Texts in Conversation
Revelation 13 adapts Jeremiah 15, where different fates are assigned to those who will be judged. In Jeremiah, this describes punishments for the nation’s sins, but Revelation reshapes them into encouragement for those suffering for their faith.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Jeremiah 15:2
Septuagint
1 And the Lord said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before my face, my soul could not be toward them: dismiss this people, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall be, if they say to you, Where shall we go forth? then you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord; As many as are for death, to death; and as many as are for the sword, to the sword; and as many as are for famine, to famine; and as many as are for captivity, to captivity. 3 And I will punish them with four kinds of death, says the Lord, the sword to kill, and the dogs to tear, and the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of the sky to devour and destroy. 4 And I will deliver them up for distress to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for all that he did in Jerusalem.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Revelation 13:10
New Testament
8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. 9 If anyone has an ear, he had better listen! 10 If anyone is meant for captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed by the sword, then by the sword he must be killed. This requires steadfast endurance and faith from the saints. 11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed.
Date: 92–96 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... Regarding the hardships in Revelation 13:10, interestingly, John the Seer describes them with proverbial sayings, which Aune claims allude to LXX Jeremiah 15:2 or 50:11 ... his comparison offers several suggestions. First, it is clear that John the Seer employs the form of proverbial saying in LXX Jeremiah 15:2, using the protasis and the apodosis with the preposition εἰς to identify each clause. Second, even though John uses LXX Jeremiah 15:2 in Revelation 13:10, he does not follow it strictly word for word. Rather, he adapts it and even intentionally omits the second and fourth lines. Aune offers a good comment on these omissions. He states that in LXX Jeremiah 15:2, the prophet writes this proverbial saying to indicate the punishments of God as consequences for the sins of God’s people. Thus, the punishments include pestilence, the sword, famine, and captivity. But in Revelation, the fate of captivity and the fate of the sword are consequences for those who attempt to practice their faith and maintain endurance. Thus, John the Seer intentionally omits the second and the fourth lines, which do not serve his purpose ..."
Wiriya Tipvarakankoon, The Theme of Deception in the Book of Revelation: Bringing Early Christian and Contemporary Thai Cultures into Dialogue, Claremont Studies in New Testament and Christian Origins 2 (Claremont, CA: Claremont, 2017), 145.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,