ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν eyes or animals? Rev. 4:6

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Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν eyes or animals? Rev. 4:6

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Revelations 4:6 wrote:καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου ὡς θάλασσα ὑαλίνη, ὁμοία κρυστάλλῳ. Καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου τέσσαρα ζῷα γέμοντα ὀφθαλμῶν ἔμπροσθεν (facing the throne / closer to John) καὶ ὄπισθεν (looking away from the throne [cf. Rev. 5:1 obverse - reverse of a scroll in NA-UBS text] / further from the narrator's stand-point).
Is ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν referring to the animals' positions in relation to the throne (from where John is looking), or to the position of their eyes on their bodies (relative to their own orientation to the throne).

Another point: I guess that ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου means centred around the throne. [With the adverb's reference point ("looking") from the inside out, rather than from the outside in.]
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
cwconrad
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Re: ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν eyes or animals? Rev. 4:6

Post by cwconrad »

Stephen Hughes wrote:
Revelations 4:6 wrote:καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου ὡς θάλασσα ὑαλίνη, ὁμοία κρυστάλλῳ. Καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου τέσσαρα ζῷα γέμοντα ὀφθαλμῶν ἔμπροσθεν (facing the throne / closer to John) καὶ ὄπισθεν (looking away from the throne [cf. Rev. 5:1 obverse - reverse of a scroll in NA-UBS text] / further from the narrator's stand-point).
Is ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν referring to the animals' positions in relation to the throne (from where John is looking), or to the position of their eyes on their bodies (relative to their own orientation to the throne).

Another point: I guess that ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου means centred around the throne. [With the adverb's reference point ("looking") from the inside out, rather than from the outside in.]
I would understand ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν as referring to the bodily position(s) of the eyes; I "see" these creatures as like the mythical Argos Πανόπτης, with eyes fixed in all directions. Since they are "brimming with eyes", I take it that ἔμπροσθεν καί ὄπισθεν is a figurative way of saying "in all directions" by phrasing it, as my son in early years put it, "befront and behind."
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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