The Apocalypse of John, by Charles C. Torrey

[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

Galba's ignominious reign was brief, hardly seven months, but it was long enough for the composition of several works of this small compass, whose author had been storing up his material during the last years of Nero's reign. It has become customary in dealing with this chronology to omit Galba, Otho, and Vitellius all together, in order by some device to be enabled to pass on to the times of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. No device is legitimate, however, in the face of the author's plain and emphatic statement.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

Those who would omit (without warrant) the three Roman emperors who followed Nero profess to be following the statement of the Apocalyptist in 17:10 f.; in fact, they reject it in toto. No one who reads the passage 17:8-11, with its impressive introduction, can fail to see that its author intends to give important information. It is definite, consistent, and reiterated. There are seven heads, no more (13:1); this is repeated in 17:10a. One of the seven "the beast that was and is not" (that is, Nero), is to return as an eighth. There is no escape from this, nor room for ambiguity.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

Those who seek to evade this conclusion number as follows: The sixth emperor, Vespasian;* the seventh, Titus (but the seventh "has not yet come," see below); the eighth (!) Domitian. The author's own statement is thus completely rejected: it would be better better to leave it out altogether.

*The statement in 17:10 that the revelation was received in the time of the sixth emperor is hereby denied.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

No other "eighth" than the restored Beast can be considered. After Nero's death there was indeed chaos in the empire, soon amounting in the West to civil war, with rival claimants leading out armies. In the province of Asia, however, as in the East generally, the decisions of Rome and the senate in this period were loyally accepted and adhered to (as Tacitus expressly informs us), up to the time when Vespasian was proclaimed emperor in Syria. The virtual denial to Servius Galba of the title of Roman emperor has no justification. We know that his reign was brief; but the Apocalyptist, writing in Asia between midsummer of the year 68 and the first months of the year 69, had no such knowledge. The him, Galba was simply the sixth "head," to be followed (his faith so assured him) by the seventh and last of the Roman oppressors.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

The point of difficulty in 17:10 is in the words relating to the seventh emperor, who "has not yet appeared," but of whom it nevertheless is said that his reign "must be brief." There are three possibilities. (1) Prophecy after the event. The seventh emperor, Otho, did in fact reign but a very short time, and one might say the Apocalyptist chose to give out as prediction what he knew to have taken place. This hypothesis is plainly untenable. If the author of 17:10 has seen the actual end of the seventh emperor's reign, he could not possibly have written 17:11. The eighth, who followed, was not Nero.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

(2) It is possible to suppose that Number Seven was already on the throne, but that the author of Revelation preferred to credit the angel with the prediction of his reign. In the East, more generally than in the West, Otho was recognized as emperor. See Tacitus, Hist., I, 76. He certainly was the seventh in the province of Asia. The question is whether he should be brought into the picture. His reign lasted only three months; is it to be supposed that after it had begun and before it had ended the Apocalypse was completed and issued? The hypothesis gives no help and is improbable for more than one reason. The seven heads were as essential a feature of the vision, from the first, as were the ten horns (Daniel). The unshakeable conviction of the author that after the sacred number had been fulfilled Nero would return, is obvious enough. There is no advantage, but only disadvantage, in rejecting his plain statement, that "the one (the sixth] is" There is only one wholly plausible reason for his making it, namely, that it was true.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

(3) The author of Revelation had at least as good ground for his mistaken prediction as the prophet Daniel for his. Most important of all was his faith, his conviction, that Jesus the Messiah must soon finish what he had begun. The circumstances of the time showed, quite as plainly as they had shown to Daniel, that the turning point was close at hand. Galba, when he took the throne, was already old and feeble. Whatever his personal qualities might be, no one could doubt that his reign would be brief. The belief in a Nero redivivus made it all the more certain that the seventh emperor could have no long tenure of office. The true solution, then, of the riddle presented by the last clauses of 17:10 is that which was concisely given by Professor F. C. Porter in his Messages of the Apocalyptical Writers (1905), p. 262: "the next reign (the seventh) was made short in order that the number seven might be filled out and yet the end be near."

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

The claim thus made in the book itself, that it was written in the time of the Roman emperor who followed Nero, must of course be confronted with, and tested by, the other available evidence, which fortunately is abundant. Definite allusions begin with chapter 13 and end with chapter 20. The central subject in this part of the book, aside from the doom pronounced upon Rome, is the worship of the Beast. The person of the latter is expressly identified in each and all of the chapters in which he is mentioned: he is the one whose number is 666, that is Nero Caesar. In chapter 13, in the verses just preceding the cipher, there are mentioned certain things connected with the worship of this particular emperor. They are: his image, the mark put upon his worshippers, and "the number of his name." In the subsequent chapters there is mention of his cult as follows, in each case with some plain identification: 14:9-11 (image, mark, name); 15:2 (image, the number of his name); 16:2 (mark, image); 19:20 (mark, image); 20:4 (image, mark).

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

Now these, together with the rest of chapter 13, are the only allusions to the imperial cult which are to be found in Revelation, and they all refer definitely to the Beast of 13:18. If the background of the reign of Domitian is to be found in the book, it must be sought elsewhere.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

The passages dealing with the administration of the Beast-worship, the manner of its requirement, and the extent of its enforcement, are of special importance. The priesthood of the imperial cult ("another beast," 13:11) issues a program in 13:12-17. All the inhabitants of the earth (verses 12, 14, 16) are to worship the Beast whose death -stroke was healed (verse 12). An image of the Beast is to be made, and all who do not worship it shall be killed (verses 14, 15). The "other beast" will make fire to come down from heaven, and will make the image breathe and speak (verses 13, 15). The worshippers receive the mark of the beast and the number of his name; all others―those that is, who escape immediate death―will be debarred from any buying or selling.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

All this must refer to the future, and so it is treated also in 14:9-11. So the principal commentaries agree. There is nothing to indicate that either of these passages or the allusions in them which follow, up to chapter 20, reflect in any way the past or the present time. The conclusion is therefore certain that this portentous program is the of the worship of Nero redivivus, to be inaugurated in the immediate future, upon his resumption of the throne. It is also evident that such a program would most naturally be put forth soon after the reported escape and recovery of Nero, while the excitement of the story was still fresh and while the apprehension of his return to power still mightily stirred the people of Asia Minor. Nothing could show better than this reported plan how general the belief was, and how firmly it was held.

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[John Reece]

Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

One is tempted to recognize a note of grim sarcasm in the description of the "other beast," as he begins his loudmouthed proclamation to all the peoples of the inhabited earth. "He had the two horns of a wild ox, and he howled like a dragon. The symbolism of the horns of the wild ox, Deut. 33:17, is appropriate here: "with them he shall push all the peoples, even to the ends of the earth." For the howling (not "speaking") of the dragon, see the note on the text. Sarcasm, however, seems foreign to the mood of the writer.

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[John Reece]

Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

The persecution here threatened concerns not only the Church, but any and all religions that might resist the worship of the revived Nero. But there are also in Revelation conspicuous allusion to former persecution and martyrdom. Foremost among these is the eloquent passage, 6:9-11, presenting the souls of those who had been slain "for the word of God and for the testimony."* These are the victims of the horrible persecution of Christians in Rome under Nero (so Bousset, Charles). These are referred to more definitely in 17:6, in the seer's vision of Rome: "I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus." See also 19:2 and 20:4a. In 16:6 the martyrdom is of all times ("saints and prophets"), and it is equally indefinite in 12:11.

*The witness borne by Jewish Christians, to the Hebrew scriptures and to the Messiahship of Jesus, a phrase occurring often, is several forms, in Revelation.

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[John Reece]

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Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

Aside from the passages here named, there is in the Apocalypse no allusion to persecution of Christians by officers of the Roman government―excepting that the Jews of Smyrna, in making trouble for the Church (2:10), were doubtless aided and abetted by the local authorities. The Christians were of course harassed at all times and in all places, but nothing in the book suggests that the churches of Asia had been called to endure anything unusual. There is nowhere evidence that there had been persecution of Christians in the East as well as in Rome, under Nero. The Messages is chapters 1-3 picture only normal conditions. The terror of the Beast was indeed upon the Christians of the province; knowledge of his frightful cruelty in Rome, dread of martyrdom under his rule in the near future. It is the latter time of trial that is referred to in 7:14, "the great tribulation" (also 6:11 and 3:11); and the allusion is to the standing feature of Jewish eschatology, the unexampled tribulation predicted in Dan. 12:1, Mark 13:19 (and parallels), and elsewhere.

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[John Reece]

Continuation of the Introduction to The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

Thus far, nothing opposes the representation of the Apocalypse itself that it was written in the reign of Galba. As for the reign of Domitian, it has here been shown that no passage in the book concerning either emperor cult or persecution of Christians refers to any other ruler than the Beast whose number is 666. If the nightmare of the escaped and returning tyrant had made its first appearance a decade or two after the death of Nero (a strange supposition, by the way), one could perhaps understand how it might take full possession of a book written in Domitian's day. We happen to know, however, that the story arose in the year 68. It was soon after the beginning of the year 69 that the first pretender, who had mustered his forces in Asia and Achaia, set out for Italy. He was met halfway and suitably dealt with. This episode could not fail to weaken, to some extent, the popular faith in a restored and returning Nero.

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