This is a non-debate, non-cabala, non-esoterica, and non-gematria (except as occurs in the text of Rv 13:18) thread.
I specifically request that Geert van den Bos not post in this thread or in any other thread that I may start.
I propose to confine myself to factual information; however, if anyone wishes to take exception to what I may present herein, please do so in a debate thread started for that purpose.
Revelation 17:1b NA27: δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὸ κρίμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς μεγάλης (ESV: Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters)
Via Accordance, from Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible, 1975), by J. Massyngberde Ford (maroon emphasis added by John Reece):
To be continued...
I specifically request that Geert van den Bos not post in this thread or in any other thread that I may start.
I propose to confine myself to factual information; however, if anyone wishes to take exception to what I may present herein, please do so in a debate thread started for that purpose.
Revelation 17:1b NA27: δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὸ κρίμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς μεγάλης (ESV: Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters)
Via Accordance, from Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible, 1975), by J. Massyngberde Ford (maroon emphasis added by John Reece):
Commentators have observed that the last of the Egyptian plagues, the death of the firstborn, does not feature in our apocalypse. Yet the author has followed carefully, albeit with ingenuity, the Levitical and Deuteronomic warnings, even to the point of portraying three seven–fold punishments as in Lev 26:18, 21, 24, and taking very literally the text of Deut 28:60–61, that if the Israelites do not obey “the words of this law” (cf. Rev 17:17b, “the words of God”), then Yahweh would turn all the plagues of Egypt back on them, and add even those not mentioned in the book of the law. In the light of this, has the author omitted the last plague or has he concealed it under his powerful imagery by bringing together inspiration from the Pentateuch and the prophetical writings?
In Lev 26 there are four references to seven–fold punishment (vss. 18, 21, 24, 27). The author appears to have modeled the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls upon the first three and one may suggest that the fall of the harlot comprises the last: it is a seven–fold (in the metaphorical sense of “complete,” “perfect”) punishment inflicted with “fury” (vs. 28; cf. Rev 16:1). In Revelation the fury is brought to a climax in chs. 17, 18, 19. Seven figures suffer loss: the harlot (18:1–8), the kings of the earth (18:9–10), the merchants (18:11–17a), the sailors (18:17b–19), the seven or nine classes of men (19:17–18), the first and second beasts (19:19–20), and Satan (20:1–3, 7–10). The Levitical text (26:27–33) suggests that one should look for cannibalism (cf. Rev 17:16, “and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire” and Rev 19:17–21), for desolation (cf. Rev 17:16b, 18:17), and for a devastation of the land which will astonish the enemies (cf. Rev 18:10, the kings of the earth in fear of the harlot’s torment; 18:15, the merchants; 18:18, the sailors crying out). These are creatively displayed in the remaining chapters.
The author has blended the prophetic theme of “harlot” (cf. Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) with the Levitical text. A study of the metaphorical use of “harlot” in the OT shows a marked tendency to depict faithless Israel thus. There are five principal texts which refer to Jerusalem or Israel as a harlot and only two which refer to non-Israelite cities with the same image.
Hosea 2:5, 3:3, 4:15 speak of the harlotry of Israel; there is no suggestion that her Canaanite neighbors are so designated. The whole book of Hosea seeks to bring the adulteress back to her true husband, Yahweh. In Isaiah 1:4 the prophet addresses Israel as “a people laden with iniquity” (RSV) and in 1:9 calls her by the names of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Rev 8). Then in 1:21 he exclaims: “how the faithful city has become a harlot, she that was full of injustice” (RSV). In Jer 2:20 (cf. 3:1, 6, 8–10) once again Israel is called a harlot and in 5:7 Jerusalem is accused of harlotry and adultery. Micah 1:7 makes the same complaint against Samaria and Jerusalem. This theme is resumed in Ezek 23, where Jerusalem is seen as the worse of the two. In Ezek 23:31–34 the metaphor of the cup occurs; cf. Rev 17:4.
The text that influences the author of Revelation most is Ezek 16, which is a prophetical attack on Jerusalem. The prophet finds no kind word for her. His description is as graphic as in Rev 17–18, for he describes how God has seen Israel in her poverty, had compassion for her and caused her to live and grow to full maidenhood. When she reached the age of love He spread His skirt over her and plighted His troth to her and entered into a covenant with her. She became his. He washed her, clothed her, decked her with ornaments (cf. Rev 17:4) and placed a crown upon her head (cf. the reference to “queen” in Rev 18:7). She reached a regal estate and her renown went forth among the nations (cf. Rev 17:18) because of her beauty. However, she trusted in her beauty and played the harlot with Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. Unlike other harlots, she gave gifts rather than received them. On account of her sins, Ezekiel says that God threatens to gather her lovers against her and uncover her nakedness to them; cf. Rev 17:16. He will judge her as an adulteress or a murderer would be judged. He says that she is more sinful than Sodom and Samaria. Yet Ezek 16 ends with a promise of forgiveness and establishment of an everlasting covenant.
In Lev 26 there are four references to seven–fold punishment (vss. 18, 21, 24, 27). The author appears to have modeled the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls upon the first three and one may suggest that the fall of the harlot comprises the last: it is a seven–fold (in the metaphorical sense of “complete,” “perfect”) punishment inflicted with “fury” (vs. 28; cf. Rev 16:1). In Revelation the fury is brought to a climax in chs. 17, 18, 19. Seven figures suffer loss: the harlot (18:1–8), the kings of the earth (18:9–10), the merchants (18:11–17a), the sailors (18:17b–19), the seven or nine classes of men (19:17–18), the first and second beasts (19:19–20), and Satan (20:1–3, 7–10). The Levitical text (26:27–33) suggests that one should look for cannibalism (cf. Rev 17:16, “and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire” and Rev 19:17–21), for desolation (cf. Rev 17:16b, 18:17), and for a devastation of the land which will astonish the enemies (cf. Rev 18:10, the kings of the earth in fear of the harlot’s torment; 18:15, the merchants; 18:18, the sailors crying out). These are creatively displayed in the remaining chapters.
The author has blended the prophetic theme of “harlot” (cf. Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) with the Levitical text. A study of the metaphorical use of “harlot” in the OT shows a marked tendency to depict faithless Israel thus. There are five principal texts which refer to Jerusalem or Israel as a harlot and only two which refer to non-Israelite cities with the same image.
Hosea 2:5, 3:3, 4:15 speak of the harlotry of Israel; there is no suggestion that her Canaanite neighbors are so designated. The whole book of Hosea seeks to bring the adulteress back to her true husband, Yahweh. In Isaiah 1:4 the prophet addresses Israel as “a people laden with iniquity” (RSV) and in 1:9 calls her by the names of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Rev 8). Then in 1:21 he exclaims: “how the faithful city has become a harlot, she that was full of injustice” (RSV). In Jer 2:20 (cf. 3:1, 6, 8–10) once again Israel is called a harlot and in 5:7 Jerusalem is accused of harlotry and adultery. Micah 1:7 makes the same complaint against Samaria and Jerusalem. This theme is resumed in Ezek 23, where Jerusalem is seen as the worse of the two. In Ezek 23:31–34 the metaphor of the cup occurs; cf. Rev 17:4.
The text that influences the author of Revelation most is Ezek 16, which is a prophetical attack on Jerusalem. The prophet finds no kind word for her. His description is as graphic as in Rev 17–18, for he describes how God has seen Israel in her poverty, had compassion for her and caused her to live and grow to full maidenhood. When she reached the age of love He spread His skirt over her and plighted His troth to her and entered into a covenant with her. She became his. He washed her, clothed her, decked her with ornaments (cf. Rev 17:4) and placed a crown upon her head (cf. the reference to “queen” in Rev 18:7). She reached a regal estate and her renown went forth among the nations (cf. Rev 17:18) because of her beauty. However, she trusted in her beauty and played the harlot with Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. Unlike other harlots, she gave gifts rather than received them. On account of her sins, Ezekiel says that God threatens to gather her lovers against her and uncover her nakedness to them; cf. Rev 17:16. He will judge her as an adulteress or a murderer would be judged. He says that she is more sinful than Sodom and Samaria. Yet Ezek 16 ends with a promise of forgiveness and establishment of an everlasting covenant.
To be continued...
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