Go to Related Reading
About this book

Revelation

About this book
Chapter 12

1 Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.⁠ 2 She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.⁠ 4 Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.⁠ Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod.⁠ Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days.⁠ 7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.⁠ 8 But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. 9 So that huge dragon—the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world—was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 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!” 13 Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of—away from the presence of the serpent—for a time, times, and half a time.⁠ 15 Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood, 16 but the earth came to her rescue; the ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus. (12:18) And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 108:10 and Revelation 12:11

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

Share:

Summary

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.

Passages

1 Enoch 108:10

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 Since they came into being, they did not long 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 All the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And He has assigned them their reward, because they were found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trampled 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 rewarded with the honor their faithfulness deserved.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

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!”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

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 ..."
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 304.

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

Your feedback

1 Enoch 108:10 and Revelation 12:11

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library