The Apocalypse of John, by Charles C. Torrey

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

4:6 continued. The discussion now returns to the main passage under consideration, 4:6. Here the bēn [בֵּין] represented by en mésōi [ἐν μέσῳ] cannot possibly have meant "in the midst," as was shown at the beginning. It must have meant "between" (as in 5:6), and this at once necessitates the conclusion that something is missing from our text. Moreover, 5:6 now shows plainly what is missing: it is the twenty-four elders who had just been mentioned in 4:4 as "surrounding the throne" (Greek, kuklóthen toû thrónou [κυκλόθεν τοῦ θρόνου]; Aramaic, misᵉḥōr sᵉḥōr lᵉūrᵉsayyɔʾ).

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

4:6 continued. The place of the lacuna is between the words "and" and "around," and it is thus evident that the omission took place in the Greek text, not in the Aramaic. It is easy to see how it might have been occasioned. We may suppose that our Greek text, at the occasion of the omission, had the following form:

kaì enópion toû thrónou hōs thálassa hualinē omoia krustállōi. Kaì en mésōi toû thrónou kaì [en mésōi tôn 24 presbutérōn tôn kathēménōn] kúklōi toû thrónou 4 zôia gémonta ophthalmôn émprosthen kaì ópisthen. Kaì tò zôion tò prôton hómoion léonti, etc.

The number―thirty-four―of Greek letters in the omitted piece of text enclosed in brackets is about average for the line of a codex written in two columns. The eye of the scribe who had just copied en mésōi toû thrónou kaì might very naturally have been caught by the words kúklōi toû thrónou as he turned back to the beginning of the lines, and the false continuation could result. At all events, what the author of the passage must have intended to say was this: Between the throne and the twenty-four elders (just mentioned) were the four strange beings. The comparison of 5:6, 8, 11, supported by the known equation of en mésōi [ἐν μέσῳ] = bēn [בֵּין] would seem to render the emendation certain, whatever may be conjectured as to the precise form.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

4:8. In the description of the four Zoa ("beasts") given in verses 6-8 of this chapter, the Greek text is perfectly incomprehensible, evidently faulty in some way, at one important point. The description of the creatures, which follows very closely the picture given in Ezekiel, chapters 1 and 10 (compare especially Rev. 4:7 with Ezek. 1:10!), differs in some particulars, especially in the arrangement of the numberless eyes. The prophet's cherubim were furnished with wheels, which were "full of eyes round about," plḗreis ophthalmôn kuklóthen [πλήρεις ὀφθαλμῶν κυκλόθεν] (Exek. 1:18, 10:12). The Apocalyptist had no use for wheels, but would retain the feature of the many eyes. In his first mention of the Zoa, at the end of verse 6, he characterizes them as "full of eyes before and behind." gémonta ophthalmôn émprosthen kaì ópisthen [γέμοντα ὀφθαλμῶν ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν], the two adverbs evidently having the same general meaning as kuklóthen [κυκλόθεν] in Ezekiel.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

4:8, continued. The phrase, as Charles remarks, "has proved a hopeless crux to interpreters." The only way to deal with it seemed to be to excise it. Wellhausen, in thus treating it (Analyse der Offenbarung Johannis, p. 9), attempted to make it a duplicate of the phrase in verse 6―which it certainly is not. Charles, I, 124, while disagreeing with Wellhausen, nevertheless concludes that the words "are a meaningless interpolation." The fact is, however, as in most cases, that the words are not interpolated but are the result of a false rendering of the original text. It is strange that scholars like Wellhausen and Charles, who have seriously considered the possibility of translation from a Semitic original, should not think of making a test in this passage, where the source of the difficulty becomes at once clear and where the explanation is as good in Hebrew as it is in Aramaic. The clue is given not only by the sense but also by the noticeable absence, to which Charles calls attention, of the conjunction kaì before kuklóthen.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

4:8, continued. Verse 8 explains why the four Zoa appeared to be covered with eyes, "both before and behind." In Ezekiel the eyes were only in the wheels (the verse 10:12 is admittedly corrupt), and the Apocalyptist has transferred them to the wings of his creatures. The original text of the passage was the following: [recherché transliteration] "and the four Zoa, each one of them has six wings, filled round about and within with eyes." The word "within" refers of course to the under side of the wings. Since the nouns "beast" and "wing" are both feminine in either Hebrew or Aramaic, the word malᵉyɔn, "full," might refer to either one, and the text restored as above might therefore be rendered exactly as in our Greek. The translator, as would be expected, took his cue from verse 6 and thus spoiled the phrase. If he had only rendered gemoúsas instead of gémousin everything would have been in order.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

5:5; 15:2. These two passages illustrate common use (two somewhat different uses) of the Aramaic verb zᵉḵɔʾ.

In chapter 5, when no one in heaven or on earth has been found able to open the book, loosing its seven seals, the announcement is made that the Lion of the tribe of Judah "has overcome to open the book" (eníkēsen . . . anoîxai tò biblíon [ἐνίκησεν . . . ἀνοῖξαι τὸ βιβλίον]). This use of the Greek verb is remarkable, and so is its immediate connection with the infinitive. Blass, Gramm., §69, 3, lists the passage along with several other examples of translation Greek. The phrase exactly reproduces a very familiar Aramaic idiom. The verb zᵉḵɔʾ, commonly meaning "conquer" and in Greek translations ordinarily rendered by nikân, is frequently used to mean "succeed in, attain to, be worthy of," etc., with a following infinitive, as in the present passage. Thus Targ. Ps. 118:22: the scion of Jesse whom the builders had rejected "was worthy to be appointed king" (zᵉḵɔʾ lᵉiṯᵉmannɔʾɔ [with a horizontal bar over the final letter] limᵉlēk). Targ. Job 20:17: The wicked man "will not succeed in seeing the streams" (lɔʾ yizᵉḵē lᵉmiḥᵃmey naḥᵃmey naḥᵃlayyɔʾ). Bekoroth 60a: the mother of Rabbi Huna "proved able (zᵉḵɔʾī, 'conquered') to bear a son." In all such cases any Greek translator would render by nikân.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

5:5; 15:2 continued. The use of the Aramaic verb in 15:2 is different and equally interesting. The seer is shown a company of saints standing by a glassy sea (cf. 4:6), singing "the song of Moses and the Lamb." These are the faithful servants of God and his Messiah who are "victors from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name" (nikôntas ek toû thēríou kaì ek tês elkónos autoû, etc. [νικῶντας ἐκ τοῦ θηρίου καὶ ἐκ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ], etc.).

This idiom is not Greek. Charles, 2, 33, finds the use of ek unexampled and says that "no adequate explanation has yet been offered." We have here another common use of the same Aramaic verb.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

5:5; 15:2 continued. The Hebrew root ZKH means "pure, clean, innocent." The corresponding Aramaic root is DK^ͻ, but when moral "cleanness" is meant the initial Z usually appears; see for example Daniel 6:23, and line 46 of the Ahiqar papyrus. In the courts of law the innocent man is "victorious" (hence the usage described above).* Targ. Mic. 6:11: "Shall they be guiltless (yizᵉḵōn, 'be held victorious') who use false balances?" The verb is therefore construed with min (Greek ek) in all such usage. Thus, Num. 5:31: "The man is innocent of (zᵉḵɔʾ min) transgression." Josh. 2:17, 20, the same construction. 2 Sam. 3:28: "I am innocent (zᵉḵɔʾ) . . . of the blood (midᵉmɔʾ) of Abner. Psa. 19:14: "Then shall I be innocent of the great transgression wᵉʾɛhē zɔḵī miḥōḇɔʾ rabɔʾ). The translator of Rev. 15:2 employs the standing equivalent nikân, of the Aramaic verb; and the translation should be: "those who are innocent of the beast, and of his image, and the number of his name." The idea of "overcoming" is not present at all.

*Observe how in Psa. 51:6 the Hebrew word tizkeh [תִּזְכֶּה] is rendered by nikēsȩ̄s [νικήσῃς]!.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

5:6. The lamb stood between the circle of the living creatures and that of the elders. The Aramaic idiom, which cannot be rendered literally, makes this plain.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

5:8. In the sequel it is made certain that the relative pronoun here refers to the incense, not to the bowls.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

5:9 f. It is interesting to observe that the metrical scheme of this song is exactly reproduced in 15:3 f. and 19:6 ff. See note on 15:3 f., where the Aramaic text is restored.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

6:1 f. "It is a fatal mistake to put aside current Jewish conceptions (known to us) in favor of new theories, in interpreting such symbolism as that of this chapter." Thus one might paraphrase and turn in another direction the warning uttered by Gunkel, Shöpfung und Chaos, pp. 226 ff.

The seals which are opened represent, as all agree, the things which must take place on earth in the last days, before the establishment of the Messianic kingdom. The various features of this prediction were perfectly familiar to all Jews and Jewish Christians, for they had been set forth clearly and consistently in the later Hebrew prophesies as well as in the Psalms. See the chapter, "The Date of Mark," in Documents, pp. 18 f. The conceptions held by the Jewish Christians at this time were those held by the Jews in general, only modified by the belief that the Messiah had already made appearance on earth. The Synoptic Gospels (Mark 13, Matt. 24, Luke 21) give the main features, as taken from Hebrew prophecy and therefore affording little room for variety, and they are repeated in Revelation, directly or indirectly.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

6:1 f. continued. All believed that the time of triumph was near, and yet could be certain that it was as least several years distant. There were events clearly foretold but not yet realized which must consume a considerable amount of time. Chief among these was the evangelization of the Gentiles, gaining their (religious) allegiance; the proudest dream of the Jews ever since the prophecy of Second Isaiah. The new doctrine of "Jesus the Messiah" could not be brought to the ends of the earth at once.

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

6:1 f. continued. In the symbolism of this sixth chapter of Revelation the colors of the horses (suggested by Zechariah but here treated quite independently) are of course significant, and commentators are in agreement as to the second, third, and fourth: the red represents war; the black, famine (or famine and pestilence); and it is naturally on the "pale" horse that Death rides, with his retainer Hades following him on foot (rɔḏep bɔṯᵉreh).

To be continued...

[John Reece]

Continued from the last post above ↑

Continuation of excerpts from the CRITICAL NOTES section of The Apocalypse of John (Yale University Press, 1958) by Charles Cutler Torrey:

6:1 f. continued. Concerning the white horse and his rider there has been strange difference of opinion. There is not space here to enumerate the theories; see Charles, I, 163 ff. It should be certain, at the outset, (1) that the content of this first seal is in general character uniform with that of the others―applying to no definite time or circumstance within this long-predicted and most fateful interval, but to a characteristic condition, it is purely symbolic; and (2) that it must be recognizable O.T. prophecy.

To be continued...