[B-Greek] Rev 20:4 PEPELEKISMENWN?

Elizabeth Kline kline-dekooning at earthlink.net
Sat Nov 5 01:19:07 EST 2005


On Nov 4, 2005, at 8:54 PM, craig wrote:

> I wonder if even the translation of the participle as "those who  
> had been
> beheaded" maybe forces too much time aspect onto the meaning.  
> Perhaps it
> should be just "the beheaded ones" (afterall, beheading probably  
> needs to
> have a Perfect sense). Perhaps it could be used without reference  
> to WHEN
> they were beheaded, only noting that the outcome that they were  
> beheaded. In
> this sense it could be people at any time in history who were (will  
> be)
> beheaded. John sees their souls.
>
> So does the Greek use of Perfect particple *necessarily* mean that the
> beheading must occur before the thousand years?

The short answer is YES. How can they reign on the basis of their  
martyrdom if they haven't been martyred yet?

There are problems with sequence here however:

Rev. 20:4 Καὶ εἶδον θρόνους καὶ  
ἐκάθισαν ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς καὶ κρίμα  
ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν  
πεπελεκισμένων διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν  
Ἰησοῦ καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ  
καὶ οἵτινες οὐ προσεκύνησαν τὸ  
θηρίον οὐδὲ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ καὶ  
οὐκ ἔλαβον τὸ χάραγμα ἐπὶ τὸ  
μέτωπον καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτῶν.  
καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν μετὰ  
τοῦ Χριστοῦ χίλια ἔτη.

RE. 20:4 KAI EIDON QRONOUS KAI EKAQISAN EP' AUTOUS KAI KRIMA EDOQH  
AUTOIS, KAI TAS YUCAS TWN PEPELEKISMENWN DIA THN MARTURIAN IHSOU KAI  
DIA TON LOGON TOU QEOU KAI hOITINES OU PROSEKUNHSAN TO QHRION OUDE  
THN EIKONA AUTOU KAI OUK ELABON TO CARAGMA EPI TO METWPON KAI EPI THN  
CEIRA AUTWN. KAI EZHSAN KAI EBASILEUSAN META TOU CRISTOU CILIA ETH.

The temporal sequence of this text has given pause to some scholars  
including R.H.Charles (ICC) and D.Aune (WBC). Anyone who tries to  
force a linear temporal framework on the Apocalypse is going to come  
to grief both with the macro and micro structure. This text is a case  
in point. Charles' suggestion that cut and paste is required to make  
sense out of 20:4 is more a reflection on his limitations as a reader  
than on the text. He wants all references to reigning to follow  
references to martyrdom. But Aune points out that the Apocalypse  
doesn't follow those rules but inverts temporal sequence in a number  
of places (cf. Rev. 3:3,17, 5:5, 6:4, 10:4, 20:4-5, 22:14).

That is not the question you asked but it is a related issue.

Elizabeth Kline







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