Texts in Conversation
Revelation and the Apocalypse of Abraham share a common Jewish apocalyptic tradition that reshapes the plagues of Exodus into a new series of plagues at the end of the age, connecting them to the New Exodus tradition of the Hebrew prophets.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Apocalypse of Abraham 30:8
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 And He said to me: "What is desired in your heart I will tell you, because you have sought to see the ten plagues which I have prepared for the heathen, and have prepared beforehand at the passing over of the twelfth hour of the earth. 3 Hear what I divulge to you, so shall it come to pass: 4 the first (is) pain of great distress; the second, conflagration of many cities; 5 the third, destruction and pestilence of animals; the fourth, hunger of the whole world and of its people; 6 the fifth by destruction among its rulers, destruction by earthquake and the sword; the sixth, multiplication of hail and snow; 7 the seventh, the wild beasts will be their grave; the eighth, hunger and pestilence will alternate with their destruction; 8 the ninth, punishment by the sword and flight in distress; the tenth, thunder and voices and destructive earthquake.
Revelation 16:18
New Testament
17 Finally the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: “It is done!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake—an earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath.
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Notes and References
"... In the description of the last plague and the fall of Babylon in Revelation 16:17-21 a number of Old Testament allusions converge. The series of seven plagues in chapter 16 are fairly closely modelled on the ten last plagues of Egypt. The fact that Apocalypse of Abraham 30 has a series of ten last plagues on the Gentiles and ends with an allusion to the Sinai theophany like Revelation 16:18 may be evidence that there was already, before John wrote, an apocalyptic tradition of paralleling the last plagues with the plagues of Egypt, in accordance with the well-established treatment of the End as a new Exodus ..."
Bauckham, Richard
The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation
(p. 204) T&T Clark, 1993
* 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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