Texts in Conversation
Revelation 12 follows a Jewish apocalyptic and eschatological tradition also found in 1 Enoch 108, where the righteous are praised for not loving their lives, even when faced with suffering and shame.
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1 Enoch 108:10
Pseudepigrapha
9 Who, since they came into being, longed not after earthly food, but regarded everything as a passing breath, and lived accordingly, and the Lord tested them greatly, and their spirits were found pure so that they should bless His name. 10 And all the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And he has assigned them their reward, because they have been found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trodden underfoot by wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me. 11 And now I will summon the spirits of the good who belong to the generation of light, and I will transform those who were born in darkness, who in the flesh were not recompensed with such honor as their faithfulness deserved.
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Revelation 12:11
New Testament
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,“The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down. 11 But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. 12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them! But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!”
Date: 92-96 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... For Revelation 12:11 (οὐκ ἠγάπησαν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν), Charles regarded John 12:25 as the most immediate background: “Those who love their life (ὁ ϕιλῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν) their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life”. On the other hand, commenting on Revelation 12:11, Aune argues that “The topos of ‘the love of life’ standing in the way of a willingness to die for an important cause is typically Hellenistic.” While Aune’s comment applies to the text of the Eschatological Exhortation at 1 Enoch 108:10, it does not illuminate Revelation 12:11 as much as one might initially think. In the latter, “they did not love their life,” formulated in the negative, “life” refers to earthly, rather than heavenly existence; the link, therefore, to John 12:25 is much stronger ..."
Stuckenbruck, Loren T.
The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts
(p. 304) Mohr Siebeck, 2014
* 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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