Rev 19:8 Righteousness/Righteous deeds?

nick lunn nick_lunn at wycliffe.org
Tue Oct 15 13:41:04 EDT 2002


     
     Revelation 19:7-8 (NIV) says:-
     
     Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the 
     Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
     Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen 
     stands for the righteous acts [TA DIKAIWMATA] of the saints.)
     
     Just about every English version I consulted translates TA DIKAIWMATA 
     as 'righteous acts', 'righteous deeds' or 'good deeds'.
     
     If this is a correct translation of this neuter plural noun, then I 
     find it strange. Such a reading seems to go against the Pauline 
     doctrine of justification by faith rather than by works. But more than 
     that, in this context (and elsewhere in Revelation, e.g. 3:18) the 
     garments are said to be 'given', that is, they are not naturally our 
     own.
     
     My question is: Is there anything to support the interpretation of 
     this plural noun as signifying 'righteousness'? This is how the old 
     KJV renders it. I note that Leon Morris in his commentary on the 
     Revelation (Tyndale) understands the word in terms of a 'sentence of 
     justification', that is, the divine pronouncement of acquittal 
     bestowed upon each faithful believer - hence, he says, the plural 
     form. Can this comment be substantiated?
     
     I'd appreciate your feedback.
     
     Nick Lunn
     Wycliffe Bible Translators
     KENYA




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