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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 19

1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 because his judgments are true and just. For he has judged the great prostitutewho corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and has avenged the blood of his servants poured out by her own hands!” 3 Then a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, saying: “Amen! Hallelujah!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our Godall you his servants, and all you who fear him, both the small and the great!” 6 Then I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the All-Powerful, reigns! 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.⁠ 8 She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen” (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints). 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” 11 Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse!⁠ The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war.⁠ 12 His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head.⁠ He has a name written that no one knows except himself.⁠ 13 He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God.⁠ 14 The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword so that with it he can strike the nations.⁠ He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful.⁠ 16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”⁠ 17 Then I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: “Come, gather around for the great banquet of God, 18 to eat your fill of the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of powerful people, the flesh of horses and those who ride them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, and small and great!” 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 20 Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf—signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.⁠ 21 The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.

Texts in conversation

Compare Revelation 19:13 and Jonathan Isaiah 59:19

New Testament · Targum

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Summary

Revelation 19 describes the divine warrior as “the Word of God,” similar to the Aramaic translation of Isaiah 59 in the Targum, where victory is through the “Memra.” Revelation may have been influenced by an Aramaic tradition similar to the Targum.

Passages

Revelation 19:13

New Testament
11 Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war. 12 His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. 16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

Jonathan Isaiah 59:19

Targum
18 He is the Lord of retributions; He will render recompense, vengeance to His enemies, retribution to His adversaries; He will render recompense to the islands. 19 They will fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the oppressors come in like a flood of the river Euphrates, they will be broken by the Memra of the LORD. 20 And the Redeemer will come to Zion, and turn the transgressors of the house of Jacob to the Torah, says the LORD.
200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

"... We see in this passage that while the Masoretic Text stresses that God acts alone as warrior, in the Targum he acts through his Word, a feature that we also noted in connection with the theme of creation in Isaiah 44:24. Again one might object that ‘the Memra of my pleasure’ could or should be taken literally, as God’s decree through which he accomplishes his good pleasure. But again we note that in any proposal of a background for the Logos title, John is not considered bound to use his source material without adaptation. By saying that the name of the warrior is ‘the Word of God,’ which infers the Tetragrammaton, John makes it clear that the warrior of Revelation 19 is YHWH, not merely a personification of God’s decree ... One need not go to Gen 49:11 in the Palestinian Targums therefore to explain Rev 19:11, ‘in righteousness he judges and makes war.’ Targum Isaiah 59:17 says, ‘strength and salvation he will bring by his Memra to those who fear him’ (MT, ‘[he put] a helmet of salvation on his head’); Targum Isaiah 59:19 says ‘by the Memra of the LORD they shall be plundered’ (MT, ‘[He will come like a rushing stream], which the wind of the LORD drives on’), where ‘the Memra of the LORD’ agrees with the name ‘the Word of God’ of Rev 19:13 ..."
John L. Ronning, “The Targum of Isaiah and the Johannine Literature,” WTJ 69 (2007): 247–278.

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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Revelation 19:13 and Jonathan Isaiah 59:19

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