An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation

by Ronald Herms

Overview

This monograph examines the problem of universally inclusive language in the book of Revelation and the resulting narrative tension created by narrowly exclusive language. Analysis is conducted by placing relevant texts within their literary-narrative context and through consideration of how the author understood and appropriated biblical traditions. A key feature of this study is its examination of four early Jewish documents with significant similarities to the problem being examined in Revelation. From these documents (Tobit; Similitudes of Enoch [1 Enoch 37-71]; 4 Ezra; and, Animal Apocalypse [1 Enoch 85-90]) a contextual picture emerges which allows a fuller understanding of Revelation’s distinctive approach toward the problem of the fate of the nations. This study contends that the interpretive strategies applied to biblical traditions in Revelation have their roots in the wider early Jewish milieu. From this comparative analysis, identifiable patterns with regard to the role of ‘universal terminology’ in the communicative strategy of John’s Apocalypse emerge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110193121
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	11/16/2006
Series:	Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft , #143
Edition description:	Reprint 2012
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ronald Herms, Northwest University, Kirkland (WA), USA.

Table of Contents

Preface     vii
Table of Contents     ix
Abbreviations (Publication and Standard)     xiii
Introduction     1
Description of the Problem     1
Identifying the Issues     2
Purpose of the Present Study     3
History of Interpretation     5
Source Criticism     5
Wilhem Bousset     6
R.H. Charles     9
Josephine Massyngberde-Ford     10
Ulrich B. Muller     12
David Aune     14
Mainstream Commentaries on Revelation     19
Martin Kiddle     19
Robert Mounce     22
G.B. Caird     24
John Sweet     26
Literary-Narrative Approaches to Revelation     28
David L. Barr     29
Eugene Boring     31
Leonard Thompson     34
Richard Bauckham and the 'Conversion of the Nations'     37
Method and Assumptions     44
Early Jewish Literature     50
Introduction     50
Qumran - Eschatological Dualism and the Fate of the Nations     52
Tobit     61
Introduction     61
Textual Unityand the Authenticity of Tobit 13.1-14.15     62
Literary Context and Narrative Development: An Intentional Boundary Shift?     67
Development of Biblical Traditions in Tobit     74
Summary     76
Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71)     78
Introduction     78
Literary Structure     80
Group Identification and the Use of Epithets     82
'The Watchers'     83
'Those who dwell on earth'     84
'Sinners'     84
'The Kings and Powerful of the Earth'     84
'Others'     85
Universal Traditions in the Similitudes     86
1 Enoch 48.4-5     87
1 Enoch 50.1-5     90
Scenes of Universal Worship     95
Summary     97
4 Ezra     98
Introduction     98
Literary Structure and Narrative Development     100
Theories Related to Theological Tension in 4 Ezra     104
Transformation as the Interpretive Key to 4 Ezra     106
Universal Traditions in 4 Ezra     108
4 Ezra 6.25-28     108
4 Ezra 11.38-12.34     111
4 Ezra 13     114
Summary      119
Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85-90)     120
Introduction     120
Narrative Development in the Animal Apocalypse     122
The Role of the Gentile Nations in 1 Enoch 90.16-38     130
Summary     135
Synthesis     136
Preliminary Matters in the Book of Revelation     138
Introduction     138
Critique of Bauckham's Thesis     139
The Question of Genre     145
Structural Analysis of Revelation     147
Narrative Development in Revelation     154
The First Series of Visions (1.9-3.22)     155
The Second Series of Visions (4.1-16.21)     158
The Third Series of Visions (17.1-21.8)     161
The Fourth Series of Visions (21.9-22.5)     166
Universal Traditions in the Book of Revelation     169
Introduction     169
The Contextual Matrix for the Present Study     169
Organization and Interpretive Aims     170
The Nations/Gentiles ([characters not reproducible])     172
Introduction     172
[characters not reproducible] in Biblical Traditions     172
The Four-fold Formula in Revelation     173
Literary-Narrative Function of [characters not reproducible] in Revelation     174
[characters not reproducible] as a Neutrally Collective Term     175
[characters not reproducible] and the Faithful Community     176
[characters not reproducible] as Humanity set against God     178
Psalm 2 as an Interpretive Template in Revelation     178
[characters not reproducible] in Scenes of Eschatological Vindication     181
'The Inhabitants of the Earth'     185
Introduction     185
'The Inhabitants of the Earth' in Biblical Traditions     186
Literary-Narrative Function of 'the Inhabitants of the Earth'     187
Related Terms and Group Labels in Revelation     189
Introduction     189
[characters not reproducible]     190
[characters not reproducible]     191
[characters not reproducible]     194
'The Kings of the Earth'     197
Introduction     197
'The Kings of the Earth' in Biblical Traditions     200
Apocalyptic Convention and Political Polemic     205
Linguistic Field of Reference     206
Literary-Narrative Function of 'the Kings of the Earth'     207
Rev 1.5     208
Rev 6.15-17     217
Rev 10.11      224
Rev 16.14-21     225
Rev 17.1-19.21     227
Rev 21.24-26     241
Isaiah 60 in Two Early Jewish Documents     246
Summary     253
Synthesis and Conclusions     257
Review of Stated Aims     257
Observations on Early Jewish Literature     258
Observations on the Book of Revelation     259
Outlook and Prospects for Further Research     260
Bibliography     262
Index of Authors     273
Index of Topics     276
Index of References     279