[B-Greek] subject in Rev 1:1

Edgar Foster edgarfoster2003 at yahoo.com
Sat Aug 16 16:13:52 EDT 2008


Dear Iver,

I've always found Revelation 22:6, 16 to be two interesting verses. Is Jesus the hO KURIOS, hO QEOS TWN PNEUMATWN TWN PROFHTWN of Revelation 22:6?

The context of the passage certainly allows for Jesus being identified as the "Lord God" in Revelation 22:6, but one thing that strikes me as I read what leads up to the proclamation under discussion here is Revelation 21:22:

καὶ ναὸν οὐκ εἶδον ἐν αὐτῇ, ὁ γὰρ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ναὸς αὐτῆς ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ ἀρνίον [KAI NAON EIDON EN AUTH hO GAR hO QEOS hO PANTOKRATWR NAOS AUTHS ESTIN KAI TO ARNION].

Also, we have Revelation 22:5:

καὶ νὺξ οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι, καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν χρείαν φωτὸς λύχνου καὶ φωτὸς ἡλίου, ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεὸς φωτιεῖ ἐπ' αὐτούς, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων [KAI NUX OUK ESTAI ETI KAI OUK ECOUSIN CREIAN FWTOS LUCNOU KAI FWTOS hHLIOU hOTI KURIOS hO QEOS FWTIEI EP' AUTOUS KAI BASILEUSOUSIN EIS TOUS AIWNAS TWN AIWNWN].

In the first text, the distinction that the writer of the Apocalypse makes between TO ARNION and "the Lord God Almighty" seems fairly clear. In the second text, the referent of the words KURIOS hO QEOS may seem more questionable. But it would not seem unreasonable to perceive a nexus between the Lord God of Revelation 22:5 and hO KURIOS, hO QEOS TWN PNEUMATWN TWN PROFHTWN of v. 6.

J. Ramsey Michaels (Revelation, page 250) views the language of Revelation 22:6 as an echo of Revelation 1:1: he thinks that Jesus will show HIS servants what will shortly transpire (p. 48). I tend to believe that God the Father is the referent of Revelation 22:6 and that God's servants are under discussion in Revelation 1:1.

Regards,
Edgar Foster

--- On Sat, 8/16/08, Iver Larsen <iver_larsen at sil.org> wrote:

> From: Iver Larsen <iver_larsen at sil.org>
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] subject in Rev 1:1
> To: "Oun Kwon" <kwonbbl at gmail.com>, "B-Greek B-Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Saturday, August 16, 2008, 1:41 AM
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Oun Kwon" <kwonbbl at gmail.com>
> To: "B-Greek B-Greek"
> <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: 16. august 2008 08:16
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] subject in Rev 1:1
> 
> 
> >
> > Concerning 'His messenger'. It says Jesus
> sending His messenger to the
> > congregations in 22:16 as Iver pointed out.
> >
> > However, I find another verse 22:6 which reads
> 'The Lord, the God of
> > the spirits of the prophets sent His angel froth to
> show His servant
> > the things that must take place quickly.'
> >
> > I'm not sure how to reconcile both verses in
> relation to 1:1.
> >
> > Oun.
> 
> Since both hO KURIOS and hO QEOS can refer to either God
> Almighty or Jesus in Revelation, the 
> reference in 22:6 is ambiguous. Rev. often disambiguates by
> adding hO PANTOKRATHR if God Almighty is 
> in view. Here, the context indicates that the reference is
> Jesus as the Lord and the God (master 
> over) the spirits of the prophets.
> 
> Iver Larsen 
> 
> ---
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