculiar tendency of the times and the interpreters. But there has always been much more dis])ute in the Church about the meaning of the preceding visions, with which is connected the idea when that everlasting fulfilment of the kingdom of God is to appear, according to the sense of our book, and what sort of catastrophes are to pre- cede it. We now consider the section immediately preceding (xx. 1 — G). The seer beholds the devil bound for a tliousand years, thrown into the abyss, and so deprived of his destructive influence over the kingdom of God and its members. Farther, he sees that tlie souls of the faithful who suffered death in confessing tlieir Lord, and did not give themselves up to the wicked one, GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 77 live again in order to reign a tliousand years with Christ, whose victorious advent was already described (xix. 11 — 21), to reign as priests of God and of Christ, and as sucli not to die any more. Here it is asked, («) whether the thousand years are meant as pro- per years according to men's usual mode of reckoning, or merely as a symbolical way of counting, and in wdiat sense ; and (h) when the period begins. "We have seen, in the latter respect, that many interpreters, in opposition to millennarianism, have been of the opinion that, by the thousand-years' reign of Christ, none other can be understood than that which he established on earth at the time of his incarnation, and which had begun even when the Apocalypse was composed. This is the view which has prevailed in the Catholic Cliurch since the fourth century, wdiich is also to be found in Yictorinus of Petabio, in most Protestant inter- preters, as well as in Bossuet, &c. Others date the beginning of the thousand-years' kingdom later, but yet consider it as having not merely begun long since, but as already expired. Thus Grotius (and those who follow him), who reclvons the thou- sand years from Constantine the Great on to the beginning of the fourteenth century ; and lately Hengstenberg, who refers them to the time from the Christianizing of the Germanic nations to the expiration of the German empire. But here, first of all, the former assumption, that the thousand years begin with the in- carnation of Christ, is unmistakably against the meaning of our book. A time of undisturbed peace belonging to the kingdom of God is clearly represented, in opposition to the preceding one of affliction and conflict, a time when the devil and his instruments would be powerless to exercise any disturbing influence and power over it, either in general or over individual members. Now the time when the book w^as written, whether we regard it as early or late, could not well be described in such a w\ay, in contrast with any earlier one. There can be no doubt that this thousand-years' kingdom alludes to a time which had not begun when the book was written, and to one in which the Lord should return to unite his own people with himself in his kingdom. Accordingly we 78 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. find this hope almost in the wliole Christian Churcli of the first age, tlie liope that the Lord woukl return, and that soon, no longer in the lowly form of a servant, which he had assumed at his first appearance upon earth, hut in the complete glory and majesty be- longing to him ; and that he would then join his ow^n people to himself in a kingdom of peace and undisturbed happiness, giving them a share in his glory and powder. It is grounded in the essence of the historical manifestation of Christ at his incarnation, that prophecy revived with new power in his Church, pointing to the fulfilment of the kingdom of God and its complete victory over the world. Old Testament prophecy had abeady directed atten- tion to this ; but as the Messianic salvation expected at the first appearance of Clirist upon earth was not fully realized by his own ministry or that of his disciples. Christian prophecy was directed very soon in a special manner to a second future of the Son of ]\Ian, to his glorious re-appearing. This is found even in the sayings of Christ himself, as they were apprehended and com- municated by the disciples, especially in the three first Gospels, chiefly Matt. xxiv. xxv. In like manner, the same hope is found in most of the New Testament writings, if not always expressly stated, yet clearly lying at the foundation. The raising of the deceased faithl'ul from the dead in order to participate in this kingdom, beginning with the return of tlie Lurd, is not peculiar to the Apocalypse. Already in Dan. xii. 2, we meet with the promise that at the time of the people's re- demption (the Messianic salvation) there would be a resurrection of the dead ; of the pious to eternal life, of the wicked to ever- lasting shame and contempt. In later Jewish theology, tliis idea was developed into a two-fold resurrection : (a) of the pious, the true people of God, at the appearing of the jNIessiah, when they should be re-awaked to take part with him in his kingdom ; (h) of a later general one, at the last day, for universal judgment. Sucli distiuction of two resurrections following each other closely in time, we do not find definitely expressed in the discourses of Christ. Yet the believers of the first age appear to have partly GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 79 adopted that view, namely, in such a way as to put the first resurrection, that of believers, at the time of Christ's glorious return. So we find it particularly in the apostle Paul, 1 Thess. iv. 14 and folio wimr verses, with 1 Cor. xv. 22 and folio wino- 51 and following. Paul, indeed, does not speak expressly of the second resurrection, the general one, since he had no par- ticular motive for doing so according to the object which he there pursues. Yet it is implied unmistakably in 1 Cor. Here, in the Apocalypse, the idea occurs in a more definite shape, according to wdiich true believers rise again that they may participate in the thousand-years' kingdom, wdiich is expressly signified as the first resurrection; whilst the general judgment of all the dead is placed after the expiration of these thousand years. Accordingly we find, and still more definitely, a douljle resurrec- tion, that of believers at the return of the Lord, and the second general one at the last judgment, separated by different Church teachers of the early centuries, particularly by TertuUian, Metho- dius, Lactantius, &c. Undoubtedly, however, this idea was not quite general even in the middle of the second century, as we see most distinctly from Justin the INIartyr (Dial c. Tryph. 80), where he will not allow those to be Christians who denied the resurrec- tion, and assumed that souls immediately after death were taken up to heaven; but remarks that many pious and believing Chris- tians denied a thousand-years' kingdom before the general resur- rection, with whom, however, he does not agree. As to the thousand years, we find opinions about the duration of the Messianic kingdom among the later Jews very different. The idea that seems to have prevailed among them at the time of Christ was that it would be of eternal duration ; comp. John xii. 34, and Eisenmenger, Entd. Judenthum (Königsberg, 1711, 4)^ II. pp. 813 sqq. This idea might also have been founded on ex- press utterances of the Bible. Yet other ideas also prevailed which made the Messiah subject to mortality, and assigned only a finite duration to his sovereignty with all its splendour. These we find expressly in later times ; among others, that of a 80 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. duration of forty years, of seventy years, of four hundred years (so also 4 Esdr. vii. 28), of several thousand years, and also defi- nitely of one thousand years (see Eisenmenger, 1. c. pp. 809 sqq.). The latter duration, according to the assertion of several later Jewish ^yritings (see Eisenmenger, "Wetstein ad Apoc. xx. 2), a Eabbi Elieser, son of the Eabbi Jose, the Galilean, is said to have stated, for which he relied upon Isaiah Ixiii. 4, " A day of revenge was resolved upon by me " ("*2b2 U\ri ci"*), combining the passage with Ps. xc. 3, " One thousand years are in thy sight but as yesterday," which latter is also applied to the coming of the Lord (2 Peter iii. 8). It cannot indeed be maintained cer- tainly, but it is not unlikely, that the idea in this form was not unknown to the Jews even in the apostolic age, whence it was transferred in the Christian Church to the duration of the king- dom beginning with the return of tlie Lord. Yet it is also possible that it assumed this form in the Christian Church itself. The combination of that passage in the Psalms with the narrative of the creation of the world might have liad some in- fluence, from persons considering the latter as a type of the destinies of the world, and therefore concluding that, as God had created the world in six days and afterwards rested the seventh day, so the world should be completed in six days, that is, six tliousand years; but that the seventh day, that is, the seventh millennium, should become a time of undisturbed rest and Messianic bliss. So it is said expressly (Ep. Barnab. ch. xv.) that God completed tlie Avorld in six days, meaning that he would complete everything in six thousand years ; since, according to Ps. 1. c, one day is a thousand years ; and he rested on the seventh day, signifying that the Son of God, appearing after tlic dissolution of the present w(»i'ld- system, would keep a glorious rest on the seventh day (kuAws KaTaTrai'o-erat). On this, his sal)bath, God would cause all things to rest, and then make the beginning of the eighth day, that is, the beginning of a new world. It is manifest that the same idea is found here, in substance, as in the Apocalypse, tliat the kingdom of the GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 81 Messiah should last one thousand years after the second advent of the Lord, and the renewal of the world be annexed to it. When this Epistle was written cannot with certainty he deter- mined ; in any case, later than the Apocalypse. Yet the relation of both writings on this point is not of the kind that would make it probable that the author of that Epistle borrowed the whole conception from the Apocalypse. The brief manner also in which it is stated in the Apocalypse, makes it probable that the idea is not one newly expressed, but such as the author already found, and might pre-suppose as not entirely unknown to his readers ; whether, as already mentioned, it had first taken this shape in the Christian Church itself, or had been found by the latter in the Jewish Church. As to the real significance of the thousand years, it is most imlikely, from the probable form of the conception, that any other definite period of time should be meant than that denoted by the common use of language. Yet, on the other hand, it is not probalile that the number should be strictly pressed, in the sense of our book, as a measured period of exactly one thousand solar or lunar years ; but it may be assumed with pro- bability, especially if the idea was already developed, at least it may be supposed, that the number here is only retained as a general expression to denote a very long period of undisturbed repose and happiness for believers, beginning at the return of the Lord. We ask further, Wliat does our book teach aljout the time when the glorious appearing of the Lord will take place and the thousand-years' kingdom begin, as well as the relations under which this will happen ; what is to precede the catastrophe ; and how is the Apocalypse related to the other writings of the New Testament ? The Lord had expressly stated (Matt. xxiv. 26 ; Mark xiii. 32), and, according to Acts i. 7, even referred to it after his resurrection, that to know the time and seasons, namely, with regard to the comins: of the kingdom of Cod in its com- pletion, the Father reserved to himself ; and in Matt. xxiv. l-i 82 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. !Mark xiii. 10, the announcement of the gospel throughout tlie \vhole world is specified hy liini as something which must pre- cede. But, on the other hand, he exhorted the disciples to be always ready to receive him worthily. To this the apostle directed their attention primarily, and sought to direct that of other believers, that their lookino; forward to the coming of the Lord might be of use to them all, as an ever-living incentive, urging them to dedicate all their powers to the Lord and to the furtherance of his kingdom, that they might be found faithful stewards of the talents he had entrusted to them. Yet it can- not be denied that they generally cherished the hope that the glorious appearing of the Lord was near, so that they themselves or many of their contemporaries might perhaps live to see it. This may be recognized by the way in which several discourses of the Lord respecting the future, in the Synoptical Gospels, are re- produced and brought into connection with one another. We cannot but see tliat with the apostle Paul, especially in some of his earliest Epistles, this point of time to his mind appeared pretty near, so that he hoped to live to see the future advent of the Lord (comp. 1 Tliess. iv. 15—17 ; 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52). But the ex- pectation appears to have receded into the background with him at a later period. In James v. 7 — 11 also, the coming of the Lord {i] Tvapova-ia rov Kvpiov) is specified as near ; so also in the Epistle to the Hebrews (see especially x. 37). The same hoi)e may also be discerned in our book, even in the first part of it. For when the Lord (iii. 11) says to the uyyeAos of the church of Laodicea, epxpfj-ai Ta')^y, there can be no doulit, according to Xew Testament usage as well as our book, that this is meant of the glorious re-appearing of tlie Lord (see also i. 17). So, too, wlien it is said immediately at the beginning (i. 3), 6 Kaipls eyy^?, there can be no doul)t that this refers to the nearness of the time to which the hope of the l)eliever was directed, when tlie coni]ilete inaugura- tion of the kingdom of (Jod sliould begin with llic lelurn of tlie Lord (comp. Luke xxi. 8 ; JMark xiii. 33 ; comp, also Apoc. x. G and following : 'on \povo<; oiV-en «(jrat k. A.). GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. S3 It appears, liOAvever, that our Look does not merely specify this catastrophe in general as one which is near, hut endeavours to indicate in a still more definite manner the point of its com- mencement. But in what way this is done is very doubtful, depending, as it does, upon the apprehension of the visions pre- ceding the announcement of the thousand-years' reign. In general, especially in the closely-connected visions (ch. xii. — xix.), we find the sense easily discernible ; that before the beginning of this reign, the adversaries of Christ and his kingdom, the devil and his associates, should be conquered by Christ and made power- less with respect to the continuance of that kingdom, deprived of all power to disturb its peace and happiness, after they had previously made the most violent efforts against it. The general idea lying at the foundation and confirmed by the whole history is, that an extreme effort of the opposite spirit of evil, falsehood and darkness, precedes every more important development of good and of the kingdom of Christ, — the kingdom of truth, of light and of peace, — and would all the more precede the completion of Christ's kingdom. Thus we find already in the prophets of the Old Testament, that the announcement of the Messianic salva- tion is usually appended to the most lamentable condition of the people of God and their most violent oppression by enemies. The discourses of the Eedeemer also, communicated in the Synop- tical Gospels, make it obvious that his re-appearing will not take place unless the greatest measure of suffering of all kinds for the people of God shall have been previously fiUed up. ]^)Ut it may be asked, in what manner, in what particular form, this general idea is individualized in the Apocalypse. Here the de- termination mainly depends upon the view taken of the powers which are introduced as the adversaries and combatants of Messiah and of God's kingdom. They are designated (from ch. xii. onwards) as different beasts, presented to the eye of the seer ; so that the question arises, for what are we to take these beasts ? First of all there appears (in ch. xii.) a great fiery-coloured g2 84 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. dragon, with seven heads and seven crowns upon it, as well as ten horns. The interpretation of this is not doubtful, since he is already (xii. 9) expressly designated as the devil and Satan. Then appear (ch. xiii.) two other beasts, the one ascending out of the sea, the other out of the earth. The former is repre- sented in its outward form as similar to Satan, also with ten horns and seven heads, Imt with ten crowns; it is said of him, that Satan has given up his might, his throne and great power to him. He is denoted as the first beast, and so distinguished (verse 12) from the other one ascending out of the earth (to irpwTov Oijptov) ; but for the most part simply as the beast (to 6i]pLoi). He is un- mistakably the same beast (denied, but wrongly, by Zidlig, Hofmann, "Weissagung und Erfüllung, ii. 369, Ebrard) who is again introduced (xvii. 3), where he is likewise described as having seven heads and ten horns ; but where an unchaste woman, de- noted as Babylon, sits upon him. The other beast (xiii. 11 and following) ascending out of the earth has two lamb's horns, but talks like a dragon. He is expressly dcscril>ed, in what follows, as the false prophet (xvi. 13, xix. 20, xx. 10) ; and his employment is to procure worshippers for the first beast, Avorking for that purpose by signs and wonders. The second beast appears gene- rally as subserving the first. The latter seems, from the M'liole description, the true counterpart of Christ, and armed with all power by the devil to make the most strenuous exertions in fighting against the kingdom of Christ and of God. The descrip- tion of tliis beast is unmistakably borrowed from the represent- ations given in the book of Daniel about an adversary of the people of God, who endeavours in every way to oppress the latter and to annihilate the worship of the true living God ; who sliould even ])ut himself in the place of God (see Dan. vii. 8, XX. 21, viii. 23 — 25, and especially xi. 21 — 45.) These descrip- tions in the book of Daniel refer, in the first place, to the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, from whbm the Jewish nation, par- ticularly those who held firmly to tlie worship of Jehovah and tlie law of their fathers, had so mucli to suffer. But as in the GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 85 book of Daniel the announcement of tlie commencement of tlie Messianic salvation is annexed immediately to tlie representation of the hostile attempts of that adversary against the worship and people of Jehovah, as well as his final destruction, and is also united to the resurrection of the dead, it was natural to take the prince as the type of a still future adversary of tlie people of God, immediately preceding the coming of the Messiah, and to regard individual features in the description of his essence and working as a direct prophecy of such an one. How far that was clone among the Jews as early as the time of Christ and the apostles cannot perhaps be ascertained. Somewhat later, after the destruction of Jerusalem, the idea of such an Antichrist, under the name of Armillus, is found among them, whose origin and significance is un- certain ; but his appearance is pictured by them in a very fabulous manner, viz. that he should be born at Eome out of a stone pillar- image, claim for himseK divine honour, go to Jerusalem, and there slay the first Messiah, the son of Joseph or Ephraim, but should finally be destroyed by the second Messiah, the son of David. This development of the conception certainly belongs to a later time ; but the idea itself, of an Antichrist preceding the appear- ance of the Messiah and to be overcome by him, may have been already known to the Jews at the time of Christ. So much may be regarded as certain, that the idea took shape in the Christian Church somewhat early, and with reference to the time of the glorious appearing of the Lord expected as near ; having been specially borrowed from those passages of the book of Daniel. We find it accordingly in the apostle Paul in one of his earliest Epistles (2 Thess. ii. 3 and following), where he tells his readers that they must not suppose the day of the Lord as too near, as commencing immediately ; for before that, must appear 6 ttvopcoTTOs T(]? d/xaprt'a?, 6 vto? t/]« otTTCo/Yetas, o avTiKHjievo^i k. vttc- patpofievos eTTL iravra Aeyo/jtevov 6eov rj cre/?acr/xa, wcrre avTuv ets tuv vauv TOiJ deov KaOicrai aTro^etKvvvTa eavTuv ot6 ecmv öeos (verseS o, 4j, the avo/xo?, öl' isivpLos Iqcrov'i dveXel tm irvevjuiTi rov oTo/zaros uvtov ko.l Karapyijijei tq i-irtcj^aveut. tvJ? Trapoucrtas uvtov (versC o), oo aTTiu ij 86 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Tvapovdia Kar euepyeuav roS crarttva ev Trdcry Si'va/^et Kai (Ti)ji.uoL<; Kai repaa-L xj/evBov; k. X, Daniel's description lies unmistakably at the foundation of this one. How widely the expectation of such an Antichrist, who should appear before the day of the Lord, was spread among the Christians, at least in the latter time of the apostolic age, appears especially from 1 John ii. 18, &c., iv. 3, where tlie a})0stle John, with undoulited reference to this idea, gives his readers to understand that they had for a sign of the ecrxn wliich she sits must be thought of as standing in a special and near relation GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 89 to Eome, according to the purport of our book. "We may sup- pose accordingly, if we take in what has already been observed, that the world-power in general is not meant by this beast, as many take it (for example, Hofmann, Heugstenljerg, Auberlen, Ebrard, &c.), but, more definitely, the world-power at that time, the Roman monarchy, Romanism. We may also conclude that the name concealed under the number 6G6 must have a parti- cular reference to Rome and Romanism. The earliest interpreta- tions of this number that have come down to us we find in Irenseus (adv. Haeres. v. 30). He says one may find several names in the G66, according to the Greek interpretaion of num- bers ; and, as an example, he quotes three, in which the letters f- V a V 9 a g together give 666. (1) Emvö«? (5 + 400 + 1 + 50 + 9 + 1 + 200). (2) Aaretvo^ (30 + 1 + 300 + 5 + 10 + 50 + 70 + 200). (3) Tecrdv T S I T a V 300 + 5 + 10 + 300 + 1 + 50). IreucTus says of the two last names, they have some probability. Yet we cannot take into account the last, Teirav ; still less, the first, Emvöa?. The middle expla- nation, on the contrary, Aaretvo?, must appear very suitable, after what has been said ; and even Irentieus M^ould have given it more decidedly the preference, if a certain timidity, arising from the power of Rome, still heathen at the time, had not prevented him from speaking out more decidedly. Hippo- lytus also holds this interpretation as the most probable (see Lücke, p. 967). It may be assumed, I believe, with great pro- bability, that such interpretation, which is also approved of by many later interpreters (also by Hävernick and Elliott, Lücke, ed. 2, pp. 284 and following), is not merely the correct one accord- ing to the purport of the book, but that it has been handed down by a kind of tradition from the time of its composition to the age of Irenseus. Besides the seven mountains of the city, seven kings also are symbolized by the four heads of the beast, according to xvii. 10. "We have seen that many interpreters — so also Hofmann, Heng- 90 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. steuberg, Ebrard, Aubsrlen, &c. — understand this of kingdoms, of world-monarchies following one another in succession ; the first being looked upon either as the Egyptian or Assyrian ; the sixth, as the then existing Iioman one. But this interpretation is decidedly at variance with the sense of the book, because, from what has hitherto been said, the Koman power is the beast itself, not one of its single heads. Hence we are the more in- duced to understand the seven kings of seven Roman rulers. And without doubt only seven em})erors of Eome can Ijc meant. For when it is said (ib.) that five are fallen {pi irevre e-ecrai') and one is (6 efs eo-rtv), the other is not yet come (o dAAos oiVw i^Aöev), this can only mean tliat just tlien, at the time of writing the Apocalypse, or when the revelation communicated in it was re- ceived, the sixth of the kings symbolized by the seven heads was reigning, which can only be meant of a Eoman emperor. By the five, who in contrast with the sixth one still existing, are denoted as ol Trevre, and as such eVeo-av, we can only understand, in like manner, five Eoman emperors, namely, those who preceded the sixth, in immediate succession, in the government then exist- ing ; we cannot doubt, also, that we have to commence the series t)f these kings with him who was considered the first of the Eoman emperors, namely, witli Augustus. It woukl indeed be possible to l)egin the series with Caesar, and tlien tlie sixth would be Nero. Yet it is, as already said, more likely in itself that the series begins witli him who is actually recognized, like his successors, as an independent ruler, as a king or emperor, viz. with Augustus ; and that such is the meaning of our book can be still less dou'oted for other reasons which will soon appear. Hence tlie five first, who had fallen and were no longer living and reigning, were the following: (I) Augustus, (2) Tiberius, (3) Caligula, (4) Claudius, (5) Nero. The efs, of whom it is said that he is (eo-Tiv), that is, then alive and reigning, woidd then be the successor of Nero, who died A.D. 68, on the 11th June. Galba followed Nero, and we nnist think of him as tlie then reigning emperor. But as he reigned for so sliort a time GENERA L INQ UIRIES INTO TUE A POCA L YPSE. 9 1 (died A.D. 69, January) and was not acknowledged in all domi- nions of the Roman empire, still less were Otlio (died 69, tlie 16th April) and Yitellins (died 69, the 20tli December), we may 7it least suppose that these three are not counted here, and that Vespasian, if he reigned at that time, may be reckoned the sixth. Meanwhile we will leave this undetermined, as we must return to it again later on. Of the seventh king it is said (ib.) that he (6 aAA.os, that is, the one still remaining of the seven) had not yet come, and that when he comes he ' will only remain a short time. With him the number seven of the kings, symbolized by the heads of the beast, would then be completed. But an eighth is spoken of (xvii. 11). We may suppose, a 2')riori, of this one, because he passes beyond the number seven, that he has a special significance. We are led to this when it is said tlie beast which was and is not (o iyi/ koI ovk 'ia-nv), is both the eighth and also of the seven, Ik tCjv k-n-To. iamv, which, according to the contrast, cannot well mean anything else than that he has already been one of the seven. It appears to be signified that the character of the beast, the idolatrous Romanism and anti-christianism, would manifest itself in a single emperor in such a manner as to appear concentrated and personified in him, so that he may be viewed as embodied anti-christianism. Accordingly he is de- scribed, on the one hand, as a future one, as the eighth, therefore as the second successor of the ruler then reigning ; on the other hand, as already existing in the person of one of the seven, without doubt as one of the five first that had already fallen. This may be understood in a two-fold sense, either that in the eighth the wickedness and whole anti-christian mind of the lieast, which had already appeared in one of the earlier kings in an especial manner, should be repeated, so that he might so far be considered a repetition of that earlier one ; or that after the seventh, the earlier one should really return in person. That the latter interpretation is the correct one, is shown by other passages of the book itself, particularly xiii. o. It is said there, namely, at the first appearance of the beast, the seer saw 92 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. one of its heads AvounJeJ as if to death (ws l(T4>ayfj.€vi]v et's Bdvarov) ; yet its (the beast's) deadly wound is again healed, to the astonishment of the wliole world ; with this comp. ib. verse 12 (to UTjpiov TO TrpwTov, ov WepairevOrj ij TrAv^yT) tou OavaTOv avrov), verse 14 (tw 6rjpt(^, o e'^ec Ti)v TrXi]yi^v ttJ? /xa^atpas Kai e^'r^crei'). These passages can only mean that the beast appeared mortally wounded in one of liis heads, impotent and destroyed, but re- covered again. Corresponding to this is also xvii. 8, wliere it is said 01 the beast that he -/yv koI ovk icrTiv kuI fxeXXn dvaßaivetv e/c T7js aßv(T(rov j and lb. ßXeTrovrun' to Oi^pLov, oTt -I'jv koi ovk eiTTi kuI TrapecTTai; verse 11, TO dijpLov, o yv Kal ovk 'icrri. The bcast is accordingly described as even then apparently destroyed, but that he should again appear, namely, to begin, with new strength and renewed anger, a struggle with the confessors of the Lord. But as it is said here, especially in the first passage, that one of the seven heads appeared wounded to death, it is clearly implied that one of the seven rulers, by whose deadly wound the beast was rendered impotent, appeared to be destroyed, was not actually dead, for that he still lives, and would again manifest himself as the bodily Antichrist, and, according to the other passage (xvii. 11), as the eighth of the kings, consequently after the death of the successor of the emperor then reigning. The description of the wound also, from which the beast appeared to be slain, is more easily explained as a sword- wound (xiii. 1), on the supposition that the sense is not identical merely with a collective or abstract idea, that of Eomanism or Paganism, the Eoman monarcliy and such like. It is in the highest degree improbable that that mode of expression would be applied, if such a relation were meant as the weakening of the Eoman power by other nations ; to which it has been repeatedly referred, or even (as Hengstenberg and Auber- len take it), by Christianizing, by its outward conversion to Christianity. The expressions appear natural only when they are explained of a definite person. The question then is, what person are we to think of according to the purport of our book, that is, which of the seven first GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 93 Eoman emperors, or rather of the five first, tliat had ah'eady fallen, is the one whom we are here to suppose as the emperor who, though considered dead, still lives, or will revive and a^ain come to light ? This does not immediately appear from the statements of our book in themselves, hut may perhaps if we compare the hints here given with the ideas and expectations of the time as known to us from other sources. Accordingly Ave cannot doul)t that Nero is meant, the fifth of the Eoman emf)erors, and the last of those who are designated as having already fallen at that time. ^Qvo had fled from Eome when the Senate declared against him and for Galba ; and wdien his pursuers were about to overtake him, he killed himself with his sword, with the aid of his freedman Epaphroditus (Sueton. Nero, xlix.). His corpse was interred with solemnity. Nevertheless, the very general belief arose soon after that he had not actually died, but was still living and staying on the other side of the Euphrates, among the Parthians to whom he had fled, and among whom he was collecting auxiliaries to return again with them and conquer and destroy Eome. Suetonius (Nero, Ivii.) relates that, soon after his death, edicts appeared as from one still living, wdio would return within a short time to destroy his enemies. This popular belief several times induced adventurers to give themselves out as Nero, when they always found some adherents. Such an one appeared immediately after his death, and w^as able to collect about him a considerable faction in Greece and Asia, until he was finally taken captive on Cythnus by Cal- j)urnius Asprenas, and slain (Tacit. Histor. ii, 8, 9, where he at the same time intimates that several of the kind appeared still later; comp. 1, 2: Dio Cassius, Ixiv. 9, and Eeimar. ad h. 1.). According to Zonaras (Annal. xi. 18), there appeared also, under Titus, a false Nero, who o-ot for himself a faction in Asia Minor, advanced towards the Euphrates, increased his party still more, and escaped at last to the Parthian king, who received him out of hostility to Titus, and was even on the point of advancing against Eome. This is very probably the same adventurer wliom Suetonius (1. c. Nero, Ivii.) mentions, although he says that he 94 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. arose twenty years after the death of Nero, -svliich would have beeu under Domitian ; he says of him, that he liad made hhnself of such repute among the Parthians,ut vehementer adjutus et vix red- ditus sit (comp. Uio Chrysostom [under Domitian, Nerva, Trajan] Orat. XX. de pulchvitudine, pp. 371 D, who says, with reference to Nero : KoI VVV €TL TTUI'TCS iTTLOvjlOWTl ^Tyi', OL 81 TrAeiCTTOt Koi OtOl'Tat). The same belief is also found among the Christians a consider- able time after the death of Nero, viz. that the latter still lived and would return, in such a form, too, as to have the expecta- tion of Antichrist connected with him. Nero, as the first of the Pioman emperors who, after the great burning of the city of Eome in July, 64, probably begun by himself, a fire which lasted eight days and destroyed about two-thirds of the city, had inflicted bloody persecutions on the Christians, pointing to them as the originators of this fire, and so endeavouring to turn away the suspicion of it from himself. He caused the Christians at Eome to be tortured and put to death in the most revolting and cruel manner, so that tlie impression produced by the horrors perpe- trated remained indelible even to a later time. This persecution, which found fuel against the Christians in the unfavourable disposition of the heathen people, appears not to have been so transient or partial, or merely confined to Eome, as is at present generally supposed to be the case. It seems to have lasted several years, and in many points to have entirely sup- pressed the flourishing Christian church for a longer time. Even wit]i<»ut express commands from the emperor, it was natural that the governors in the provinces should fcjllow more or less the example set them from above and in the chief city. The apostles Paul and Peter, among others, were victims of this persecution. To it, and tlie horrors attendant upon it, exhilütcd in Eome against tlie adherents of the Lord, several references may be found in our book, particularly xvii. G, where the woman sitting upon the beast, the mystic Babylon, i.e. Rome, is described as drunken with tlie blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus ; in xviii. 20, where lieaven, the saints, the apostles, and GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 9.5 prophets are summoned to rejoice over tlie fall of Babylon because God has avenged them on her ; comp, xviii. 24 {koI h avrfj atfia irpoffiriTi.Sv Kttt aycwv evpedi] Kal iravTiov tojv ecr beast, as confederates of Antichrist, where the number ten must not be pressed, but can only be borrowed from Daniel's description of the fourth beast (Dan. vii. 7) furnished with ten horns. h2 100 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. This explains what another passage of tlie book means (xvi. 12), where we read that when the sixth of the plague-angels had poured out his vial on the Euphrates, the waters of the stream dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings of the East (tVa iTOijiao-Oy i) 6So? rwv ßacnXkwv Twv ajTo uvaroXutv i'^Xlov). By these kings of the East we are without doul)t to understand the Asiatic princes of whom it was ex- pected that they would conduct Nero back, who had been con- cealed among them, as his allies. That they might proceed freely and without hindrance, although in the service of Anti- christ, to accomplish the divine purpose in reference to them (as it is also said (xvii. 17) that God 'iSojKev et's ras KapSias avrwv TTOUjcrai Tv)v yvMiiqv avToö), the vision introduces the drying up of the water of the Euphrates, wdiich they had to cross in the march against Eome. As to the false prophet, we find already in the discourse of the Redeemer (Matt. xxiv. 11—24 ; Mark xiii. 22) that before his future coming many false prophets would arise, as well as false Messiahs ; performing signs and wonders, leading many astray, and attempting to seduce even the elect. Compare with this, 1 Tim. iv. 1 sqq. In the Apocalypse, a single false prophet is presented as assistant of Antichrist, in Mhom the essence of false prophecy appears concentrated and personified by all the arts of falsehood, even by signs and wonders directed to the further- ance of idolatry and anti-christianism. In this development there appears, as peculiar to the Apocalypse, tlie idea of a secoml indivi- dual in connection with Antichrist, and working for him ; the idea, at least, cannot have been so general as that of Antichrist liimself; the powers and qualities also, in which he is here depicted, are transferred in part to Antichrist himself. But we have no reason to suppose that in the present description the view of any single person, M'ho had already appeared active, lay at the foundation of it ; rather does it seem a projjhetic descrip- tion referring to the future, precisely like that of the return of GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 101 Nero as Antichrist, and that of the future appearing of the Lord himself. The same remark applies in general to the plagues standing in close connection with the announcement of the appearance of Antichrist, as well as of Christ ; those plagues especially which are adduced in ch. xvi., as appearing upon the earth, while the seven plague-angels pour out their vials in succession. Here we may assume with certainty that single occurrences of the then past or present are not depicted, but that we have a prophetic representation of the future, of that which should take place at or immediately before the retiu'u of the Lord ; and it is only possible that perhaps this thing or that, what happened just at the time to which the book and its visions belong, formed the substratum of the individual descriptions. But it may be asked how these prophetic descriptions are re- lated to our own past, present and future. Upon this I remark briefly as follows : {a) With reference to the thousand-years' reign. This appears in the Apocalypse, not as the completion of the kingdc m of God, which according to our book takes place in the New Jerusalem, but as a preliminary close of the conflicts of God's kingdom with the world and its powers, a period of time denoted as a thousand years, when the faithful and pious, particularly those who had fallen asleep before and were awakened for that purpose, should reign with Christ upon earth in undisturbed peace and happi- ness, after the destruction of all earthly hostile powers and the binding of Satan. We may view every epoch of the Christian Church, in which an important progress of the kingdom of God, with the conquest of hostile powers, takes place, as a partial fulfil- ment of the utterances of Scripture, especially those about the Lord's coming ; but in everything which the liistory of tlie Church presents, only a partial and preliminary fulfilment, not a complete one, is perceptible. As it is decidedly contrary to the meaning of the Apocalypse to make the thousand-years' kingdom betrin with the incarnation of Christ, so that the author 102 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. cousidered the time already present ; every view is inadmissiLle, according to the purport of our book, wliicli supposes the thousand- 3^ears' kingdom as already expired or only begun. The interpre- tition of Hengstenberg in modern times belongs to this category, making it extend from the Christianizing of the Germanic nations to the end of the German empire. Thus the times of the middle ages, witli the greatest splendour of the Papacy, and the age of the Reformation, as well as that after the Reformation, are sup})osed indiscriminately to be the thousand-years' kingdom, including times when the most horrible deeds were perpetrated by the Komisli Chureli and other ruling powers against true confessors of the Lord, as in the wars against the Albigenses and Waldenses, against the Huguenots, in the Inquisition, and the night of St. Bartholomew, as well as many others. Auberlen (pp. 415 sqq.) refers to these very appropriately against Heugstenberg. It may be affirmed with certainty that the seer himself would not have found in these times the fulfilment of his prophecy respect- ing a kingdom, before whose commencement earthly liostile powers .should be destroyed, and during ^\•hich Satan himself should be bound, and deprived of all power to injure the kingdom of the Lord and believers. It is certain tliat we decide in accordance with the sense of the book itself, wlien we consider the thou- sand-years' kingdom as a state of development belouging to the church or the Icingdom of God which lias not yet api)eared, no more than the glorious return of the Lord in close connec- tion with it, and the first resurrection of the believing and I'ailhful awakened to particijjate in it. All thi.s, according to the meaning of our book, must certainly be taken literally ; not, as Hengstenberg does, in relation to the happiness of believers beginning at their death. (h) With reference to Antichrist. In the past history of the Church, it may be pointed out that every epoch which reveals a special progress of the kingdom of God precedes a time in which tlu! anti-christiau element comes forth with peculiar power; and every time of the kind may lie considered as a partial and pre- GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 103 liminary fulfilment of the prophecies of Scripture respecting de- struction and mischief in tlie last time, and so respecting the appearance and activity of Antichrist. But it may be said, on the other hand, that these pro})hecies have not yet found their complete fulfilment, and that the author of the Apocalypse him- self would liave seen in none of the phenomena since the esta- blishment of tlie Christian Church an entire fulfilment of the visions in question. On the contrary, if we consider them accord- ing to their essential meaning, we are led to think of a j^crson's appearance, before the glorious coming of the Lord, armed as an instrument of Satan and with Satanic powers. None of the adversaries of the kingdom of God has shown himself such ; con- sequently we must think of a personal manifestation still future. (c) Herewith we must not forget that, in all prophetic ele- ments of Biblical doctrine, the properly dogmatic part of the description and essential idea cannot be strictly separated from the conscious or unconscious poetical and figurative element of the envelope, before the complete fulfilment. As prophecies and visions in the prophets of the Old Covenant are not an absolutely pure creation of the Divine Spirit ; human weakness, national or personal individuality, having always influenced more or less their form, we must grant the same also in reference to the pro- phetical intuitions of the apostles and Xew Testament writers, and in relation to the visions of the Apocalypse, even if we consider it a direct apostolic writing and its visions actually presented to the apostle in immediate revelation ; still more so, if this be not looked upon as certain. But we may even now perceive this much, that the Aj)ocalypse considers and represents as pretty near both the glorious coming of the Lord and the appearance of Antichrist. The thing is not peculiar to the Apocalypse. As already remarked, it cannot be denied that the Christians of the first time generally, and also the New Testament writers, cherished tlie hope that the glorious appearing of the Lord would not be very distant, would perliaps take place in their own lifetime. Such form of hope was 104 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. necessary to the believers of the time, to sustain them against the manifold sorrows and struggles with which they had to contend both outwardly and inwardly ; and we shall do well if, after their example, we continually keep in mind that future as near ; like them, finding in it an incentive to direct all our energies to this, viz. to be found by the Lord watchful and true at any time he may come. IMany exhortations of tlie Lord himself as well as his disciples refer us to it ; and also the Apocalypse most certainly. But this view of the nearness of the glorious appearing of the Lord supposes that the utmost exertions of the hostile powers, or the coming of Anticlirist, are impending ; and so Paul speaks of the appearance of the uvöpwTTos T7JS d/ia/DTtas as the Apocalypse does of the last reve- lation of the beast. Both writers do not keep themselves in such generality ; they proceed in their announcements still more definitely, but in a somewhat different manner. Paul speaks of something (Thess. ii. 6 sqq.) or of some one stopping, hinder- ing (to Karexov and 6 KaTcx^v), which must first give M'ay, before Antichrist, the man of sin, can appear ; what he means he only intimates, but supposes it known to his readers ; what it is, is doubtful in the highest degree among interpreters. But it may be assumed with great probability that the Eoman mo- narchy and its head at that time is meant ; and that the idea is directly connected with the usual interpretation of the pro- phecies of Daniel then prevalent in tlie Jewish as M'ell as the Christian Church, so that it is not essential to the peculiar Christian consciousness of Paul ; nor would lie himself have claimed unlimited autliority for his hints about the matter. Besides, he does not expressly say how soon or long after the removal of that KaTk-^iav Antichrist should appear, although an expectation undoubtedly appears to lie at the foundation that it should take place at a not very distant period. But the Apo- calypse advances still more positively in the matter. It de- scribes clearly as the personal Antichrist returning Nero, and specifies definitely that he should appear as such after the reign GENERAL INQUIExIES INTO TUE APOCALYPSE. 105 of the seven (first) Eoman emperors, symbolized by tlie seven heads of the beast; the sixth of whom, according to xvii. 10, was reigning even then ; consequently, after the death or retire- ment of the successor of the prince then reigning, who was to continue only for a short time. In the former respect there is a direct connection, as we have seen, with the ideas pretty gene- rally diffused soon after the death of Nero in the Eoman kingdom, and especially in Christendom ; how far this is the case with the latter statement, or whether it be peculiar to the Apocalypse, cannot be definitely ascertained. So far as the appearing of Christ is connected with that of Antichrist, we must say that the Apocalypse has sought to determine about the future of the Lord and tlie complete manifestation of his kingdom, both time and circumstances, in opposition to the declaration of the Lord, according to wdiich the Fatlier has reserved this to him- self Hence it is natural to think that the Apocalypse, apart from its other significance, can have no normative authority for us in these particulars. IJut it is quite unsuitable, and is shown in the preceding remarks to be against the meaning of the book, to use its announcements according to some calcula- tion or other for discovering the precise time or year when the return of the Lord and other catastroi3hes connected with it will happen. As to the plagues (ch. xvi.), they are expressly described (xv, 1) as the last plagues (TrXiqyas Ittto. ras «o-xaras) ; they stand in near relation to the appearance of Antichrist and the cominrj of the Lord. For this reason it is inadmissible to refer them to special events in the past history of the Church, whether in the early centuries or later ; in none of them would the seer himself have considered his vision fulfilled. The images in which these plagues are introduced are of such a kind as to make it unlikely that they are meant for announcements of individual occurrences about to happen in this succession ; they are only general images descriptive of the severest times for the w^orld, preceding the appearing of the Lord and the perfecting of believers. 106 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. The case is similar with regard to the visions of the first part till cli. xi. end, wliere, from ch. vi. and onward, the seven seals of the Look of tlie future are opened ; and, from ch. viii. onwards, what is shut up in the contents of the seventh seal is gradually brouglit to light at the trumpeting of the seven angels. These, too, are for the most part plagues which shall be poured out upon the eartli, and therefore we cannot but expect them to be plagues preceding the appearing of the Lord, i.e. such as, accord- ing to the purport of the book, would appear shortly. But it is a question who is to be smitten by these plagues ; and how they are related to the time of the seer. Here many interpreters are of opinion that the visions all refer to Judaism and Jerusalem ; not merely such interpreters as Abauzit, Hartwig, Herder, &c., Avho even in the second part understand Jerusalem by Babylon, but also those who interpret them rightly of Home, as, for ex- ample, Eichhorn. The contents of these visions are referred to events and relations which immediately preceded the de- struction of Jerusalem at the time of the Jewish-lloman war, whether they be taken as prophetic indications of the same ; or, with Eichhorn, as poetical representations of occvm-ences which tlie seer lived to see. The latter is decidedly false. Ch. xi. has given occasion for referring the whole to the destruction of the JeM'ish land, and particularly of Jerusalem. Here, undoubtedly, Jerusalem and a divine punishment to be inflicted on it are expressly mentioned. But the manner in which they nre sjioken of clearly shows that the Temple and city still existed at the time of the vision. For, («) In verses 1, 2, it is only announced tliat the holy city would be trodden down forty-two months by the heathen, and that the forecourt of the Temple would l»e (U'livcred over to them ; a destruction of the city and of the Temple itself is not sj^oken of here ; it is even signified unmistakably that they should be placed under God's immediate protection. Qj) After speaking of two martyrs who were slain in the city in wliich the Lord also Avas crucilied, afterwards awaking GENERAL INQUITdES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 107 again and ascending to heaven before the eyes of their enemies, it is said tliat a tenth jiart of the city woukl fall by a great earth- quake and seven thousand men perish, and that the rest should be terrified and give glory to the God of heaven (verse 13). The description could not possibly have run in this strain if the de- struction of the city had already taken place, not by an earth- quake, but by lieathen nations — not a partial, but a complete destruction of the city together with the Temple. In the Apo- calypse a total destruction of the city and Temple is mani- festly not spoken of; rather is the hope expressed that by the destruction which God should bring upon a part of the city and its inhabitants through an earthquake, the rest might be led to repentance, and so be spared divine punishment ; that even the Temple might remain safe, without being profaned by heatliens. For this very reason it is not allowable, as Eichhorn thinks, that the destruction of Jerusalem should be intimated in the verses immediately following (verses 15 — 19); where it is said that at the trumpet of the seventh angel loud voices in heaven pro- claimed that the kingdom of the world had become that of our Lord and of his anointed who should reign for ever ; and that the twenty-four elders in heaven praised God that he had taken to himself the sovereignty ; that his judgment of the dead had come, to give his prophets, saints and worshippers, great and small, their reward, and to destroy the spoilers of the earth ; finally, that in the midst of thunder, lightning and earthquake, the temple of God in heaven had opened, and the ark of the covenant appeared in it. Not the least hint is to be i'ound here of a destruction of the city of Jerusalem. Some justification of the supposition that the expression may refer to this catastrophe, could only be entertained if the preceding context contained intimations that the discourse must be of it. But such is not the case with respect to the preceding part of the chapter ; rather the contrary. In like manner (in ch, vi. — x.), there is no intimation that the plagues described there were specially iufiicted on the Jewish 108 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. land and people, or their chief city. Of the rider upon the fiery-red horse at the opening of the second seal, it is said that power is given him to take away peace from the earth, so that men might slay one another (vi. 4) ; and of death and Hades on the pale horse at the opening of the fourth seal, that power is given them over the fourth part of the earth to slay with sword, hunger, pestilence and wild beasts (vi. 8) ; hut it is not said that Judea in particular should be destroyed. It is very unnatural, and tliere is nothing to justify it, wlien Herder, for example, makes this to refer to individual historical events at the beginning of tlie Jewish-Roman war. The contents of the fifth seal (vi. 9 — 11) point to the divine vengeance which should come, not at once, but soon, upon those who slew the con- fessors of the Lord because of their faith ; yet they are not designated as Jews, but as the inhabitants of the earth in general, the KarotKoPvTes Inl t>/s yrjs ; by which formula we are rather induced to understand heathen nations. Here, therefore, there is not the least intimation which would justify us in sup- posing that in what follows the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish nation are represented as a punishment for their unbelief, and their hostility to the confessors of the Lord. Quite as little is there to be found in the description of the great and fearful phenomena, at the opening of the sixth seal (vi. 12 — 17), any liint that the inhabitants of the Jewish land in particular should be overtaken or terrified l)y them ; rather are we induced by verse IT), particularly by tlie /^ao-tXei? tv/s yvj?, to thinlc of heathen kings. In the case of the fearful phenomena at the four first trumpets (viii. 7 — 12), whereby in succession a third part of the earth, of tlie sea, of the rivers and streams — finally, of the sun, moon and stars — is struck and injured, there is al)Solutcly no intimation, and it would be very unnatural to adopt the opinion, that the Jewish land especially is meant as the scene affected. After the fourth trumpet-sound (viii. 13), a tliree-fold woe is proclaimed by a voice from heaven as impending over the inhal)itants of the earth (rots KaTotKovtrii' eVi tt)^ yi)s), by reason GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 109 of the remaining three trumpet-sounds ; where such designation clearly shows that the plagues still impending and now adduced cannot be intended for the Jews in particular. On that account it is in the highest degree improbable that we should suppose zealots and robbers to be intended in our book (as Herder, Eich- horn, &c., think) by the fearful army of locusts, which, as the first of the still remaining woes, appears at the fifth trumpet (ix. 1 — 12) ; though Judea was fearfully plagued and desolated by these zealots and robbers immediately before the Jewish- Eoman war and during it. Nor by the myriads of riders, who (ix. 13 — 21) appear as the second woe, at the sixth trumpet- sound, should we understand the Roman army under Vespasian, as Grotius did. Least of all can it be conceived that both, viz. the furious conduct of the zealots, with tlie attacks and desola- tions of the Eoman army, can be described in this manner after the destruction of Jerusalem. If the zealots had been meant by the locusts at the first woe, without doubt these would have been adduced as objects, not merely as instruments, of divine punishment ; the raging of the zealots also would not be described expressly as the thing by wdiich men should not be killed, but only fearfully tormented for five months, so that they would wish for death without finding it. Just as little can the fact apply to the zealots that all who were marked with the seal of God as his servants and confessors of the Lord, and none else, should remain exempt from this plague (ch. vii.) Nor can it be supposed that the Eoman army under Vespasian, tolerably numerous as it was, yet consisting only of 60,000 men — an army which advanced from Galilee and from the sea-coast against Judea and Jerusalem — could have been described in a manner so fearfully hyperbolical, as would be the case if the plague of the sixth trumpet referred to it ; for the number of riders advancing from the Euphrates is specified as 200 millions, and the horses are described as beasts which slay with their snake-like tails and with their mouth out of which proceed smoke and brim- stone. According to verse 18, a third part of men generally die 110 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. by this plague; and from tlie description of tlie crimes in verses 20, 21, M'hence the men who still remain do not desist, showing no amendment after the plague, it clearly follows that heathen and idolatrous nations are meant. Thus in the whole series of A'isions (cli. vi. — x.), nothing leads us to suppose that the plagues introduced were directed especially against the Jewish nation or their capital. We are, therefore, not justified in concluding that the destruction of Jerusalem itself was meant to he prophetically or poetically described in what follows ; nor this, as we have seen, l)e expected after the way in which ch. xi. speaks of punishment to be inflicted on a small part of Jerusalem, while the rest of the inhabitants turn to God and repent. As to the proper interpretation of these images, it may be gathered from the preceding remarks how I believe it should be regulated. First of all, it is certainly false when the plagues here described are referred individually to this or that event happening during the Eoman-Jewish war or l)efore it. They are plagues inflicted before the appearing of the Lord upon the earth, because of its hostility to the kingdom of God ; and the fact that they are here adduced before the judgment, which, according to eh. xi., is to come u])on a part of the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants — so that the latter, as well as the former, are thought of as close at hand — shows that the coming of the Lord himself was also expected as near. It is also inadmissible to apply a definite fulfilment of single images to the individual events and relations of later times. Agxeeably to the entire nature of the images, it is not probaldc that they are meant f'oi- (lelinite predictions of indiviihial historical events; but only as general symbolical pictures, to represent manifold divine judgments about to be inflicted on the world for its sinfulness and enmity to the kingdom of God, even before the last judgment expected at the coming of tlie Loid. One may say, indeed, that partial fulfilments have already occurred in the past history of the Church and of the world, and still occur GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. m repeatedly; but this applies to the general idea which lies at the foundation of the images, rather than to the contents of this or that individual image. As to the form of the images themselves in our book, it is carried out in a peculiar manner. But, on the whole, they are closely connected with the descriptions of the Old Testament pro^^hets, as well as with those of the later Jews regarding the IVIessianic kingdom, and the afflictions and catastrophes pre- ceding it ; and are in part borrowed from these, more or less plainly. For example, in the description of the swarm of locusts appearing at the fifth trumpet (ix. 1 — 11), that of the book of Joel evidently lies at the foundation of it, since a similar plague of locusts is represented as a sign of the nearness of the divine judgment-day, to whicli is attached immediately a divine promise of the Messianic salvation. "We must also look upon the description of the two witnesses (ch. xi.), their martyrdom as well as their glorification, as borrowed essentially from some other source. According to the way in which they are described, in one relation as well as another, it is in the highest degree unnatural to understand by them law and gospel or their repre- sentatives, as Ebrard, for example, does. The meaning is without doubt that two human individuals, standing in an exactly similar relation to the gospel, are depicted. And as it is said of them that they apj)ear in Jerusalem, and to their martyr- dom is joined the announcement of the punishment iraperding over a part at least of this city, — Herder, Eichliorn, Heinrichs, and Wetstein too, &c., supposed that two Jewish high-priests were meant, Ananus and Jesus, who distinguished themselves by their discretion while the city was threatened by the Eomans ; continually seeking to curb the blind rage of the zealots, and to lead the people against them. The zealots, therefore, called in the Idumaeans to their aid. The two sought to hinder them from entering, but in vain. The Idum?eans pressed into the city, and in the night a massacre took place among the more moderate party of the Jews, in which over eight thousand of 112 LECTURES ON THE Ä POCA L YPSE. tbein were slain ; the slaughter coutiiiued on the following day, Avhen Loth the high-priests were seized and murdered, and their dead bodies thrown away unburied ; though, as Josephus says, " the Jews are so uiucli concerned about burial, that they even take away and bury before sunset those executed" (B. J. iv. 5, 2). Josephus says expressly, that the death of Ananus in a manner laid the foundation for the conquest of Jerusalem ; that with him the walls sank, and the state went to the ground. But it is impossible that these two men can Ije meant by the two witnesses of the Apocalypse. However much the high-priests may have distinguished themselves above the zealots by discre- tion, yet, in a book like the Apocalypse, they cannot be called witnesses for God's kingdom, especially as it is known of Ana- nus in particular that he was a decided opponent of Christian- ity, and even caused James, the Lord's brother, to be executed. Of this also there can be no doubt, that what we read here is not a historical or poetic description of a fact then patent, but a prophetic vision of two martyrs who should appear in the Jewish nation before the coming of the Lord, wliose preaching should not be attended with success among that generation, but yet should glorify God after their death, and so bring about the conversion of men. There evidently lies at the foundation of tliis a general and comforting idea, confirmed by the history of the Church at several periods, that the men by whom the Church of the Lord is advanced with consideral)le success — as, for example, Luther — are preceded by the efforts of others, at a greater or less distance of time, who, having already recog- nized the same need, worked to that end without similar favour- able results — men appearing even to fail, though their endeavours are l)y no means to be regarded as lost, liather should they be viewed as essentially promoting the advent of that to which their strivings are directed ; they themselves finding recognition and glorification directly after their death. So, for example, John Huss stands in relation to Luther. In sucli men, one may see partial fullilments of the vision without referring it precisely to them. GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 113 Much more proljably are witnesses meant who precede as fore- runners the last revehxtion of the Lord liimself at his second advent, as Jolm the Baptist preceded the first coming of tlie Lord. This idea is not peculiar to the Apocalypse, hut was doubtless met with before, partly in the Jewish Church, where Elias in particular, and also Jeremiah and Moses, were expected as forerunners of the Messiah. The idea was then transferred in the Christian Church to the time of the glorious coming of the Lord. That two prophets of the Old Covenant — the one Elias, the other Moses — are here meant, may be assumed, as we shall see, with great probability. Yet the description of their activity is carried out in a peculiar manner, and connected with the fate of Jerusalem. This depends, at least partly, upon the position generally assumed in the book towards Jerusalem and Judaism. On closer consideration, such position appears quite different from that assumed towards Kome and Eomanism. Eome is tlie Babylon which is to be entirely destroyed ; and Eomanism coin- cides witli anti-christianism. Not so Judaism. The Ijook, indeed, knows of Jews who slander the truth and form the synagogue of Satan (ii. 9, iii. 9) ; but it designates them as persons who are not really Jews, having appropriated the name to themselves falsely. This is a different fact from that which appears, for ex- ample, in John's Gospel, where ol 'lov^aloi are so frequently put, without further notice, to describe such as resist the Lord in a hostile manner ; the chiefs of the people in particular. Jeru- salem is undoubtedly designated as the city (xi. 8), I'/rt? KaXdrai TTviviJiaTLKws iloSo/xa K. AiyuTTTos; and a divine punishment is intiicted upon it. But it is also, in relation to the heathen, directly de- scribed as the holy city (ti)i/ ttoXiv tt)!/ ayMw, xi. 2), and as tlie beloved city (xx. 9) ; only a small part of the city and its in- habitants are destroyed ; whilst it is said of the rest that, full of terror, they give the God of heaven the glory (xi. 13), intimating in this connection that they themselves go in and are saved M'ith tlie remainder of the city and its Temple (xi. 1). On the I 114 LECTURES ON THE A POCAL YPSE. coutraiy, it is repeatedly said of other men, the iduhiters, tliat they could not he induced to repent hy the divine judgments, hut hardened themselves the more, and hlasphemed God (ix. 20, 21, xvi. 9, 11, 21). Unduul)tedly the prominence given to the one aspect as well as the other dejiends upon the human individuality of the seer. As he himself belonged to the Jewish nation, he appears attached to his people with true love ; and, although sorry at their unbelief, he seems to have cherished the hope that they Avould soon be all converted and form the stem of God's people. This is discernible from the manner in which the believers are presented to him in the vision (ch. vii.), who are marked with the seal of God; and from the hope that Jerusalem and its Temple Avould be still farther the centre of the nation and of the worship paid to the true, the living Goil. It appears therefore false, and not in accordance with the purport of our book, to think, as in particular Herder does, Eichhorn too, and in part Lücke, in his two editions, tliat both Eomanism and Judaism are looked upon as the anti-christianism to be conquered. Thus much may suffice for preliminary observations on the meaning and design of the book in general. With them are Connected such questions as the following : n. Ox THE Unity of the Book and the Time of its CoMrosiTiON (Lücke, § 58 — 60). Both should 1)6 treated together ; for, with the (question about the time of tlie l)Ook's composition or the reception of the visions presented in it, we have to take into consideration whether tlie woi'k, as it lies before us, I'orms a unity, a coiniected whole, written continuously witliout any break ; or whetlier it con- sists of several i)arts, the composition of which, as well as the reception of the visions related, belong to different times. It cannot be mistaken that the seci)nd part (I'h. xii.), is not con- nected in such a manner ^\•ith the series of preceding visions GENERA L INQ UIRIES INTO TUE A PO CA L YPSE. 115 as one would properly expect from tlie whole course of the narra- tive. Ch. iv. — xi. form a closely connected series of visions, which introduce the phenomena at the opening of the seven seals of the book of fate ; and at the seventh seal the disclosure of what was shut up in it is gradually linked on to the trumpets of the seven angels. That which should appear at the three last trumpets is (viii. 13) described as a three-fold woe still impending over the inhabitants of the earth; then it is said (ix. 12) that with the fifth trumpet one of these three woes is past and two woes are still to come ; comp. x. 7, according to which an angel swears that there shall be no more delay, but when the seventh angel shall sound the mystery of God will be completed, according to his prediction to the prophets ; and (xi. 14) that the second woe is past and the third cometh quickly. As it is now said (xi. 15) that the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, one would properly expect that the last woe should be immediately introduced ; a description of the last plagues which should be inflicted upon the whole earth before the return of the Lord and the inauguration of his kingdom. With this agrees also what follows, that at the trumpet of the seventh angel loud voices had proclaimed in heaven tliat the kingdom of the world had become the kingdom of our God and of his anointed, who should reign to all eternity ; that the twenty-four elders in heaven had praised God for having taken to himself th^ sove- reignty; and that his judgment upon the dead had come in order to give his prophets, saints and worshippers, great and small, their reward, and to destroy the spoilers of the earth (verses 15 — 18). This can only mean the last judgments at the second coming of the Lord, forming the third woe. In connection with this aj^pears also ib. verse 19. When it is there said that tlie ark of the covenant appeared in the opened temple of God in heaven, the idea is attached to that of the later Jews, viz. that the ark of tlie covenant (which had been lost at the destruction of tlie Temple by the Chaldseans, and which, since then, was no longer in the Holy of Holies, neither in the temple of Zerubbabel nor in that of I 2 116 LECTURES ON TUE APOCALYPSE. Herod) should again come to liglit at the appearance of the Messiah or the commencement of the kingdom of God. An in- timation is contained in tliis that the day of the Lord, the time of the inauguration of his kingdom, had come ; and when it is said, still further, in tlie same verse, koI lykvovro aa-rpairaX koI t^wval Ktti ßpovToi Kul tr€tcr/^u9 Kal )(^d\a^a /xeyaAj/, this, fi'oui its Connection Avith the preceding, can only be a hint or intimation of the divine punishment just announced. Herewith we expect that tlie judg- ment shouhl now he directly and more minutely described as the third and last woe, whose appearance is repeatedly announced expressly and solemnly. But instead of that, we are (ch. xii.) conducted to another series of intuitions clearly beginning with the birth of the Messiah and his being caught up into heaven, which soon followed that event. These, therefore, go back to an earlier period in tlie history of the kingdom of God tlian that spoken of in the preceding visions generally ; for all pre-suppose Christ in his present condition, after returning to his heavenly Father, and refer to relations of the future. Even Yitringa per- ceived that the contents of ch. xii., &c., do not stand in a progres- sive relation to the preceding visions. He makes a new series of visions commence here, supposing them to run parallel with tliat which a])peare(l at tlie sixth and seventh trumpets ; so that the catastroplies already announced are carried out here in a more special manner. But this mode of interpretation is insufiicient, both because the preceding series of visions does not at all appear concluded at the end of ch. xi., as one M'ould expect if the following were meant as nothing more than a repetition and more specific delineation of what had ap})eared at the two last trumpet-sounds ; and also because M'hat folloM's (ch. xii.), as already remarked, evidently refers to an earlier i)eriod of the kingdom of God than the contents of the seventh seal ; generally, indeed, to an earlier time than tlie standpoint whence prophecy proceeds in all the foregoing ones. On the other hand, it is still less admissilile to assume, with Vogel, 1. c, that the secoiul part, eh. xii.- — xxii., was comi)Osed by itself as a writing origin- GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 117 ally independent of the preceding, and even by another author. Not to speak of the great similarity of language and description in Loth parts, which leaves no doubt of the writer's identity, there are in the last part unmistakable retrospective references to the first, which do not allow of the assumption that the one was originally written without reference to the other. Thus, for ex- ample (xiv. 3, XV. 7), it is supposed as known that the {"wa (cherubim) and the twenty-four Trpio-ßvrepot surround the divine throne, which could oidy be done in connection with the descrip- tion given in iv. 4 — 6. In like manner, it cannot be mistaken that the 144,000 who (xiv. 1 sqq.) appear with the Lamb on Mount Zion, bearing the name of the Lamb and his Father wi'itten on their foreheads, have reference to iv. 7, where the same number is given as that of the servants of God marked on their foreheads with the divine seal. An independent prophetic writing, also, could not commence, as in xii. 1, /cat o-rjixehv /xeya w(ji6rj kv Tw ovpavw, even not without the koI. There can be no doubt that the second part was originally written with reference to the first, and by the same author. I put forward the conjecture in my treatise in the Theologische Zeitschrift, &c., that the Apo- calypse, according to its original sketcli, may have had another conclusion, in which the prophecy after ch. xi. may have con- tinued to its end in the same manner as it did before, but that the author himself afterwards changed that original ending for the present second part (ch. xii. — xxii.), in which the prophecy commences over again and is continued to its end, the completion of the kingdom of God, on a somewhat different plan. Instead of this, one might suppose it thus : that the writer originally carried out his prophetic description only as far as the end of ch. xi., and may have been prevented by some accident from adding the termination immediately.' Here it may be conceived that, when he returned to it later, he continued and completed his work in a manner somewhat ditl'erent from the original plan. In the treatise already named, I found a confirmation of this assumption in the marks of date presented by both parts. 118 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. according to which the first must linve lieen written before the de- struction of Jernsalera ; the second part probably later and after that catastrophe. But I subsequently retracted this assumption of the composition of l)oth at diflerent times (Beitrüge z. Evangel. Krit. p. 81); and I believe, too, that no sufficient ground exists for it. As to the first part, there can be no doubt in my mind that it was written before tlie destruction of Jerusalem, whieli is now admitted by many interpreters and critics ; for ch. xi. pre-su]iposes not merely the existence of the city and Temple, but contains the hope also that the latter would remain unprofaned and unhurt, and that the inhabitants of the former should repent after the punishment inflicted on a part of them, and so escape destruc- tion. From other passages, especially vi. 9 — 11, it follows that the Christians had then suffered from the world, and doubtless the heathen world, bloody persecutions ; and that no small num- ber of them had died as martyrs for their belief Tliis refers most probably to the persecution by Nero (after A.D. G4). Ac- cordingly the composition of the first part would fiiU between G4 — 70, since the persecution appears to have begun some time a few years after 64, and at least some time before the de- struction of the city, perhaps between 66 — 70, between the last years of Nero and the beginning of Vespasian's reign. As to the second part, it pre-supposes still more plainly that Rome had then persecuted the Christians in a bloody manner ; Eome is de- scribed as drunk with tlie blood of the saints and the witnesses of Jesus (xvii. 6). Compare witli this, xviii. 24, wliere it is said that in it the lilood of the prophets and saints and of all slain upon the earth Mas found ; and xviii. 20, where the saints, the apostles and the propliots, are addressed as the inhal)itants of heaven, as tliose whose Idood (lod lias avenged l)y the fall of Babylon. Tliis implies that several apostles had already died in or by Home ; or at least, after having l)een persecuted l)y it, were now no longer alive. Yet these passages do not point directly to a later time than that of Nero or the one immediately following; since in Nero's jjcrsecution the apostles I'aul and Beter, at least. GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 119 died at Eome. But tlie cliief passage which determines the date of the second part is xvii. 10, in connection with what precedes and follows. Hence we may safely assume, in my opinion, as we have already seen, that it was written after the death or disappear- ance of Nero, under his successor as the sixth of the Eoman emperors. It only remains uncertain whether Galba or Vespasian is to be considered this successor. I declared in favour of the latter assumption in the treatise before referred to ; for the former there are, among more modern interpreters, Ewald, Lücke, 1st ed., De Wette, Credner, Guericke, Introd. 2nd ed. Anything decisive, either for or against the one or other, cannot, I believe, be main- tained. Yet to me the probability of the latter outweighs that of the former. Lücke, 2nd ed., also judges that the composition falls most prolxxljly in the first time of A^espasian; as also Lie. E. Böhmer (Ueber den Verfasser und die Abfassungszeit der Johann. Apokalypse, und zur bibl. Typik ; Halle, 1855). I believe it may well be conceived that a writer living in Asia Minor at the time of Vespasian, might regard and descrilje him as the sixth of tlie Eoman emperors, as the successor of Nero, without reckoning Galba, Otlio and Vitellius, the first of whom reigned scarcely seven months, and was generally recognized as emperor even a shorter time, while the two others never got general recognition at all, at least in the East. Suetonius (Vespas.), too, speaks of tlie reign of these three only as a rcbcUio trium principum. But the most decisive reason for not putting the date under Galba, is the circumstance that the idea of Nero returning as Antichrist appears as one universally known and spread abroad, so that it is at least probable that some time had elapsed since his death. One may say also that, if the composition took place immediately after the disappearance of Nero, he would not be descrilted as fallen (xvii. 10), but as still living; and his successor also would not in any case be counted in the list. But if the M'riting did not actu- ally take place till Vespasian, and the latter is meant by the sixtli Eoman kino- then reiunintj, it agrees with the fact that the work was composed before the occupation and destruction of Jerusalem \ 120 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. ■with its Temple. And that Jerusalem still continued at the time of the ■writing of the second part, is probable from the manner in ■which (xx. 9), even after the expiration of the thousand years, the al)ode of the saints, which the troops of Antichrist should attack, is described directly as the Ijeloved city ; whilst the New Jeru- salem which descends from heaven is not spoken of till later, after the renewal of heaven and earth (xxi. 9 st^q.); so that it is at least very probable the writer had in view, in using that expression, the earthly Jerusalem still standing. Here also, as in eh. xi., the hope is involved that the city would be preserved until the coming of the Lord, and form a local centre of the kingdom of God. See also xiv. 20 (koX eiraTr/öi] i) Xijvls e^^a9ev tt}? TroAew?). Tlius nothing is found in these data contrary to the assumption that both parts were Avritten at the same time, either in the last months of Galba or the first year of Vespasian. We must not leave out of account, in favour of tliis, (a) that the apocalyptic letters (ii. 3) contain several allu- sions to suljjects and things which are treated more at length in the sec3nd part, particularly in the description of eternal happi- ness ; cf. ii. 11 with XX. 6, 14, xxi. 8; iii. 12 with xxi. 2, 10, and xix. 12, IG ; ii. 7 with xxii. 2, 14, 19 ; iii. 5 with xx. 12, 15; so that it is probable the author had in his thoughts this copious representation while he composed those letters ; and (h) that at the end of x. 11 is found the express announce- ment that the seer should still prophesy with reference to many nations and kings. We cannot doubt that this is meant of prophecies to be communicated in the book itself. And it con- tains an evident intimation that the author designed to carry out the prophecy still farther, as one would properly exj)ect from the point it had already arrived at. Such intimations would not ai)ply to the contents of ch. xi. (although Ewald refers them to it), but to the prophecies in the second part, particularly ch. xvii. It certainly appears to me undeniable that the prophecy, after ch. xi., is continued in another way than we should have expected from its previous course. But it seems likely that the GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 121 seer, after arriving at the decisive point where the description of the last woe and the coming of the Lord w^ere to follow, cast a retrospective glance at the past of the Church in relation to the world, and so began his description over again, con- tinuing it in a different manner from that which was suited to its previous envelope. Accordingly what properly forms the third woe is introduced later, without being expressly de- signated as such, in the plagues appearing at the trumpets of the seven angels (ch. xv. sqq.), as m'cU as in the descriptions attaching to them. The view found in Irenffius is undoubtedly opposed to that here adduced concerning the time of the writing of the Apoca- lypse, viz. that it belongs to the reign of Domitian. But this must certainly be looked upon as false, according to internal evidence ; and it may be explained, pei-haps, how such an assump- tion, even without resting on any properly authentic tradition as to the composition itself, could originate pretty early in the Church, by the supposition that the apostle John was the author ; see Stud. u. Krit, 1855, pp. 219 sqq. I mention here but briefly the view of Grotius, that the Apocalypse, although the work of one and the same author, is made up of several visions written at different times and in different places, before and after the de- struction of Jerusalem ; and the similar one of Schleiermacher (Einl. i. N. T.), that a number of single visions are put together in the book wdiich, proceeding perhaps from the same author, were not originally considered as one. Hence he believes that we must entirely give up all explanation of the book. III. Author. In the book itself John is repeatedly named as the writer, as he to whom these visions were communicated and who wrote them down in accordance with the command given ; so in the beginning, i. 1, 4, 9, and at the end, xxii. 8. Here the (piestion is, firstly, which John is meant, the apostle or some other ? and. 122 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. secondly, Avliether, particularly in tlie former case, the accounts are reliable, or should he viewed only in the light of a literary envelope, so that some other, in the name of the apostle John, wrote and published tlie work ? The latter assuniption, as we have seen, is met with pretty early, and in such a form too as tliat a heretic (especially Cerinthus) mischievously palmed the book upon the apostle. At a later period the same view was also maintained. But the assumption is inadmissible, because, as we have seen, there is the clearest evidence that the book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, at a time when the apostle John was certainly alive, and doubtless before the com- position of his Gospel ; in that case, none would have easily ven- tured to compose such a work in John's name ; and, had it been done, the thing would undouljtedly have soon met with contra- diction on the part of the apostle himself and his friends ; espe- cially as John, according to all accounts of the ancients, lived in his later years in those very districts to which the Apocalypse is addressed, in proconsular Asia, where, or in the vicinity, it was written beyond a doubt. If the Apocalypse had had such origin, it would not have attained to the authority which it had already acquired in the greatest part of the Church at an early period, until persons took offence at the millennarian ideas. Even in the form which Lücke attempted to give this view, in the first edition of his Introduction, it is untenable. He thinks that intuitions lay at the foundation, which the apostle John may have actually had, and which another may have carried out farther agreeably to their oral narration. A similar view was previously held by Scliott, who, in his Isagoge, § 116, thinks that the apostle himself had written down single parts in a fragmentary manner (in the Ara- maic language), M'liich another made use of subsequently, enlarging and working them out in the present book. From the similarity of the character and language of the whole book, such a redactor must have elaborated the Johannine materials he found with the gi'eatest freedom, so that the whole was entirely his work, and that in tlie early time specified; since the characteristics leading Cr EN ERA L IN QU I Ed ES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 123 to it are so incorporated with the whole book, that they can- not be considered merely as something already existing, wliich the later redactor miglit have retained without regard to the relations of his own time. T'ut another would hardly have ventured, at least in the lifetime of the apostle, to bring out a work which asserts its Johannine character from beginning to end ; nor could it have found acceptance in that case. Hence the only question is, whether the John who descril^es himself as the author and to whom the work belongs, is the apostle or some one else. Here the common opinion is, that the intimations of the book respecting its author are decided in pointing him out as the apostle and evangelist John. The question is, whether this be well founded. The writer indeed names himself John (i. 1, 4, 9, xxii. 8), but nowhere an apostle ; only John, servant of Jesus Christ (i. 1). Such designation, indeed, cannot determine against his apostolic dignity, but as little can it speak in favour of it ; it appears suit- able alike for every teacher and worker in the service of the Lord, even for Christians as such. It has been thought that such pas- sages as verses 2, 9, lead one more definitely to the apostle and evangelist only. But the former is not at all decisive, however it be taken. It is usually referred to a testimony which the seer and writer had given about the Gospel. Even then, how- ever, no reference to the apostle and evangelist John would be contained in it, for it would equally apply to any other dis- ciple of Christ who had been active in the Lord's service. But it is most probable, as we shall see, that the os ifiapTvprjo-e tuv Aoyov Tou Oeov k. T?yv fJiapTvplav l7ycrou Xpicrroij, ocra eiSe docS not refer to an earlier activity of the author as an eye-witness of Christ in spreading the gospel by doctrine or writing, but to the attestation of the contents of the Apocalypse itself that follow. It is undoubtedly more probable in verse 9, where the seer says, he, John, was in the isle of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, and received the revelation there. That agrees with an old tradition about the apostle John, Avhicli we find in 124 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. ecclesiastical writers after the end of the second century, that he was banished to this desert island by the Eoman emperor on ac- count of his confession. A closer consideration, however, of the accounts of the ancients themselves, shows clearly that anything decisive and certain about such banishment was not known. Their statements are somewhat ambiguous, particularly with re- spect to the emperor under and by whom the thing is said to have haj^pened ; and therefore it may be assumed with great proba- bility that the whole tradition rests merely upon this passage of the Apocalypse, which might easily lead to the assumption, by the way it is worded, that the seer John was banished to Patmos on account of his Christian confession. It was therefore natural, when once this John was assumed to be the apostle, that the fact should soon fix itself in the form of a tradition about him, although it referred originally to another witness of the same name ; that which happened to one John might easily be trans- ferred to another, to an apostle more distinguished and better known. "Whether the passage, when viewed by itself, independ- ently of that later tradition, really implies a banishment of the seer to that island, or at least a residence on it at the time of the recep- tion of the visions and the writing of the book, may be seen ad h. 1. What appears in the book itself to speak against an apostle as author, is the passage (xxi. 14), k. to retxos t»/s ttoAccüs Ix*^^ difieXtovs SwSeKCL Kat €7r auTWV SwSe/ca ovofxara tmv SwScKa uTrotrTO/Vtuv tou dpviov. This makes it much more probable that the seer and writer did not liimself belung to the numl)er of the twelve apostles than that he was one of them. On the other hand, if we consider how so specific a value is put in this passage upon the rank of the apostles, we are justified in supposing that, had the author be- longed to their circle or wished to be considered one of it, he would not have omitted, particularly in i. 1, to designate himself expressly as such. A comparison of the other writings which we have received from him also pronounces against the apostle John, particularly the Gosjjel and first Epistle. We proceed on the sup[)Osition that these writings are genuine works of the GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 125 apostle John, the son of Zebedee, the "beloved" disciple of the Lord, in which, I believe, we are justified most decidedly (see my Beitr. z. Ev. Krit. u. Vorles. iilier neutestam. Einl.). And it may be asserted with the greatest probability that the same disciple cannot be the writer of the Apocalypse. It cannot, indeed, be denied that the Apocalypse presents great affinity to the other writings of John, in idea, style and diction ; a fact that must not be lost sight of, that we may be able to decide rightlj^ about tlie similarity of the works to one another. It may be granted that the Apocalypse on the one hand, and Jolm's other writings on the other, are related to no other New Testament works so closely as those two, i. e. to one another ; and that the reason of this lies not improbably in a certain dependence of the one writer upon the other, so that the author of the later writing or writings made use of the earlier. But it is not of the kind to prove unity of autliorship, any more than the many cognate things presented, for example, by the Epistle to the Hebrews and the first Epistle of Peter to Paul's Epistles prove that the apostle Paul wrote the former. What is still more important in our case than relationship, is the dissimilarity which the writings before us present in their entire character. This is such as cannot be easily explained if we accept the writer's identity. First of all, {a) as to style. In the Apocalypse, the whole structure of the language is incomparably rougher, harder, more disconnected, more hebraizing : greater grammatical incorrectness prevails in it than in any other book of the New Testament. On the contrary, the language of the Gospel, though not indeed pure Greek, is yet, without comparison, more correct in a grammatical point of view. Dionysius of Alexandria, 1. c. (Euseb. vii. 25), rightly pointed attention to the difference ; he says that whilst the Gospel and the (first) Epistle are written faultlessly, as far as the Greek language is concerned, the language of the Apocalypse, on the contrary, is in no wise a/cpt^w? IXXrivi^ovaa; but that the author of it uses barbarous idioms and even solecisms in abundance. To refer to sinfjle instances of such grammatical errors, there are, 125 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. i. 4, a-o 6 iov Kal o lyi' Kttt o ep)^üfiei'o'i; Ü. 20, rijv ywalKa (rov le^aßrjX., I'j Xiyovtra k. A.; Üi. 12, ti]s Katvvys 'IepovcraXi//x, y Karaßnti'ovcra, and many others of the kind, sucli as cannot he shown in other writ- ings of John. Even apart from such incorrectnesses, the Apo- calypse presents many peculiarities in the use of language which are not found in the otlier writings of Jolni ; whilst many singular modes of expression in the Gospel and Epistles are wanting in the Eevelation. To such things Dionysius of Alexandria has re- ferred (see on this, Ewald, pp. 66 — 74; De Wette, § 189; Credner, § 266 ; Lücke, 2nd ed. pp. 662 — 680). The ditference in this re- spect is recognized even by most of those who attribute all the works to one and the same author, the apostle John ; they believe that it arises either from a difference of time in composition, or from the elevated and poetical character of the prophetic discourse in the Apocalypse. Ebrard and Hengstenberg, in particular, look at it in the latter light. Hengstenberg supposes that Jolm wrote the Gospel and Epistles in the condition of his ordinary con- sciousness ; the Eevelation, on the contrary, when he was in the Spirit, which spoke through him ; and this explains why he avoids expressions which had assumed a ];)ermanent character in the Christian use of language at his own time, even such as be- longed to the characteristic peculiarities of his usual diction, as, for example, {'wv) atwvtos and Tna-Ti.veiv, so frequent in the Gospel; besides tliat the language of the Apocalypse, conformably to the poetical character of prophetic discourse, ado2:)ts the full-sounding and em])hatic ; in which Hen^stenberg includes the usual l^ov, whereas the Gospel, on the contrary, has i'Se ; as also the hebraiz- ing, the rough, the abrupt. He has carried out and extended this in a manner that borders on the absurd, and does not require refu- tation; nor, indeed, is it capal)lo of one. After the same I'ashion Ebrard says, in the Gospel John attem})ted, standing freely above his materials, to write as good Greek as possible for his readers, and therefore he wrote better than was his wont ; whilst in the Apocalypse he was overpowered by the rt'meml)rance of the visions he had had, and could find no other language to express GENERAL IXQUIJUES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 127 siicli wonders than that of the old prophets. Hence he willingly deals in a prophetic, antique, strongly hebraizing form of language, and makes use of crudities intentionally, as i. 4, ii. 20. However one may judge wdtli respect to the visions of the Apocalypse (see after), the matter cannot he looked at in such a light as that the seer wrote them down in the shape they are now in, and the whole book in the moment of his rapture, but later ; and even the iyevoixijv . . ev Har/xw (i. 9) leads witli great probability to the sup- position that at the time of writing he w\as no longer in Patmos. The composition took place, therefore — and the same hcjlds good of the visions and other prophecies in the Old Testament pro- phets^ — not in the state of rapture, but of thoughtful conscious- ness. Thouo'h it be a-ranted that the remembrance of what was seen in ecstacy, and the sul^ject generally, might exercise some influence on the linguistic character of the book, it could not do so to such degree, particularly in a grammatical respect, as to account for the difference between the Apocalypse and the Gospel. As to the other mode of explanation, by difference in time of writing, it is undoubtedly in the highest degree probalde that the Gospel and first Epistle of John were not written till after the destruction of Jerusalem, therefore later than the Apocalypse ; and therefore one might suppose that the apostle John in the interval had acquired a greater facility and correctness in Greek writing by long intercourse with the Greeks in Asia. This explana- tion entirely falls away if, with Ebrard, Hengstenberg and others, we place the composition of the Apocalypse under Domitian, on the basis of Irenteus's testimony. But even on our hypothesis, the apostle John, at the time of writing the Apocalypse, must have been considerably advanced in years, to the age of at least sixty or more ; and it is scarcely likely that his whole Greek style should have changed its character so essentially according to time, as it must have done if he, the author of the Gospel and Epistles, was also the author of the Apocalypse. We may add, what Lücke pertinently remarks (2nd ed. pp. GG4), that the language of the Apocalypse, in point of fact, has in itself nothing of the 128 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. bungling and the accidental, which proceed from a Ijeginner ; but something very constant, even, intentional, unfettered and usual ; in short, a definite type, which scarcely permits transformation and progress into the linguistic type of the Gospel and Epistles. (&) Dionysius of Alexandria, in the passage already quoted, directs attention to the fact, that the Apocalypse repeatedly names John as the seer and author, whilst the apostle does not name himself expressly either in the Gospel or the first Epistle. On the contrary, it has been urged, as already by Eichhorn, that the express mentioning of the name is conformable to })ro])hetic usage. This, indeed, is not absolutely correct, since it may be admitted with tolerable safety that many prophecies were de- livered, even by the Old Testament prophets, without mention of their name, and were therefore attributed at a later time to others than those they belonged to. Such a phenomenon is not without importance in leading us to suppose, along with other phenomena, that the apocalyptic John is different from the apostle, tlie writer of the Gospel and Epistle or Epistles. But one cannot view it as decisive, since it may be supposed that the apostle, in a treatise \mtten at another and earlier time, followed a different method than his subsequent one in the Gospel and Epistles. {c) Of greater importance, and to be considered decisive, is the difference of the two -smtings in regard to the ideas con- tained in them, in relation to the whole spirit and character, the entire ])icture, of their author and his position, wliidi nuH't us in reading them. Both the author of the Apocalypse and the evangelist John appear as belonging to the Jewish nation, and as He])rews, inhabitants also of Palestine, since both are ac- quainted \\\i\\ the sacred writings of their ]ieople, even in the original language, and quote sentences from tlie Old Testament not usually according to the LXX., luit from tlieir o\\'n transla- tion of the Hebrew text itself. ]>ut the internal position of both tt)wards Judaism and the Jewish people seems very dif- ferent, as we have already seen Qx 113). The author of the GENERAL IXQUIRIi:.S INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 129 Apocalypse is closely connected with Judaism, Jewish worsliip and the Jewish people throughout, so that he seems to cherish the hope that Jerusalem — the holy and beloved city (xi. 2, XX. 9) — though experiencing a divine visitation, would still continue with its sanctuary till the coming of the Lord, and, during the thousand-years' kingdom, would be the central-point of the people and worship of the true, living God. He describes those members of the Jewish people who obstinately rejected or persecuted the gospel as not really Jews, but persons who falsely appropriated the name (ii. 9, iii. 9). On the contrary, the Gospel of John uses the appellation oi 'lovSatot as a desig- nation of the Jews who resisted the truth, particularly the chiefs of the Jewish nation who were hostile to the Eedeemer. One might, at all events, suppose that the apostle Jolm should have got, through the destruction of Jerusalem, to the point of hoping that the city woidd be the centre of the future Messianic king- dom ; not that the internal character of his sentiments should have been so revolutionized against the Jewish people, on the occasion of an event which certainly claimed his entire sympathy, as we must suppose it to have been, had the author of the Apocalypse WTitten the Gospel also subsequently, at most ten or twenty years later. {d) Eeference to the approach of the glorious coming of the Lord, as conqueror of the hostile powers, and for the inaugura- tion of the kingdom of God upon earth, forms the central and leading point in the contents of the Apocalypse. Though this kingdom itself, the thousand-years' one, is but briefly described, yet all that preceded only serves as a preparation for it, just as what follows appears its farther completion. We find this ex- pectation, it is true, in other New Testament writings, and it is not foreign to the apostle John; doubtless 1 John ii. 18, 28, is to be so explained. But in the Gospel, apart from xxi. 22 in the Appendix, there are no express or definite statements about it, which is always no unimportant fact. Had the apostle John, even forty years after the death and ascension of Christ, K 130 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE, iiourislied tins hope iu such energetic liveliness and develop- ment as we find it in the Apocalypse, we are justified in assuming that he would have also maintained it at a later time ; and that it would even appear through his historical re- presentation of the Lord's life. If we regard him as the writer of the Apocalypse, M^e might either think that he had conceived these expectations in their present form in consequence of the revelations which the Apocalypse itself brings before us ; or that he had cherished them in essence, even before the reception of these visions, in consequence of the way in which he appre- hended the discourses of Christ concerning the future develop^- ment of the kingdom of God, the last judgment, his union with his own people after being taken away from the earth, &c. But in the latter case, we should have expected that he would communicate such discourses of the Lord in his Gospel also, especially if he had held these expectations strongly for forty years, in the way the Apocalypse shows them. Discourses of a similar kind are certainly to be found iu the three first Gos- pels, but not, as already mentioned, in that of John, where the utterances of Christ relating to the future all bear either a more general or a decidedly spiritual character. Had the apostle first arrived at his expectations in the apocalyptic form by the visions imparted to him, according to our book, we should infer that they would not have generalized themselves so much at a later time, and receded into the backgromid. The destruc- tion of Jerusalem, that took ^jlace meanwhile, might perhaps have helped to modify somewhat the state of these hopes ; not, however, to such a degree as would have been the case were the author of the Apocalypse and of the Gospel the same, for we find eschatological ideas in the same form essentially as that which they have in the Apocalypse. (c) It is tnie that 1 Jolm ii. 18 sqq., iv. 1 sq(|., s])eaks of Anti- christ as the forerunner of the last day (the eVxax)/ ij/iepa). But this is only regarded here, as we remarked already, as an idea spread through Christendom, to wliich the apostle gives a more GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 131 general application than that which already prevailed, especially as found in the Apocalypse. The apostle expressly exhorts his readers not to look for a single individual coming as Antichrist, because many Antichrists had already gone out into the world, every, one who denies that Jesus is the Christ being regarded as "such, ilather does a gentle polemic appear there against such an idea of Antichrist as we find in the Apocalypse, and also in 2 Thess., viz. as a definite future person, in whom shordd be con- centrated, as it were, the sum of all evil and destruction. This also is no unimportant ground against the idea that the Apoca- lypse might have been written by the apostle John, the author of the Epistles, since it is improbable that the latter would have given up and generalized, as is done in the letters, the very idea of Antichrist definitely set forth in the Apocalypse in so de- cided a way; especially as we find it firmly held by other parties in the Church long after the destruction of Jerusalem,, and after the expiration of the apostolic age in general, and that too in the apocalyptic form and shape. (/) Many other individual differences, both in the eschato- logical department and in others not immediately connected with it, between the Apocalypse on the one hand, and the writings of John on the other, may be pointed out, leading more or less to the assumption of different writers ; compare Lücke, 2nd ed. § 48, 49. Of still greater importance in favour of this conclusion is the fact that the Apocalypse betrays an entirely different culture on the part of the author from the Gospel and the Epistles. The writer exhibits far more learning than the evangelist, not merely a relatively different, but another kind of education, both in theological and other departments, so that he appears to be a man who had been occupied with other branches of science from an early period and in a wholly different manner from the evan- gelist ; one who is inclined to a certain artificiality of represen- tation and to rabbinic-cabalistical studies. It is not probable, according to Acts iv. 13, where it is related, the Sanhedrists had heard that Peter and John were avÖpwTrot dypdixjiaroi koI K 2 132 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. ISiiorai, that the apostle John should possess the very education and learning which the Apocalypse manifests ; whose counterpart is not found in the other writings of John. Hengstenberg, in- deed, will not admit this ; he asserts that the learned and arti- ficial character which the Apocalypse is said to have is partly not in it ; that it is partly and in a like degTee in the other writings of John also, so that he takes into them many profound references in a highly arbitrary way. See a fundamental refu- tation of his views in Lücke, 2nd ed. § 48. If, after all this, we consider ourselves justified in supposing that the Apocalypse cannot be a work of the author of the Gospel and Epistles, therefore not of the apostle John, and if, on the other hand, from what has been before advanced, the same work is not spuriously attributed to the apostle, in whose name it might have been written by a later person, it only remains for us to assume, with Dionysius of Alexandria and others, that it is the work of a different John. AVe have seen that Hitzig asserts John Mark to be the author, the same who wrote the second Gospel. But the grounds urged for this are not reliable, and the supposition is in itself improbable, as has been sufticiently proved by Ebrard, and especially by Lücke, 1. c. ; so that I do not think it necessary to enter here into a farther dis- cussion of the matter. Nor has this view met with approval and assenf in any quarter, except from Weisse. It is not likely that this evan «Relist, who is constantly named Marcus at a later period, should have described hiüiself as John in tlie Apo- calypse addressed to the Asia Minor churches, since he was doubtless known to them as Mark. Ecclesiastical tradition also knows nothing of the fact that Mark had his sphere of activity in Asia Minor in later years, viz. in ])roconsular Asia. For we must assume of the John of the Apocalypse, that he resided in Asia Minor at the time of the composition of the book, and was tliought highly of as a teacher by the Asiatic churches to ^liich the seven Epistles are addressed, and for which the book was chiefly written ; so that they were led to GENERAL IXQUIRIES INTO TUE APOCALYPSE. 133 think precisely of him and none else from the manner in which he characterizes himself and speaks to them. The existence in these regions of such a John, different from the apostle, is known to us from unsuspected witnesses. Papias, in his e^v/y?;o-ets Xoyluiv KvptaKwv (Ap. Eu.seb. iü. 39), speaks ex- pressly of a second John, besides the apostle, whom he desig- nates the presbyter, 6 Trpes^uTepos, in distinction from the apostle, and speaks besides of a certain Aristion ; so that he undoubt- edly separates both from the apostles, while describing them as those who had heard the Lord {imOi^ras rov Kvplov). Guericke, indeed, has tried to prove, in his treatise, Hypothese vom Pres- byter Johannes (1831), that Papias does not speak of two dif- ferent Johns, but only of one, the apostle ; he has repeated the same thing also, with less confidence, in the first edition of his Einl. i. IST. T. p. 262, Anm. 4 ; and Hengstenberg has expressed the same opinion, ii. 2, pp. 112 sqq. 2nd ed. ii. 387. But Guericke himself, in the 2nd ed. pp. 147 sqq., confesses that there is more in favour of the existence of the presbyter than against it. An un- prejudiced consideration of the words of Papias leaves no doubt that he really speaks of a second John, the presbyter, different from the apostle ; and, indeed, he names him without any refer- ence to the author of the Apocalypse, whereby the testimony in regard to his actual existence is all the more unsuspicious. Hence from the very mention, we may suppose with great pro- bability that this presbyter John, and Aristion named with him, had lived and worked in the district where Papias resided, that is, in Asia Minor. Hierapolis, where Papias was bishop, lay near (only six Eoman miles north) to Laodicea, one of the seven churches addressed in the Apocalypse. Eusebius, in the place already mentioned, is inclined to attribute the Apoca- lypse to this presViyter John ; but not, as is usually and falsely assumed, Dionysius of Alexandria, who does not mention him directly. Eusebius also remarks that some said two persons of the name of John had lived in Asia, Christian teachers, viz. of the apostolic age, and two monuments were then shown at 134 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Epliesus, both dedicated to a John — a fact wliicli Dionysius of Alexandria also cites. If it were tlie case that the other John lived and taught as a presbyter in the district where the apostle was working in his later years, we may well conceive that the two Johns were early confounded with one another ; that this or that thing was transferred from the presbyter to the apostle so well known in the Church, and thus a literary work which belonged to the one might be attributed to the other; which was undoubtedly the case with the Apocalyi)se about the middle of the second century, as we see from Justin Martyr. Yet the assumption of a presbyter John being the author of our book would not be without difficulty had the apostle John lived beside him in those regions at the time of its writing ; for in that case the presbyter would not readily have designated himself, as here, simply as John, servant of Jesus Christ, without definite sepa- ration from the apostle of that name. But there is nothing to prevent us from assuming, rather is it not unlikely on other grounds, that the settlement of the apostle John in these parts did not take place tiU after the writing of the Apocalypse (see my Beiträge zur Evangelien-Kritik, pp. 194 sqq.). In that case the presbyter John might very well call himself simply 6 '\w6.vvi)s, addressing the churches standing in close connection with him, in whose midst or the immediate neighbourhood he lived ; as he would know that they could not remain a moment doubtful as to his person. If, therefore, the Apocalypse and the fourth Gospel are related to one another in the manner indicated in these remarks, as far as the persons of their authors are con- cerned, as well as the time and place of writing ; it must be con- sidered very improbable, a priori, that the Apocalypse should have been unknown to the apostle John when he wrote the Gospel. And since, with all the essential difference of stand- point between the two writings — a fact which does not permit us to attribute them to one and the same author — there is nevertheless, as already before intimated, a certain analogy and relationship between them in individual descriptions and phrases, GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 135 tlie foundation of this cannot be in imitation of the Gospel by the writer of the Apocalypse, as many have supposed ; but it must rather be referred to tlie evangelist's use of the Apocalypse. That such a thing has taken place, and exercised some influence individually on the descriptions, we may well suppose, although the assumption is not exactly necessary. IV. On the Literaky Envelope of the Book, especially THE Mode of Descpjption in Visions. The Apocalypse immediately at the beginning, from i. 9 on- wards, consists in the relation of visions presented to the seer ; and even the contents of the apocalyptic Epistles to the seven churches (ch. ii. iii.) were dictated to him by the Lord who ap- peared in vision. Here one may ask, how we are to consider this : merely as a literary envelope, a form chosen by the writer with poetical license to present in a vivid and lively manner to his Christian readers the sum of his prophetic hopes ; or as a historical account of visions actually vouchsafed to him in the manner and succession here adduced ? The same question may also be put in reference to the visions of the Old Testament prophets, as they are brought forward in their wiitings. As re- spects individual ones, it cannot be decided with any certainty ; it is not unlikely in general that with the later prophets it is in part only a literary envelope, a form of composition which they made use of to imitate the descriptions of older prophets, a more vivid way of adducing what they wished to prophesy ; whilst in general, especially in the older prophets when nar- rating the visions they beheld, there is no ground for doul)ting that they were actually communicated to them, that the pro- phetic intuitions were presented to them in visions, mostly with a symbolic character (see Einl. ins. A. T. pp. 422 sqq.). We know from authentic New Testament witnesses belonging to the Church of the apostolic age, that visions were communi- cated to the apostles Peter and Paul in particular when put into 136 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. an ecstatic condition, in wliicli symbolical images were brought before their spiritual eye for the revelation of religious truth (see Acts x. 10 sqq., xvi. 9 ; 2 Cor. xii. 1 sqq.). The same may have been the case with them and other Christian teachers of the time, more frequently than we find expres.sly stated. Hence we need not hesitate to assume that such visions were communi- cated to the writer of the Apocalypse also, though he did not belong exactly to the number of the apostles. Yet we must take into consideration the following particulars. In the first place, we cannot tliink that the writer wrote down the entire book and all the visions just as they are now in it, during the ecstacy itself ; this cannot be assumed even of the visions in the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. Still less can it be said of a series of connected visions so comprehensive as those in the Apocalypse. Besides, the introductory historical narrative, ch. i. clearly shows that tlie whole must have been written down afterwards in its present form ; and, as is highly probable from verse 9, written when the seer was no longer in the isle of Patmos. We may therefore assume, at all events, that the writer did not note down the visions previously communicated to liim till afterwards, and as they presented themselves to his memory. But we cannot well imagine, from the number and extent of the visions and images, that the writer could have reproduced them all most exactly, or all that was spoken to him in ecstacy, verbatim ; we may rather take it as certain that, in the later reproduction of the materials, the writer's own reflec- tion involuntarily exercised some influence on the form and combination of particulars, without our being able to discover the extent of such influence. But we may go perhaps still farther. It is difficult to imagine how such a numlier of images and visions should have passed before the seer, after one another immediately, [is W(nüd appear from the description of the book. In many of these individual images, it is not probable, from their nature and from the mode in which they are carried out, that they could have presented themselves in vision as actual phe- GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 137 nomena. In that case, instead of appearing sublime and bene- ficent, tliey would be ratlier monstrous and repulsive ; for example, the image of the Son of Man, i. 13 sqq. &c. Besides, not to men- tion the fact that most of the images attach themselves more or less closely to Old Testament descriptions, especially to those of Daniel and Ezekiel whence they are borrowed, we see the artistic and artificial in the connecting of the visions, and in the putting together of the whole book. From a consideration of all these particulars, it is very probable that we must either look upon the whole representation in visions merely as a free literary en- velope, such as is often found in Jewish and Christian writers of that and later times ; occurring, for example, in the book of Enoch, in the fourth book of Ezra, in the Apocryphon of Isaiah, &c. ; or we must suppose, if visions were actually communicated to the author with symbolic images referring to the future and ulterior development of the kingdom of God, that he carried them out afterwards with poetic freedom in individual parts, and their connection with one another. In either case, it is understood that the writer is not constant in the mode of representation by visions, but uses the future tense for prophecy several times ; soon returning, however, to another mode, where the future pre- sents itself as present to his eye. So ch. xi., xx. 7 sqq. V. Canonicity of the Apocalypse. We have seen how the canonical authority of the Apocalypse was assailed or doubted at different times, as early as the second century, and in the Greek Church for a longer period (in the Syrian Church permanently) ; then at the Eeformation, and again later ; suspicions and attacks of this kind having always gone hand in hand with doubts and view« about its origin, design and chief meaning (see New Testament Introduction, pp. 671 sqq., and my Essays on the Old Testament Apocrypha in the Theolog. Stud, u. Krit. 1853, ii. pp. 283—298, upon the conception of the New 138 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Testament Canon, as well as the requirements of a writing in order to vindicate its canonicity, and the gradational differences which must be admitted in this particular subject). Accord- ingly, we cannot reckon the Apocalypse among canonical books of the first class, if the results of our previous inquiry be correct, but only (with many Greek Church ■v\Titers and the older Lutheran theologians) among the second class, both as to its origin and contents. In regard to the former; among the writings of the first times of the Christian Church, besides those which merely relate the history of Christ with the origin and early fortunes of the Church ; among such as are of a didactic kind, the writers themselves appearing in them as teachers ; we can attribute full canonical authority only to those which were confessedly wiitten by apostles, and to others merely a suliordi- nate authority as deutero-canonical writings. To this series the Apocalypse belongs in regard to its author, if, according to our view, it is the genuine work of a man who belonged, indeed, to the number of the Lord's disciples, as he had heard the Lord himself according to the assertion of Papias, but was not one of the apostles. As to the book itself and its contents, w^e have not to consider its aesthetic value in order to its right estimation ; nor the artificiality in plan and details, Avith the great poetic beauties by which it is distinguished, but only the religious- moral, the dogmatic-ethical contents. Here we perceive that a strong Christian thought may be recognized in the Apocalypse, especially a believing, living confidence in the power of the Spirit of the Lord, and in the certain final victory of his king- dom over the world and all hostile powers ; so that it is not in- ferior in this respect to the apostolic writings. But the prophetic character of the book itself, a constant reference to the future of the Churcli and the world, to the fulfilment of the kingdom of God and the confiicts and catastrophes preceding it, lead to this result — that the Apocalypse cannot have for us a normative and proper canonical authority, in the sense and degree which most other books of the New Testament have, the historical as well as GENERAL INQUIRIES INTO THE APOCALYPSE. 139 the doctrinal, for the reason already before specified ; because all prophetic matter, and that of the New Testament also, bears more or less a poetic dress, and therefore it is difficult to separate with any certainty the properly dogmatic before its fulfilment, from the poetic and symbolic investiture. That is the case with the Apocalypse, and in a special degree. We are accustomed in general to distinguish the apocalyptic from the simply pro2')lietic, according to a late usus loquendi that pro- ceeded from our book itself, although the difference is only a very fluctuating one, not firm or determinate. The apocalyp- tic is always prophetic, but all prophetic is not apocalyptic. In general, the apocalyptic presents the future more in con- crete vivid images, individually, and so pronounces upon future developments something more and more definite than the power for doing so properly by a true divine inspiration warrants. This is the general character of apocryphal-apocalyptic lite- rature as a whole, and of that also in the Bible Canon which may be designated as apocalyptic ; so in the Old Testament, especially the book of Daniel, and undoubtedly Ezekiel xl. — xlviii. ; in the New Testament, our present book. The Apocalypse, as we have seen, has tried to give a closer determination of time to the future coming of the Lord and the glorious appearance of his kingdom upon earth. Any inquiry into such matters does not correspond with the mind of the Lord, who, even after his resurrection, declares that to know the time and the hour has been reserved by the Father to himself alone ; and disclaims the knowledge of it even for himself and the angels of heaven (Matt. xxiv. 36 ; Mark xiii. 32 ; Acts i. 7). The designation of time given in our book has not been verified, as we have seen, by the result ; so, too, other special announcements con- nected with it. Hence we are not justified by analogy in ex- pecting that they will be fulfilled in the future in the manner here announced. These grounds, affecting the contents and apocalyptic character of the book, induce us not to place the Apocalypse in the series of New Testament writings of the first 140 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. rank — these have in themselves full canonical normative au- thority ; but to include it in writings of the second rank, possessing a more limited and subordinate authority, as a sup- plementary treatise of the New Testament Canon, which has not in itself sufficient value to make one draw Christian doctrines from it, except so far as it appears to agree witli and rest upon canonical books of the first rank. In no case, however, are we justified in putting it so low as is done by Luther, or in ex- cluding it from the collection of New Testament books. Eather does it form rioht well a conclusion of the whole. IV. SPECIAL INTEEPKETATION. eil. i. 1, 2. A GENEEAL announcement of the contents of tlie book. Revelation of Jesus Christ. The genitive after aTroKaXv\pfi mostly stands in the New Testament (even in this combination with Xpia-Tov, for example, 1 Cor. i. 7 ; 2 Thess. i. 7 ; 1 Peter i. 7 — 13) as a genitive of the object of what comes forth, is being revealed ; but it cannot be so understood here (although Lücke assumes it, 2nd ed. pp. 23, 365, as the unveiling of Christ in his majesty, as his glorious appearing) ; but is either a designation of the possessor and Lord, the revelation belonging to him, as it were ; or the sub- ject, the author ; in the latter way, also, we are probably to un- derstand Gal. i. 12, h' aVoKaAi'i/'ew? 'byo-ou. Here the revelation of Christ is farther signilied as one which God gave unto him, handed over to him, as it were, in order to show his servants what should shortly happen. It is incorrect when Heinrichs considers the relative -qv dependent on the infinitive Set^at ; it is undoubtedly dependent immediately on eSwKei/, and the following infinite Set^at on the whole preceding sentence, signifying intention ; Christ is here, even in his present exalted condition, described as the first Mediator who received, as it were, the revelation originally pro- ceeding from the Father, to communicate it to the seer, and through him to other believers. Compare on StSovat in a similar relation. 142 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. John vii. 7, 8 ; Acts vii. 38. Upon SetKvuvat, applied to the disclo- sure or revelation of the future in visions, see also iv. 2, xxdi. 6. In Set lies more than [xeXXei ; it denotes the certainty of the phe- nomenon which rests on the assumption that it is founded in the counsel of God. On eV rdx^h see the introductory remarks, and compare xxii. 6, 7, &c. It is false and opposed to the sense of the book when Ebrard understands by eV tu-x^l tliat what is here meant in time (whether sooner or later) should quickly elapse. In Tots SovXoL's aijTou, it is doubtful whether the pronoun refers to OrOd or Christ ; XXll. 6, 6 öeu? aTrecrretAe tuv ctyyeXov avTov Set^at TOis SouAois avTOV ä Set yeveardai ev ra;;^«, decides for the former. It is false when Hengstenberg, as well as Vitringa and others, understand the 8ovXov. The first-horn of the dead. The Ik of the received text before Twv viKpMv, is wanting in A. B. C. 40 cursive, as well as Cojit. Yulg.; left out by Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c. Doubtless it is a later insertion from Col. i. 18, ös eu-rtv a.px>h TTpioTUTOKWi CK Tioi' viKpuji'. Christ Is ol'tcu di'siguated in several relations in the New Testament as the First-born (see my Com- mentary on Heb. L 5, -p. 127). The description is borrowed per- SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. UO haps from Ps. Ixxxix. 28, but was applied in various ways ; here and Col, 1. c. he is called the first-born of the dead, or from the dead, as he arose the first from the dead, born as it were to a new life, in such a manner that he is no more subject to death ; comp. 1 Cor. XV. 20, Xpto-ros ey-Qyeprai e/c veKpiSv^ aVapY''? TiOV KeKOtfJLr][XeV0)V. And the ruler of the kings of the earth ; comp. Ps. Ixxxix. 1. c, Who loves us and has washed us from our sins in his blood. Instead of dyawqa-avTL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, have äyaTTMVTL, according to A. B. C. 38 cursive. Undoubtedly the aorist would be quite suitable, loho loved us, namely, has shown his love to us in giving himself up for us, and has purified us with his blood ; yet the proponderance of Greek manuscripts leads to the present, which was changed to the aorist out of regard to the following participle being in the same tense. In- stead of kova-avTL, Lachmanu has Xva-avn (which Mill approves) after A. C. 5 cursive, Syr. Primas, &c. Yet the other is decidedly more probable from internal evidence ; comp. vii. 14, where be- lievers are descrilied as those who have made their garments white in the blood of the Lamb (1 John i. 7 ; Heb. ix. 14 ; com- pare also Acts XX ii. 16). Verse 6. And has made us kings, priests to his God and Father ; ßaa-iXitav, Upeis, SO we should read with the Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c. (instead of the received ßaa-iXecs Kai Upek), and according to A.C. 40 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol., Aeth. Copt. Areth. Lactant., Victorin, &c. ; the received reading came from it as an emendation. The question is, how to explain it. The expression, Exod. xix, 6, lies at the foundation, where Jehovah says to the Israelites, Ye shall be to me D^'^nb np^^a, a kingdom of priests, a kingdom in which all are individual priests. Accordingly many interpreters have understood it as Wetstein does, instead of ßaa-iXdav lepeojv. Yet this is scarcely permissible, since it Avould be a too ungrecian mode of expres- 150 LECTURES OX THE A POCA L YPSE. sitjii, wliicli has no parallel even iu the Apocalypse, namely, that tlie noun standing in the genitive-relation after a noun governing should experience no change in the form of the ending, according to the Hebrew mode. Kather must we suppose that the writer, according to another conception of that passage in Exod., took □"'pris as an apposition to np^nü, and so liad the two-fold idea that the people of God were made hy the Saviour i)riest3, as well as a kingdom whose citizens should reign with their Lord ; comp. V. 10, e7roi7/o-as ai'rors . . . ßacriXih k. tepeis, for which, with Lachmann, read /JamAeiav Kai Upets. But Lachmann has besides, instead of yfxas, ed. minor, adopted vy/xti', according to A. 4 cursive (according to Wetstein the Syr. Copt. also). The ed. maj. has rjixwv according to C. and the probably genuine text of the Vulgate ; yet here the received text is probably the genuine one. — To him be the majesty and i^wcr to all eternity, Amen! Such doxologies in reference to Christ in the New Testament are found several times ; for example, Eom, xvi. 27 ; 2 Tim. iv. 18 ; 1 Tet. iv. 11 ; 2 Pet. iii. 18 ; and in reference to God and Christ at the same time, Apoc. v. 13. Verse 7. Here the leading tendency of the whole Apocalypse is expressed : Behold, he comes with the clouds, as if attended by them ; in the same manner the glorious appearance of the Son of INTan at liis comino- is described in Dan. vii. 13, ''aD^'D^ ^"5S1 «jn 1^0^ 5i'3^^ -135 «^^If . Comp. Matt. xxiv. 30, Kal totc Ko^ovrai TTacrai at (j>vk(u t'?]<; yvys kol 6\povTaL tov vloi' toC avOfnoirov f.py;ojii.vov kwl Twv i'€(}>eXo)v Tou ovpavov. The verb 'ipx^adai is frequently used in the Apocalypse, as well as in the other writings of tlie New Testament, in relation to the future glorious a])pearing of Christ (see my Commentary on Heb. x. 37, p. 713). And every eye shall see him, in his wonder-exciting glory ; also those who i^erced him, or have pierced. An allusion to Zech. xii. 10, where, in depicting the deep repentance which would one day penetrate the royal house of David and tlie inhabitants of Jerusalem, it is said, ••n;?'! nt?7^?-n^ ^bs ^I^^an), literally, "And SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 151 they look (repentant and full of anguish) upon me (or upon him) whom they have pierced." Accordingly the evangelist John quotes the passage, John xix. 37, where he speaks of the piercing the side of the crucified Lord, and with the same Greek verb as here {oxj/ovraL eis ov e^eKevrrja-av), whilst the LXX. Zech. render quite differently by KaTwpxt'ja-avro. This agreement has been prominently urged by Hengstenberg on the place, and by others, as a proof of the Apocalypse having been written by the author of the Gospel. Yet two writers, entirely independent of one another, might easily translate the verb ")f2? by the Greek eKKevrelv, which Aqu. Symm. Theod., and in other passages the LXX. too, have also put for it. Nor is there com- plete agreement here, since the verb h. 1. is connected with the simple accusative ; in the Gospel of John with et?. Besides, the writer undoubtedly thought of all who had shown themselves hostile to the Eedeemer during his life, and had helped to deliver him over to death. A7id shall lamc7it, beat their breasts, in anguish and mourning {Koxpovrai ; see Matt. 1. 1.), ovei^ Mm appearing in such majesty ; all races of the earth, the people who proved disobedient to him hitherto ; yea, Amen ! Verse 8. / am the A and the 0, says God the Lord, loho is, who was, and who is to coine, the Almighty. "Wliat the received text has after to w, viz. dpxn k. reXos, is to be considered a gloss, which Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., have left out, as already the CompL, &c., according to testimonies which preponderate. By Alpha and Omega, God is designated as the First and the Last, that is, as the Eternal One, who was from the beginning and will be to eternity = Is. xliv. 6, "|iti7W"] "^3«. ]inns •^3Si"l; comp. xli. 4. Among the later Jews, the whole extent of a thing is often expressed by the first and last letters of the alphabet, s and n ; for example, Abraham observed the law from S to n, or God blesses the Israelites from s to n, &c. (see Schöttgen, ad h. 1.) Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., as already the CompL, Bengel, instead of the received 6 Kvptos, 152 LECTURES ON TUE APOCALYPSE. wliicli would be understood of Christ, have Kvpios 6 öeos, accor- ding to A. B. C. upwards of 40 cursive, Syr. Copt. Arm. Vulg. ; Hippol. Andr. Areth. al. The reference to Christ would not in itself be unsuitable, from the way in which he is spoken of else- where in our book (see verse 17, xxii. 13). Ewald holds to the received text, but external evidences preponderate in favour of the other reading. Verses 9—20. Narrative of John respecting the vision communicated to him. in which he is directed to write down and send to the seven clmrches of Asia the prophetic intuitions introduced by what follows. Verse 9. /, JoJni, your brother and companion in ajßiction and in tlie kingdom, a citizen of the kingdom of God, and, as sucli also affected by the calamities inflicted upon the confessors of the Lord upon earth. This passage confirms the fact that in verse 6, the ßaa-iXelav is to be taken as a peculiar conception. And j^atience of Jesus Christ, that is, the patient constant waiting for the Lord, namely, his future coming and the ful- filment of his kingdom ; so 2 Thess. iii. 5, May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and ek ti)v v7roixoin)i> tov Xpia-roi'. Comp. 1 Thess. l. 3, rvys {»Tro/xov^s rrjs cAttiSo? TO? Kvpiov 7//xwv 'I. Xp. Apoc. iii. 10, lTi]p-qa-an|7^ as Moses calls the Israelitish people (ISTumb. xxxi. 16), and as the rebellious Israelites called themselves (ib. xvi. 3, xx, 4), they were much more a congrega- tion of Satan the enemy of God and his kingdom. Compare John VIU. 44, {i/xets ck tov Trarpo'S rod SiaßoXov ia-re. Verse 10. Instead of firjSlv, Lachmann and others have ap- proved of fxi), according to A. B. C. 2 cursive. In the received text, i^i^ev would be accus, of the object, and ä /^eAAets irda-x^Lv an apposition to it ; fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer, which sufferings will be inflicted upon thee because of thy belief and confession. Behold the devil, the enemy of God, and his people, loill by his servants, particularly those false Jews, cast into prison some of you that ye may be tried ; comp., for example. Matt, xxiii. 34, e^ alrwv dTroKrevelTe k. X. Sucli is the divine 172 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. intention in inflicting these miseries upon you, that you may have an opportunity of becoming upright and keeping your belief. Hence Trapaa-fiol is frequently used in the Bible in reference to outward afflictions. And I/o shall have tribulation .ten clays, can only be meant here in an indefinite sense, for a round number, meaning a short time; comp. Gen. xxiv. 55 ; Numb. xi. 19 ; Dan. i. 14 Be thou faithful imto death, so that thou shunnest not death itself, art even ready to suffer death ; comp. Phuip. ii. 8, yevo/xevos VTTvyKoos /J'^XP'' 0<^vdTOv, davdrov 8e aravpov. And I will give thee a crown of life, Genit. expl. Eternal life as a crown of victory, a reward of battle ; comp, especially James l. 12, fiaKapios dinjp OS VTTop.evii Treipaarp-ov' on Soki/aos yevojj.evo^ Xi^iperai ruv crTetpavov t>Js ^wi]?, ov iTrijyyeiXaro (o Kvpios) Tots äyaTTtücriv avrov. Here ^wv) is put Opposite odvaros. Precisely out of death itself, suffered for the sake of the Lord, wilt thou have life. But it is hardly right when Ziillig interprets, " I shall give thee kingly dignity in the life of 01am Habba," under- standing this of a special, the highest dignity in it, to which martyrs particularly laid claim. Verse 11. He that overeometh shall not he hurt of the second death. The second death will not harm him. The idea lying at the foundation is explained by its further development in ch. XX. xxi. The faithful followers of the Lord, who have fallen asleep in him, will be raised at his appearing, in order to reign with him in the thousand-years' kingdom (xx. 4). Tliese shall then live for ever, and sliall also remain unharmed at the general judgment ; wliust the wicked, raised at the general re- surrection, will be thrown into tlie lake of fire, into which death and Hades were previously thrown, and whicli is called the second death (xx. 14, xxi. 8). Therefore it is also said in xx. 6, fxaKupLos Ktti ayto? o k^uju fxepoi ev TiJ dvaa-dcret. tv; irpioTt]' (Tri toutü)!/ ö Serrepos Odvarwi ovk e^ei l^ova-'iav; COUip. Thurg. HierOS. in Deut, xxxiii. 6, vivat Puben in hoc seculo nee moriatur morte secunda, qua moriuntur impii in mundo futuro. Tharg. in SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 173 Ps. xlix. 11, Quoniam videbit sapientes impios qui morte secimda moriuntur et adjudicautiir Gehennae. For other pas- sages among later Jews ou the second death, see Wetstein. 3. Verses 12 — 17. Epistle to Pergamos. This town lay north of Smyrna, in Mysia Major, on the northern bank of the river Caicus, distant about four miles from the sea, formerly the residence of the kings of the race of Attains. It was also one of the most beautiful towns of Asia, a seat of the arts and sciences ; it had a splendid library, which was added to, especially by King Eumenes IL, so that it is said to have contained 200,000 volumes ; but Antony carried it away to Egypt, and presented it to Oleopatra. Parchment took its name from this town. There was in it a famous temple of -^sculapius, which god is therefore called by Martial the God of Pergamos, Pergamcus Deus. It was also the birth-place of Galen. We find the first trace of a Christian church here in the Eevelation. Erom the epistle we see that the Church at that time had already suffered bloody persecutions ; besides that, the freer, anti-Jewish and antinomian tendency was predominant in it, together with a more decided and firmer adherence to the gospel. Subsequently, under Marcus Aurelius, persecutions were again inflicted upon the Christians ; and Eusebius (iv. 15) names several martyrs belonging to the Church. At present the town is called Pergamo ; many ruins of the old one stiU remain. Besides the Turkish inhabitants, it contains a small Christian congregation of about 250 souls, who built for themselves a new church some time ago. Lindsay, agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in London, who visited this region in 1816, states the number of Christians there to be several thou- sands, of whom both the Greeks and Armenians had a church. Many were killed in the Greek war of freedom, when the Turks landed there in the year 1823 (comp. Winer, E. W. B.; Kosen- miiHer, Bibl. Alterthumsk. Band i. Thl. ii. pp. 175 sqq., 221 sqq.; Schubert, i. pp. 316, 318) 174 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Verse 12. These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges, after i. 16. This aspect of the Lord's person is made prominent in the present epistle because the Lord will make use of the sword of his mouth in combat with the seducers ; see below verse 16. Verse 13. I know thy vjorks. Bengel, Lachmann and Tischen- dorf, have omitted the words ra 'Ipya a-ov koI here, according to A. C. cursive, Copt. Aeth. Vulg. Patr. lat. Arethas and Andreas, too, do not take any notice of the words in their Commentaries ; and Mill supposes them spurious, which is not unlikely ; then the passage runs thus : I know where thou dwcllcst (nainchj) ivkcre Satan s throne is. Andreas and Arethas refer this to the idolatry practised in the town. So also most later interpreters, who find in it a special allusion to the worship of ^sculapius. Such is not improbable, ^sculapius was formed — and so he was found in the temple at Pergamos — sitting upon a throne, with a rod in his hand, round wliich a serpent twined itself. As the serpent was the symbol of Satan among the Jews of that time, and as Satan is also designated in our book the old serpent (xii. 9, XX. sqq.), the town, on account on its worship and temple of -i3isculapius with such a symbol, might readily be described by writers as a seat of Satan. Others — as Ewald, De Wette, Heng- stenberg, Ebrard — refer it merely to the severe persecutions which the Christians in the town had to suffer from its inhabitants. But the former reference may perhaps be connected with this, if the persecution came from the worshippers of idols, who resented the desjjising of a God esteemed so holy by them ; it is always probable tliat the 6 dpovos tou o-arava has a more special reference to the worship of ^sculapius there. Ziillig absurdly thinks that it refers merely to the most northerly situation from Per- gamos of all the churches here mentioned, because Jewish tradi- tion made Satan inhabit the north. And thou holdest fast imj name, dost not allow the confession of me to be taken from thee. And hast not denied my faith ( ^ in me), even (such here is SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 175 Kttt) in those days wherein Äntipas was my faithful martyr, ivho was slain among you where Satan divelleth. There is here an anakoluthon at least in the received text, from carelessness in the mode of writing; since another relative sentence is joined to the relative sentence ev ah k. X., without the latter having a finite verb : os aTrcKTavör;. It would be more regular if the os were not put. Lachmann, on the contrary, has omitted eV ah, according to A. C. Copt. Vulg. cursive (in other witnesses Iv is wanting) ; then 'AvTiVas would be considered as the genitive instead of 'AvrtVa ; it would be treated as indeclinable ; and 6 fidpTvi K. A. would stand as an apposition to the genitive, as in i. 4 That may perhaps be genuine : in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who, &c. As to the Antipas mentioned here, it appears from our passage itself that he must have suffered death as a mart}'T at Pergamos, perhaps not long before, in the time of Nero. The older Church writers do not know anything sj)ecial about him. At all events the statement of a very late martyrology is incorrect, unknown even to Arethas, that he suffered under Domitian, having been burnt in a brazen bull made red-hot on account of his testimony to Christ, His bones are said to have rested in a church which now bears the name of Saint Sophia (Schubert, I.e. p. 317). The assumption of Hengstenberg is quite arbitrary, that the name 'AvrtVas is symbolical = who is against all = against the world, and that Timothy is designated. Verse 14. But I have against thee oAtya afeiv things, something ; it is not many things which are blamed, although this is a heavy offence. (That) Thoio hast there (and sufferest) theon who hold the doc- trine of Balaam, firmly adhere to it, who taught Balak. Instead of the received rhv BaAaK, we must read, with Bengel, Gries- bach, Lachmann and Tischendorf, tw, according to A. C. cursive ; although this construction of the verb SaSda-KSLv with the dative of a person is against all Greek and Hellenic usage. We can hardly take the dative definitively, with Hengstenberg, who taught /ö?^ Balak, in favour of him. 176 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. To cast a stumUing-Uock hefore the children of Israel - as if to spread a net, to lay it down for them, whereby they would be tempted to sin and to fall away from their God ; upon ßäXXuv comp. Älatt. X. 34, elpijvyjv ßdXXetv tTTt T?)v y^]V. To cat things sacrificed tmto idols, and to commit fornication. See above on verse 6, on the men in the Church who are meant here, on their relation to apostolic Christianity, as well as on the description of them as adherents of the doctrine of Balaam, that is, as tliose wlio led astray the followers of the Lord, as Balaam did the Israelites in Moses's time, by representing to them that the satisfying of sensual lusts and the participation in sacrificial feasts of idols was not opposed to the spirit of the gospel, but conformable to Christian freedom. Verse 15. So hast thou cdso them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitamcs. The received text has here, at the end, o /xto-w, which Zlillig holds to ; for which Griesbach, Lachmann and Tischendorf, Compl., with the approval of Mill, and Bengel in the Gnomon, have ofioiios according to preponderating witnesses (A. B. C. 43 cursive, Syr. Copt. Vulg. Areth. Primas.) : this is without doubt the genuine reading, o //lo-w having arisen perhaps out of verse 6. Ewald reads, o /xio-w ö/xotw5, which has scarcely anything to sup- port it. The ofjioio)^ is doubtless to be attached to the preceding, although it limps behind somewhat pleonastically, especially with ouTojs. The relation must be thus taken : Thou hast also, as was then the case among the Israelites, those in thy midst who main- tain the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. It is hardly correct to hold, with Bengel, De Wette and others, that the Nicolaitanes and those who maintained the doctrine of Balaam were different persons, and classes of seducers distinct from one another. Verse 16. Repent, or else I will come iinto thee quickly (comp, verse 5), ctnd will fight against them with the sword of my mouth; with it I will cut them down, strike them to the ground, namely, those seducers, together with such as listen to them ; which appears to have been the case, in this church at least, with the greater part of the members. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 177 Verse 17. To Mm that ovcrcomdli will I give of the hidden manna. This is a typical exj)ression for the enjoyment of hap- piness in the Messianic kingdom, attached to a later Jewish idea. According to Exod. xvi. 32 — 34, in remembrance of tlie wonder- ful feeding of the people in the wilderness by command of Moses, a gomer of manna was put into a vessel and i^reserved before the ark of the covenant. In the second Temple this manna- vessel was wanting, as well as the ark of the covenant ; it was lost, together with the ark of the covenant, at the burning of the Temple by the Chaldeans, if not earlier. But since, as already remarked in the Introduction (at xi. 19), the idea arose among the later Jews that the ark of the covenant was not then burnt or destroyed at aU, but was concealed by Jeremiah, or before his time by Josiah, or by some other divine arrangement,, and would again appear in the days of the Messiah ; the same was trans- ferred to the vessel with manna also ; and it was supposed that it would be again brought to light in the time of the Messiah by Elias. See upon this the Talmudic and Eabbinic passages in Wetstein, ad h. 1. Here the expression hidden manna is probably borrowed from the belief in question ; others take it without such reference, merely of the heavenly, spiritual manna, in con- trast with natural manna ; so Hengstenberg, Ebrard, &c. Yet the allusion to that Jewish tradition and idea is probable. As the manna on which the Israelites fed in the wilderness is called the hread of heaven (Ps. Ixxviii. 24, cv. 40), the adminis- tering of the hidden manna which would appear at the advent of Messiah, might be taken to denote heavenly food in the king- dom of God ; participation in its blessedness. Compare John vi. 31, from which it may be inferred that the Jews expected from the Messiah that he, like a second Moses, would feed them, as his predecessor had done, with manna, the bread of heaven. And will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name vmtten, lohich no man knoweth, saving he that receivcth it. What the image of the \p-?i(fjo<; AevKr) is taken from, is very doubtful. Eisner and Schleusner believe it was derived from the lot, where a white 178 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Stone denotes good luck. Others — as Andreas, Aretlias, Grotius, Eichhorn, Heinrichs, &c. — find in it an allusion to the tesserae honoiis, which the victors in the Olympian games received,- and by which the right of public maintenance on the part of their native town was secured to them. Yet these tesserae were not called \l^y}4>oi; and the epithet XevK-j is not explained by them. This induces us, with other interpreters, to think rather of the custom of the Greeks, who voted with white and black stones in the condemna- tion or liberation of those who were accused. The white stone liberated ; and the person so acquitted is also called vlkwv. Com- pare, for example, Theophrast. Charact. ch. xvii. § 3 : BUyjv vtKr/o-a? Kal Aa/3wi/ TTuo-as ras \pi']^ovi. But as the reception of the stone is here supposed to contain also a reference to participation in the Messianic kingdom, one may say that the allusion is to those tesserae honoris at the same time ; and so the two last interpre- tations should be connected with one another, as Vitringa takes it. Hengstenberg attributes no independent signification to this member, to the act of receiving the white stone ; but considers the stone as merely designed to bear the new name. For ovojia Katvov, comp. Isaiah Ixii. 2, where it is said of Jerusalem that at its restoration it shall be named with a new name, öVo/xa Kaivov, Win ud. Is. Ixv. 15, Jehovah will call his servants by another name, "ins nW; LXX., again, öVo^ua Katvdv. As far as the name is considered as corresponding to the essence of the thing, the conferring of a new name also denotes a change of nature and relations, and in such connection, exaltation and glorification. But in our passage, one may doubt whether the new name is here meant as that of the believers themselves, whereby they are designated as associates in the Messianic kingdom, as entitled to participate in its blessedness ; or as the name of the Son of God, of the Messiah, by which he is described in regard to the com- plete glory wherein he is to appear at his coming. For the latter acceptation, comp. xiv. 1, according to which faithful believers have written upon their foreheads the name of the Lamb and his Father's name; and xix. 12, according to wliich the Messiah, SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 179 when appearing in battle with Antichrist, has a name written (on his head) which no one knows except himself. Ewald takes it in this manner, supposing it to mean the divine name of the Father, nin;», according to its true pronunciation and signification, which were a secret in the opinion of the Jews. He understands, as Ebrard also does, i/'vy^os to be a precious stone (the word is also used in this sense) ; the former,* of such a one as the faith- ful followers of the Lord are said to bear on their forehead, similar to the plate on the forehead of the Jewish high-priests, which had the inscription, nin;;^ ttjip (Exod. xxviii. 36, xxxix. 30). But the expression does not lead one to think of such an ornament on the forehead ; and on the whole the most probable idea is, that the new name denotes those persons themselves who receive the white stone in token of the honour and majesty designed for them. 4 Verses 18—29. Epistle to Thyatira. Thyatira, in Lydia, on the borders of Mysia, situated on the river Lycus, six to seven miles north of Sardis, was a Macedonian colony. In ancient times it was called Pelopia and Evippia. According to Acts xvi., the Lydia who believed at Philippi, to- gether with her household, and showed great kindness to Paul, was a seller of purple at Thyatira. Even she may have brought the Gospel to her native town, and spread it farther there. But Paul himself, or his companions, particularly those that went from Ephesus, during his residence in it of nearly three years, may have been there ; or at least people out of this region may have heard him in Ephesus, and been converted by him. A predominantly Gentile-Christian character of the church may be inferred from our Epistle ; it appears to have been dis- tinguished particularly by works of love and charity; but it seems not to have hesitated in taking part in sacrificial idola- trous feasts, nor to have abstained from heathen debauchery, * Ewald now interprets i^i/^oc as "tessera hospitalis," "Gastzettelchen," upon which was the name of the guest's friend who received the guest into his house. n2 180 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. nor from fleshly lust of an extra-marital kind. The members even tried to justify this by intellectual sophisms, by an appeal to deeper wisdom. At a later period, violent contests took place in the church of this town ; it was a seat of the fanatical Cataphrygians or Montanists ; and another smaller party was opposed to them there, the party Epiphanius calls Alogi, who rejected the Apocalypse together with the other writings of John. For this they appealed, according to Epipha- nius, to the fact that there w^as no churcli of Christians at Thyatira. As to the obscure and ambiguous in this assertion, we have already spoken in the general Introduction. At present the town is called Akhissar = white castle ; according to Lindsay with about 30,000 inhabitants, driving a tolerably brisk trade, and with a by no means insignificant Christian congregation of about 3000 souls, mostly belonging to the Greek Church, a Christian school, and ruins belonging to antiquity ; comp. Schu- bert, I. pp. 318 sqq. Verse 18. These things saith the Son of God, ^vho hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass ; after i. 14, 15. Verse 19. I know thy loorks, and love and faith and service; SiaKovia is, doubtless, here meant of service towards sick and needy persons, by contributions presented to them for their bodily subsistence ; in which sense SiaKovta and SiaKovelv are specially used in the New Testament. And thy patience, and that thy last works are more than the first, meaning, that the longer the time, the more thou dis- tinguishest thyself in thy works = doubtless, works of love ; TrAetoi'tt refers here not so much to number, multitude, as to worth, excellency, greatness ; as Heb. xi. 4, TrAetova Ova-iav. Verse 20. Notwithstandiny I have a few things agoAnst thee (the received oAtya is to be omitted, according to overwhelming evidence, with CompL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischen- dorf, &c., introduced from verse 14), because thou svffcrest that twman Jezebel — (instead of the received eV/s, according to A. B. C. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 181 36 cursive, d(/)ets is to be read, with Compl., Eongel, Griesbacli, Lachmami, Tiscliendorf, &c. It is an unusual form, instead of a^iT^s, formed from a^ew, as nöets appears instead of tiÖt;s ; see Buttmann, Gr. Gr. I. 524 ; Winer, § xiv. 3, Anm. 6th ed. p. 75 above. In sense it is the same as e^'s, sufter her, let her do as she pleases, without checking her; comp. John xi. 48, lav dc^w/tcv avTov 0UTW9. The Compl., Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf and others, have a-ov after ywat/ca, agreeably to A. 32 cursive, Syr. Andr. Areth. Prim. Probably, however, it is not genuine, but a later gloss. It is wanting in TertuUian and other Latin writers) — which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce iimj servants, to cominit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Doubtless we are to consider Jezebel here only as a symbolical name, after the Sidonian princess known by that name, wife of the Israelitish king Ahab (about 900 before Christ), who made use of the weakness of her husband, and, after his death, of her two sons in succession, Ahasiah and Joram, to introduce the religion of her country, the worship of Baal, into Israel. At Samaria a temple was built to Baal ; and the prophets of Jehovah, who opposed it with all their might, were persecuted and slain, till at last the whole race of Ahab, with aU the priests of Baal, were murdered by Jehu, whom the prophet Elisha caused to be anointed king, and also Jezebel herself, who was thrown out of a window (1 Kings xvi. 19 — 2 Kings x.). We may accordingly assume, with the greatest probability, that there was at that time in the Christian church at Thyatira a woman highly endowed and possessed of authority, who promoted the same antinomian tendency which was predominant at Berga- mos, and was able to introduce it by her influence. She is called another Jezebel, inasmuch as the eating of tilings sacrificed unto idols is considered a participation in idolatry. 2 Kings ix. 22 speaks of the many whoredoms and sorceries of Jezebel, and therefore she may have been regarded as a type in this respect, although perhaps it is meant figuratively of idolatry. Who was the woman meant here, who was denoted as 182 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. another Jezebel, is unknown. jNIany interpreters, who under- stand by the äyycAos the church's overseer, think of his wife ; from which supposition has probably proceeded the insertion of a-ov, which, as we have already said, is not genuine. The refer- ence disappears of itself with that interpretation of the ayyeXos. On the other hand, it is not likely, when other interpreters, for example, Andreas, Arethas, Vitringa, Eichhorn, Hengstenberg, &c., will not admit any reference to an individual woman, taking. Jezebel merely as a symbolical designation of the antinomian false teachers. See, on the contrary, P. E. Jablonsky de Jeze- bele Thyatirenorum pseudoprophetissa, in his Opuscc. T. III. pp. 255 sqq. From the way in which the conduct of Jezebel is characterized, it is quite inadmissible to understand by her, as Ziillig does, the Jewish Church, the Judaism of the place. As to the text, instead of the received Wyv Aeyovo-av, we are to read, with Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, 1} Aeyouo-a, which Mill approves (after A. C, which is confirmed by 7} Aeyei, B. 32 cursive, Andr. Areth.); and instead of the received SiSao-Keiv K. TrAavao-oat, with Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischen- dorf, &c., Kai 8t8ao-Ket k. TrAav^ Tovs, according to A. B. C. 44 cur- sive, Syr. Arab. Copt. Aeth. Andr. Verse 21. And I gave her spaee to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. From the connection with the preceding and following, we must not suppose that idolatry is meant here merely in a figurative sense, namely, free participation in the enjoyment of idolatrous sacrifices, but actual debauchery. Verses 22, 23. Behold I icill east her into a led, upon a sick bed, and them that eommit adtdtcry vith her into great trihdation, except they repent of their deeds. And I tcill hill Iter children icith the plague; Iv davdrw, so we should take here, and in vi. 8 (üttok- TelvaL iv /jo/iat(t Kal e'v Ai/iw «at cv Oavdrij) Kal {'TTo twv 6r]pi(x)v Trjs yrjs), as ddvaros in the LXX. often stands for "i?"!!, for example, Ezek. xiv. 19, xxxiii. 27, &c. ; and likewise in the Thargums, Snia, Syr. Ij^gIcj- ^^ ^ must also undcistand /iot^evorres /xtr avT'?is literally ol' such men in the eliuicli as tliis Jezebel knew SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. l83 how to attract to herself, and who carried on with her an immoral and licentious intercourse. And likewise by the xeKi/ot? we are to think of her children in a literal sense, of whom she was to be deprived on account of her conduct. (Instead of epycov awTwv, verse 22 end, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, as well as the CompL, Bengel, have epywv auT^Js, according to B.C. 40 cursive. The received is more easily got out of it. The avT^ß refers to the woman, and is to be taken of the conduct which she pursues and tempts others thereto — the works of Jezebel as it were.) And all the church shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts; comp. Ps. vii. 10, ni"'bl3-1 ^[^'2Q ]0^, Jer. xi. 20, nbl ni''bD inh, and so often (the LXX. never epiwav, but 8okl- And I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Verse 24. But unto you I say, the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, vjho have not knoum the dcptlis of Satan, as they say. The adherents of the antinomian tendency attributed to themselves, without doubt, a special depth of knowledge above ordinary Christians who considered themselves bound by the moral law ; they boasted of having fully apprehended the depths of Deity (to. ßäd-q rov Oeov; comp. 1 Cor. ii. 10, to Trvev/xa Trarra c/aewci, Kttt Ta ßdO-q tov 6eov). So also, according to Irenaeus, ii. 38, 39, the Gnostics at that time designated their mysteries as profunda Dei et profunda Bythi. Here there is an allusion to the same idea which is specified as a discerning of the depths of Satan. I lay (instead of the received ^SaAw — Lachmann, Tischendorf, with Mill approving ; and Griesbach is very much inclined to the same — read ßdkXo}, after A. C. 35 cursive, Areth, &c.) upon you none other burden. Verse 25. But that which ye have already, holdfast, keep, till I come, until my appearance. Many interpreters, as Beza, Calvin, Bengel, Heinrichs, Ewald (not now, however), Ziillig, De Wette and Ebrard, understand the ßdpos as troublesome, oppressive 184 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. plagues, so that the meauiiig woukl be, I will intlict upon you no other sufferings than those you have had until now from the persecution of the adversaries of the kingdom of God. But it refers much more probably, as others suppose (viz. Victorin, Vitringa, Bretschneider, Wahl, Hengstenberg), to the claims which the Lord makes on his followers, so that the meaning is, 1 lay upon you nothing more to do, only what you know already as my "svill, not the entire number of statutes in the Jewish law ; in which reference it is said, in Acts xv. 28, /xvySev' rrAeov lir lt i9e(r 9 ai vjilv ßdpo'i TrA/yv twv eTrdi'ayKes tovtwv ; comp. Matt, xxiii. 4. Plato, De legg. xi. 971, 5, to tmu Totoirrwv vd/xwv jßapos. The Kparelv o ex^T^ should be understood accordingly of holding firm the precepts given and hitherto known to them. But from iii. 11, where the same form occurs again, the sense is doubtless, hold fast the step which you have already got to, the share in the kingdom of God which you have already obtained ; do not let it go again. Yerse 26. And he that overcomdh, and keeps my icorks, as I order and as they correspond to my service, unto tJie end, to him will I give power over the nations ; he shall share in the sove- reignty of Christ in his kingdom, and exercise it over the nations who will not submit to him willingly; comp. 1 Cor. vi. 2, 2 Tim. ii. 12. Verse 27. And lie shall rule them icith a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall theij he broken to pieces. Verse 28. Even as I have reeeived of my Father, to exercise such power ; comp. Luke xxii. 29 sqq., where Jesus promises the apostles to give over to them the power consigned to him by the Father. But in verse 27 there is a clear allusion to Ps. ii. 8, 9, where Jehovah says to the tlieocratic king, designated and anointed by him as a son : Ask of me, and I will give thee the hoathen for thine inln'i'it- ance and tlie uttermost ])arts of the earth for thy possession ; tliou shalt break them (D^^^ri) with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Instead of D3?'"i^ (from 37r"n) the LXX. have expressed (kui ■Küiji.avtU aiVors «V p«/?5 o"t<5)//3(^) SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 185 DSJnfl, and so the writer here, if perhaps the passage from LXX. did not hover before his mind. At all events a firm, powerful and strict government of tlie hostile heathen is meant. And I will give him the morning star. The exact meaning of these words is not without difficulty; xxii. 16 describes Christ himself as 6 ao-Trjp 6 Aa/xTrpos 6 TrpwiVo?. Accordingly, Vitringa, Wolf, Vogel, take the meaning here = me ipsum ei dabo, myself as the true morning star ; which is not at all likely, since this designation of the^^Messiah had not appeared before. Eichhorn views it as a grammatical anomaly, awrw accus. aiVuv = I will make him a shining morning star. But this is too harsh; besides, one would not expect the article with it. Ewald* supposes it to be explained thus : " to give the morning star " means" here, to impart the splendour of the morning star, that splendour which the Messiah himself enjoys ; so also De Wette. More probably it should be explained in comparison with 2 Peter i. 19, to which Andreas already refers, by taking the morning star as the forerunner and announcer of the clear day = I will make the morning star dawn upon him, cause the ^ dawn of salvation to arise after the night of affliction. So also Victorin : Stella matutina noctem fugat, lucem annuntiat i.e. diei initium. Ziillig very unnaturally understands the king of Babylon by the morning star, according to Isaiah xiv. 13, and here the king of new Babylon, — the last and most terrible of the Jewish kings to be expected, — Antichrist, who shall also surrender to the conqueror and be made subject. Verse 29. Different from the three preceding epistles, this and the three following close with the words : He that haih an ear, let him hear what the Sjnrit saith unto the churches — since the announcement of what should fall to the lot of the conqueror had preceded, whilst it follows these words in the three first epistles. * So also in the Jahrb. d. bibl. W. viii. I8.16, p. 98 = make him shine as the morning star ; where he thinks that the words belong after iii. 5. Now too in Johannes Apocalypse, 1862, p. 145. 186 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. 5. Ch. iii. 1 — 6. Epistle to Sardis. Sardis, south of Thyatira, at one time tlie very rich capital of Lydia, residence of Croesus and the Lydian kings before him, on the river Pactolus, at the foot of INIount Tmolus. Destroyed by an earthquake about the year A.D. 20, it was again rebuilt in gorgeous style with the assistance of Tiberius. A Christian church here is first mentioned in the Apocalypse ; at that time its members do not appear to have been distinguished for zeal toward the faith or purity of conduct. Under ^Marcus Aurelius (about 170), the apologist ]\Ielito was bishop there. The town was destroyed by wars in the middle ages, especially by Tamer- lane's troops, and by several earthquakes. An earthquake in 1595 was specially destructive to the district. In the year 1671, the chaplain of the English factory at Smyrna, Smith, who visited the places where the seven apocalyptic chm-ches existed (Epis- tolae dua:;, etc. Oxford, 1672, 8), found there a Turkish mosque and a few Christians. At present, Sart is a miserable Turkoman village of clay huts, but with considerable ruins, both of the heathen and Christian periods. Of the former are remains of the old acropolis and a temple of Cybele ; of the latter, two churches (see Schubert, I. pp. 342 — 351). Lindsay found in the district, in 1816, a small village, Tater-Köny, with about forty Christian in- habitants and a Christian church. Verse 1. These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God (see on i. 4) and the seven stars (i. 16). Iknoiu thy ivories, that thou hast a name = that thou art good enough fur one to believe and say of thee (comp., on ovojxa e'xetv, Herod, vii. 138, ?} Se a-rpaTi^Xaa-ci], ^ ßaa-iX^wi, ovo/xa [xev €?;(€ ws «V AÖ7/vas eXavvei, KarUro 8e es Tracrav rrjv 'EAAaSa) ; that thou livest and yet art dead ; both in a spiritual sense ; the church passed for a Christian one, but there was no true Christian life in it. Hence nothing is said here of tlie vTToiiovi'i which it had shown, nor of the ÖAii/^is which it had endured, through the fire of which it had passed and been tried. Verse 2. Be icatehfid, rouse thyself from thy sleep of death, and be continually watchful, prepariid to receive the Son of Man. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 187 And strengthen the things which remain. The reading is very uncertain ; the received text has, a /xIAAet aTroöavetv, that are ready to die. Instead of this, there are several readings ; the most pro- bable, from, external testimony, is that adopted by Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, a e/AeAAov airoOavdv, according to A.C. 8 cursive, Syr. Copt. Vulg. Andr. Areth. Primas. ; and this is also approved by Bengel in the Gnomon, meaning : what until now was about to die, namely, those parts of the church which had not entirely succumbed to death, but till now appeared to be near it. This would not perhaps refer to the members of the church of Sardis itself, who were not wholly dead, but to other parties in the church which were about to die ; the Christian community at Sardis should try to wake up these once more, and strengthen them in the living faith. Others have, ci e/xeAAes dTToßdXXeLv (B. 31 cursive, Ar. Pol. CompL). That would mean, strengthen (to thyself) the other things which thou still hast and appearest on the point of losing. In the same sense substantially Ewald reads, and Bengel, Gnomon, 1st ed., and New Testament also inclines, a e/xeAAcs dTroöavetv, the things which remain, in respect of which it is to be feared that you are dying, that you lose not by death the virtues that have remained to you till now. But that would be too harsh grammatically, and has no sure basis in external evidence as it appears. The most probable reading is that of Griesbach and Lachmann. For I have not found thy loorks perfect before God ; that is, not such as correspond to the measure demanded by God ; they appear too light in the divine scale. Comp. iv. 12, where the received 7re7rA?/pw//.ei/ot (Lachmann, -KeTrXr^pof^opi^iikvoi) stands in. reference to men with xeAecot (iVa crrvyTe reAetot Kttt ireTrXi^ptufievoi Iv Tvavrl deXi'jixaTL Oeov). John XVll. 13, yo-po- TreTrAi^poj^uevr/, and SO in the New Testament frequently. Verse 3. Rememher, therefore, be mindful, hoiv thou hoM received and heard, namely, the evangelical doctrine from which thou expectest thy salvation, and which thou therefore must not allow to die or perish in thee : eiX-rjcjias and -i'lKova-as are quite the same here. 188 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. And holdfast and repent ; if, therefore, thou wilt not ivatch, I will come (on tliee) as a thief and tJwu shalt not know, without tliy knowing, vjhat hour I will come upon thee. On tliis simile, comp. Matt. xxiv. 42 — 44 ; 1 Thess. v. 4. Verse 4. Bat thou hast (still) afeiu names in Sardis [dvoiiara, according to a peculiar usage for persons where their number is spoken; so xi. 13, aTreKTavd-qa-av ovo/xara dvOpioTrotv ■x^LXid8ie->'iTwa-av Ik ßlßXlOV ^MVTWl'). And I will confess his name hcfore my Father and hefore his angels, acknowledge him as belonging to me. Comp. ]\Iatt. x. 32, SPECIAL interpretation: 189 Wliosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess (not deny) also before my Father which is in heaven ; for which Luke xii. 8 has, The Son of Man will confess him before the angels of God ; comp. ib. ix. 26. Verse 6. He that hath an ear, let him hear what tlie Spirit saith unto the churches ; comp. ii. 25. 6. Verses 7 — 13. Epistle to Philadelphia. An important town of Lydia, about five German miles south- east of Sardis, also at the foot of the Mount Tmolus ; it got its name from its founder, the Pergamenian king Attains Phila- delphus, brother of Eumenes. It has often suffered from earth- quakes. A Christian church there is mentioned only in the Apocalypse. As to numbers, it appears not to have been im- portant, but to have kept its faith, especially in contests with the unbelieving Jews. Among the Letters of Ignatius is found one to the church at Philadelphia. At a later period this town of Asia Minor resisted the attacks of the Turks longest, until it was conquered, 1392, by Bajased I. At present it is CEilled Allahscheher, where a church of Greek Christians of about fifty families* still exists, with some small chapels and considerable ruins of an older church, and of the Byzantine walls and castle. (Eosenm. bibL Alterthk. I. II. pp. 181 sqq., 233 sqq. ; Schubert, L pp. 353 — 355.) Verse 7. These things saith he that is holy, he that is true (comp. i. 5, 6 fidprvs 6 Trto-ros), he that hath the key of David, he that oiKneth, with this key, and no man shuttcth, none other daring or able to shut, and shuttcth and no man opcncth — ou dvotyovTos ovSets kX^Ul, ov KXeiovro^ oi'Sets drotyet. Ihis alludes tO Is. xxii. 22, where Jehovah appoints one Eliakim as overseer of the royal palace in Jerusalem ; whereupon it is said, " and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so that he shall open, and none shall shut ; and he shall shut and none * According to Lindsay, there were then living about one thousaud Greek Chris- tians, with five large churches. 190 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. shall open." When tlie key of David is named instead in our passage, the meaning probably is, that belonging to David, the key carried by him ; David is viewed as the regent of God's people, and as a type of the J\Iessiah, the second David, who carries this key and has power over the kingdom of God, viz. without anybody preventing him, he has the power to receive into and to exclude from it ; comp. Matt. xvi. 19, koL Swo-w o-oi ras kAcis Trjs ßaa-iXelas rwv ovpavwv. Verse 8. / kjioio tluj worlds. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. The image of opening the door appears frequently for the opening of space to Clu-istian teachers in spreading the gospel ; 1 Cor. xvi. 9 ; 2 Cor. ii. 12 ; Col. iv. 13. Accordingly, many interpreters, as Grot., Vitringa, Ewald, De Wette, Ebrard, understand it here in the sense of, " I give thee opportunity to extend the kingdom to others also." But we should then least of all expect the preterite SeSwKa. Verse 9 also, to which appeal is made for confirmation of this interpretation, does not support it, for there the subject is not the conversion of the false Jews, but rather their being put to shame. It is much more likely, with other interpreters, for example Hengstenberg and Eichhorn, to refer it to the opening of the door through which this church itself got access to the kingdom of God, without anybody being able to take from it participation in the kingdom ; comp. Acts xiv. 27, on i]vot^e (6 öeos) TOts e9v€(TL dvpav T7L(jTe(i>€lv is used of the knocking, by which some- body who is within, when he opens the door, warns him who is standing outside to withdraw). The Kol avTos jJieT €fxov alludes probably to participation in the happiness of the JVIessianic kingdom, which is often compared to a feast, a marriage -feast ; comp. xix. 9, /xaKuptoi ol els to Sdirvov TOU dpVCOV KeKXl]lXfVOl. Averse 21. To him that ovcrcomcth ivill I grant to sit ivith me on my throne, that he may take part in my kingdom and my sovereignty ; comp. ii. 2G sqq., xxii. 5. Even as I also overcame, and am set down = as I also, after having conquered, obtained the victory in battle with the world (comp. John xvi. 33, eyw veviK-rjKa Toi/ Koa-fj-ov), have placed myself loUh or beside iny Father on hü throne. Hence in xxii. 1, it is called, 6 OpAvos toG d(.ov kuI tov dpviov. Verse 22. So far these apocalyptic epistles, and the description of the appearance of the Son of JMan, \\\\o causes them to be written to the churches by the seer. This appearance now vanishes. The two following chapters form an introduction to the revelation of the future itself afterwards given. First SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 197 eil. iv. The theatre is presented on which this revelation is said to take place, viz. heaven, with the throne of God and its sur- roundings. Thither the seer is now carried in spirit. For the following description in general, namely, the events and relations of the future occurring in view of the seer in heaven, we should compare an idea of the later Jews, that God the Lord causes all that is to happen upon earth to pass in heaven before his eyes and those of his angels. Compare Maimonides, More nevochim, ii. 6 : Sapientes nostri ad id, quod Gen. i. 26, xi. 7, in nostra lege legimus, ita scribunt ; si ita loijui licet, non facit Deus quidquam, donee illud intuitus fuerit in familia superiori. Verse 1. After this I looked, and hehold a door was opened in heaven, through which the seer, as it were, as promised in verse 2, might ascend to heaven, and be witness of what hap- pened there. Elsewhere, too, the act of opening heaven serves to denote an ecstatic condition, whereby one is enabled to behold God and receive a revelation of divine things. Comp. Ezek. i. 1, It happened that the heavens oj)ened, and I saw visions of God. Acts X. 11, vii. 56; Matt. iii. 16. And the first, — earlier, voice which I heard vms as it were of a trumpet talking to me (after i. 10), saying (instead of the received Xkyovcra, Bcngel, Griesbacli, Lachmann, Tischendorf, have Aeywv, according to A. B. 25 cursive ; approved also by Mill and Wet- stein, which is explained by supposing that the writer thinks of the angel from whom the voice came). Come up hither, into heaven {dvdßa, so also among the Attics, instead of the usual dvaß-i]6i, imper. aor. 2 (äve/37jv),from dvaßaivuv; see Winer, § xiv. 1). And I will show thee things which must he hereafter. Verse 2. (And) immediately I was in the spirit; I fell into ecstasy ; and by means of it, he intends to say, not in a bodily manner^ I was transported into heaven. And behold a throne was set in heaven, was placed, as Kdadau frequently = perf passive of nOemi, posituni esse. 198 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. And one was sitting on the throne, one sat. This is, as we infer from the following description, God the Father, whom the seer does not mention intentionally, but only represents in his appear- ance and leaves it to be guessed. So also Dan. vii. 9, where he is beheld as the Ancient of Days, sitting on the throne that is set up ; and Ezek. i. 26 sqq. Besides this, compare with the fol- lowing description the Theophanies in Is. vi. ; Ezek. i. and x. ; 1 Kings xxii. 19. Verse 3. And he that sat ivas to look upon (opao-et = nsiöb, in appearance, to look on) like a jasper and a sardine stone ; botli are precious stones, named here in reference to their lustre ; jasper is of different colours ; the best is purple, probably the one meant here ; the o-apSios, which the LXX. have for the Hebrew DJM, is a red transparent stone, also called cornelian ; it bore the name o-apStos because it was first found at Sardis, according to Pliny, H. N". xxxvii. 7. Compare besides Ezek. i. 27, where Jehovah appears as lire to look upon, surrounded by splendour. And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald ; comp. Ezek. i. 28, "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appear- ance of the brightness round about (round the divine majesty)." Here the rainbow round the divine throne should probably be considered a sign of divine grace and mercy; comp. Gen. ix. 13 sqq. Of the colours which are united in the natural rainbow, green is here named, that of the emerald, probably to moderate the dazzling fiery form of God ; as Pliny says, H. N. xxxvii. 5, that when the eyes are blinded by any other sight, that of the emerald restores them again. Verse 4. And round about the throne (of God) ivcrc four-and- tioentg seats ; and iipon the seats I saw four-and-twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads croiuns of gold. These form, as it were, assessors of the divine judgment ; as it is an idea of the later Jews that God has made for himself consessum seniorum suorum, whei'cby they explain in part the passage in Is. xxiv. 23 (when the Lord of Hosts SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 199 shall reign in Mount Sion and lu Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously, "tiss TDpJ "l?.5)). The number twenty-four is perhaps chosen with reference to the number of the tribes of Israel, this number being doubled with relation to the reception of the heathen; perhaps borrowed also from the twenty-four classes of priests and their overseers. The white garments refer to their pure and priestly character ; the crowns, to their partici- pation in divine government and judgeship. Verse 5. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thun- derings and voices. The (/)wvat are explained by the ßpovral ; in the same manner, <^ovat Kal ßpovral, viii. 5, xi. 19, xvi. 18. We find in the Old Testament also manifestations of Jehovah gene- rally accompanied by thunder and lightning; comp. Exod. xix. 16, Ps. 1. 3, xcvii. 1 sqq., xviii. 14. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, ivhich are, which symbolize, the seven spirits of God; comp. i. 4 — 12 sqq., ii. 1. Verse 6. A^id before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. Before daXaa-a-a, should be read, with Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., ws, according to A. 37 cursive, Syr. Copt. Vulg. Areth. Victorin, &c., Latin Fatliers. The floor which extended before the divine throne is so designated in reference to its clearness, brightness, transparency. It is also in accordance with an Old Testament idea, that over the firmament where the divine throne rests is the heavenly ocean, the water above the firmament (Gen. i. 7; Ps. civ. 3 ; comp. Exod. xxiv. 10). Moses, Aaron and the elders beheld the God of Israel, and under his feet there was as it were a work of transparent sapphire and as heaven itself in clearness. Ezek. i. 22, upon the heads of the beasts (the cherubim bearing the divine chariot-throne) was seen the form of a firmament, as the appearance of crystal, terrible, stretched out over their heads. And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before aoid behind. By these ^wois we have to tliink of four cherubim, whose description here is chiefly bor- 200 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. rowed from that of Ezek. i. and x., where tliey, four in number, appear as bearers of the divine chariot-thrones, and are also de- signated as {'wa, r&n. They unite in tliemselves the form of the four chief and strongest living beings upon earth — man, the lion, the bull and tlie eagle — in such a manner, however, that in Ezek. this fourfold form appears united in each ; for there, each cherub has four faces, that of a man, that of a lion, of a bull, and of an eagle; whilst in the following description this fourfold figure is divided among the four cherubim. Part of our description is also borrowed from that of the seraphim in Is. vi. 2, 3. It does not appear very clearly how we are to conceive the position and relation of these clierubim to the divine throne. A feAV, as Ewald and Eichhorn, suppose them the same as in Ezek., bearers of the throne, so that with the hinder part of their body they supported the throne on its different sides and were concealed under it (ei/ jMeo-w Tov Opovov), while they looked away with their faces toward the four quarters of heaven (kvkXo) tov 9p6vov). But it is more likely, from the expression, tliat the throne formed a semi- circle, the fore part open, a half-moon, Avithin Avhich two of the cherubim stood (ev /xeo-w), and the other two at tlie back side. This idea of kvkXco is confirmed l)y the way in which, in verse 8, KVKXodev stands in antithesis to ecrwOev. So also De Wette in his Commentary. As to the cherubim's many eyes, see Ezek. x. 12, according to which tlieir whole body, their backs and their hands and their M'ings, with the wheels (of the carriage), were full of eyes round about. This serves to denote the continual watclif\d- ness of the cherubim, by which quality they appeared fit to guard Paradise (Gen. iii. 24). Verse 7. And the fird hast vas like a Hon, and tlie second beast like a /xoo-xos ; the latter does not here mean a calf, but a young, powerful bull, as it often stands in the LXX. for "ii27 ; e.g. Ezek. i. 10. The third head had tlie face of a wan (so Griesl)ach, to tt/joo-wttoi' di'Öpa>irov, more probably, with Lachmann, Tischendorf, t. Tp. w9 dvOpioTTov, according to A. o cursi^■e, Syr. Ar. Copt. Vulg. ; received SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 201 text, w$ av6pi)iTro<;). Tlie meaning, at all events, is, tliat it had not pi'0])erly the form of a man, but only a face like a human one. And the fourth heast was like a flying eagle. The epithet should not be particularly pressed, being merely a general desig- nation of the nature of the eagle compared with the before-men- tioned animals. Verse 8. And the four leasts had each of them six wings, full of eyes round about and loithin. In many respects the text is not quite certain here. Instead of the received elyov, Griesbach, Lach- mann and others have e^ov, as already the CompI, Bengel, &c. (according to B. 21 cursive ; e^wv, A. 6 cursive, also speaks for it, which Tischendorf has accepted, but which is probably but an accidental mistake in writing). "Exov, a partic. neuter, sing., must be considered as introduced by the eV Kad' Iv, if it is not meant by the writer as a finite verlj for et^ov or 'ia-yov. The same critics, as well as Tischendorf and also CompL, Bengel, &c., have yejjiovo-i instead of ykjxovra, after A.B. 36 cm^sive, Vulg. Andr. Areth. But this perhaps is not meant as indicative, but as a participle, although the dative would then be very incorrect. In any case it is pro- bable, as respects the meaning, that the abundance of eyes spoken of does not, as Ewald, ZüUig, De Wette, Hengstenberg and Ebrard think, refer to the cherubim themselves, where it w^ould be a mere repetition of what was already said in verse 6 ; but to their wings. The same thing is mentioned of the wings in E/ek. x. 12 ; tlie KVKXöOev Kai 'icroiOiv is then more suitable = round about, outwardly, from without ; and from within, on the side of the wings turned to the body. As to the number of the wings, the cherubim in Ezek. i. 6 have only four ; here the number six is probably borrowed from the seraphim in Is. vi. 2, of which the following description reminds us : And they rest not day and night, saying = without ceasing, they cry day and night. Holy, lioly, holy, is the Lord God Almighty (Is. 1. c. verse 3, U^'iip^ ttJil)! iyil|l niH3!J nin\ T ; T ; : Which was, and is, and is to come; comp. i. 4. Verses 9 — 11. k. orav Scocrovcrt . , Trecrouvrat . . Kal ßaXovai. That 202 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. futures are put here must be considered inexactness in the de- scription. The aorist or present should have been properly put to represent what happened and that repeatedly, either in this vision before the eyes and ears of the seer ; or what happened repeatedly in this circle of phenomena, both before and after this vision. In Hebrew, the future (imperfect) would be used. Yet the future should not be considered here merely as a hebra- izing inaccuracy in the use of tenses, as many interpreters think, such as Hengstenberg, Ebrard, even Lücke (2nd ed. p. 451) ; but only that the writer, as was already assumed in the general In- troduction, departed from the form of vision, so that he actually thought of what is here stated as something still future, and as something going on for a length of time ; and lohen = as often as; so also Winer (6th ed. § 40, 6, p. 251). And lohen those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, (verse 10) the four-and-twcnty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and vjorship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their croivns before the throne, conscious of their weakness and uuworthiness, conscious that God the Lord is alone Lord, Euler and Governor, saying, Verse 11. Thou art worthy, Lord. Instead of Kvpu, Lach- mann, Tischendorf, &c., have Kvptos Kal 6 Oeos 't]jj.wv, our Lord and God, according to A. B. (others, Kvpu 6 öeos ■»///wi'), which perhaps is original ; the other having arisen from the idea that Christ is referred to. To take, to receive, gloj'y and honour and p&ivcr, for thou, hast created all things, and by thy will (6ta with accus., here = genitive, similarly xii. 11 sqq. and also in otlier writers) they loere and are created ; comp. Ps. cxlviii. 5, ^W^-??? ^?^ M^n"'»3. ^^a-av and eKTia-O-qa-av are here in this connection nearly synonymous. The received text has ela-l ; the ijaav, approved by Mill and ac- cepted by Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, is found in A. B. C. 30 cursive, Copt. Vulg. Areth. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 203 Ch. V. Introduction of the book, which, closed with seven seals, con- tains the future of the world and the church, and a description of the Lamb as the person who is able to open these seals. Verse 1. Andl saiv in the right hand of him that sat on the throne (one should rather expect ev, instead of lirl with the accusative. But it is similar in XX. 1, 'i^ovTa . . aXva-tv /xeyaAr/v €7rt Tr)v x^^^^ avTov. Perhaps it should be explained thus : the book lay and the roll hung over his outstretched right hand), a hook written luithin and on the hack side. For oina-Ocv is found e^otdev in many cursive and other witnesses, but it is doubtless a later elucidatory emendation. What is meant is, that the book or roll was not written merely on the one side, the inner, but on the other side, the back. Such dTrto-öoypa^a were rare among the ancients. The same, that is here oincrOev, is in Juvenal, Sat. i. 6, a tergo scriptus. Ezek. ii. 9, 10, probably lies at the foundation of this idea, where the prophet sees a hand stretched out towards him, and in it a roll of a book ("ippTlba??), which, when spread out, appears as "linST D"'D3 n^^inp written within and on the back side. Sealed vnth seven seals, and thereby its contents kept closed and concealed. Comp. Deut, xxxii. 34, " Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures ? " ("^nni^j'WS). Dan. viii. 26, xii. 4, 9. For the rest, it is not quite clear how we are to imagine the form of this book and the external relation of the seven seals to it. At the opening of each of the seven seals individually, a portion of the contents of the book is always brought to view. As it appears, however, as if all the seven seals were already visible at the beginning, we must imagine that they were placed at the corner of the roll, at the knob of the rod, but in such a way as that different parts of the roll were held together by different seals. Otherwise it would be more natural to suppose that the seals in the middle of the rod held or closed up one part of the roll ; or also, because the book con- sisted of seven single roUs over one another, that the seals closed up a single roll. But then they could not all have been visible 204 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. from the beginning, each time ; only one ; whence it must be admitted that the seer did not perceive them immediately, but only learnt the thing from the following discourse of the angel, and anticipated it here. Verse 2. And I smo a strong angel ; lrücZai«a'n// with a loud voice, Who is loorthj to opot the hook, and to loose the seals tliereof. The a^tos includes the idea that he is able to do it, since it is bestowed by God only upon him that is worthy ; comp, John i. 27 with Matt. iii. 11. Verse 3. And no one in heaven (Griesbach adds avw, ahove, fol- lowing B. 23 cursive, Syr. Copt., perhaps from Exod. xx. 4), nar in earth, neither under the earth — none of all the creatures in the world, according to Exod. 1. c. ; comp, below, verse 3, where €7ri ttJs SaAacro->;s is added besides, tvas able to ojkji the hook, neither to look thereon, viz. inside it, after opening it to see its contents. For such is Avithout doubt the meaning ; not, as Heinrichs thinks, to look on the book, to endure the sight of it. Verse 4. And I unpt much (we also say so instead of violently; similarly, iroXXa adverbially, INIark iii. 12, v. 10. Here Compl., Bengel, Lachmann, Tischendorf, have iroXv, accord- ing to B., about 40 cursive, Andr. Areth.; comp. Luke vii. 47), "because no man was found worthy to 02)cn the hook, neither to look thereon, so that no prospect appeared at hand for him, the seer, to learn anything concerning the important contents of the book. Verse 5. And one of the elders, of the numl)er of the twenty- four elders, iv. 4, saithunto me, Weep not; beJiold the JAon of the tribe of Jiulah, the root of David = the ]\lessiah ; in the latter way he is designated, xxii. 16. The INIessianic passage. Is. xi. 10, lies at the foundation of this "^12?? XS-;^ LXX., 7} pi^a tov 'leo-o-at, where W'^p stands for sprout, and likewise for pi^a. Gen. xlix. 9 lies at the foundation of the former designation, where Jacob describes his son Judah as a young lion, in reference to his SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 205 tribe ; compares him to a lion and a lioness. This is transferred to the Messiah, who as David's sprout belonged to the tribe of Judah. Hath prevailed to open the hook, and to loose the seven seals thereof, that is, he has deserved, received as reward, won by his victory over the world (comp. iii. 21) the power and privilege of opening the book. Verse 6. And I hehcld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the twenty-four elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain. Ewald explains the h jika-ta . . kv jaeo-o) = 1'^5^ X'^ = between the throne, together with the four beasts and the twenty-four elders. In the same manner also Zlillig, De Wette and Hengstenberg take the meaning. But after the remarks on the Iv /^eo-w rov ßpovov {iv. 6), and the probable form of the throne, this assumption is not exactly necessary. Each eV /Aeo-w may be taken by itself; the Lamb stands inside the half-circle of the throne, and therefore also in the midst of the elders surrounding the throne, likewise sur- rounded by them. So Ebrard rightly. Jesus is described as a Lamb (6 a/xvo? tov Oeov) by John the Baptist, John i. 29 ; where the representation of the servant of God. in Is. liii. 7 lies at the foundation ; comp. 1 Pet. i. 19 ; Acts viii. 32. The ws eo-^ay/xevov means that it presented the appearance of a lamb slain, although it lived ; comp., in regard to Nero, xiii. 3. With seven heads and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all tJw earth, into all lands. Eor the latter, comp. Zech. iv. 10, where the seven lamjos of the golden candle- stick which the prophet beholds in vision are described as the eyes of Jehovah, which run through the whole earth (V'lWil'bD? D'^tp^ia???). The seven spirits of God which the Son of Man has, according to iii. 1, are here symbolized by his seven eyes ; just as they are in iv. 5 by the seven lamps before the divine throne. Seven is chosen as the number of the horns, to be in proportion to the number of the eyes; it also serves to denote the strength and dominion of the Lamb. Instead of 206 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Ttt aTrea-raXfxkva, Lachmann has (XTreo-TaA/xei'oi, after A., referring to the eyes. Others, d-oo-reAAo/xeva, with or without the article ; yet the received is probably the original reading. Verse 7. And lie came and took (it ; the received text adds, to ßißXiov, probably a gloss, as jMill thinks ; omitted by Lachmann, wanting in A. B. 30 cursive. Arm. Aeth.) out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne; verse 8, and when he had taken the hook, the four beasts and twenty and four elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. As Ixovre« cK-aa-Tos stands here, the meaning cannot be, as Eichhorn thinks, that part had harps, another part vials of incense. The relative a? does not refer in sense to ^laAas, as De Wette and others assume, but to öu/ita/zara. The gender is determined, by the object, TTpoa-evxa-'i: As to the present symbol, the daily sacri- ficial incense of the priests in the Temple is viewed as causing the prayers of the people standing without to ascend to God. Comp, also below, viii. 3, 4, as well as Ps. cxli. 2, where conversely it is said, " Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice ;" which passage, although of a somewhat different kind, may have floated before the mind. Verse 9. And they sung a new song (as li7"Tri "T'E?, Ps. xxxiii. 3, xl. 4, &c., a new one as it were, because among the old ones there was none sufficiently worthy for the purpose), saying. Thou art ivorthy to take the hook, and to o^yen the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, allowedst thyself to be slain, and hast redeemed (us J to God by thy blood {dyopa^eiv, as in xiv. 3, 4 ; 1 Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23 ; 2 Pet. iL 1) oitt of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. According to the received reading with 7;/ias (after TM dew), which De Wette, Hengstenberg and Ebrard maintain, the singers designate themselves, and appear themselves as per- fected believers out of different nations. So also in verse 10, according to the received reading of the text, «Voty/o-as rjfj-as and ßaa-cXewrofiev. But there, A\'ithout doubt, avTohs should be read SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 207 (with CompL, Bengel, Griesbacli, Lachmann, Tischendorf and others, after A. B. 40 cursive, Syr. Copt. Aeth. Vulg. Andr.) ; and also the verb in the third person, ßaa-iXeva-ova-t (Griesbach), or more probably ßaa-tXevovo-t (CompL, Lachmann, Tischendorf, probably Mill, after A. and many cursive, Ar. Pol. Copt. Vulg. Andr. Areth. al. lat.). This third person, verse 10, would not, however, be natural, if here, in verse 9, the -)}/Mas were genuine ; which is entirely wanting in A. Aeth. In other manu- scripts and witnesses it stands before r^ öew. Tischendorf and Lachmann, ed. maj., have omitted it. But in fact 17/x.as is in itself somewhat improbable, since not merely the twenty-four elders, but also the four (wa, are described as those who sing; and those therefore would be denoted as perfected believers who a short time ago lived as men upon earth, and, according to verse 10, as those who should again reign upon earth. Besides the perfected believers. Christian martyrs aj)pear below at the foot of the altar, vi. 9 sqq. Probably therefore the rifia? is spurious, as Ewald and Zlillig think, and came in by means of later transcribers, who wanted an accusative of the object. The mode of ^\T.iting without rjfxas, he has redeemed, viz. those who, out of every people, &c., is quite suited to the style of our book ; comp, ii. 10, iii. 9, xi. 9. Verse 10. And hast made them unto our God, Icings and priests ; see on i. 6. Instead of ßaa-iXec^, probably ßaa-iXdav should be read in this place (with Bengel, Gnomon, Ewald, Lachmann, Tischendorf; after A. Copt. Vulg. Cypr. and other Latin Fathers), a7id they reign = shall reign u2Jon earth ; comp. ii. 26 sqq., iii. 21. Verse 11. And I hehcld and heard (= heard in spirit) the voice of many angels round about the throne, round the semi- ch'cle of the throne, and the beasts and, the elders (before o'i ; it is called in Suidas rijxep6(TLoi] ; comp, also, for example, Herodot. vii, 231; Odyssey, 19, 27, 28, os kev e/i,v}s ye xo'i^^^o« a-n-Trirai = he who is at my expense, so that he receives his daily bread from me ; see Böckh, Athen. Staatshaushalt, i. 99. Those who had a stronger appetite could consume a loaf of several xo'^'"''ü}V crov twv e-)^6vT(ov ttjv fiaprvpiav toO lr]/s (f)vXTiyyo/3ao-|Uevot aTro ttJs yvys (verse 3), ijyopao-- 6r](rav dirb twv dvOpwTruiv, aTvap^r] tm dei^ kol tw apvuo (verse 4j. This mode of designation gives us reason to believe that they are not, as Credner Einl. i. p. 711, Anm. and Ziillig, also Baur in his treatise on the Gospel of John in Zeller's Theol. Jahrb. 1844, H. 4, pp. 662 sqq., assumed, Jewish Christians merely, but the entire number of believers, even those from among the heathen, espe- cially if we compare v. 9, rjyopaa-as Tw öew . . . . €K TTtto-r/s (jivXi}'» Kal yAwcro-rys Kal Xaov /cat e6vov<;. Accordingly we might be inclined to assume that the 144,000 represented here (verses 4 — 8), mean in like manner a round symbolical number, all the true followers of the Lord; and that the individual tribes do not mean tribes of the people of Israel, out of each of which 12,000 would enter into the kingdom of God, but divisions in the kingdom of God itself, appellations for its separate portions, transferred from the ancient covenant people to the people of God in the New Testament. It would not appear unsuitable also to the entire character of our book, that, like the Jewish people in general, the twelve tribes should be viewed as the proper kernel and stem of the Messianic people ; the converts out of other nations being merely received into these tribes. For this one might also compare Matt. xix. 28 ; Luke xxii. 30. "We might then ask, how we are to picture the innumerable company out of all nations (verse 9 sqq.) in itself, and in its relation to these 144,000. Most interpreters, with Ewald, 222 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. understand by it, deceased believers, Christian martyrs, those of whom it is said in the call to such as were perfected earlier (vi. 11), that they, too, must finish their course and be kuled, until the time of divine wrath come for the persecutors of Christianity in general. Yet there is really nothing in what is asserted of them to point them out expressly as slain martyi's. Eather are we induced, when it is said (verse 14) they are ot epxofxevoL Ik t>/s 6Xiil/ews T7/S iieydhjs, with Vitringa, to explain this 1 »y the analogy of iii. 10, where it is said in the PhUadelphian Epistles, Ki^'yw o-e Tr//Dr/crüj e'/c ttJs wpas rov ireipacrfiov tt}? /xeA-Aovo-Tys ep^ecrdat Itti Tvys oiKov/x€V'7y? oAiys, TreLpdcraL rovs KaroLKovvras «tti tt/s yTys, and to understand those who shall be preserved, unhurt by the great affliction which will precede the coming of tlie Lord ; just like those 144,000 marked with the seal of God. Accordingly, we are inclined to think that the innumerable company out of all nations standing before the throne of God, according to verse 9 sqq., is identical with those 144,000 (verses 4 — 8) divided among the twelve tribes of God's people. In this manner I took it, Abhandlung, pp. 258 sqq. So also De Wette, &c. Yet the assumption now appears to me very unlikely. For (a) it would not be likely that after the number of those sealed (verses 4 — 8) is expressly stated to be 144,000, the same (verse 9) should be designated immediately afterwards as a multitude that no man can number ; then (h) what pronounces against this conception of the 144,000 in general is, that they are expressly described as sealed out of all the tribes of the cliildren of Israel. This would always be unnatural if it meant that such was the whole number of the members of these tribes, and not that they were sealed as believers out of the entire number of the members of the tribes; in wliich case, believers from among the Jews only, not those from among the heathen, could be reckoned. But one may doubt whether the innumerable company mentioned (verse 9 sqq.) out of all nations, means merely heathen Christians ; or whether the 144,000 out of the tribes of Israel are comprehended in it. The latter is the more probable. Hence in verse 3 we SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 223 may understand the servants of God who are to be sealed of believing followers of the Lord in general, both those from among the Jews who form the stem, as well as those from among the heathen, who attach themselves to the former. We are to suppose them all marked with the seal of God, and stand- ing before the throne, although the number of the former only is stated. But then it cannot be denied that such representa- tion differs from that in xiv. 1 sqq., in that the same number here specified for those sealed out of the children of Israel, is there given as the entire number of such as have the name of God and the Lamb on their foreheads ; the entire company of those redeemed from the earth. Neander, Apostol. Zeitalter, ThL ii. (3rd ed. p. 543 Anm.), also perceived this difficulty; and I do not believe that it can be solved, except by allowing a certain inconsequence in the descriptions of the book, not of much importance however, since the number is not meant lite- rally, but is only a round symbolical one ; comp, my Beitr. z, Evang. Krit. (1846), pp. 185—188. Verse 9. After this I hehdd, and lo, a great multitude which no 7)ian could number, of all nations and kindreds and ])eople and tongues (comp. v. 9), stood 'before the throne (of God) and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, as a sign of purity pleasing to God, and palms in their hands, probably as a sign of the victory obtained over the world and evil. Verse 10. And cried ivith a laiid voice, saying, Salvation to our God lohich sitteth u^Jon the throne, and unto the Lamb; it belongs, as it were, to them, from them alone it proceeds. So most pro- bably should it be taken ; comp. xix. 1. Verse 11. Compare v. 11. Verse 12. And said, Blessing and glory and wisdmn and thanks- giving and honour and "power and might is due unto our God (seven nouns beside one another, as in v. 12 ; comp. ib. verse 14) to all eternity (Amen ! is wanting C. 2 cursive, Andr. Prim, and others ; omitted by Lachmann and Tischendorf). Verse 13. And one of the elders began (d-TreKpid-q, properly an- 224 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. swered = said with reference to the preceding speeches, or to the thoughts of the seer) and said to me. What are these which are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came tliey ? comp. Jos. ix. 8, Jon. i. 8. For the entire dramatic envelope comp. Zech. iv. 4, 5. Verse 14. And I said unto him, My Lord (jjlov after Kvpce, adopted by Griesbach after C. 34 cui'sive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Copt. Viilg. Andr. Areth. Cypr., and so Compl., Bengel, &c.), tho2i knowcst it ; and he said to me, These are they ivhich come out of great tribidation (see above), and they have ivashcd their robes and made them lohitc in the blood of the Lamb ; comp, at iii. 4 (Sardis) ot ovK IjxiXvvav xa Ifidrta aiJTwv. The meaning is, they stand justi- fied and pure before God through belief in Christ and his expia- tory death. Tlie meaning is hardly, as Ewald thinks, that they cleansed themselves by death suffered '/o?* the sake of Christ and after his example. Verse 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, there they have their place as his servants. And serve him day and night in his temple, as his priests ; he vouchsafes to accept them as his priests ; this is what is meant to be expressed. And he that sitteth on tlie throne will dwell over them, will erect his tent wherein he is enthroned, over them, so that they are screened by it. (Somewhat differently in xxi. 3, o-K7;vojcret /xer' Verse IG. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the snn light on them, 7ior any heat. Copied from Is. xlix. 10, "They shall not lumger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite (D3Ü) them ; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them." Verse 17. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall feed them and lead them to the living fountains of waters (the received text has ^wo-a? ; for it, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, as Compl., Bengel, &c. have ^wv}?, according to A. B. 34 cursive, Areth. Andr. Vulg. Areth., Latin Fathers. That is to be taken = (wa-as, or, at SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 225 any rate, to the water springs of life), and God shall wipe away all tears from their ci/es ; after Is. xxv. 8, " He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off aU faces." Ch. viii. Now follows the opening of the seventh seal ; the last, by which the book of the future, or rather its last part, was kept shut. Yet its contents are too comprehensive and powerful to appear im- mediately and at once. It is said, first, Verse 1, And lülien he had opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven, ws ruiLwpiov (Lachmann, Tischendorf, ws i^/^tcopov, according to A. C.) about the space of half an hour. This does not denote a very short time, as Heinrichs thinks, but rather a considerable pause which entered into the course of the visions introducing the future and following in rapid succession, during which every- thing in heaven silently waits for the appearing of the remaining contents of the book. By such description the expectation of the readers is stretched toward it still more. This is doubtless the object of the o-ty^ in heaven, which is not, as Eichhorn sup- poses, to be compared with vii. 3, nor (with Grotius) to be under- stood of a complete calm, nor even, as Hengstenberg thinks, of the stilling of the rebellion of the Lord's enemies. Then it is said farther, Verse 2, Aifid I saw the seven angels tohieh stand before God, the seven chief angels or archangels according to a post-exile idea, probably borrowed in this form, particularly as to the number seven, from Parsism. The definite number seven is found already in Tob, Xll. 15, eyw ei/Ai 'Panrt of the sea became blood. Verse 9. And the SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 229 third part of the living crcahires in the sea dial (to, e'xovTa xj^v^as), an apposition to twv Kxicr/iaTcuv k. A. And the third part of the ships ivere destroyed. Instead of 8i€4>6dp7], probably 8u([)6dp-,](rav should be read, with Compl., Bengel, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Ewald and De Wette, according to A. 8 cursive, Andr. This is an exaggerated imitation of Exod. vii. 20 sqq., where the water of the Nile was turned into blood by the rod of Aaron, so that all the fishes in it died. In specifying the hurning mountain, perhaps (so Vitringa) Jer. li. 25 also occurred to the seer, where Babylon is called a destroy- ing mountain, which Jehovah wiU precipitate from the rock, and make into a hurning mountain (nsn^ nn'^) = burn it in fire. (3) Verses 10, 11. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, hurning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of water. Verse 11. And the name of the star is called Wormivood, and the third part of the waters hecame wormwood, and many men died, of the waters, hecause they toere made hitter. Before a\pLv9os, Gries- bach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, as the Compl., Bengel, &c., have received the article 6, which the received text wants ; after A. 25 cursive, Areth. The omission was occasioned by this, viz., that d\pLvOos is elsewhere feminine (also to axplvOiov) ; the writer treated it as if it were masculine, as the name of the star (o da-T-fip). He describes the bitter and bitter-making quality of the star, to which the idea of poison attaches, since wormwood (in Hebrew napb) was considered a poisonous herb ; n3S^ is frequently named in connection with W)fir\, XDY\ ; comp. Jer. ix. 14, xxiii. 15, " Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood (nD2?b), and give them water of gall (K7b^") "'S?) to drink." So the bitterness of the water here includes its poisonous quality also. Probably (in addition to that Egyptian plague) Exod. xv. 23 lies at the foundation, where the water of Marah is bitter, and therefore not drinkable ; which again is much intensified. (4) Verse 12. And the fourth angel soumled ; then ivas smitten 230 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. (that is, with a divine plague, irXr^yi^, as in Hebrew TTSll) (lie third 2Mrt of the sun, and the third part of the moon, and tJie third part of the stars ; so as the third part of them (the pro- noun avTwv refers to sun, moon and stars in common) tvas darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. At the foimdation of this lies the narrative in Exod. X. 21 — 23, of the thick darkness which Jehovah brought for three days over the land of Egypt, while all the Israelites had light in their dwelKngs. Wliat is meant by the darkening of the third part of the celestial bodies is not quite clear. Most probably they lightened a third part less clearly than with their usual light. So also the not shining of the third part of the day and of the night is to be taken. It was a third part less clear than usual in the daytime and in the niglit. Conversely it is said (Is. xxx. 26), that when Jehovah shall heal the wounds inflicted upon his people, " the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Yet it is also possible that, as De Wette, Hengstenberg, Ebrard assume, a third of dura- tion is meant. Verse 13. Preparation for the three remaining trumpets by means of a heavenly voice, which pronounces on the earth a threefold woe coming upon it. And I beheld, and licard an eagle flying through tJie midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice. Ivos instead of nvos, as v. 5, and as in later Hebraism inip€ap, which is pro- perly a cistern. This under-ground is specially 7} aßva-o-os, parti- cularly in our book, as it is supposed to be the habitation of wicked, destructive, and demoniacal beings (to twv Sai/xoviiov 8iai- T7;/ia, Gregory of Nyssus, xi. 7, xvii. 8) ; and Satan, that he may not disturb the Messianic rest for a thousand years, is bound during that time, and thrown into the abyss (xx. 1 — 3) ; comp. Luke viii. 31. So there come forth out of the pit swarms of locusts, forming the subject of what follows, which we are to conceive of as diabolical creatures bringing destruction. In describing them, the locusts of Joel only form a substratum. As to the opening of the Y)it by a star falling down, one might suppose that this was brought about by the fall of the star upon the earth. But the de- scription here, compared with xx. 1, leads to the conclusion that an angel descending from heaven is meant by the star. And there arose a smoke out of thejJ'it, as the smoke of a great fur- nace, and the sun and the air loere darkened Inj reason of the smoJce of the 2nt. It is false, when Eichhorn, Züllig, &c., take this as if the locusts themselves coming forth out of the pit appeared in the distance like a thick smoke. The smoke goes before them, as if breaking forth out of the pit, like the opening of a cavity long closed, signifying the destruction which is still farther to come. For the simile, see Gen. xix. 28, according to whicli smoke ascends (out of the earth) like the smoke of an oven at the de- struction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Verse 3. Ami there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth ; and unto them was given ptoiüer, as the scoipions of the earth have poioer = such power as locusts do not otherwise possess, at all events only scorpions ; for whilst natural h)custs are destructive to the field and grass, these attack even men and torment them exceedingly. The a-Kopirioi r^p) yvjs do not mean, as many think, SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 233 land-scorpions in contrast with sea-scorpions, but scorpions of the eartli = as tliey are accustomed to be on the earth; and in the East they are much more dangerous than in Europe, in Italy ; see Winer, E. L., under Scorpion. Verse 4. And it was commanded them that they should not hiirt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree ; hut only {el /xi)) those men ivhich have not the seal of God on their foreheads ; who are not specified as servants of God, but appear as belonging to the world, in opposition to the kingdom of God. Verse 5. And to them it loas given (power and a charge ; comp, vi. 4, ib. 8, with k^ova-ia), that they should not kill them, hut that they shoidd he tormented five months = that they should continue to torment them so long without killing them. The five months serve as a round number (like the ten days, ii. 10) to denote a considerable period of time for such a plague, and are probably chosen in reference to the duration of summer, during which locusts, particularly scorpions, are destructive and dangerous. Ziillig is of opinion that a sort of flood-plague is meant by the five montlis, since the waters of the flood, according to Gen. vii. 24, remained upon the earth for 150 days = five months, and those waters also came forth partly out of the great deep, in the same manner as the locusts here, at the opening of the windows of heaven (ns^S) to which n?i"pS locust alludes. Yet that is too far-fetched to render it probable that the writer thought of it. And their tormefit (pain), that caused by them, was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man, with its sting, which is very painful, and in the East even dangerous. Verse 6. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it ; and shall desire to die and death shall fiee from them. So much will they be tormented with pain ; comp. Job iii. 20 sqq., " Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul ? which long for death, but it cometh not ; and dig for it more than for hid treasures ; which rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the gi-ave?" Moreover, in this 234 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. verse, tlie form of description, viz. intuition in vision, is aban- doned, tliough prevailing in the book generally, in the immedi- ately preceding verses and again in those immediately following, and the form oi prediction is chosen, in accordance with which the verbs are made future. In the same manner, xiii 8, xx. 7 sqq. Here we find also quite poetical language, with the paral- lelism of Hebrew poetry, so that what Heinrichs supposes is possible, viz. that it was taken from some poetical fragment now lost. Verse 7. And the shapes of the locusts were like = the locusts resembled in form, unto horses prepared for hattle ; comp. Joel ii. 4, ^nN"^^ □''P^D nj^^'pa?. According to Niebuhr's description of Arabia, it is a common proverb among the Arabs that locusts are similar in head to the horse, in breast to the lion, in feet to the camel, in body to the snake, in tail to the scorpion, in feelers to the hair of a maiden. And on their heads (were) as it were croions like gold. This belongs to the exaggerated delineation of these supernatural locusts. The feelers of common locusts, about three-quarters of an inch long, may have suggested these crowns. And their faces luere as the faces of men. From this one might WTongly conclude that actual men were meant. Verse 8. And they had hair as the hair of tvomcn, as long, and hanging down, giving to their face a wilder, more frightful ap- pearance. And their teeth were as the teeth of lions, crushing everything. Joel i. C, ib S^n^ ni3? Vri»:) n."^.-iS ^pW l^iW. Pliny, H. N. ii. 29, morsu omnia erodunt, et fores quoque tectorum. Verse 9. And the// had breast-plates, as it were, hreast-plates of iron ; so that they are difficult to wound or to kill ; comp. Joel ii. 8, "Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path." The comparison has in view the green breasts of natural locusts heightened in the middle, and attaches itself to that. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots with SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 235 many horses running to battle ; comp. Joel. ii. 5, " Like the noise of chariots, on the tops of mountains shall they leap, as a strong people set in battle array." The noise which locusts make con- sists in a burring they produce whilst flying, by means of their wings and leaps. As to the grammatical connection here, {'ttttcov is not, as many understand it, an apposition to ap/xarwv, but de- pendent upon it as a genitive ; and probably not merely ttoAAwv, but also TpexovTwv, refer to tWwv. Without proper gi^ounds, Ewald considers IWwv, and De Wette apixarw, as glosses (the former, however, not now). Verse 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, different from natural locusts. Scorpions have a very flexible tail at the hinder part of the body, which ends in a curved point with Avhich they wound men and beasts ; see Winer, E. W., under Scorpion. What follows runs according to the received reading, which Griesbach has also retained in the text : and there were stings in their tails ; and their 2M'wer was, they had power, to hurt men five months. But in that case nothing more definite than verse 3 would be contained in it. There are many variations in the Greek manu- scripts and other authorities, so that it is difficult to discover with accuracy the original reading. So much is certain, that the Kol after ovpah avrwv is not genuine, and that kol Kevrpa belongs to the preceding ; so that it is intimated that the power is in their tails to hurt men, according to the Divine will, for five months. Perhaps also Kai should be read instead of ^v, with Lachmann, Tischendorf; therefore, they have tails like scorpions and stings ; and in their tail lies their power to hurt men for five months; comp. Pliny, H. K ii. 25, of Scorpions: semper cauda in ictu est, nulloque momento meditari cessat, ne quando desit occasion!. Verse 11. And they had a king over them, luhich is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon — Destroyer. Per- haps an intimation lies at the foundation of this, that locusts make their destructive advances together ; in great swarms, as if 236 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. they were conducted by a leader. Abaddon is properly abstr. = destruction, devastation, perishing ; it also stands for the place of destruction, the abyss = biStt?. Among the later Jews, it designates the innermost part of the under-world, or hell. Here it is taken as a concrete, the appellation of a demon, to whom the pit is given over, denoting his destructive cha- racter; and is accordingly interpreted by dTroXArcüv, Destroyer (Napoleon). Verse 12. One looc is past ; and heliold, there come ttvo woes more hereafter ; namely, at the trumpets of the two last angels. It is most probable that this is not, as Ewald thinks, the seer's own remark, but a voice from heaven heard by him, similar to that of the eagle which in viii. 13 announces the three woes. The description of the second woe, wliich appears at the trumpet of the sixth angel, extends from ix. 13 — xi. 14; as the remark at the conclusion of this section (xi. 14), that the second woe is past, and that ib. 15, that the seventh angel has sounded liis trumpet, clearly show. The description of tlie second woe is divided into several sections, of which the first. Verses 13—21, introduces the chief plague of this second woe, consisting of an innumerable and fearful army of horsemen, which breaks forth after four plague-angels hitherto bound in the Euphrates have been let loose by Divine command ; which army kills a third part of men, they having been before tormented exceedingly by the plagues. It has already been shown in the general Intro- duction that it is quite inadmissible to think here of the Iloman army of Vespasian, as Grotius, Wetstein, Herder, Heinrichs, &c., do ; or to refer it generally to a plague against the Jeivish nation and land. At all events, it is not a poetic delineation of a plague wliich the seer had before his eyes, but the announce- ment of a future one shortly preceding the last judgment and the coming of the Lord, and increasing the previous misfortunes to their highest point. Those visited by it are not described as SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 237 Jews, nor represented as tlie people of God, but as heathens and worshippers of idols. For that very reason, apart from all others, the explanations of earlier interpreters appear inap- plicable, and not suited to the meaning of the book, when they refer it in part to the wars of the Turks and Saracens against Christendom, or, as Coccejus does, to the wars of the Emperor Ferdinand against Protestantism, and such like. The whole description is of such a kind that it cannot well be meant of any ordinary human army. It is more suitable to understand it, with Andreas, of wicked demons coming before the last days. For it is evidently an army of demons, let loose and led by demons, which is to be sent forth against the men of the world, particularly the heathen world, before the last judgment, to destroy a considerable portion of them, without the rest being brought to repentance, so that God's own people are taken by him, and hidden from the last judgment. For what remains, compare the general Introduction, pp. 108 sqq. Verse 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four Iwrns of the golden altar rvhich is hcfoi^e God. The horns of the altar are the projecting points at its four corners (n^TSn ni3"if?), perhaps from their horn-like form; and this feature is transferred here to the sacrificial altar in heaven. The ixiav is meant to indicate that it was one and the same voice, although it appeared to come forth out of the four horns, by means of which the sound is considered to be strengthened. That the voice proceeds from the altar, where sacrifices are offered to God as symbols of the prayers of the saints, denotes that it was a holy, heavenly voice, and includes besides the idea that these prayers are about to find their fulfilment in the punishment of the adversaries of God and his kingdom. In ch. xvi. 7, a voice is attributed to the altar itself, designating the divine judgment as near and just. Verse 14. Saying to the sixth angel ivhich had the trumpet, Loose the four angels, which are hound in the great river Euphrates. In Gen. xv. 8 and other places, the Euphrates is described as the 238 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE: great river, biiarr "in3n. The four angels here are demons, different from the four angels named in vii. 1, who hold the four winds at the four corners of the earth. The Euphrates is named as the district whence these demoniac troops break forth to punish the world, perhaps for these reasons: (a) because the idea of wasteness attaches to this region ; such as one would suppose the abode of demons and evil spirits, whither they were banished that they might no longer hurt ; comp, xviii. 2 ; Matt. xii. 43 ; Tob. viii 3, where the demon Asmodi, banished by Tobias, flees into the wilderness of Upper Egypt, where Tobias binds him ; so it is said of old Babylon, situated on the Euphrates, in its threatened destruction (Is. xiii. 21), that D''"7''rU7 will dance there, which the LXX. render 8ai/xovta ; and in imitation of this passage, it is said in our book (xviii. 2) of the new Babylon, Eome, in reference to its destruction, that it had become KaroiKi^Tr^piov Satjuovtwv Kot (fivXaKrj iravTos TTvevfiaro? aKaOdprov. Besides, (h) this district on the Euphrates, among such regions of the earth as were in some degree known, con- tinued to be most independent of the Romans ; so that it lay at the nearest point whence one might suppose an army breaking forth to punish the dwellers of the earth and its rulers ; comp, also below, xvi. 1 2. Yet we must not say, with Ewald, that the seer was here thinking precisely of the Parthians and their horsemen as the persons summoned to chastise the Romans, for, as already said, the army itseK is not represented as a human one. Verse 15. And the four angds were loosed, which luere jJ7'cpared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year = for every time they should be commanded, to slay the third part of men. Verse 16. And the number of the army of the horsemen (was) two hundred thousand thousand (200 millions) ; / heard the number of them ; he hears the number pronounced, since he himself could not with any certainty count them because of the great number ; comp. vii. 4. The koI of the received text before rJKova-a is to be expungcd, with Compl, Bcngel, Griesbach, Lach- SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 239 mann, Tischendorf, &c., after A. 28 cursive, Syr. Copt. Arm. Vulg. MS. Prim. al. lat. Andr. Then the construction may be somewhat different by striking out the colon after fxvpinZuiv, and taking 6 äptö/xos as a nominative absolute preceding: And the nuinber of the army of the horsemerij 200 millions I heard as their number. Verse 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision. Such is opaa-is, as often in the LXX. and New Testament. One might refer the oÜ'tcüs to what precedes : so now =^ in such troops. But more probably it refers to what follows, to the minuter description which the seer immediately gives of the horses. A certain negligence always occurs in the representation ; thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them having hr east-plates, &c., instead of, thus the horses and their riders were presented to me in the vision; the riders had fiery jacinth and brimstone breast-plates ; all three adjectives refer, without doubt, to the colour of the coat of mail, which had a three-fold bright colour. vaKiv9ivos probably denotes blackish-red, corre- sponding to the colour of smoke, verse 18; comp, upon the word, the Lexicons of Schneider and Passow. Aiid the heads of the horses were as tJie heads of lions ; and out of their moutlis issued fire and smoke and brimstone. Verse 18. By these thore plagues ivas the third part of men killed by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. The description here is a sort of three-fold plague, although it must be thought of as properly one. Verse 19. For thepoioer of the horses rests in their mouth, with it they exercise their deadly action, and in their tails; for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them, the heads, they do hurt, injure, besides their mouth. There is no particular occasion for assuming, with many interpreters (also Ewald), that the writer thought of the amphisbaena in this comparison, which, according to the ancients (for example, Plin., H. IST. viii. 35), had also a head in the tail, and in both heads poison ; the o/zoiat oc^eo-tv 240 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. is not = o/xota6 ovpah o(/)ecuv; but tlie meaning is, that tlieir tails were similar to snakes, especially in having a head. Besides, the words koI kv rais ovpah ai'Twv are wanting in the received text; but CompL, Bengel, &c., and Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischen- dorf, &c., have rightly admitted them again, after A. B. C. 37 cursive, Vulg. Syr. Ar. Copt. Aeth. Andr. Areth. Prim. The addition is necessary to the meaning. Verse 20. And the rest of the men lohich -were not killed hi/ these plagues, yet repented not (Ijy discontinuing) (/xeravoeti/ in Apoc. fre- quently, is wanting entirely in John's Gospel and Epistles [Ewald] ) of the worJcs of their hands, does not mean the idols which they had made with their hands (as Vl^ TIWV.'Q, Is. xvii. 8), but their doings and conduct in general. That they should not (still farther) worship demons (in the same manner are the deities worshipped by the heathens styled in 1 Cor. X. 20 sqq., Deut, xxxii. 17 ; comp. Ps. xcvi. 5). And idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, luhich neither can see, nor hear nor walk (after Dan. v. 23, "And thou hast praised, Belshazzar, the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know ") ; comp. Ps. cxv. 5 — 8. For the rest, it is clear that the writer here thought of idolaters, of heathens, not of Jews, as was already remarked in the general Introduction, which, together with the reasons already mentioned, serve as proofs that the army of horsemen presented in the preceding verses cannot mean the army of Vespasian in the Eomish-Jewish war. Verse 21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornications, nor of tlieir thefts ; (fyapfxaKeiai, are prjestigiae, magic arts, sorceries, particularly such as were practised to injure others, and with the pretended aid of devils. In Deut. xviii. 10 sqq., divination and sorcery of every kind are forbidden to the Jews as something abominable to Jehovah, for which he drives the heathen nations before Israel out of their land. That Paul considered the like arts as incompatible with the SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 241 gospel is shown by Acts xix. 19, Gal. v. 20. In the Apocalypse, see xxi. 8, xxii. 15. As it is here united with Tropveta, so in Mai. iii. 5, Q'^D^fip and D'^Et???!? are named together. Ch. X. The contents of this chapter contain no progress in the pro- phecy, in the development of the future, but, as it were, some interludes, which, like the sealing of the servants of God at the opening of the seventh seal, precede and prepare the way for the sounding of the seventh trumpet and introduction of the third woe ; or rather, to speak more exactly, appear between the two visions relating to the future, in which the second woe is included. First, there is in Verses 1 — 7, a phenomenon, the carrying out of which is not clear, but in which an angel at last declares with an oath that there shall be delay no longer, but that immediately at the sounding of the seventh angel the mystery of God revealed by the prophets will be fully completed. Verse 1. And I saw another mighty angel (see v. 2 upon la-xvpu^ as an epithet of the angel) come down from heaven, clothed luith a cloud, concealed in it as in a garment ; and the rainhoio (was) upon his head, a crown of beams, as it were, covering it (compare also iv. 3). And his face was, as it were, the sun, as bright ; comp. i. 16, Kal rj oi/'t5 avTOv cos rjXcos (^aivei ev ry Svi'a/xet avrou. And his feet as pillars of fire; comp. i. 15 (as shining brass). Verse 2. And he had (properly, having, according to the genuine reading) in his hand a little hook oi^en. This book is certainly the same as that spoken of immediately below, there given to the seer to swallow, which is sweet in his mouth, but after he has swallowed it, it makes his stomach bitter ; whereupon it is made known to him that he will again prophesy about many nations and kings. But here it may be asked, in what relation does this book stand to the one described at the beginning, the book of the B 242 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. future closed with seven seals ? As its seven seals were already opened hj tlie Lamb in the preceding verses, it might here be represented as an open book. Only one would expect that it would be distinctly intimated that the very book already de- scribed is now introduced as an open one. Its designation here by the diminutive ßißkaptSiov, appears to hint that another than the ßißXiov is meant. It is true that we have here also ßißXiov in B. 25 cursive ; but the received is doubtless the correct reading, as is made still more certain by verses 9, 10. Many interpreters, therefore, think of another book different from the former. So also Ewald, who believes (now, how^ever, somewhat differently) that the little book presented here contains nothing but the destiny which threatened the holy city of Jerusalem until the appearing of the Lord, and which is introduced in ch. xi. But according to verse 11, we cannot doubt that the contents of the book, wdiich the seer received by swallowing, relate to the same subject of wdiich he should afterwards prophesy again ; conse- quently, not to the one Jewish nation merely. ]\Iost probably we must regard the matter in this light, viz. that the little book is not the same with the one originally closed wdtli seven seals, but another of lesser dimensions, also referring to the future of the world and the church, containing that which had not yet come forth in past phenomena ; the remainder of that book as it w^ere, as Bengel expresses it. It is intimated in the dvewyfievov, that the contents also lay open and revealed. And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. This signifies only the colossal and gigantic stature of the angel ; and at the same time his position, w' here he might be seen by all the world. Verse 3. And cried with a loud voice, as ivhen a lion roareth {jxvKaa-dai is properly used of the roaring of the bull = mugire, as ßpvxa-o-Oat of the lion ; yet both are applied to other animals). And lohen he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. Thunder is here personified and divided, as it were, among seven spirits or angels of thunder, who uttered their voices together. Perhaps SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 243 (as Züllig thinks) the number seven of the thunders, refers to Ps. xxix. 3 — 9, where n^iT: bip stands seven tmies m succession (as a designation of thunder). Verse 4. And token the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, the contents, the signification of their utter- ances, and (however) / heard a voiee from heaven, saying unto me. Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. Comp. Dan. viii. 26, xii. ^, where Daniel is commanded to seal up the visions in part communicated, which means to write them down, but to retain them sealed up till the time of fulfilment which was stiU remote, and not to give them up to the multitude before the time. Conversely, in our book (xxii. 10), the seer is commanded not to seal up the words of the prophecy of our book, since the time of fulfilment (ö Kaipus) is nigh. In this passage, where he is commanded to seal up and not to write, the former can only be taken in a manner corresponding to the latter, that he should not make known, but keep to himself, the contents of these utterances of the seven thunders, here treated as articulate voices so far as they had a definite meaning, which the seer knew and could have written down. It may be assumed, accordingly, that the contents of these voices are not expressly written down in the following verses ; and we can, at most, only conjecture what they are. Most probably they contained still more special divine threats about the last judgments to be inflicted upon the world. The contents of the utterance of the anoel, not written down, are likewise of the same kind, and are intimated and confirmed in their fearfulness by the utterances of the seven thunders. In any case, what the angel here expresses (verse 3) does not mean exactly the same as that which he swears in verses 5 sqq. Verse 5. And the angel which I saw stand uiwn the sea and wpon the earth, lifted up his right (rrjv Se^iav is wanting in the received text, but is in Compl, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tis- chendorf, and others, on sufficient testimony) hand to heamn (the gesture of one who swears, as Gen. xiv. 22, Numb. xiv. 30, e^c). b2 244 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Verse 6. And sivare by him that liveth for ever and ever ; Dan. xii. 7 lies at the foundation of this representation, " And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever," ^y^^fl T T •• : Wlio created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should he delay no longer (so here xP^vos, from which xpovL^€a-9ai ■= to delay, to tarry). Verse 7. But in the days (at the time) of the voice of the seventh angel, lohen he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should he finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets; will find its fulfilment; Kal Ir^Xka-di], quite a Hebrew construction, instead of TeXta-Orjo-eTai. The fiva- rripiov of God is the Divine counsel as to the redemption and salvation of the servants of God, concealed from men and dis- cerned only by immediate revelation, which will be fulfilled, will be realized in a perfect way at the future coming of the Lord, when the judgment of the world will take place at the same time. The prophets here do not mean Christ and the apostles, as Grotius and Eichhorn think, but the prophets of the Old Testa- ment, to whom God already revealed this his counsel in a manner more or less clear ; comp. Amos üi. 7, where it is said that God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets (Q^N^npn vinp-b^ iiio rh\ n«"''?). Verses 8 — 11. Verse 8. And the voice ivhich I heard from heaven (verse 4) spake unto tne again, and said. Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel, which standeth upon the sea and tipon the earth. Verse 9. And I luent unto the angel, and said unto him. Give me the little book. And lie said unto 7ne, Take and swallow it, devour it, eat it up ; and it shall make thy belly bitter, cause a bitter feeling in it ; as Job xxvii. 2, 6 TravTOKpdrwp 6 TriKpavas fiov tj)v SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 245 ypvj^'qv (npr^). 1 Mace. iii. 7, koI eiriKpave ßacrcXels ttoXXovs Kal €ü0(Oave Tov 'laKwß, Verse 10. And I took the little hook out of the angeVs hand and ate it wp ; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten it my helly was hitter. As to the meaning of this symbolical action in general, consuming or swallowing the words of any one, of a doctrine communicated, and such like, signifies, to receive them eagerly and appropriate them to one's self. So Jeremiah says (xv. 16), that when the words of Jehovah came to him, he swallowed them (Dbp'si), for they were to him as the joy and desire of his heart. This is represented in Ezek. ii. 8 — iii, 3, as a symbolical action in vision ; the prophet there sees a hand stretched out to him, and in it a roll of a book written on both sides with lamentations and mourning and woe ; he is com- manded to eat this roll {r\)^-'ir\ nb^an~nb^ bb^?), to feed his belly with it C?T5^?), and to fill his bowels (^^5») with it, and then to go and speak to the children of Israel ; this the prophet does, whereupon it was in his mouth sweet as honey (27573 "»p? Tirnl pinnb). This can only imply that the prophet willingly ac- cepted the word of God as sweet food, although it announced sorrow, in order to make it known to the people according to Jehovah's command. This passage evidently lies at the founda- tion of ours. That little book appeared indeed as an open one, but in the hand of the angel, without the seer himself knowing its contents. It is now represented symbolically that he was well acquainted with its contents, had appropriated and accepted them, and was therefore able to impart them to others. But it is not clear what is meant when it is said, the book swallowed was sweet to the tongue but it made his belly bitter, or, after he had swallowed it there was a bitter, unpleasant feeling. It has been referred to the mingled feeling of joy and pain which the partly joyful, partly mournful, contents of the book called forth, the latter on account of the threats of Divine judgment contained in it, particularly respecting Jerusalem. Yet, as we remarked already, it appears improbable, from verse 11, that the Divine judgment 246 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. wliich threatened this city or the Jewish people generally should be the contents of the little book. One would rather expect the idea that the contents of the book, on his first tasting it' were bitter on account of the Divine threats announced; but yet after he had swallowed it, the book seemed delicious and agreeable to the taste on account of its purpose, the prediction of the appearing of the Lord and the fulfihnent of God's kingdom. Yet one might, at all events, explain the manner in wliich the case is here put, by the fact that the writer made use of and retained as much as possible the description of Ezekiel ; wishing to denote the bitter and melancholy feeling accompanying, by what is added. The description, however, apprehended in this way, does not appear quite clear or natural. Prom the manner in which the announcement is attached to it (verse 11), that the seer was again to prophesy about many nations and kings, which refers to the announcing of the things contained in this book, one is rather inclined to take the symbolism here in a somewhat different light, namely, as intimating that, however sweet the taste of the book had been to him because of its con- tents, he could not keep them to himself, but must cast them up again in order to communicate them to others. The effect of the book in his interior compelled him to that. Verse 11. And lie said unto me, the angel. Thou must again, anew, still farther, besides what thou hast abeady beheld and what thou hast been already commanded to make known, pro- phes7j in reference to many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. iroXXoh belongs to the three first nouns; «tti, with the dative, cannot mean here, among the nations, prophesy to them, but = de lis, in reference to them, jyj'ojyJiesg ujjon them or of tliem; as, for example, John xii. IG, invnjcr9y. measured. Ewald, Lücke also, ]>. 3"i4, take the latter to mean SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 249 the extreme o^^ter court of the temple at Jernsalem, the court of the Gentiles, access to which was free to the Gentiles, so that much less sanctity was attributed to it than to the rest of the building ; but the former understands by the dvcnaari'iptov, and Zülliff also, the altar of burnt sacrifices which stood in the fore- court of the priests. Yet it is in itself probable that, if in addition to the temple, a particular part of it is prominently adduced as measured out and placed under the protection of God. the altar of burnt sacrifices, where bloody offerings were presented, would not be adduced ; but the altar of incense, where sacrifices of incense were offered, symbolizing the prayers of the saints ; otherwise it w^ould imply that bloody sacrifices should be retained in the Messianic kingdom : it is only on this supposition that the fact would have been made promi- nent that the altar where they were offered should be taken by God under his special protection. Besides, in our book, TO Ova-iaa-TTipiov is several times put for altar of incense, not merely with the epithet to xP'"^^'"'^ (^iü- ^j i^- l^)» ^^^ ^-^so without any addition (viii. 3 the first time, and ib. verse 5), and in the same sense in other passages (xiv. 8, xvi. 7, and also vi. 9, as is remarked there). Then, also, it is not likely that the avX-q, which was not to be measured with the rest, should mean merely the forecourt of the Gentiles ; but should rather, in con- trast wdth the temple proper, have the more restricted sense which included the holy and holy of holies, the whole fore- court including that of the Israelites, where the altar of burnt- offering stood. The expression here may be very well taken so ; only we must not translate " the outer court of the temple," l)ut the court lüithoid the. tcmiiU ; the genitive tou vaov not being dependent on ij aijAi), as Vitringa, Ewald, Züllig think, but on c'^wöev itself, which is also the most obvious sense. The meaning then is, that at the impending treading of the holy city, the temple proper, with the altar of incense ; but not the forecourt nor the altar for sacrifices of blood, should be taken under Gud's immediate protection, implying that now, under the 250 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. new covenant, the sacrifices well pleasing to God are not those of blood, but the prayers of saints, the ascending of which to God is symbolized by incense in the holy place. One may com- pare this with Enoch Ixxxix. 38 sqq., where tlie seer sees the old house (temple) sunk, but all the pillars, every plant (and carved work), brought out of it, and the ivory of the house put in one place at the right of the earth, after which the Lord of the sheep brings forth a new house, putting it in place of the first. As to the Trpoo-KwovvT^s, I took it to mean (Abhand- lung, pp. 266 sqq.) Christians as the only true priests, inas- much as access to the sanctuary proper, as well as to the altar of incense, belonged only to the priests. Yet this inter- pretation appears to me now too artificial, and I retracted it in my Beiträge z. Evang. Krit. p. 188. In the first place, the subject of the chapter in general is merely Jerusalem and its in- habitants. Then the expression, ot ■Kpoa-Kwovvre'; ev aurw, whether we refer the pronoun to dvo-taa-Tripiov, or, which is more likely, to the temple, does not point definitely to those who were already followers of Christ, but to pious worsliippers of God in general. And although we cannot doubt that, according to the purport of our book, we should think especially of believers in Jerusalem, the followers of the Lord, yet the expression does not appear to refer to them exclusively, but to include with them such Jews as served their God with honest heart, though not yet belonging to the Christian Church ; so that a hope is expressed that they also would be led to a knowledge of the Lord and belief in him ; just as a hope is afterwards intimated that the greatest part of the inhabitants of the city would be converted (verse 13). At all events, this measuring of the pious worshippers in the sanctuary means that they are placed under the especial protection of their God, who will preserve them unhurt during the afUiction which threatens the holy city. An explanation like Hengstenberg's is quite false and against the meaning of the book, which understands the temple (measured, and conse- quently to be preserved) of those \\\w are deeply imbued and SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 251 penetrated with the spirit of the (Christian) Church ; and the outer court, of those who have been but superficially converted, and would lose even that which they have when the Church' is flooded by the world ; see against him, Lücke, 2nd ed., pp. 225 — 237. The €o66ii rots Wvea-t does not mean that the forecourt without the temple was at tliat time given up to the heathen and profaned by them, but that it was appointed to them, and, like the rest of the city, would be trodden under foot by them. As to the manner in which the prophecy against Jerusalem is here constructed, viz. that it will be trodden under foot forty-two months by the Gen- tiles, that is, will be given over to them during that time, and maltreated by them profanely, proj)hecies of the book of Daniel lie at the basis, where the time of oppression of the Jewish people, and suppression of the worship of the true God, is stated at seven half-years (= forty-two months) or half a year-week (vii. 25, ix. 27, xii. 7 ; comp, viii. 13 sqq.) ; which typically re- ferred to a calamity of the city preceding the appearance of the Messianic kingdom, or directly applied to it as a prophecy. Compare also Lücke, XXl. 24, koI lepov traA?)//. iu-ranrarovixkvi] vTvo eövcüv .«XP'^ °'-' 7rA7;pwöü3crt Kaipol kOvwv ; a treading under foot, KaTairarda-Oai, is also described as what happened to Jerusalem and the sanctuary, under Antiochus Epiphanes, on the part of the heathen ; Mace. iii. 45, 51, iv. 60 ; Dan. viii. 13. Verses 3—13. A prophecy of two Christian martyrs, who, during the period of Jerusalem's being trodden under foot by the Gentiles, appear in the city and are murdered by Antichrist, but after their death are wonderfully glorified by God, and therefore effect the con- version of the gTeatest portion of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who continue after divine punishment. See what was remarked on tliis section in the general Introduction. It was there said that an historical fact, which the writer had already before his eyes — not the Jewish high-priests, Ananus and Jesus, whom AVetstein thinks of, and also Herder, Eichhorn, &c. — is not 252 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. spoken of; but that there is a prophetic allusion to two ^vit- nesses for the Christian faith, who should appear at the time preceding the coming of the Lord, and should direct the nation (particularly the Jewish), by their exhortations, to repentance at his coming. An idea prevalent in the Jewish Church at that time lies at the foundation, according to which it w'as expected that some of the old prophets would precede the Mes- siah as forerunners, to prepare the way for him. Naturally this idea developed itself in the Christian Church in such a way as that they were to appear before the return of the Lord, and to succumb outwardly to the power of Antichrist. As to the persons of these witnesses for the faith, it may be assumed as certain, as all the ancients allow, that the prophet Elijah is one of them, since the opinion was widely prevalent that he, having been carried up to heaven without dying, w^ould return at the time of the Messiah, or as his forerunner (according to ]\Ial, iv, 5). The ancients generally suppose the second to be Enoch, especially because it was assumed of him (according to Gen. V. 24) that he was received up to heaven whilst still alive. So Tertull. de aninio, ch. 1.; Jerome, Ep. ad Marcellam; Ammonius, in his interpretation of Daniel ; Arethas, who calls this interpre- tation (Elijah and Enoch) a tradition unanimously accepted by the Church, as Andreas says that ttoXXoI twv SiSacrKaAwv toj;toi;s Ivö-qaav ; comp., farther, the apocryphal Apocalypse of John,^ Nicodemi Evangelium, ch. xxv., and a Scholion to the Cod. MS. Gr. N. T. Uffenbachianum. Yet it is more probable that Moses is meant for the second (so also Ziillig), since the idea appears to have been more prevalent at the time of Christ, that Moses would return and precede the INIessiah, besides Elijah ; comp. Matt. xvii. 3 sqq., and Schöttgen, Hor. I. p. 148, II. p. 544. The features also of the following description of the two witnesses appear to allude to the history of Elijah, as well as to that of Moses, in many ways. It is certainly not accordant with the purport of the Apocalypse not to understand the two witnesses lis individuals, as many interpreters do, liut, with Ebrard, as tlie SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 253 law and tlie gospel ; or with Hengstenberg, as ideal persons, personifications of testimony-bearing. As to the description in this section, the prophecy of the two martyrs is first given to John by the same heavenly voice, namely, Christ's, which had already spoken to him ; the discourse continues, and the descrip- tion runs into futures as far as verse 10. Then it changes ; the re-animation of the two martyrs and what is annexed to it being related in aorists, as if it actually took place before the eyes of the seer, therefore as a vision. Verse 3. And I ivill give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy, a Hebraising form, instead of, I will give them the office, the commission, to prophesy, 1260 days, clothed in sack- cloth, namely, as preachers of repentance, as a sign of mourning for the destruction of the people and the injury threatening them. The -n-poc^-qremLv denotes entire prophetic activity in speech, which is meant here at the same time to point to the future. The Lord describes them as his fxapTvpe?, inasmuch as they bear witness of him, particularly of his coming ; comp. i. 5, iii. 1 4 ; John i. 15. The article toT? Svo-l ixaprva-i [xov shows that two definite persons are meant, and that the expectation of them might be supposed as a thing already known. The 1260 days correspond to the forty-two months, during which Jerusalem was to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles; this time is meant for that of their prophetic preaching of repentance. Verse 4. TJiese are the two olive-trees, and the tioo candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth. Here the article, being repeated, shows that two definite olive-trees and candlesticks are meant. This refers to the vision of Zechariah, ch. iv., where the prophet sees a golden candlestick (A^xvia) with seven lamps [Xvxvoi), and with it two olive-trees ; the seven lamps are ex- plained to be the eyes of Jehovah which run through the whole world (verse 10); the two olive-trees as "the two sons of oil ("in?;» \35, that is, anointed, consecrated to God), which stand there before the Lord of all the earth" (V"^Wn-b3 lil^'b^ D^7^2?n), 254 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. wliicli is to be considered a most honourable designation, " ser- vants of Jehovah." The prophet probably thought of Zerubbabel and the high-priest Joshua. Here the allusion is to those two witnesses who should apj)ear before the second advent of the Lord as preachers of repentance in Jerusalem. At the same time they are described as the two candlesticks, alluding doubt- less to that vision of Zechariah ; although but one candlestick with seven lamps is spoken of there. Perhaps this candlestick was also looked upon as representing the two anointed ones, and therefore two candlesticks might be spoken of here. According to A. B. C. and many cursive, Andr. Areth. and others, witli CompL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., the article at should be accepted before 8vo Xvxvian ; and instead of 6eov, with the same editions (according to A. C. 33 cursive, S}t. Ar. Copt. (Aeth.) Vulg. Hippol. Andr. and Areth. Prim. Victorin and others), Kvpiov should be read, as it is found also in Zecha- riah ; in any case, according to the purport of our book, God the Pather is meant by the Lord of the earth, not Christ, who is here the speaker. Pinally, instead of the received la-rcüo-ai, eo-rwres should probably be read, with Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tis- chendorf, approved of by Mill (after A. B. C. 25 cursive, Vulg. Areth.) ; and this inaccuracy may be explained by the fact, that the writer had in his mind the men themselves, to whom the words refer in Zechariah ; although here the article ai refers to the Xv)(vtaL. Verse 5. And if any man loill hiiH them, dare to do them harm, ßrc proccedeth out of their mouth, and dcvoureth their enemies; and if any man will hurt tJiem, he must in this manner he killed, in the manner indicated, by fire proceeding out of their mouth. Dif- ferently explained by Bengel and De Wette, in consequence ofthat, as if according to the jus talionis. The second hemistich repeats, merely for emphatic confirmation, the thought expressed in the first ; Sei indicates that it is conformable to the Divine will. Moreover, there is an obvious allusion to the history of Elijah, SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 255 who destroyed twice with fire the army sent out against him by the king of Israel, Ahaziah ; the fire falling down from heaven at his command (2 Kings i. 10 — 12 ; Luke ix. 54). Since such was the effect of his prayer, it is said in Sir. xlviii. 1 sqq., that Elijah is a prophet like fire, whose word burns as a torch, and who brought down fire (from heaven, Karriyayev). The effect of this is enhanced by the consuming fire proceeding out of the mouth of the two witnesses themselves ; a sign of the great power and efficacy of their words; similar to the sharp two- edged sword proceeding from the mouth of the Son of Man (i. 16) ; comp., besides, Numb. xvi. 35, according to which those who rebelled against Moses were consumed by fire proceeding from Jehovah. Verse 6. Tliese have poiver to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their p^oiphecy ; this also alludes to the history of Elijah, 1 Kings xvii. 18, who proclaimed that there would be a drought in Israel, which also took place, so that rain, according to ib. xviii. 1, did not return till three years. At a later period it was customary to give the duration of this drought in the round and mystical number of seven half-years = three and a half years; so Luke iv. 25; James v. 17; and also Jalkut Scliimeoni ad Eeg. xvi. fol. 32 ; corresponding to the 1260 days of the duration of the prophetic activity of these two witnesses of the Lord, during which they have also power to shut up heaven, that is, to stop all rain. And have 'poioer over waters to turn them to hlood, and to smite the earth with all 'plagues, as often as they will, like Moses in Egypt, to whom- this doubtless alludes. Verse 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, at the end of the period of 1260 days, during which they are destined to work as witnesses of the Lord, The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall mahe war against them, attack them, and shall overcome them and kill them. This means Antichrist, whose essence and agency are portrayed at large in the second part of the book ; who is there (xiii. 1) 256 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. introduced as a beast, ascending up out of the sea, of whom it is also said (xvii. 8), he will ascend out of the pit (/xeAAet ävaßaivuv €K TTJs dßva-crov). The description of those (verses 9, 10) who rejoice at the death of the two witnesses, although they are killed in Jerusalem, shows that this beast here is not a representative and personification of Judaism in its hostility to Christianity ; but is rather a representative of paganism or idolatry. Verse 8. And their dead bodies (instead of the received to. TTTWfjiaTa, we should read here and the first time (verse 9), to TTTwixa, after overwhelming external evidence, with Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf; but the singular stands col- lectively, like nb53, and in the same sense as the plural ; the latter being genuine the second time, verse 9), shall lie in the streets of the great city, ivhich spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord ivas crucified. By the latter addi- tion, Jerusalem is most clearly meant. Instead of the received reading, 6 Kuptos i)ixu}v, we should have, wdth CompL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., 6 k. aiTwv, after A. B.C. 32 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Copt. Aeth. Arm. Vulg. Grig. Andr. Areth. and others ; and the pronoun then refers to the two witnesses themselves, of whom Christ might be designated as lord, just as well as they styled his witnesses (verse 3). After what has been remarked, these might be considered the words of Christ himself, notwithstanding the description of his person. Yet it is quite possible that the writer did not mean this entire communication of the heavenly voice to the seer, in the words spoken by the Messiah. Trvcv/AaTtKws KaAetrai implies that the city, though properly having another name, resembled the town of Sodom in its internal and vicious condition, and is therefore punished by God with destruction ; to which city the covenant people are frequently compared, when described with respect to their disobedience to God (for example, in Is. i. 10, " Hear the word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom ; observe the doctrine of our God, ye people of Gomorrah"). The same is the case with the land of Egypt, in reference to the hostility SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 257 and persecutions it inflicted upon the people of God at the time of Moses, even as Jerusalem now acts toward the followers of the Lord. Verse 9. And they of the people, and kindreds, and to7igues and nations = people of every nation of the earth, shall see (sc. ot or Ttves, as ii. 10, &c.) theii- dead bodies three days and an half (again a round mystical number, denoting a space of several days), and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be pid in graves. Out of hos- tility to them and the thing they proclaimed, they will by no means permit them to be buried after their murder ; but they will be left lying upon the street like a carcase, in token of dis- grace. This was regarded by the Hebrews as a particular dis- honour. Verse 10. And they that dwell upon the earth (as iii. 10, vi. 10) shall rejoice over them, on account of their murder, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, as is still customary in the East on festive occasions ; a sign of rejoicing ; see Harmer's Beobachtungen über den Orient. Part ii. p. 1. Compare the ni:n nbli\ Neh. viii. 10, 12 ; Esth. ix. 19, 22 ; that is, to send to those wdio are absent from a festival dishes (portions) of the meal. Because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth; for this reason it is natural that the latter should rejoice exceedingly at their destruction. The ßaa-avi^eiv refers both to the unwelcome matter which the preaching of repentance natu- rally contained for worldly men, as well as to the plagues which the two witnesses, agreeably to the power bestowed upon them, were able to inflict on their adversaries and the world in general, according to verses 5, 6. Verse 11. Here, as already remarked, there is a change in the description, since what happens farther to these martyi^s is no longer prophetically announced by the heavenly voice, but is beheld by the seer in vision, as if happening before his eyes. And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them. The breath of life was, as it were, again s 258 LECTURES OX THE APOCALYPSE. breathed into them by God ; they lived again, in proof of which it is said, And they stood upon their feet, rose again by their own act. In this picture, Ezek. xxxvii. 10 floated before the mind of the writer, where it is said that when the prophet prophesied, life came again into the bones of the dead, they again lived and stood upon their feet (nri^^?"D"^V =np37^1 ^^n?5 UT^n cnn Nnn^). In our passage, instead of the received kir aurous, we should pro- bably read, with Bengel (Gnomon), Griesbach, Lachmanu, Tis- chendorf, eV aiVois (= et's aurovs), after A. cursive, Andreas. Another reading has merely avrols, C. 4 cursive, and so ed. of Erasmus, ed. Berg; on the contrary, cts avrovs, B. 21 cursive, Vulg. Areth. Audr. 2 ; probably all a gloss from iv avTois ; comp. 2 Kings xiii. 21, where it says of a dead man who was thrown into the sepulchre of Elisha, that as soon as he touched the bones of the prophet he revived, and stood upon his feet. On TTvevim (wrjs compare D^'fn npp3, Gen. ii. 7. Aiid g}r at fear fell upon them ivhich saiu them. Verse 12. And they heard a great voice from lieaven, saying unto them, Come itp hither ; and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud. Here is repeated what is related of Elijah, 2 Kings ii. 11, that he was carried up to heaven in a whirlwind (nnrp? bv*5 D'jttK^n), before the eyes of his follower Elisha ; either the men who saw the martyrs and their re-animation, or more probably the martyrs themselves, are the subject of riKova-av. But the genuine reading here is probably ^'iKova-a, I heard, which the Compl., Bengel, Tischendorf, and some other editions have ; and Griesbach, Ewald, Ziillig, De Wette, &c., approve. It is found in B. 24 cursive, Syr. ed. Ar. Coj)t. Andr. Areth., and might easily have been changed, according to what precedes, into the received reading by transcribers who supposed that the address of the heavenly voice to the seer still continues. And their enemies beheld them. Verse 13. And the same hour (instead of wpa, CompL and others have -qfiepa, to which also Griesbach strongly inclines ; after B. 32 cursive, Ar. Bol. Andr. 2, Areth.) was there a great SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 259 earthquake, and the tenth ijart' of the city (Jerusalem) /c//, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand ; on ovojxara, see iii. 4. The earthquake appears here in glorification of the two martyi'S, and accompanying their victory over their enemies ; whereupon is destroyed a part, and undoubtedly far the smaller part, of the city and its Jewish inhabitants, for they are certainly meant. But upon those who remain (namely, the remaining Jewish inhabitants of the city, and perhaps of the Jewish land in general), the thing has a different effect than the slaying of a third part of men by the diabolical troop had upon the rest of the men of the earth, according to ix. 20 sqq. ; for whilst it said of these, that they were not converted from idolatry and other vices by divine punishment, we read here of those, and the rem- nant were affrighted, were afraid (Acts xxiv. 24, 25, of Felix, eficJ3oßos yevd/ievos), and gave glory to the God of heaven, the honour due to him, acknowledging him in his power, justice and mercy, and so were induced to become obedient to his will ; compare, upon the formula, xiv. 7, xvi. 9 ; John ix. 24 ; Luke xvii. 18. It cannot, therefore, be denied that a hope is intimated here that, though God should inflict punishment on Jerusalem, only a part of the city and its inhabitants should perish ; that such as remain should amend, and the city, together with the temple, be preserved until the appearing of the Lord. See on this the general Introduction. Herewith the second woe, which appears at the sixth trumpet, is concluded, as is expressly stated in Verse 14. The second woe is past, and, hchold, the third woe conieth quickly ; comp. ix. 12, rj oval i) /xta aTrrjXdev' IBov ipx^Tai en Si'o oval fxera ravra. That the mystery of God should be fulfilled at the trumpet of the seventh angel, and that there should be delay no longer, was also (x. 6 sqq.) confirmed by the oath of an angel. The subject is now also the trumpet of the seventh angel, s2 260 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. and the voices which are heard thereupon in heaven, together with the other phenomena, Verses 15 — 19, lead us to expect that a description of the commencement of the kingdom of the ]\Iessiah in its victory over the world, and the last judgment upon the world, will follow immediately ; and that with it the whole unveilincr of the future will be concluded. It is said, namely, Verse 15. And the seventh angel sounded, and th^re were heard loud voices in heaven, saying (instead of Aeyovcrai, Aeyovres should be read, which ]Mill approves, and Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, have received, according to A. B. 14 cursive ; in the following context, instead of the received lykvovro al ßaa-iXelai., the singular has much more external evidence for it, iyev^ro i) ßaa-i- Aeta, which the CompL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischen- dorf, &c., have received, and which in fact appears more suitable ; Ewald takes the plural, as the more difficult reading, for the genuine one). The kingdom of the world is hecome that of our Lord and of his Anointed (probably an allusion to Ps. ii. 2). Züllig here takes eyevero by itself = has appeared ; and unites rou Kvpiov, &c., closely with i} ßaa-iXeia toG koctjxov, the world-sove- reignty of God and the Messiah has appeared; but this is grammatically harsh and unnatural ; xii. 10 is also in favour of the other acceptation, apn lyknTO i) a-iorypia k. t) SvrajXL^ K. i) ßacriXeia tov Oeov rj[Jiwv k. rj k^ovtria. tov ^picrrov avrov, where it is doubtless taken in this manner; and he shall reign for ever and ever. We may doubt here who is meant as subject to the singular ßaa-iXevo-iL, God the Father or the Messiah. In itself, we might very well suppose the latter; the writer having thought of the noun just preceding, which would also suit the sense. Yet a comparison of verse 17 makes it pro- bable that it refers grammatically to the main idea, tov Kvpiov yjjiwv, with which the other acceptation is connected in mean- SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 261 ing, wliere he (our God) shall reign with his Anointed for ever and ever. Verse 16. And the foior-and-ttventy elders wJiich sat before God on their thrones, or sit (Lachmann has both times expunged the ot, after A. and several cursive ; then it would be, the twenty- four elders sitting before God on their thrones; but the re- ceived text is more suitable), /cZ/ U2:)0n their faces and ivorshipped God, Verse 17. Saying, We give thee thayiks, Lord God Almighty, rvhich art, and toast (the received text adds, koL 6 epxo^evos, wanting in A. B. 32 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Aeth. Vulg. Ital. MS. Andr. 2, Areth. Latin Fathers, omitted by Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, and approved by Mill) ; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, hast seized, which thou appearedst to have resigned and to have delivered up to the prince of the world. And hast taken the sovereignity = and now reignest ; for so is the aorist to be explained. Verse 18. And the nations loere angry, were enraged against God and his people, and were refractory against liim ; this is probably an allusion to Ps. xcix. 1, WlpV ^'tTT: 'n^'? nin":, although the proper sense is there, Jehovah is King, the nations tremble; but comp, also LXX., opyt^to-öwo-av Aaot; comp, also Ps. ii. 1. And his wrath is come, his anger is come with his punitive justice ; in which relation the o/Dyi) of God is often mentioned. And tJie time of the dead, that they should be judged, can only mean the time of the general resurrection of the dead and the last judgment. Ziillig refers it only to the first resurrection, and understands the dead as the Christian martyrs who were killed, which is evidently false according to the last hemistich ; besides, if they only were meant, we should not expect KpiOrjvai. And that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the pro- phets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great (Lachmann has here the accusative with the last nouns, 262 LECTURES ON TUE APOCALYPSE. alter A. C, TOVS UytOl'S K. TOUS (f)0ß0V[X€V0V/Tat, " that she fled before the serpent," &c. Yet it is more probable, as I'ciigcl, De "Wette SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 273 (Commentary), Hengstenberg, think, that they should be connected with what immediately precedes, oVou Tpecfierat k. X. = where she is nourished (in safety) from the serpent ; the case is here precisely as \39P, Judges ix. 21, "And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there," Tjl?^*':?^ ''?.?a = remote, secure, "from fear of Abimelech his brother." Trora/xoc^opYyTos is not a word which occurs elsewhere, but is rightly compounded, after the analogy of dvefxo4>6p7]Toov, which the received text has at the begin- ning after Kal, is wanting in A. B. C. 28 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Copt. Aeth. Vulg. MS. Andr. 1, Areth. Latin Fathers ; omitted by Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c. It is without doubt a later insertion (see Delitzsch handschriftliche Funde, 1st ed., according to which, efSov emanated from Erasmus's pen), not put by the writer himself, but to be supplied from the preceding context. And one of his heads, as it vjere, wounded to death, and his deadly wound, his fatal wound (that is, 17 7rAr/yr) tov davdrov avrov where the genitive of the pronoun refers to the whole preceding idea, according to the Hebrew idiom, not merely to tov öavarov) ivas healed. Therefore the beast himself appeared fatally struck by the wound of one of his heads, but recovered again, contrary T 2 276 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. to all appearance. "UTiat this means follows clearly from the context, and has been already explained in the general Introduc- tion, 1. c. And all the world ivondered after the least ; a pregnant mode of expression, instead of, full of wonder at this event, the recovery of the beast, the whole earth followed him. Eecovery contributed to procure him a large following on earth. Verse 4. And they vjorshippcd the dragon which gave po^uer unto the least ; and they worshipped tJie least, saying, Who is like unto the least, and who is alle to make war iviih him ? who ventures to contend with hijji ? The verb Trpoa-Kw^Lv has here (according to the received text) the accusative with it twice, for which the Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., put the dative ; the first time, according to A. B. C. 33 cursive, Andr. Areth. ; the second time, according to B. C. 29 cursive, Areth. ; both are admissible. Among the older Greets, the verb is found only with the accusative ; but among the later, with the dative also ; so the LXX. and New Testament in both ways ; perhaps the second time, the accusative Vo 6-i^ptov should also be retained here ; as in verse 8 the accusative has the best testimony for it. Verse 5. And tJiere was given 7into him a mouth speaking great things and llasphcmies. fieydXa are presumptuous things, in which he elevated himself above every one, after Dan. vii. 8, 20, in-in? bba^ ns ; comp. Ps. xii. 4, nb'T: nn^iip ]it27b. The eSodrj implies that he was permitted by God himself to use his mouth in such manner, for the time of his working in general. And it was given him to continue forty-two months, to work. Here the reading is not certain. The received text has ttoX^ixov ■TToirjcrai. Of this, TroXefiov is Certainly not genuine. It is a gloss from verse 7, and is wanting in A. C. 4 cursive, codd., &c., Syr. Vulg. Andr. Prim.; omitted in editions of Erasmus, Stephens, 3, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c. Some testi- monies also omit TrotT/crat, which ]\Iill and Bengel, in the Gnomon, approve. Yet it is probably genuine. One may explain it either by strictly including in it the time, to pass, to spend, forty- SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 277 two months, as ttohlv frequently means ; so -ttolüv xpoi'ov tivu, Acts xviii. 23, James iv. 13, &c.; or by taking 7roie6v by itself, like nä72? frequently, especially in the book of Daniel, to effect, to suc- ceed ; for example, Dan. viii. 24, nbv) Ti^b-^n), xi. 28, 30, 32. The forty-two months or three-and-a-half years are again taken from the book of Daniel, on which see at xi. 2. Verse 6. A7id he opened his mouth in hlasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name andj his tcibernacle where God dwells, meaning here, without doubt, not the temple in Jerusalem, but heaven. And them that dwell in heaven, have their abode there with God, such as Christ, the angels, and perfected behevers ; comp, for the verse Dan. vii. 25, "And he shall speak great words against the Most High." Verse 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. These words, koI e868r] . . vtK-^o-at, are wanting in A- C. 3 cursive, Andr. Iren., and are omitted by Lachmann ; but they have probably been left out merely by an error in copying, the eye of the transcriber having wandered from the former /cat e866r] avT(^ directly to the second; and 2:)0wer loas given him over all kindreds, and people, and tongues, and nations. Verse 8. And all that dwell upon the earth shcdl worship him, whose name is not loritten in the hook of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the ivorld ; comp. xvli. 8, koX oavfjAcrovrat. ol Ka- TOLKovvres eTrl ttJs y^s, wv ov yky painaL to ovofia eirl to ßißXcov ttJs {•wi'Js aTTo KaraßoXrjs Koa-jxov. The comparison of this passage leaves no doubt that the words utto Karaß' Koa-fjiov are not to be connected with ea-fpayiMevov, as Herder, Eichhorn, and earlier Protestant in- terpreters tliink; but, as Arethas supposes, with yey pairTai, which, even without that, is the only natural connection. It refers to the fact, that the believers who become partakers of salvation were chosen before by God. The book of life, on which see iii. 5, is here caUed the Lamb's, as if it were kept by him or belonged to him, his saints being registered in it. See v. 12, on the epithet TÜ i(rayiJ.evov fur the Lamb. 278 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Verse 9. If any man have, an car, let him hear; similarly to the conclusion of the epistles, ii. 3, o ex'"»' oSs aKova-aTUi ti to irveviia A€y« Tttis lKK/\7/<7tats. Here he is to attend to the following pro- verbial saying, which asserts that all who practise violence against their fellow-men will be recompensed in the same manner. Verse 10. He that leadeth into captivity ; in aly^fxaXuio-iav a-way^i is contained the abstract instead of the concrete, as in the Hebrew ^'2.'0 and n^ba (for example, n^b; nb:?n, Amos i. 6). Yet the reading here is not certain. Lachmann, ed. min., has cts al-^iia- Awo-tav (Tvvdyu; ed. maj. and Tischendorf, et rts eis at'xfiaAüxriav (without the verb), which would then be supplied ; perhaps that is the correct reading. In the codd. great diversity prevails, but without affecting the meaning. Shall go into captivity ; he that Jcilleth with the sword must (he again) he killed with the sword ; comp. Gen. ix. 6, " Wlioso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." This refers, without doubt, to the beast and his followers, as a consolation for the saints who are persecuted by them, but who find liere opportunity and exliortation to prove their perseverance and faith. The following words intimate this : hei^e is = here is shown, the patience and the faith of the saints, that they are not alienated from their faith by this conduct of the beast, are not led astray by him ; com]?, xiv. 12, wSe 7} utto/aov^ riiiv ayuav ecrTti/, oi TTj/aowres ras evToAas' rov 6eov Kal tyjv ttlcttiv Irjo-ov ; Xin. 18, (öSe 1) cro(f>La ecrriv ', XVÜ. 9, töSe 6 vovs 6 c^wv (0jv )i' jxeyäXi]v, shouhl l)e read, with Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., tov jueyav ; comp. Lücke, 2nd ed. pp. 463 sqq. ; but this also without doubt refers to T^v \-qvhv ; At/vus is common gender, and is here treated as masculine and feminine, in immediate succession, in one sen- tence. Verse 20. And the tvine-press was trodden without the city ; the pressing of the wine usually took place in the vineyards them- selves, without the city. As this is included in the symbolic re- presentation, we have probably to think of Jerusalem as the TToAi?, signifying that Divine punishment would be inflicted on the world outside the holy city. And blood came out of the wine-press, flowed out ; figuratively, real mead in reference to its red colour is described as the blood of the grapes; Gen. xlix. 11, Deut. xxxii. 14, Sir. xxxix. 26, 1 Mace. vi. 34. Here the expression was the more applicable, because it is the proper one for the thing itself represented, meaning the blood which was to be shed by Divine punishment among the men of the world, in the battle about to commence against them. Even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs ; this describes, in a very hyperl)olical manner, the great quantity of blood which would be shed at the defeat of the enemies of Christ, by the space which it occupies both in depth and surface, airo is found, in sjiecifying distance, in John xi. 18, xxi. 8, as well as in Josephus and other writers. It does not clearly appear how tlic IGOO furlongs, whicli are about = forty German miles, are to be understood, whether merely extension in one direction, in length, or perhaps as the sum of extension in both directions together, in length and breadtli, probably tlie former. If the number is not to be considered merely as a round one, chosen with poetic licence to denote a very great space, as Victorinus, Primas., Vitringa and others, SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 297 think, it is most likely that it is meant for an average state- ment of the size of Palestine, as Grotius, Bengel, Eichhorn, Ewald, Züllig and others assume = over the entire surface of the Jewish land ; inasmuch as the decisive battle will be there carried on against the world. What confirms this is, that Anto- ninus counts 1664 furlongs in his Itinerarium from Tyre as far as the Egyptian frontier-town, Ehinocolura. Yet the first sup- position (a mere round number, without reference to the extent of a definite country) is perhaps the more correct. Others, as Hammond and Mede, take it for the supposed size of Italy, which however is much larger. Ch. XV. xvi. The vision of seven angels, who bring the seven last plagues on the earth; symbolized by the pouring out of vials full of Divine anger, upon the earth. The intimation in Sirac. xxxix. 32 sqq. (28 sqq.) lies perhaps at the foundation of this repre- sentation, where it is said, there are sphits who exist for revenge (ets eKSiKTjo-iv (.KTio-rat), and at the time of fulfilment pour out their strength (ev Katpw a-wTiXdas l(rxvv €Kx^eov(TLv) and appease the anger of their Creator. Ch. XV. 1. These seven plague-angels are first adduced. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues ; for in them is filled up the wrath of God ; i. e. they were the last in which the Divine anger was manifested against the inhabitants of the earth, namely, before the coming of Messiah ; the oVt refers to ras eVxaras, since the reason is here stated why these plagues are called the last. That they are denoted as " having the seven last plagues," is also found in verse 6, although the vials are not given to them till verse 7, containing these plagues full of the Divine wrath. But the contents of this verse, as Züllig riglitly takes it, are only to be viewed as a sort of heading for the following vision of the seven plague-angels themselves, since the seer cannot have seen the 2'J8 LECTURES ON TUE APOCALYPSE. angels yet, but somewhat later, since the temple is not opened till verse 5, whence they come forth, according to verse 6. What is between, verses 2 — 4, contains an intermediate vision, pre- ceding the actual appearing of the seven plague-angels. Here, in Verses 2 — 4, is described the blessed condition of the saints, who, as con- querors, resist the beast, and praise God in sublime songs of praise, without having anything to fear from the impending plagues. Verse 2. And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire; comp. IV. 6, K. kviainov rov dpovov ws Odkacrcra vaXlvq 6/io la KpyarakXai. Here we have probably to think of the space in front of the throne of God, although it does not very distinctly appear. That it is said to be mingled ivith fire, is not, as Eichhorn, Ewald, ZüUig, De Wette, Hengstenberg and others, suppose, a token of coming punishment or Divine anger, but merely serves to describe the brightness with wduch the crystal-like surface shines. And them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over the niunber of his name, stand on the sea of glass ; these are they who had firmly resisted all temptation to worship the beast and his image, or to adopt the number of his name, and had come forth conquerors in their temptations and struggles ; for such is the explanation of the otherwise unusual combination vtKoiv €K Tivos, as a somewhat pregnant construction. These the seer beholds standing on that sea, consequently before the throne of God. Yet it is not perhaps correct to think, as many inter- preters do, of Christian martyrs, or at least of those who died in the faith. Much rather should we understand the complete body of believers who firmly resisted the beast ; who are represented as taken away from the last plagues about to be inflicted on the world, so as not to he struck with those plagues, and standing before the throne of God. Having the harps of God = such as were used for praising God ; comp, (nin^.) Q^nb^. -)''W S'^ia bs ; for thy judgments are made manifest, because it is shown in them how thou judgest and punishest the transgressors and refractory. Verses 5 — 8. The seven plague-angels now come forth from the temple, and receive their vials full of the wrath of God. Verse 5. And after that I looked, and the tcmjolcofthc tabernacle of the testimony in heaven teas opened. a-Ktp'rf tov [j-apTvptov is the usual translation in the LXX. for the sanctuary of Jehovah prepared by Moses, 1271» bri's, they taking Tyia - rv\lV for the testimony or law of God, though it properly signifies, tent of assembly or meeting. This tabernacle was the seat of the ark of the covenant, and, according to Exod. xxv., made after the pattern which Jehovah showed Moses on Sinai, which was subsequently under- stood of the permanent model in heaven. So the heavenly temple is here descril)ed as the temple of the tabernacle of testimony as it was supposed to be the primitive pattern for the sanctuary made by Moses, with the original ark of the covenant ; comp. XI. 19, K.i'jvoiyy] 6 vaus tov 6eov Iv Tw ovpavo) Kal wcfyOi^ rj Kt/3wTo? T)ys SiaövyKrys tou Kvpiov ev tm va(o avrov. Verse 6. And the seven angels came out of the tetnjjle, having the seven plagues (see verse 1), clothed in ^)«rc and white linen, and luiving their hreasts girded loith golden girdles. The former serves to denote tlieir purity and holiness ; the latter, their activity in tlie approaching execution of the Divine commission ; both toge- ther intimate the priestly character of these angels who come out of the temple of God (Exod. xxviii. 39 sqq., Levit. vi. 3). Verse 7. And one of the four beasts, the cherubim, gave unto the seven angels, seven golden vials, fall of the wrath of God who liveth for ever and ever. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 301 Verse 8. And the temple loas filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power ; and no man luas able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. The ^6^a of God is the Old Testament n'ln^' li^S, according to the later Jewish theology the n3'^2tt7, the splendour which God spreads by his presence, which beams out from himself. But since no mortal is able to bear the sight, it appears usually in theophanies enveloped in a cloud or in smoke, which is therefore the sign of the Divine presence. So one might view the fact of the temple being jfilled with smoke here, merely as a sign of the majestic pre- sence of God in it, as Vitringa, De Wette, Ebrard, &c., suppose ; comp. Exod. xl. 34 sqq., according to which, Moses could not enter the tabernacle of the covenant because the majesty of Jehovah filled it, and a cloud rested upon it; 1 Kings viii. 10 sqq., 2 Chron. v. 14, vii. 1, Is. vi. 4. Yet it is very probable, from the connection, that the smoke is at the same time an indication of the Divine anger with which the plague-vials have just been filled. That the smoke refers to that, is specially confirmed by the fact that no one was able (on account of the smoke) to enter into the temple till the seven plagues were fulfilled, i. e. till the Divine anger was appeased by punishment inflicted on the world. Ch. xvi. 1. And I heard a great voiee out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the seven vials of the vjvath of God upon the earth, i. e. accomplish on it the plagues with which you are charged. Verses 2—9, describe the plagues which proceed from the first four vials, corresponding to those which appear at the four first trumpets, viii. 7 — 12. Here also in succession, (1) the earth, (2) the sea, (3) the rivers and springs of waters, and (4) the sun, are struck, not merely, as there, the third part, but altogether ; so that the men of the world, the worshippers of the beast, are tormented in 302 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. the most violent manner, even in a greater degree than there, without being led to repentance thereby. (1) Verse 2. And the first lücnt and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men rohich had the mark of the heast, and ujjon them lohich worshipped, his imaf/e. cXkos kukov kuI irovi-jpov = TT V^^, Dent, xxviii. 35, Job ii. 7, LXX., «Akos irovqpuv. The plague is similar to the Egyptian, Exod. ix. 8 — 11. (2) Verse 3. And the second (angel) poured out his vial vjwn the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man, can only mean, as of one deadly wounded (Grotius), therefore as human blood. And every living soul (comp. n^n(rT) tt;j:.3"bp, Gen. i. 20, 31) died in the sea. Instead of the received ^wo-a, we should pro- bably read, with Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, ^w)}?, ac- cording to A. C. ; many cursives entirely omit it. Lach mann and Tischendorf read also to, before ev t>; OaXaa-a-rj (according to A. C. Syr.), where tliis is an apposition to iraa-a xj/vx^] t'^j^s. (3) Verses 4 — 7. A nd the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood. Verse 5. And I heard the angel of the waters say. This is not, as Grotius thinks, the same angel who pours out the vial, but the angel appointed over the water, the guardian angel of the water, whose element is chiefly struck by this plague, and who is able to recognize in it the Divine justice. The later Jewish theology assumes similar angels as presiding not merely over diflerent nations, but also over the single ele- ments and other natural objects on the earth, separate from one another; over fire, hail, the sun, &c. ; see Eisenm. ii. pp. 876 sqq. So a special "ib Avas assimied to preside over the water ; snn, Eaging, Vehemence, is given as liis name; see Schöttgen, ad h. 1. Thou art righteous, Lm-d, which art and wast, because thou hast judged thus, hast sent forth such judgment. Verse 6. Fur tlicy hare slird the blood of saints and p)rophcts, SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 303 and tJiou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy, have fully deserved it. Verse 7. A7id I heard the altar say. Instead of the received text, aXXov €K Tov dvcTLaa-TTjptov, which Zlillig holds, should be read, with Eengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, merely Ova-iaa-- Ti)piov, which Mill approves ; according to A. B. C. 34 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Copt. Vulg. Yesp. Bede. The altar itself, namely, the altar of incense in heaven, where the souls of believers who were slain have their abode, is described as speaking, inasmuch as a voice is heard out of it, whether it be of the martyrs themselves or of the angel of the incense-altar (comp, on xiv. 18) ; comp. ix. 13. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judg- onents; comp. xv. 3. (4) Verses 8, 9. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and j^oioer was given unto it (aurw, without doubt re- ferring to the sun struck by the vial, not to the angel) to scorch men loithfirc, to burn them. At the fourth trumpet (viii. 12) the heavenly bodies were partly darkened ; here, the red heat of the sun is increased in a manner destructive to men. Verse 9. And men were scorched with great heat, and hlasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues ; from whom alone their infliction can proceed. And they repented not, to give him glory ; to recognize liim as the only powerful or just judge ; for the sense, comp. ix. 20 sqq. Those who survived the earthquake in Jerusalem behaved other- wise, xi. 1.3, K-at eSwKai/ So^av tw öew rov ovpavov. (5) Verses 10, 11. Verse 10. And the fifth angel poured o^it his vial upon the seat of the heast, upon the place of the earth where the latter had his chief seat, and from whence he ruled the earth, therefore on new Babylon, that is, Eome. And his Idngdom luas full of darkness, as was the earth already at the fourth trumpet (viii. 12), and as the land of Egypt was at 304 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. the time of Moses (Exod. x. 21 sqq.). Here thick darkness follows the excessive heat of the sun, and they, the adherents of the beast on his throne, hit, chewed as it were, maimed, tlieir to~iv)itcs for pain. Verse 11. And Uasphcvicd the Gud of heaven, because of their pains and tJieir sores ; it does not appear whether these are to be supi^osed the consequence of tlie hist-mentioued plague-vials, or refer at the same time to what precedes, particularly to verse 2. And repented not of their deeds; comp. ix. 20, oü /xerevov/o-av Ik Tcop" epywv nou y^eipiov avrwv. (6) Verses 12—16. The sixth trumpet should be compared with this, ix. 13 — 21. Verse 12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of tlie kings of the East might he prepared, who should come from the far East, from the other side of the Euphrates, and would therefore be impeded on their march by this river ; this obstruc- tion is removed by the drying up of it. See the general In- troduction on the interpretation of this vision. By the kings from the East we are to understand those who, according to xvii. 12, are symbolized by the ten horns of the beast, princes who have power with the beast only a sliort time, and, in com- bination with him, make war against the Lamb in vain, but destroy the woman, Babylon, i. e. Eome ; which, as we have seen, is connected with an idea, at that time very prevalent, that Nero was to return as Antichrist, in company with Eastern, chiefly Parthian, princes, and avenge himself on Eome which had cast him out. Fur tliis ])ur])ose the way is prepared for these kings, that they may continue their journey without hindrance, in order to exercise their activity, which God the Lord permits them to do for a short time. Perhaps also passages such as Is. xliv. 27, Jer. li. 32, 30, floated before the writer's mind, in the image of the drying up of the water of the Eui)hnites, where the same thing is spoken of in reference to Babylon ; although in these i)assages SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 305 the meaning should probaLly be taken somewhat differently from here. The destination of those kings of the East is not iarther spoken of The following verses (13 — 16) describe how the kings of the whole earth are called together by demons, to the last decisive battle at the great day of God's judgment, whose quick and sudden appearing is proclaimed at the same time in an inserted exhortation. The summoning together of these hosts takes place by means of three demons which go out from Satan, from the beast (Antichrist) and from the false prophet, in the form of frogs, serving to denote their uncleanness, loathsomeness and adven- turesomeness ; with which we may compare Aii:emidor. Oneirocrit. ii. 15, where frogs denote jugglers and boasters. And I saio three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the heast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet = like frogs in form; one would expect a participle, iK7ropev6[jL€va or eKTropevOevra, but it is not ex- pressed, the verb being afterwards added in another construction (verse 14), with the statement of those to whom they go out, a eKTTopeveraL ; it may be doubted whether the relative refers to the member immediately preceding, TrvevfiaTa Sat/ioi/twv, or to the ■KvevjxaTa rpca UKaOapra in verse 1 3. In the latter case, elal yap TrvevfMara — crr]p.da would be a general parenthetical intermediate sentence, they are, namely, spirits of demons, which woi^k miracles; in the former case, those spirits named in verse 13 would be the subject of eto-t, those are, namely, spirits of demons, which work miracles, which go out. The words as they run are not very natural in either case. One might readily be inclined to consider them as a gloss, as they would not be missed if wanting. Yet they have every external evidence in their I'avour. Wliich go forth to the kings of the whole loorld, to gather them to the tattle of that great day of God Almigldy. This is understood by some interpreters as if the judgment upon Eome were meant (and so Züllig, only in reference to the Jewish land, to the anguish and oppression of the inhabitants of this once holy land), and the kings were assembled to make war against and destroy this X 306 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. new BaLylon according to Divine guidance; comp. xvii. 16 sqq. But even there it does not appear that Babylon "svill he attacked by these kings of the whole world, but only by the beast and the ten horns, i. e. the princes of the East from beyond the Euphrates. The very description in our passage makes the meaning much more probable, that they will be assembled for the last battle against God, and for the last judgment which God will hold upon themselves. So also De "VVette. Verse 15. This verse appears parenthetically as an inserted admonition of the Lord. Beza is very rash in wishing to expunge it (contrary to all external evidence), and to put it after iii. 18, although it cannot be denied that it is somewhat unsuitable ; it is manifestly occasioned by the allusion to the last judgment (verse 13). Behold, I come as a thief (comp. iii. 3) ; hlcsscd is he that wntehcth (iii. 2, ylvov yp-qyopQiv) and kecpeth his garments, lest he lualk Tuiked and they see his shame. The garments probably mean those which the Lord gives to his own people, with which he clothes them; comp. iii. 17, 18. These we are exhorted to keep, not to take them off from us in a state of intoxication or sleep, that we may not be found of the Lord, at his appearing, in our natural nakedness, in a state entirely unbecoming his followers. Verse 16. The subject here is not, as some think, the sixth plague-angel, or God (as Hengstenberg, Ebrard, &c.), or Satan, but doubtless the Trvcvjiara, a €KTropev€TaL k. A. Vcrse 14. And he gathered them together, the kings of the whole world, led them toge- ther into a 2Üacc called, in the Hehrcvj tongue, Armagedon. The origin and interpretation of this name is not certain. The form induces us to suppose it to be compounded of ";n and i"^?^, or "^"ji^a, which is also the opinion of most. ^Megiddo was a fortress which belonged to the tribe of ]\Lanasseh. Among other things, it was known by two battles and defeats which happened in its vicinity, {a) by the defeat which Sisera and other Canaanitish kings suffered from the Israelites under the judge Bai*ak and Deborali, at the water of ^klegiddo (probably the Kison), Judges iv. 15, v. 19 ; SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 307 and (h) by the defeat which the Jewish king Josiah, 611 before Christ, suffered in the valley of Megiddo, from Pharaoh Necho, where he himself was slain (2 Kings xxiii. 29 sqq., 2 Chron. XXXV. 22 sqq.). Accordingly, the bitter lamentation (Zech. xii. 11) which will be heard one day at Jerusalem is compared with the lamentation in the valley of Megiddo. Hence Megiddo might denote symbolically a place where a great defeat was to be in- flicted, namely, by Divine judgment on, the kings of the earth who oppose themselves to God. The Har might refer to the position of the town at the foot of Carmel. Yet it cannot be denied that the explanation is not quite satisfactory. Other derivations are less probable (see Schleusner, s. v., De Wette on the passage). Perhaps regard was had originally to tlie city of Megiddo, and a reference to those defeats lay at the foimdation ; and that the name Harmegiddon was already used ia a sym- bolical sense in a more ancient writing now lost, for a place of defeats, a j,u;dgment-field ; in this manner it woukl be more easily explained in our passage. It is false when Ewald thinks that Harmegiddon is here an appellation of Rome itself (so also in the Jahrb. d. Bibl. W. VIII. 1856, p. 80, Anm., where he tlijuks that, as the writer already met Avith the name, it must have been pretty well known in the writings of that time as a peri- phrasis for Eome, invented by an. earlier writer in reference to tliß idea that nb'SlIirT nain, Roma magna,, is according to the numeral value of the letters =^ \yiyCi. in = 304). ZllUig thinks the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem is meant, which is called (2 Kings xxiii. 13) Mount of Corruption (rr^PlpKi in, an appel- lation which was also applied to the ancient Babylon, Jer. li. 25) ; it is called here ]\Iouut Megiddo, alluding to those great defeats that happened at Megiddo in ancient history, and at the same time to the etymological signification of the word from 1^3 = 113, to press,, to press into heaps, 'V\'M applied to swarming masses of soldiers = a great crowding too-etlier of warlike masses. x2 308 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. (7) Verses 17—21. Verse 17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air ; and a great voice (fMeydX-q, omitted by Lachmann, according to A. 2 cursive, Cassiodor. ; wanting also in Erasmus, 1, 2, 3, Aid. Colin. ; the omission approved by Mill and Bengel) came mit of the temple of heaven {rov ovpavot, omitted by Lachmann, Tischen- dorf, according to A. 2 cursive, Syr. Copt. Vulg. Prim. ; the omis- sion approved by Mill and Bengel ; in the ed. Eras. 1, 2, 3, Ald_ Colin., on the contrary, toi; vaov is omitted, which is wanting in some cursives), fro^n tJie throne (i.e. from the holy of holies, where the throne of God is supposed .to be in heaven), saying, It is done, accomplished, the whole work, namely, which was assigned by God to these seven plague-angels ; this is described as accom- plished by the pouring out of the seventh vial. What resulted from the seventh vial is stated in the following verse. It is false when Grotius and others understand the yeyove, !6iit Eoma, which it can hardly mean. It cannot be definitely referred to the destruction of Eome considered as past. Verse 18. And there ivcre lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and there loas a great eartliqiiake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake ; oTos ovk iyevero k. A. ; comp. Dan. xii. 1, And it was an evil time, nri;"n? h^b "il^"y Verse 19. And the great city was divided into three jjarts, was torn asunder into tlu'ee parts, and the cities of the ncdious fell, and great Babylon came in remcmhrancc before God, was brought to his remembrance Qnv^a-Ör] hei-e passively, as in Acts x. 34 ; 3 ' al eXerjixocrvvai crov efiinicröy]a-av evwjrcov rov Oeov, usually in an active sense, to remember), to give unto Iter tlie cup of the wine of the fierceness of his vmith. The meaning of this verse is not quite clear, particularly of the first member. From the relation in which both the other members stand to it, one would not be in- clined to understand by the ttoAis fj.€ydX-q mentioned in it, Babylon, heathen Eome ; for since the yiVeo-öai eis rpca [xepi] is undoubtedly SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 309 to b8 considered as a consequence of the Divine anger, it does not appear natural that, after what has been just said, Babylon should be divided or rent asunder into three parts ; then it is immediately said, it came into remembrance before God to give it the cup of fierceness of his anger = the determination to punish it was renewed by God ; and as it is said in the second member of the verse, the cities of the nations (heathen) fell, one might also be inclined to take these in contrast with the great city mentioned in the first member, so that the latter would not be a heathen city. In that case Jerusalem only could be meant (and so Andreas, as well as Bengel, Hofmann, &c.), which is also called (in xi. 8) the ttoAis 7) [x^ydXr]. I have referred it to Jerusalem, not indeed in the Treatise, but afterwards in my Lectures (Apoc. and Introd. to the New Testament), finding an intimation in this passage that, at the time of the writing of the second part, the destruction of the city by the Romans had preceded ; and I understood the matter thus : at this destruction of Jerusalem, Eome had again been remembered, as it were, by God; and, on account of its conduct to that city, the resolve upon its destruction was, as it were, renewed. Yet even if Jerusalem were to be understood, this conclusion would not be sufficiently authorized, for lyevero ek Tpta fiepr] would not be a natural expres- sion for the complete destruction of the city by the Eomans. The formula may be rather referred to the city being rent asunder before its destruction by the different parties which strove with one another in it. Even this is not natural here, since, from the connection, it is much rather to be viewed as a consequence of the violent earthquake, as, in verse 11, the tenth part of the city (Jerusalem) falls by an earthquake ; it would then be intimated here that from this most violent earthquake, by which the heathen cities fell or were destroyed, Jerusalem also suffered to a gTcat degree and was violently shaken. But that Jerusalem is not meant is confirmed by the way in which, in xi. 13, the effect 01 the punishment inflicted upon a part of the city is expressed^ viz. that the remainder (the inhabitants of the city) gave God 310 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. the glory, i. e. repented. If a puuisliment upon Jerusalem were spoken of here, one would expect it would not merely be men- tioned very briefly, but be described more minutely in its effect. It is therefore prol^able, and tliis is the usual acceptation, that the subject of the first membei" is Babylon, Eome ; which is also in xviii. 16 — 18, xix. 2, designated directly as the great city. We must then understand the passage in this manner : that Babylon was strongly shaken by that earthquake, although not quite destroyed like other cities of the Gentiles, but that its complete fall was immediately impending, and the carrying out of it on the part of God was resolved upon. Verse 20. And every island ßed aiüay, disappeared, and the mountains were not fouiul any more, had likewise sunk, disap- peared, in consequence of .the violent earthquake ; comp. vi. 14, Kai Trav opos k. vt^ctos «k twu tottwv aurtüv eKivy'j9i]crav. Verse 21. And great hail, about the weight of a talent (over fifty pounds ; comp. JosephuS, B. J. V. xvi. 3, xaAavTiaioc jxev rjo-av ot ßaXoixevoL Trerpot), fell from heaven down upon men; and nun (instead of repenting, amending) Uasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the p)lague thereof urns exceeding great. Ch. xvii. contains a more minute explanation of the beast as well as his heads and horns, and also of Baliylon the Great ; an explanation which is given to the seer by one of the seven plague-angels, who offers to show him the judgment of the great whore. Verses 1, 2. Verse 1. And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying. Come hither, I loill sJiow unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters (the tvvofold tCov before ttoAAwi/ and vSarwv is omitted by Lachmann, as Eras. 1, 2, 3, Colin., Bengel, according to A. 5 cursive, Hippel. Andr.). This woman, according to verse 5, is the great Babylon whose iropvda (xiv. 8) was already spoken of in reference to her idolatry. The description of her as sitting SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 311 lipon many waters, or many great waters (for it can only mean this; comp, verse 15, t«, u'Sara ov 17 iröpvq Kaö^/rat), is borrowed from the picture of ancient Babylon in Jer. li. 13, D'^ST z^ö'b? \"lD5tt^. It refers to the position of the city on the river Euphrates ; so here the new Babylon on the Tiber. But there is at the same time, according to verse 15, a symbolical meaning in allusion to numerous peoples who are united in the city and ruled by her ; comp. Nahum ii. 9, where Nineveh is compared to a pool full of water, in reference to its number of people. The later Jews frequently apply the water mentioned in the Old Testament to nations; see Wetstein on verse 15. Besides, the fact that the angel here offers to show the seer the judgment of Babylon, proves that the destruction of the city is not supposed in the preceding verses to have already happened, and that the CIS rp'ta jxkpr] iyevero, in xvi. 19, Cannot be meant, as Eichhorn and others think, of its complete destruction. This passage also clearly shows that Jerusalem cannot be meant, as Ziillig thinks, for that city could not be described as sitting upon many waters. As that description must be true in the literal sense, it decidedly implies a city situated either by the sea or on a large river. Yerse 2. With ivliom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk lüith the wine of her fornication ; see xiv. 8, " She has therefore enticed both prince and nations to herself, and, by tempting them to idolatry, led them into destruction." This would be a very unsuitable designation of Jerusalem at that time. Verses 3 — 7. So he carried me away in the spirit, in vision, into a wilderness. This locality has perhaps a symbolic reference to the destiny impending over the city; comp, verse 16, 9}p7;/xw/xev>/v avTijv TrOLl'](TOV(TL ; XVili. 19, IXL(^ d)p(f. '^prjjxc^Or], &C. And I saiv a tvoman sit upo7i a scarlet-coloured, crimson beast, full of names of blasphemy (comp. xiii. 1, koX eVt ras Ke^jyakas avriov uvopLara /3Aao-^7j/^tas, See ad h. 1. Instead of övo/xarwi/, A. 22 cur- 312 LECTURES ON TEE APOCALYPSE. sive have oi'o/iara; and then A. 4 cursive have the article to. before it ; accordingly Lachniann has ye/xovra uvöiiara /3Aao-<^7//xta?, but the more probable reading would be ye/Aov to. ovofxara ßX.), having seven heads and ten horns. There is therefore no doubt that this is the very beast which ascended up out of the sea (xiii. 1), not as Ziillig (ii. 259 sqq.), Ebrard and others, think, a different one. The crimson colour of the beast, as well as the crimson-red and purple-coloured dress of the woman, are only designations of the lustre which l)eams around her as a ruler, as Grotius supposes ; comp. Pliny, H. N. xxii. 2, coccum imperatoris dicatum paludamentis. Others, as Ewald, understand the colour of the beast as pointing to the blood shed by it. Verse 4. And the ivoman loas arrayed in 2mr2')le and scarlet colour ; 7ropvpQvv and kokkwov, according to the correct text, are neuter adjectives placed substantively, referring to garments of that colour ; as xviii. 16, also comp. xix. 8. Decked with gold (entirely covered, as it were, with it, instead of adorned with it in tlie richest manner), and loith precious stones (XiOos Tt/xtos = n^JT) l"?^), and luith r)carh (compare the descrip- tion of the splendour of Tyi-e in Ezek. xxviii. 13), having a golden cup in her liand fidl of abominations and the filthincss of her fornication. Instead of d/caoupT^/ros should doubtless be read, with CompL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann and others, ra dKu- dapra (according to A. B. about 40 cursive, Hippol. Andr.), which, according to an incorrect construction, is dependent on ykfxov as well as ßSeXvyjidTMv, Both describe the contents of the cup as impure, as related to the worship of idols ; with it she intoxicates the nations, tempting them still farther to idolatry ; comp. xiv. 8. Verse 5. And U23on her forehead ivas a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Ch^eat, the Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. So she is described by the inscription she bears on her forehead, conse([uently by the manner in which she presents herself to all the world ; as perhaps, among the Eomans, whores were wont to bear the inscription of their name on their fore- heads. Senec. Controv. i. 2, nomen tuum pependit a fronte; SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 313 Juvenal, vi. 123. One may doubt whether fxva-T-qpiov belongs to the inscription itself, or is an apposition to 6voim ; in the latter case, as Ziillig and Ebrard suppose, it should be interj)reted, a name which is a mystery = has a secret interpretation ; comp, xi. 8, TTvei'/^aTtKüjs. Yet the other meaning is the more likely, in which case the inscription itself signifies the mysterious and allegorical contained in the name (Babylon). Instead of iropvujv, meretricum, some MSS. read -n-opviov, the masculine of Tropvos ; so also the Compl. and others, approved by Scaliger ; and Griesbach is inclined to the same. Even this would not be unsuitable. But it is more probably meant as feminine, mother of harlots, leader of all others who entice to prostitution, i. e. to idolatry ; other Gentile cities, chief seats of the worship of idols, being thought of. Verse 6. And I saw the tooman drunken with the blood of tJie saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus ; ixeOvova-av, comp. Pliny, H. N. xiv. 22 (of Antony), ebrius jam sanguine civium et tanto magis eum sitiens. And lohen I saw her, I WMidered with great admiration ; I could not reconcile myself to the entire phenomenon ; knew not what it properly meant ; it completely astounded me. Verse 7. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel ? I will tell thee the tngsterg of the woman {= her secret significance ; comp. i. 20) and of the beast that carricth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. Verse 8. The angel now gives a minuter interpretation, and first of the beast. In the general Introduction I unfolded more at large how we are to take this according to the w^ords of the passage itself in connection wdth xiii. 3, 13 sqq., and after comparing what we know from other sources as to the ideas and expectations of the time to which the Apocalypse belongs. It refers to the supposi- tion that Nero, who had persecuted the confessors of the Lord in so terrible a manner, was to return and manifest himself as the 3 1 4 LECTURES ON THE A POCA L YPSE. true Antichrist, so that the essence of anti-christian Eomanism was to reach its highest point in him, till he should Le subdued by Christ. The heast that thou sawest ivas and is not, in this moment, in- asmuch as Eomanism or Roman anti-christianism, which showed itself concentrated in him even during his life-time, appeared broken, destroyed, after the removal or death of Nero ; and shall (again) ascend out of the bottomless 2^it ; comp. xi. 7, to 6i]piov to avaßalvov €k tt}? aßvcrcrov. And go into perdition, shall finally himself perish, subdued by Christ at his appearance, and will be cast into hell ; for such is the meaning, referring to the final, self-destructive, issue of his attempt against Christ and the kingdom of God; comp, verse 14, xix. 20. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, ivhose names loere not written in the hook of life from the foundation of the ivorld ; precisely those who worship the beast, according to xiii. 8. When they behold the beast (instead of the received text, /?Ae- TTOfTes, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, have rightly /3Ae7roi/T(ov, which Grotius and Mill approve, according to A. B. 30 cursive, Andr. 2), that vjas, and is not, and yet is, appears again. Here the received reading has Kaiirep eo-rtv, which would mean, and yet he is there = although he is really there. Yet the correct one is douljtless Kal irapia-rat ; Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf and others, according to A. B. 31 cursive, Hippol. Andr. 2, Areth. Ewald (earlier) and Ziillig maintain the received reading. But KatVep Io-tlv would be a mode of speech unusual elsewliere, since Kaiirep is always united with the parti- ciple (see my Comment, ad Hebr. v. 8, ib. p. 85), both in the New Testament and in other writers. The analogy also of the de- scription in the first hemistich, besides the preponderance of external witnesses, is in favour of Kal Trapea-Tai, since it corre- sponds to the /xeAAet avaßaivi.LV «k t>}s ußva-crov, and Ono WOuld expect the idea expressed here that he would again appear. It may be briefly mentioned that Ziillig understands the beast of SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 315 tlie Jewisli-Edomitisli kingdom in general, i.e. the Herodian, and especially of the sovereignty of its last king, who was to contend against the coming Messiah, and under whom Jerusalem was to perish. This was not now, although the kingdom of Edom was ; it had been, but had retreated, and would return, and then its dominion would be again with that last king. Verse 9. The first hemistich should not be taken, with Grotius, Herder, Heinrichs and others, to mean, this is the deep, secret meaning of the riddle, or, here is a deep meaning, but, here (is shown) the mind which hath wisdom, here is manifested a pene- trating mind in order to understand this, as xiii. 18, JSe 17 cro^ta ia-Tiv. So also Ziillig, De Wette, Hengstenberg, Ebrard. The seven heads are seven mountains, on -which the least sitteth, has his seat. That this cannot refer to Jerusalem, but only to Eome, see the general Introduction, ^^p. 89 sqq. Verse 10. A7id there are seven kings ; besides the seven moun- tains, seven kings, that is emperors, are symbolized. Five are fallen, perished, are dead, namely, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. One is, one of the seven, namely, who followed the five fallen ones, the sixth in the series, Galba or Vespasian. See general Introduction, p. 119. The other, the seventh and last in this number, is not yet come, viz. as king or emperor, he is still expected ; a7id lohen he comcth he must continue a short space, so it is according to the Divine counsel, for that lies in the Set, meaning that he will be immediately set aside or supplanted by Nero, who shall return ; so that the expectation is here expressed that this would take place very soon after the death of the emperor, the sixth, reigning at that time, whether Galba or Vespasian. According to Züllig, the kings of the Edomites are meant (Gen. xxxvi. 32 sqq., 1 Chron. i. 43 sqq.), (1) Bela, (2) Jobab, (3) Husam, (4) Hadad, (5) Samla, (6) Saul, (7) Baal Hanan. According to Genesis, the eighth is Hadar, but according to 1 Chron., Hadad, therefore the same name which was already given. These are types of the new Edomitish kings over Israel, the Herodians, as "iin transposed Tin points to the 3 1 6 LECTURES OX TUE A POCA L YPSE. name Herod, and so tlie first five kings are, (1) Herod tlie Great, his three sons, (2) Archelaus, (3) Philip, (4) Herod Antipas; farther (5) Agrippa I., (6) Herod of Chalcis, (7) Agi-ippa II. (whom Justus of Tiberias, cotemporary and rival of Josephus, expressly describes as the seventh and last of these kings). So the Apo- calypse (A.D. 44 — 47) would be written under (No. 6) Herod of Chalcis, as Lakemacher (Obs. Pliil. P. x. 5, 6) supposes. In reference to the eighth, Züllis; himself is undecided ; he thinks that the writer thought perhaps of Herod Antipas (ii. 339 sqq.), the murderer of John the Baptist, who was supposed to be again restored to life. Verse 11. And the least that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is one of the seven. The ck twv Ittto. Io-ti does not mean here, as Grotius supposes, and he is descended from them; that would be too insignificant ; or, which one would more readily suppose, he consists of the seven, so far as they all formed but individual manifestations of the essence of the beast ; but, he is of their number, one of the seven, viz. of the five who have already fallen, the last of these, and will be, on the other hand, the eighth, i. e. return as the eiglith. As already remarked in the general Introduction, it is here implied that in Nero the character of the beast, the essence of idolatrous Eomanism and anti-chris- tianism, appears entirely concentrated and personified, so that he who is symbolized by one of the seven horns like the other individual emperors, might be viewed at the same time as the beast itself, embodied anti-christianism. And goeth into perdition, from which he will not escape. Verse 12. And the ten horns which thou sawcst are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as get. According to Zlillig, these are the Edomitish chiefs who are named after those eicjht kinsrs (Gen. xxxvi. 40 sqq., 1 Chron. i. 5 sqq.) ; properly only eleven are mentioned there, but the last two nanu^s were constantly united into one by the Pabbins. These are types of tliose m'Iio should suddenly appear as rulers of so many smaller kingdoms of Edom, outside the borders of Judea, perhaps in Edom proper. Instead SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 317 of ovTTü), Erasmus, 1, 2, 3, Colin., Bengel, Lachmann, have ovk, according to A. Copt. Yulg. Iren., probably not the original reading. But receive power as kings one liour loitli the least. Vitringa takes iilav wpav, uno eodemque tempore ; comp, xviii. 8, Iv fiiä! yjiikpa y^^ovcrtv at 7rAr;ya6 avrrj'i. Yet it is highly probable, as generally supposed, that the short duration of their power is meant, for an hour, for a moment = for a very short time. It may also be assumed with the greatest probability, that the kings meant here are the same as the kinos in xvi. 12, coming from the East, for whom a way should be cleared by the drying up of the Euphrates ; and that it refers to the idea that Nero will be assisted on his return by Eastern, particularly Parthian, rulers in his hostile enterprizes. That ten of them are mentioned is only caused by the number of the horns being ten, borrowed from Dan. vii. 7. From the manner in which they are here spoken of, they do not appear to be princes who then ruled Parthia and other neighbouring lands, but as appearing at the same time with Antichrist in order to support him in his attempts, and also perishing with him in a short time. Ewald, on the contrary, supposes Koman governors of provinces, and considers them the same as the ßaa-ikeva-i ttJs oiKoviJLevrjs oXrjs, xvi. 14. This is wholly improbable after what was already remarked against Ewald upon the latter, and the object of their being summoned together. It is not likely also that nothing farther should be said here of those kings from the East, of their destination, operation and fate, after the fact has been made so prominent that the way should be prepared for them (into the West) by the drying up of the Euphrates. Verse 13. These have one mind, all act unanimously, with the same purpose, aiid shall give their power and strength, which God has granted them, to the beast. Verse 14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings ; comp, xix 16, according to which the Lord has a name written 318 LECTURES OX TUE APOCALYPSE. on his vesture and on his thigh, ßacriXd's ßaa-iXewv k. K-i'pios KVpUOl'. "Wliat the second hemistich, xai ol fUT aiVov k. A., means here is not clear; it may either be taken as a special idea, ol yuer' avTov as the subject, the rest as predicate, "And those witli liim, his adherents, are called, chosen and faithful." Yet that would l)e too aT)rupt. JMore probably it should be taken with others (for example, Grotius, Eichhorn, Züllig, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Heinriclis, De Wette), to mean that the whole, ol fi^T avTov . . TTLCTTol, gocs togcther, co-ordinate with the to dpviov in the preceding, and still belonging to the subject of the verb vtK7/o-at aui/ovs ; nnd they that are tvith him, contending as his hosts, are called, and clwsen, and faithful. Verse 15. And he (that plague-angel), saiY/t w??io me, Theuxders which thou satvest, wliere the lohore sitteth (verse 1), are jjcoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, numerous nations of different languages ; see, on this symbolism, verse 1. Verse IG. And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the hcost (the received text has 'iir\, wliich must be, on the beast ; for it, Kai is in the Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, al., according to A. B. 32 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Copt. Aeth. Vulg. MS. Hippol. Andr. Prim, al., doubtless the correct reading ; cVi brought into the text by Erasmus from the Vulgate), these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, entirely destroy and strip her, so that she stands wholly naked; image and subject, the idea of the woman and the city intermingle liere, so also in tlie following. And shall eat her flesh (comp. "D ibn bps P.s. xxvii. 2, Micali iii. 2, 3, "who cat tlie flesh of my peoide." ayo/>iai only used in the signification of the future) and hum her with fire. How this coincides with the expectations then current, that Nero, returning witli his accompanying troops, should avenge himself especially on the city which had cast him out, on liome, see general Intro- duction. Verse 17. For God hath j^ut in their hearts to fulfil his will; SP ECU L INTERPRET A TION. 3 1 9 God will make use of tlie evil one himself, Antichrist and his companions, as instruments in performing his decree to destroy Babylon. It is false when others, also De Wette, refer the pro- noun axVoi) to the beast, Antichrist. And to agree (these words, Kal Troiyjcrai yi/wp^v ^lav, are omitted by Lachmann, according to A. Vulg. Andr. MS., Mill also approves the omission), and give their kingdom unto the heast, until the words of God shall he fulfilled, i. e. until his prophecies will find their fulfilment, those respecting the destruction of Babylon and the future coming of the Lord, when the beast himself and his associates will be defeated. On TeXeta-dat, comp. Luke xviii. 31, xxii. 37. Verse ] 8. And the woman which thou saivest is that great city which rcigncth over the kings of the earth, exercises sovereignty over them. Thus Babylon is again unmistakably described as Eome. If we look back to this vision with the explanation of the angel, Babylon is the woman who sits on the beast Avith the seven heads, seven-hilled Eome, as chief seat of the worship of idols and auti-christianism. But seven kings are at the same time symbolized by those seven heads, individual manifestations of the anti -christian idolatry depicted by the beast. One was to appear as eighth king, in whom the essence of the beast would be so concentrated as to be entirely one with him ; therefore the eighth is not represented by a single head of the beast, but is the beast itself, and this because he is the same who was present among the seven (as the fifth), who shall again appear as the last and extreme manifestation of idolatrous and anti-christian Eomanism, as embodied Antichrist, till he, together with the rulers from the East appearing and disappearing along with him (who are symbolized by the ten horns), succumbs to Christ returning in his full glory. As to the value of this prophecy, &c., see general Introduction. 320 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Ch. xviii. 1— xix. 10. The fall of the woman, Babylon the Great, ah-eady mentioned in xiii. 8 (comp. xvi. 10, xvii. 16), is fiirther described in warnings, songs of lamentation and joy, and symbolical images. Firstly, (ft) Ch. xviii. 1—3, her fall is announced by an angel, as a conse(j[uence of her sinful and seductive character. Verse 1. And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power ( = la-xvpus, v. 2, x. 1), and the earth was lightened with his glory, with the splendour which he sent forth from himself, and spread around him ; Ezek. xliii. 3, iiinpa nn^sn ^J^ism (of Jehovah). Verse 2. And he cried with a strong voice, Bahjlon tlie Ch'eat is fallen, is fallen (comp. xiv. 8), and is become the hahitation of devils and the hold of every foul sjjirit, and a cage of every unclean and hatcfid bird. This signifies the changing of it into a very horrible, dismal wilderness ; see ix. 14. Is. xiii. 21 sqq. lies at the foundation, where, among the threats of the destruction of Babylon, it is said that it shall be the abode of wild beasts, of Cn^vb, Sai/xovta, and screeching birds; comp. ib. xxxiv. 11 sqq., the description of the impending desolation of Edom ; Zeph. ii. 14 (against Nineveh). Unclean and hateful, i.e. owls, ravens, among others, are abhorred, loathsome birds. Such are mentioned in Is. loci citat. It is called the (fivXaK^) of such beasts and demons, as tliey are banished to this place and cannot get out of it. Verse 3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the ^orath of her fm'nication (comp. xiv. 8, Ik rov oivov rov Ov/xov tvJs iropvdas av'xT/s TrcTTOTtKe TTuvra iOvrj. Here Lachmanu has omitted tov olvov, according to Aeth. Vulg. MS. Iren. ; hence, of the wrath of the fornication ; yet the words are perhaps genuine), and the kings of the earth have committed foi^nication with Jier ; comp. xvii. 2, /xeö Vys iTTopvevcrav ot ßa(TiX€i<; tv)s yv/S. And the merchants of the earth are luaxed ricli through tlic SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 321 abundance of her delicacies = by her great debaucliery ; Luther, by her excessive vohiptuousness. (&) Verses 4^—20. Another heavenly voice, which commands the people of God to go out of Babylon that they may not participate in her sins, and fall under the punishments which shall come upon her sud- denly and with violence ; so that her lovers, the kings of the earth, standing afar off from fear of her torment, and those who have enriched themselves by her, lament (verses 4 — 19); whilst, on the contrary, heaven and the saints whom God avenges on her, rejoice (verse 20). Verses 4, 5. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people. According to this it appears as if we were to think of the voice of God himself or Christ. Yet that of an angel only is meant, who (not in the following, verse 5) speaks here in the name of God. It is chiefly an imitation of Jerem. li. 45, "^ap HDina -is? ; comp, also ib. 6, 1. 8, where the Israelites are summoned to depart out of Babylon on account of the im- pending destruction of the city ; comp. Is. lii. 11, xlvüi. 20. Tliat ye he not partakers of her sins, infected by them, seduced as it were; comp. Eph. v. 11, koI p) a-vyKoivwvelTi. rots epyois TOts a/capTTOts Tov (Tkotovs. And that ye receive not of her plagues, be struck by them; see Jerem. 1. c. ; comp. N"umb. xvi. 26. Verse 5. Instead of the received reading, ■)]KoXov07](rav, we should read, with CompL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischen- dorf, al. kKo\X','ie-)](Tav, according to A. B. C. 33 cursive, Syr. Ar. Copt. Aeth. HippoL Andr. Areth. Patr, Lat. (vulg. pervenerunt). Jerem. li. 9 lies probably at the foundation: "Her judgment (Baby- lon's) (punishment, n^DIl'p) reacheth imto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies." So it is said here, for her sins have reached = clung together, accumulated, unto heaven, lie so excessively great and heaped up, that it is impossible for God to overlook them. Y 322 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. And God hath rememhered her iniquities, has become mindful of tliem. Verses 6, 7. Address to tlie plague-angels wlio execute the Divine punishments ; for that is doubtless the meaning. Eeivard her, even as she rewarded = according as she treated others ; arroSiSovai is used here the second time, like the Hebrew 703, generally in reference to mutual transactions, things done to others. The received text has v^uv after aTreSwKe, which is very unsuitable ; it is wanting in A. B. C. about 30 cursive, Syr. Ar. Copt. Aeth. Vulg. MS. HippoL Patr. Lat. ; omitted by Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf ; which Grotius, INIill and Bengel approve. And donhlc unto her double according to her works, let her ex- perience double punishment for it most richly. In the cup which she hath filled = presented the wine of her fornication,^/^ to her douhle = let her experience the severest punishment for all her seduction of others unto the worship of idols. On this two-fold application of the image, comp. xiv. 8, 10, xvi. 19, xviii. 3. Verse 7. Hoio much she hath glorified herself, and lived deli- ciously, so much torment and sorrow give her ; foo^ she saith in her heart, I sit (throned) a queen and am 7io ividow, and shall see no sorrow, not experience it ; copied from Is. xlvii. 7, 8 (referring to Babylon), " And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever (j"IT??5 . . .). Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasm-es, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, n^a^W 2t?7W )rh biD^ ^IS-wbl" The widowhood refers perhaps to the loss of tlie king ; here probably in reference to tlie kings who com- mitted fornication with her, as ttcvÖos alludes to the loss of children, i. e. of her inhabitants. The word is used particularly respecting sorrow and lamentation for the dead. Verse 8. Therefore shall her jjlagues come in one day (Is. xlvii. 9, ins Di'^21 2?3n), death, and mourning {for the loss of her children), and famine ; and she shall he utterly burned ivithfife ; for strong is the Lord God who hath judged her, iiiflicted punish- ment on her. This will call forth bitter lamentation from all SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 323 wlio stood in close union with her, as the same angel continues to describe, chiefly after the tyj^e of Ezeldel in the prophecy against Tyre (ch. xxvi. sqq.). First, ■(a) Verses 9, 10. Sorrow and lamentation on the part of her lovers, the kings; comp. Ezek. xxvi. 16 — 18, xxvii. 35. And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall heioail her and lament for her, on account of her destruction, when they shall see the smoke of her hiirning. Verse 10. Standing afar off, continuing to stand, /ios. Acts xxi. 3, of cargo, from yefidv, to be full, to be loaded ; here of merchandise generally). Verse 12. The merchandise of gold (the genitive explicative), and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all citron-wood (^vXov dvivov, wood of the tree 6v[a, citron, an African tree, the wood of which had a pleasant smell, and was manufactured by the ancients into fine household furniture, tables, &c. ; it is doubtful what tree was originally meant by the word ; it was applied to our citron tree only at a very late period). A7id all mangier vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble. Verse 13. And cinnamon, and amomum, the latter an Indian aromatic shrub which, like cinnamon, was used for its fragrance (the words /cat a/xw/xov are wanting in the received text, but are adopted by Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, &c., accor- ding to sufficient authority, A. C. 8 cursive, Syr. Aeth. Vulg. Ital. Hippel. Pat. Lat. ; they were omitted only by accident on account y2 324 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. of the similarity of ending with the preceding KivafKo/xov), and odours, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour (cre/ttSaAis, similago, the finest flour), and wheat, and beasts {kttjvo's, properly a possession, property in general, especially in cattle, draught-cattle), and sheep, and (now follow again some genitives, which are to be considered as dependent on yo/xov) of horses, of chariots, and of slaves, and souls of men; o-io/xaTa and if/vxal av6pu)7rix€v, ev oT? SLKaio(Tvvi] KaroLKel. Is. IxV. 17 lies at the foundation : " Behold I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind ; " Is. Ixvi. 22 : " For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make, shall remain before me," &c. In Tr. Sanhedr. fol. cxvii. 2, it is also said that God will renew the world after seven thousand years, when the times of the Messiah shall have been. And there was no more sea; it had disappeared with the old earth and the old heaven; and it is implied that it will no longer have place in the new creation. Verse 2. And. I saw (the received reading, eyw 'lwdvv7]<; after Kal, is omitted by Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, as weU as Comj)l., &c., after A. B. 30 cursive, Syr. Ar. Copt. Aeth. Arm. Vulg. MS. Andr. Areth. Iren. Patr. Lat.) the holy city, the New Jerusalem, descend from heaven, from God. By the very position of the words in the text, adopted by Bengel, Griesbach, Lach- mann, Tischendorf, where diro to{J Oeov is placed after Ik toG ovpavov, the former are doubtless to be connected with Kara- ßaivovcrav, not, as Griesbach, with ■^Toi/xacrfiev-qv : see verse 10, 342 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. XX. 9, iii. 12 ; ^jrcjjaj'gf? as a hride adorned for her Imsband. The New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, from God, was already mentioned above (iii. 12). It was regarded as the proto- type of the earthly Jerusalem, in the same manner as the heavenly temple with its sanctuaries was regarded as the prototype of tlie earthly one ; see, upon this, Schöttgen, ad h. 1., and in the Dis- sertat. de Hierosolyma Coelesti, in his Hor. Hehr. et Talm. I. 1205 sqq., and Wetstein on Gal. iv. 26. This heavenly Jeru- salem, the prototyi^e of the earthly city of the covenant people, is here described, after the renovation of the woi-ld, and the general resurrection, as the seat of the blessed ; comp. Sohar Gen. fol. 69, col. 271 ; E. Jeremias dixit ; Deus S. B. innovabit mundum suum et sedificabit Hierosolymam, ut ipsam descendere faciat in medium sui de coelo, ita ut nunquam destruatur. Verse 3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying (in- stead of ovpavov, Lachmann and Tischendorf have 6p6vov, after A. 1 cursive, Vulg. Iren. Ambr, Aug., but not Prim. Tychon., and probably not original). Behold the tabernacle, the tent, of God is with men, and he to ill divell with them, and they shall he his people, and their God himself shall he with them as their God ; comp. Levit. xx\d. 11, 12 : "And I will set my tabernacle among you; and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people;" Ezek. xxxvii. 27 : " My tabernacle also shall be with them ; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." The a-Ki]vy] probably alludes to the tabernacle of testimony, lJ7ia bo's, in which the majesty of Jehovah dwelt under the old covenant. Verse 4. And he shall ivipe away all tears from their eyes (as is said of the Lamb, vii. 17), and there shall he no more death; see on xx. 14 ; comp. Is. xxv. 8 : " He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears (p'Vtfi) from off all faces." Neither sorroio (for loss by death, see xviii. 3), 7ior crying (loud lament on account of violence and such like), neither shall there he any more pain. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 343 For the former things are passed away, ra Trpwra, tlio previous relations of the world. Verses 5 — 8. And lie that sat upon the throne said (God the Father, see xx. 11 ; probably not, as Eichhorn, Ewald, &c., tliink, the Messiah ; Ziillig, De Wette, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, rightly refer it to God), Behold I mahe all things new (Is. xliii. 19, T\W'\'r{_ T\>^^ ^??n ; Jerem. xxx. 21). And he said {fxol, in the received text, is omitted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, after A. B. 11 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Vulg. MS. Iren.), Write, for these words are true and faithfid, namely, the utter- ance of God that he makes all things new ; for it is doubtless to be referred to tliis. Because it is certain, the seer is to write it down. Verse 6. And he said unto me. It is done, the renovation of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; I loill give imto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely ; comp. vii. 17. Is. Iv. 1 lies at the foundation, where all who are thirsty are invited to come to the water, and take freely wine and mük. Verse 7. He that overcomcth (see ii. 7, 11, &c.) shall inherit this, he shall take part in it as something he has a right to, and I luill be his God, prove myself his God, and he shall he my son ; probably meaning also, I will prove myself a Father to him. Verse 8. But the fearfid, cowardly ones, who do not persevere in confessing my word through fear of the world. These are essentially the same as the pusillanimous vTroa-reXXoixevoLs in Heb. X. 38 sqq. A7id imhelieving (the CompL, Griesbach, &c., after B. over 30 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Andr. 2, Areth., have Kal a^aprwXols, and sinners, yet it is not certain), and the ahominaUe (eßSeXvyfxevoi'i, those who are abhorred, abominable to God, who have polluted themselves with detestable crimes, as the worship of idols and such like), and murderers, and whoremongers, andsoreerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which hurneth vnth fire and hrimstone, which is the second death (xx. 14). 344 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Verses 9 — xxii. 5. Description of the New Jerusalem itself. For representations of the New Jerusalem among later Jews see Eisenmenger's Entd. Judenth. II. 839 sqq. Verses 9 — 14. And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked ivith me, saying. Come hither; Iiuill show thee the bride, the Lamb's loife. So is it most probably to be connected, tou apviov dependent on t7)i/ yvvaiKo. ; Lachmann and others have also tou apviov after tt]v yvvalKa, according to A. 3 cursive, Syr. Copt. Aeth. Vulg., &c. Tischendorf, on the contrary, t^v ywatKa, t^v vi'/x^t/v tou apviov, according to B. 25 cursive ; the woman, the bride of the Lamb. Compare with the description that one of the plague angels shows the seer this city, xvii. 1, according to which a similar one shows him the judgment of Babylon, Sevpo, Set^w o-oi to Kpl^ia rris iropvr]^ T^S /^eyaAiys k. A. Verse 10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. So is Ezekiel, in the vision, xl. 2, led to a very high mountain, where he sees the New Jerusalem and the new temple. And he showed me the holy city Jerusalem descending out of heaven, from God, (verse 11) having the glory of God ; ti)v Bo^av Tov deov denotes not merely a splendour given to it by God (Grotius) ; or, with others, a specially glorious splendour, but the Schechiua, the Tl)rri lin?, the majesty of God, who abides in it, and, according to verse 23, lightens it without sun and moon ; comp. Is. xxiv. 23 ; Zech. ii. 9. Its light was like unto a stone most precious, clear as crystal, that is, a very pure and clear transparent jasper; tfxjjo-Trjp is luminare, what gives light; so among the Greeks it stands for a window; in Phil. ii. 15, for stars. Here it denotes in general that by which the city receives its light, as the present earth does by the heavenly bodies ; and this is the majesty of God, according to verse 23, xxii. 5. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 345 Verse 12. And had a wall, great and high, indicating the safety of the city. Had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, as keepers, watchmen of the gates and therefore of the city, aiid names lüritten, ivhich are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Verse 13. On the east, three gates ; and on the nm^th, three gates ; and, on the south, three gates ; and on the west, three gates. This is formed after Ezek. xlviii. 31 — 34, according to which the New Jerusalem will he provided with twelve gates, three gates to each quarter of the heavens, and these will be called after the names of the individual tribes of Israel, all which are adduced there by name. Verse 14. And the wall of the city had ttoelve 9 efieXCovs, founda- tions, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The splendour of these OefieXiot is described below, verses 19, 20. It appears to mean that the whole extent of the wall, from one gate to the other, was built on a large foundation-stone. But the essential idea intended to be expressed is this, that the whole structure of the wall surrounding and protecting the city, rests on the foundation which the apostles of the Lord laid with their testimony; comp. Eph. ii. 20, eVoiKoSojaTjöevres eVt tw oe/xeAtw Twv aTTOCTToAcüV K. TTpO^jujTuiv. Verses 15 — 21. And he that talked ivith me had a measure, a golden rod (a measuring-rod, see xi. 1 ; in the received text, jxerpov is wanting, but is adopted by Bengel, Griesbach, Lach- mann, Tischendorf, as also CompL, on preponderant testimony), to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof This measure, for knowing the extent of the city, is borrowed from Ezek. xl. 3. Verse 16. And the city liethfour squares, hath four squares or corners, consequently as many sides, and those equal ; and their length is as large as their breadth. This is also from Ezek. xlviii. 16, 17, according to which the city has the same extent in all four quarters. 346 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. ÄTid he measured the city with the reed, tivelve thoiisand furlongs. Grammatically, this should probably be understood that the geni- tive ScüScKa xt-^iwSwv is dependent on o-raSiovs, although the con- verse would be more accm-ate, e-n-l ScuScKa xiA.iaSas o-TaStwv. But it is too harsh to suppose the genitive dependent on ttoAiv to be supplied again, as Ewald and Ziillig take it ; a city of twelve thousand, ad stadios = e stadiorum mensura. The twelve thou- sand stadia would amount to about fifteen hundred Eoman or three hundred German miles. But when it is said immediately, the length and the breadth and the height of it are eqtial, this latter can hardly mean, as Grotius, Eichhorn, De Wette, Ebrard, think, that the height of all the houses or that of the entire wall was the same, and the city was built so symmetrically, but only that the height was the same as the length and breadth. We may doubt as to whether it means that the twelve thousand furlongs are the measure in all three du-ections together, so that four thousand furlongs belong to each of them as well as to the height ; or, as Ziillig, Hengstenberg, suppose, that each of these three extensions amounted in itself to twelve thousand furlongs. In whichever way it be taken, the great circumference of the city is implied on the one hand ; on the other, its symmetry ; yet the estimates, especially in reference to the height, are far too huge even for a poetical description ; compare, among later Jewish writings, Bava Bathra, fol. Ixxv. 2, according to which the New Jerusalem is said to be at least twelve miles high ; and Schir Eabba, vii. 5, according to which it is said to reach in height to the throne of the Majesty. Verse 17. And he meastired the wall thereof, 144) cubits (namely, in height), according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. On fierpov avOpuiirov, COmp. at xiii. 18, apiöyMos avOpioTTOv. He means to say, that the measure here given is according to tlie one usual among men, as it is also that of the angel. Gramma- tically, the [xsTpov is to be viewed as an accusative, an apposition carelessly added to the preceding. Verse 18. And thehmldingoftlieioallofitwasjasper. ivSofirja-cs, SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 347 properly the building in, therefore the thing built in. It is found in Joseph. Ant. xv. 9, 6, of the mole erected to fortify a harbour. Here, in contrast to the Oe/j-eXbovs, it can only be the wall built over them, the building of the wall itself, which was not of ordinary bricks or cut stones, but of jasper, referring to its great lustre and splendour. And the city ivas piire gold, liJce unto clear glass, crystal, as pure and transparent ; comp, verse 21 (instead of 6/ioia, should probably be read, with CompL, Bengel, Lachmann, Tischendorf, öfjLoiov, after A. B. 23 cursive, Andr. Areth. Vulg.). Verse 19. And tlie foundations of the ivall of the city tvere gar- nished ivith all manner of precious stones, from what follows, so that each single öe/xeAtos consisted of a single precious stone. Is. liv. 11, 12, lies at the foundation, but is carried out here more fully, where Jehovah promises to lay the foundation of Jerusalem on sapphires, and to make its entire circumference of precious stones. In the representation of the individual precious stones, the description of the twelve stones on the high-priest's breast- plate, probably lies at the foundation; Exod. xxviii. 17 sqq., xxix. 10 sqq. The first foundation of jasper, as far as the end of verse 20. Verse 21. And the tivelve gates ivere twelve pearls, each several gate was of one pearl. According to Is. liv, 12, the gates of the city were to be sparkling precious stones (carbuncles, TX3p^ "^55^), comp., in Wetstein and Schöttgen, ad h. 1., the Talmudic passages, Bava Bathra, fol. Ixxv. 1, Sanhedr. fol. 1, where precious stones and pearls of thirty cubits in length and breadth are spoken of, which are said to be the gates of the city of Jerusalem. And the street of the city is pure gold, as transparent glass, crystal ; comp, verse 18. Verses 22 — 27. Verse 22. And I saiu no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamh are the temple of it. Since God himself, with Christ, will dwell in the city, tabernacle among its citizens (verses 3, 11), no particular XDlace or building is 348 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. needed in it, in order to seek the presence of God there, to wor- ship him in prayer or by sacrifice. Verse 23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the onoon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lanib is the light thereof; comp. Is. Ix. 19, 20, " Tlie sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light nnto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee an ever- lasting light. . . , Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light," &c. Verse 24 The first hemistich runs in the received text : And the nations of them ivhich are saved shall walk in the light of it, Kol TO. Wvi] Tiav (TW^o/xevwv Iv Tw <^ü)Tt avTrj<; irepnraT'qa-ovcn. But thlS is doubtless a later emendation, and we must read, with Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, &c., Kal TrepnraTi^a-ova-t to. Wv-q Sia Tov v without doubt refers to the kings, not, as others suppose, to to, Wv-q. Verse 25. Here Is. Ix. 11 lies at the foundation, where it is said that the gates of the city stand continually open, shall not be closed day or night, that the treasures of the Gentiles may continually enter. Instead of that we have here. And the gates of it shall not he shut at all hy day, for there shall be no night there, since the glory of God without intermission lightens it, ac- cording to verse 23. Verse 26. And they, the kings of the earth, shall Iring the glory and honour of the nations into it ; besides their own treasures, those also of their people. (Others, as Luther, Beza, De Wette, Hengstenberg, take it impersonally, one will bring; yet the former is more probable.) Verse 25. And there shall in 7io wise enter into it anything that defileth, that is profane, nor that practises abominations and lies, hut only they luhich are ivritten in the Zamh's hook of life ; comp. Is. lii. 1, «^ip;i bnr nil) T|n-«in; ^b. It appears that those nations of the earth also who do not belong as citizens to the New Jerusalem, but dwell around it, are considered as written in the book of life, and not as impure or profane, otherwise they or their kings would not dare to bring in their treasures. Ch. xxii. 1, 2. And he shoived me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamh. (liSaros C'^ijs, not merely living water, but water of life, whereby life is continually preserved, as ^vXov ^w»]?, verse 2, tree of life.) At the foundation of the description here, verse 2, lies (a) the description of Paradise, Gen. ii., through which a stream flows, and in the midst of which the tree of life stands ; and (b) 350 LECTURES ON TUE APOCALYPSE. Ezek. xlvii. especially, where the subject is a spring, which, rising from the temple in the New Jerusalem, becomes a river» on whose banks, according to verse 12, on both sides (p^)y\ H'T.p), all sorts of fruit-trees grow, whose leaves do not wither, and whose fruits do not cease, which produce fruit every month, and serve for food, as their leaves do for healing. Verse 2. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river (Ewald falsely explains Iv /xea-M ttJs TrAaretas Kal tov Trora/xou — hetvjeen the street and the river ; see at v. 6. The tov Trora/xou is probably dependent on evrevOev k. IvrevOev, and this corresponds to n-tp^ n-fp in Ezekiel), the tree of life, lohich hare twelve fruits (in the year), yielding its fruit every month ; and the leaves of the tree (serve) for the healing of tlie nations, therefore for those also who are not themselves members of the city ; referring at the same time to body and soul. Verses 3 — 5. A transition to announcement by futures, which are here sup- posed to be the address of the angel to the seer. And, there shall be no more curse ; according to Zech. xiv. 1 1, "Vi^ n;;.^!' Nb D"^ni., there shall be no more excommunication in Jerusalem, nothing to arouse divine anger, so that he should devote it to destruction. Instead of the received reading KaravdOena, KaraOqia should be read (after A. B. 28 cursive, Andr. Areth.), with Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, &c. ; in the same manner as in Matt. xxvi. 74, instead of the received KaTavaOefiarc^av, KaraOefxaTL^eiv should be read. Yet these forms are to be taken in precisely the same sense as those of the received text, which are the only ones used elsewhere. And the throne of God and of the Lamh shall he in it, and his (God's) servants shall serve him, those consecrated to him as his priests. Verse 4. And they shall see his (God's) face, and his name shall he on their foreheads ; by this they are described as his servants, devoted to his service. SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 351 Verse 5. And there shall he no night there, and they need 7io candle, neither light of the sun, for God the Lord giveth them light. Instead of avrovs, eV avTovs should be read, with Bentley, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, after A. Iren. Patr. Lat., whereby is expressed care-taking and protecting Ught, as in vii. 15, (TKrjv(i)(T€i Itt' aVTOV?. And they shall reign for ever and ever. Verses 6 — 21. The revelation of the future of the kingdom of God is now at an end. Wliat follows forms only a conclusion to the book, in which the truth and reliability of these disclosures is specially af&rmed, and it is repeatedly asserted that the time of the fulfil- ment of the Lord's coming is at hand. First, Verses 6, 7. Aoid he said unto nie, the angel, who had commu- nicated to him the last disclosures, from xxi. 9 onward. These words are faithfxd and ti'ue, as in xxi. 5 ; the reference here is chiefly to the disclosures last communicated, but pro- bably at the same time to the contents of all the preceding reve- lations. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets = from whom alone the spirit of prophecy in the prophets proceeds ; the received reading has, the God of the holy prophets, 6 öeos rwv ayiwv 7rpo^7^TWv, for which, 6 6. Twv Trvev/xarcüv twv 7rpo(pt]T(ov IS m CompL, Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf and others, after A. B. 28 cursive, Syr. Ar. Aeth. Vulg. Andr. Commentary, Areth. Prim. Sent his angel to show imto his servant the things which must he done shortly ; see on i. 1. Verse 7. The words of Christ are in the first hemistich, but those which the angel here cites are to be regarded as the angel's own words, forming the second hemistich, as verse 8 shows. Behold, says the Lord, / come quicldy. Blessed is he that heep)eth the sayings of the prophecy of this hook; does not disregard them, for his hope as well as his conduct ; comp. i. 3. 352 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. Verses 8, 9. And I, Jolui, am he that heard these things and saw them, who heard these revelations through angels, and had these visions. One may also, as did Ewald (earlier), take all these words only as a preceding subject, in which case the Kai stands before ore in a Hebraizing way, and is not expressed in transla- tion. And I, John, %oho heard and saw these things, when I had heard and seen, fell down to worship (to pray) hefore the feet of the angel which showed me these things. It is unquestionably false, when Dionysius of Alexandria (in Euseb. vii. 25) connects the words Kai eyo) 'Itoavvi/s . . . ßX'eiroiv Tavra. with what precedes, so that the seer pronounces himself blessed. Then saith he unto me. Do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy hrethren the pj'ojyhets, and of them which keep the sayings of this hook ; woi'ship God. Very similar to xix. 10. Verses 10 — 15. And he saith nnto me. The subject is not Christ, as many, on account of verses 12 sqq., take it, but the angel, whose words, how^ever, afterwards pass into the words of Christ, as being introduced by him. Similarly verse 7, only that there (verses 13 sqq.) they proceed farther. Seal not the sayings of the propliccy of this hooJc ; comp. Dan, viii. 26, xii. 4, 26, where Daniel is commanded to seal the vision, the words of the prophecy, i.e. withdraw it for the present from the knowledge of men, because the future to which it refers is still distant. Conversely, the seer is here commanded not to seal the prophecy he received, but to make it known still farther, because the time of fulfilment is near. (For) the thne is at hand ; see i. 3, Verse 11. Meanwhile, during the short time still remaining until the glorious coming of the Lord, each one may continue in his usual way of acting, corresponding to his inward character ; the sinner is free to continue in his viciousness till then, as it is the part of the just and pious to increase in righteousness and holiness. Such is the meaning of this verse = as the wicked one is free to continue in his conduct until this event, so the just one is not to be tempted impatiently to abandon the path of SP EC I A L INTERPRET A TION. 353 right. He that is unjust, who practises injustice agaiust the will of God, let him he unjust still ; and he that is filthy, let him he filthy still. The received reading pvirdv pinrwa-dTO) from pvTroio ; instead of it, the Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischen- dorf, &c., according to B. about 30 cursive, Andr. Areth. (comp. Orig.) have pvirapos pvirapevO-qTw ; the form pinrapevea-Oai does not appear elsewhere, and has therefore been probably suppressed. The words refer to a dirty, polluting disposition and mode of acting, as opposed to the äytos, ayLa^ea-Oai. of the second hemistich. And he that is righteous, pious, let him he righteous still (the received text has StKatwö;;Tw, instead of which we have ^iKaioa-vvrjv Trot-qa-oLTü) in Compl., Bengel, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, according to A. B. 31 cursive, Syr. Ar. Pol. Copt. Vulg. MSS. of Itala, Andr. Areth. Patr. Lat. And he that is holy, let him he Jwly still ; he who has abstained from all profanity and devoted himself to God, let him do it still. Compare, moreover, Dan. xii. 10, " Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly" (shall continue in their sin) ; and for the ideas in our passage see Ezek. iii. 27, xx. 39. Verse 12. And hehold I come quickly (the Lord says again ; see above), and my reward with me (as of Jehovah, Is. xl. 10 and Ixii. 11, ins inpb mTf). To give every man according as his work shall he, in accordance with his entire conduct (instead of eo-rat, Lachmann, Tischendorf, have co-Ttv, after A. B, 2 cursive).' Verse 13. Comp. i. 8. Verse 14. Blessed, in the received text (and so also De Wette, Ziillig, Tischendorf), are they that do his commandments, where this, as well as the following, tiU verse 15 inclusive, is again the utterance of the angel. But instead of the received text, TrotoiivTes ras IvToXas avTov, Lachmann, as also Bentley, approved by Mill and Ewald, have TrAvvovrts ras o-ToXa9 aurwv, after A. 2 cursive, Aeth. Arm. Vulg. Prim. Comment, and others ; who wash their rohes = who are cleansed in the blood of the Lamb (vii. 14), and 2 a 354 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. also keep themselves pure from sin (iii. 4). Tliis is likely, as the more difficult reading ; and then this and the following may be considered as the words of Christ, as verse 16 evidently is. That they may have right, or, they shall receive authority, ha, as in xiv. 13, to the tree of life, have a title to it, be admitted to its enjoyment, and may enter in through the gates into the city, find access to the holy city, New Jerusalem, which no wicked person can, according to xxi. 27. Verse 15. Without are, or will remain, excluded from access to the holy city, dogs ; dogs were unclean animals among the Hebrews ; dog is therefore used as a word of reproach, so Phil, iii. 2 in reference to shamelessness. But in Deut. xxiii. 18, D''?^? stands for [xaXaKot, pueri molles, men who allow themselves to be abused indecently, and here it is probably so meant; otherwise one must, with Ewald (earlier), Ziillig, De Wette, &c., take it in quite a general sense, for unclean men of impure mind. Yet the former is more probable. And sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and all loho love and practise lying. Verse 16. /, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things, to make known eVi rats eV-KAi/o-tais ; this might be, ac- to x. 11, with respect to the churches. So also Ziillig, inasmuch as the churches were concerned in it, and the prophecy might be of use to them. Yet this is not very natural. It is generally understood = among or in the churches, a meaning which is not without difficulty with respect to this preposition. Lachmann has ev, after A. 3 cursive, Vulg. Andr. Äthan. ; so also Bentley. Perhaps merely rats «KK-XT^o-tai? sliould be read, with Tischendorf, after 5 cursive, Arm. Andr. 2, Areth. as ed. Erasm. 1, 2, 3, Colin., Bengel, so also De AVette, to you the churches ; these the Lord here addresses at the conclusion. / am the root and the offspring of David ; see at v. 5, on pi^a, in this connection, yevos stands here also, oßspring, instead of he of the offspring of David. Yet, as Vitrhiga riglitly remarks, there is contained in it something more siguiiicaut, that he is the SPECIAL INTERPRETATION. 355 true shoot of David, wlio combined in himself all the high and glorious things ever promised to the race of David. The bright mornmg star ; see on ii. 28. VersB 17. And the spirit, the spirit of prophecy, which had also descended upon John, and the hride say, Come, Lord, delay no longer thy appearing. And let him that heareth it say, Come ; each one who hears this call of the spirit and the bride to the Lord may join in it and make known his desire. And let him that is athirst, come ; and whosoever will, let him take the loater of life freely ; see on xxi. 6 ; he who has true longing for the treasures of the Lord, the Lord will not withhold them from him. Verses 18, 19. A threatening on the part of the writer to those who should attempt to falsify the prophecy here com- municated, by curtailing or adding to it. Perhaps Deut. iv. 2 lies at the foundation of this, " Ye shall not add unto the word, which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you ; " ib. xiii. 1. Yet the writer has tran- scribers of his book specially in view, and wishes to prevent them from making any arbitrary alterations, as was then often done, especially in writings of the same prophetic kind ; so Grotius, Yitringa, &c. Similar threatenings are in Irenseus ; comp. Euseb. H. E. V. 20 ; Eufin. Prsef. in Orig. de Princ. And according to the account of Pseudo-Aristeas respecting the LXX., after th6 completion of this translation, they are said to have uttered a solemn curse upon every one who should dare to add any- thing, to transpose or to take from it. Yet the threat is here so strong that Luther not unjustly was somewhat offended at it. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the p)'i'0}')hccy of this hooh ; if any man shall add tmto these things, make arbi- trary additions to this prophecy, God shall add unto him the plagues (a play on liriTidevai) that arc written in this hooh Yerse 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the hook 3Ö6 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. of thvi prophecy , God shall take away his part oiit of the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this hook, of which it treats. Verse 20. He which testifieth these things, saith, the Lord, in reference to the entire prophetic contents of the book, surely, I come quicldy. 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