Texts in conversation

Compare Hymn to a Universal God and Revelation 22:13

Classical · New Testament

Summary

Revelation 22 describes Jesus as the beginning and end of creation, language similar to Greek traditions, such as a hymn from Egypt in honor of a universal god identified with Poseidon. The hymn calls this deity the source and completion of creation.

Passages

Hymn to a Universal God

Classical · Fragment P.Col. Inv. 1171

Hail Heaven, hail Poseidon
Dwelling in the southern region
Protecting cities
Hail the beginning, hail the end of everything
... establishing an equal destiny
... and bringer of light, hail you greatest
delightful gifts
... guide of the summer ...
forefather

300–200 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hymn to a Universal God

Revelation 22:13

New Testament

10 Then he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near. 11 The evildoer must continue to do evil, and the one who is morally filthy must continue to be filthy. The one who is righteous must continue to act righteously, and the one who is holy must continue to be holy.” 12 (Look ! I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done! 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end!) 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.

92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... Compare with Christ as 'beginning' and 'end' in Revelation 21:6; 22:13 ..."

L. Koenen, “Ein Hymnus auf den Allgott (P. Col. inv. 1171),” ZPE 4 (1969): 19–21.

... The divine title 'the Beginning and the End [and the Middle] of all things' is drawn from Hellenistic religious and philosophical tradition and has a cosmological rather than a temporal significance, as the detailed study by W. C. van Unnik (Het godspredikaat) makes clear. The Derveni papyrus, found carbonized in Macedonia and dating from ca. 350 B.C., contains lines from an Orphic poem that is probably much earlier (col. 13, line 12): 'Zeus is the beginning, Zeus is the middle, all things are fulfilled by Zeus.' This is virtually identical to the saying found in Ps.-Aristotle De mundo 7 ...

David E. Aune, Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 17-22 (Dallas: Word, 1998), 1124–1126.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Compare Hymn to a Universal God and Revelation 22:13

Summary

Passages

Hymn to a Universal God

Revelation 22:13

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library