Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on January 6, 2008
Wilson, Mark Wayne. The Victor Sayings in the Book of Revelation. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007. 294 pp. Paperback
This volume is based on the author’s Ph.D.-thesis (see abstract here). Wilson analyses this very important motif that also is also of great importance for the overall interpretation of Revelation’s message and purpose.
The publisher’s description
“This is the first major study to focus solely on the victor sayings and should prove invaluable to scholars and students of Revelation and apocalyptic literature. It demonstrates that the motif of victory is Revelation’s macrodynamic theme.
“Chiasmus is proposed as the book’s macrostructure, based in part on the chiastic nature of the promises to the victors, with the later fulfillment of these promises in the book. The proposed forms for the seven letters—forms such as edicts, oracles, and epistles—are examined, and it is concluded that they are a mixtum compositum best called ‘prophetic letters.’
“The sociological significance of victory is explored within the Greco-Roman world. The text of the promises and their co-texts (as reflected intertextually in traditions of biblical literature) receive thorough examination.
“The eschatological fulfillment of the victor sayings is surveyed in Revelation’s later chapters, especially in chapters 21-22, where the new Jerusalem is depicted.
“The study concludes with an investigation of the ways that the promises were appropriated for the time and the text world of Revelation.” (More at the publisher’s page)
About ten years ago, the author very kindly gave me access to an electronic copy of his very useful thesis. I think I have some discussions with Wilson’s analyses in my own thesis (which you can read about here)
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Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on January 5, 2008
Barr, David Lawrence. “The Apocalypse of John As Oral Enactment.” Interpretation 40 (1986): 243-56.
“The original audience encountered (Apoc) as an aural experience (1:3) and that experience determined both the way the Apoc. was structured and the meaning the auditors found in it.”
Quoted from Wood, Structure, p. 13 n. 37.
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on
Dr. Darin M. Wood has written a helpful and well-documented essay on the structure(s) of Revelation (2006).
I noticed one or two minor mistakes. Wood ascribes the recapitulation theory to Joachim of Fiore and cites Wainwright, Mysterious Apocalypse, p. 51. However, according to Wainwright (p. 35), the recapitulation theory was used by Victorinus and formulated by Tyconius.
In notes 56 and 60, p. 18, and in note 67, p. 22 one could get the (erroneous) impression that Lambrecht and Beasley-Murray co-authored the article “A Structuration of Revelation 4:1-22:5,” but this is not the case (according to my notes, at least). Beasley-Murray was one of the contributors.
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on January 4, 2008
Bornkamm, Günther. “Die Komposition der apokalyptischen Visionen in der Offenbarung Johannis.” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 36 (1937): 132-149. Reprinted in Studien zu Antike und Christentum: Gesammelte Aufsätze II, 204-22. Beiträge zur evangelischen Theologie, 28. 3rd ed. München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1970.
Bornkamm’s article is an important, but, unfortunately, rarely used essay about the composition of Revelation. Bornkamm points to some very important aspects of John’s narrative technique, e.g., that John often describes the same event twice (indeed, some times more than twice). The second occurrence adds information that was omitted and thus assumed in the first. An example would be 14:14-20 and 19:11ff. Because of this narrative technique, it is justified to interpret a given passage in the light of later parallel passages.
For a Danish presentation of this aspect of Bornkamm’s essay, see my Fortælleteknikker i Johannes’ Åbenbaring.
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on
Pattemore, Stephen W. Souls Under the Altar: Relevance Theory and the Discourse Structure of Revelation. UBS Monographs Series, vol. 9. New York: United Bible Societies, 2003. xiii + 241.
More to follow …
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on January 3, 2008
Siew, Antoninus King Wai. The War Between the Two Beasts and the Two Witnesses: A Chiastic Reading of Revelation 11:1-14:5. Library of New Testament studies, 283. London; New York: T&T Clark, 2005. xiv + 331 pp.
Siew argues that the concept of chiasm should be employed in the analysis of the structure of Revelation 11:1 – 14:5. See more at the publisher’s site and at Amazon (follow the links below).
To me it seems very surprising that Siew lets a new section begin in 11:1, and not with the seventh angel in 11:15. I look forward to reading his arguments for that.
Siew claims that a literal temple will be built before the final 3½ years, which he takes as a literal period. This is a very controversial view that I, for one, do not share.
Siew’s “main thesis as per title is that the war in heaven between Michael and the dragon results in the the war between the two witnesses and the two beasts on earth” (see his short presentation here). Without access to the book itself, I wonder whether his structural arguments may support my a-temporal interpretation. More, hopefully much more, on that later.
This volume is reviewed by Pieter G. R. de Villiers in Review of Biblical Literature (2007) (direct link here). Siew comments on de Villers’ review here: Review, My Book and The War between the Two Beasts and the Two Witnesses. See also more links below the Amazon-links.
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(if you can afford this volume)
Posted by Georg S. Adamsen on January 1, 2008
Beale, Gregory K. John’s Use of the Old Testament in Revelation. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series, no. 166. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. 443 pp.
A standard-setting study published in the early 1999. The volume includes the following chapters that, for some parts, are reprints or revisions of earlier publications. With this volume, one has ready access to several of Beale’s important contributions to the problem of John’s Use of the OT. Unfortunately, this volume is out of print.
- Introduction: Recent Discussion and Debate about the Use of the Old Testament in Revelation (pp. 13-59)
- The Various Ways John Uses the Old Testament (pp. 60-128)
- The Influence of the Old Testament upon the Eschatology of Revelation (The chapter covers: the ‘already and not yet-eschatology; the interpretation of Rev 1:19; the temporal scope of the sevenfold series of trumpets and bowls; the use of mustêrion in Revelation and elsewhere; and the OT background of Rev 3:14) (pp. 129-294)
- The Influence of the Old Testament upon the Symbolism of Revelation [The chapter covers: symbolism as the predominate mode of communication, and the hearing formula]
- The Influence of the Old Testament on the Grammar of Revelation: Solecisms in Revelation as Signals for the Presence of Old Testament Allusions (A Selective Analysis of Revelation 1-22] (pp. 318-355; this chapter is a revision of Beale’s contribution in Evans & Sanders, Early Christian Interpretation)
- The Bearing of the Old Testament on the Interpretation of the Millennium in Revelation 20:1-7 (pp. 356-393)
The back matters consist of bibliography and indices of References and Authors. The front matters include a list of abbreviations and information about the relationship to Beale’s earlier publications.
Kenneth Newport, review of G. K. Beale, John’s Use of the Old Testament in Revelation, Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2000) and
James E. West, review of G. K. Beale, John’s Use of the Old Testament in Revelation, Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2000).
Wilson, Mark Wayne. The Victor Sayings in the Book of Revelation. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007. 294 pp. Paperback
