Texts in Conversation
Revelation 7 describes a large crowd holding palm branches in celebration, a moment that echoes 2 Maccabees 10 where palm branches were used to celebrate the rededication of the temple after victory over foreign rule.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Maccabees 10:7
Deuterocanon
5 Now on the same day that the sanctuary was profaned by foreigners, upon that very day it came to pass that the sanctuary was cleansed, even on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which is Chislev. 6 They observed eight days with gladness in the manner of the feast of tabernacles, remembering how not long before, during the feast of tabernacles, they were wandering in the mountains and in the caves like wild animals. 7 Therefore carrying wands wreathed with leaves, and beautiful branches, and palm fronds also, they offered up hymns of thanksgiving to him who had successfully brought to pass the cleansing of his own place. 8 They ordained also with a public statute and decree, for all the nation of the Jews, that they should observe these days every year. 9 Such were the events of the end of Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes.
Date: 160–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Revelation 7:9
New Testament
4 Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, 144,000, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel: 5 From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000, from the tribe of Gad, 12,000, 6 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000, from the tribe of Levi, 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. 9 After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Date: 92–96 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... 'Palm branches in their hands.' Palm branches are a symbol of triumph and victory. When, under the leadership of the Maccabees, Jerusalem was freed from the religious oppression of Antiochus Epiphanes, the people celebrated the victory with palm branches and harps and psalms." At the time of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the crowd greeted him waving palm branches (John 12:13). Here in Revelation 7, the redeemed are portrayed as celebrating the victory by waving palm branches ..."
Ranko Stefanović, Revelation of Jesus Christ: Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Andrews University Press, 2002), 265.
* 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
,