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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 10

1 Then I saw another powerful angel descending from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head;⁠ his face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.⁠ 2 He held in his hand a little scroll that was open,⁠ and he put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. 3 Then he shouted in a loud voice like a lion roaring, and when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded their voices.⁠ 4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was preparing to write, but just then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write it down.”⁠ 5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, and the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God is completed, just as he has proclaimed to his servants the prophets.”⁠ 8 Then the voice I had heard from heaven began to speak to me again, “Go and take the open scroll in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take the scroll and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”⁠ 10 So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it did taste as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 Then they told me: “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Daniel 8:26 and Revelation 10:4

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Daniel is told to seal up his apocalyptic vision because it concerns events far in the future, an idea of apocalyptic secrecy also found in Revelation, which similarly commands John not to write down the message of the seven thunders.

Passages

Daniel 8:26

Hebrew Bible
24 His power will be great, but it will not be by his strength alone. He will cause terrible destruction. He will be successful in what he undertakes. He will destroy powerful people and the people of the holy ones. 25 By his treachery he will succeed through deceit. He will have an arrogant attitude, and he will destroy many who are unaware of his schemes. He will rise up against the Prince of princes, yet he will be broken apart—but not by human agency. 26 The vision of the evenings and mornings that was told to you is correct. But you should seal up the vision, for it refers to a time many days from now.” 27 I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

Revelation 10:4

New Testament
2 He held in his hand a little scroll that was open, and he put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. 3 Then he shouted in a loud voice like a lion roaring, and when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded their voices. 4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was preparing to write, but just then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write it down.” 5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, and the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will be no more delay!
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... In case the subtleties of this theme were to be missed by a seer and his audience, on several occasions the divine guide who shows the vision and interprets it will subsequently command that the revelation must now be kept secret, at least until the time of the end. in Daniel 8:26, Daniel is told to seal up the vision, “as it concerns the future.” (in Daniel 7:28, the seer keeps the vision to himself, though he is not instructed to do so.) in 4 Ezra 14, by divine guidance the scribe Ezra and five colleagues produce 204 books of law to guide the new Jewish community in the future, but 70 of these are to be kept secret and only shown to the wise. Of course, the fact of the matter is that these texts are not hidden; they have an audience and readers who, presumably, count themselves among those afflicted by the events addressed in the seers’ visions. since these writings were to have been concealed until the appropriate time in the future, when they could edify and be understood by the special group of suffering people, the dynamic of revelation and concealment also has the function of imparting the significance of the time to its readers—and thereby affirming to the community that created, preserved, or read the texts that they, indeed, are the righteous, special, set-apart ones in God’s sacred history. By reversing the command and ordering that the vision not be sealed up, for the time is at hand, the angel at Revelation 22:10 seems to be both alluding to the tradition of concealing the revelation in apocalypse and explicitly defying it to make the point that this time is different—this time, the end is now. The exception proves the rule ..."
Dereck Dasche, "Apocalypse and Trauma" in Collins, John J. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature (Oxford University Press, 2014), 457–472.

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

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Daniel 8:26 and Revelation 10:4

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