Texts in Conversation
Revelation 19 describes a rider on a white horse leading a heavenly army, echoing 2 Maccabees 11 where an angelic horse rider clothed in white and armed with gold leads Judas Maccabeus and his army. Both portray a divine warrior leading a battle.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Maccabees 11:8
Deuterocanon
7 Maccabaeus himself took up weapons first, and exhorted the others to put themselves in jeopardy together with him and help their kindred; and they went out with him very willingly. 8 As they were there, close to Jerusalem, a horseman appeared at their head in white apparel, brandishing weapons of gold. 9 They all together praised the merciful God, and were yet more strengthened in heart, being ready to assail not only men but the wildest animals and walls of iron, 10 they advanced in array, having him who is in heaven to fight on their side, for the Lord had mercy on them. 11 Hurling themselves like lions against the enemy, they killed eleven thousand infantry and one thousand six hundred cavalry, and forced all the rest to flee. 12 Most of them escaped wounded and naked. Lysias himself also escaped by shameful flight.
Date: 160–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Revelation 19:11
New Testament
11 Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war. 12 His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. 16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Date: 92–96 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Roman princes customarily rode white horses in military triumphs; the emperor Domitian had himself ridden one behind his father and brother in their Judean triumph after the Jewish war of 66–70. But the image of Jesus returning on a white horse, conjoined with the title “King of kings” (19:16), may mean that Jesus is portrayed like the Parthian king (compare 6:2; 17:14), his whole army coming on white horses (19:14). That is, Revelation again employs the most feared imagery of the day to communicate its point. The pretentious claims of the emperor and all who were like him would be nothing before the true divine king from heaven. The image may allude to God going forth as a warrior on behalf of his people (e.g., Isaiah 31:4; 42:13; 59:16-18; Habakkuk 3:11-13; Zechariah 14:3; compare Exodus 15:3). This is the ultimate “holy war,” anticipated in the Old Testament, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, by the Zealots and by many other Jewish people, although not all these sources expected the deliverance and armies to come directly from heaven ..."
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014), 768.
* 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.
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