ἄλλον ἄγγελον Rev. 14:6 — a crux interpretum or a crux interpretorum
Rev. 14:6 Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον πετόμενον ἐν μεσουρανήματι, ἔχοντα εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον εὐαγγελίσαι ἐπὶ τοὺς καθημένους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν ἔθνος καὶ φυλὴν καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ λαόν,
Rev. 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; RSV
Is there a serious problem concerning the referent of ἄλλον in this text? Or does the problem only reside in the minds of some interpreters? Matthias R. Hoffmann[1] raises the question. I reviewed a host of commentaries on Revelation (H. Alford, H.B. Swete, F. Duesterdieck, R.H. Charles, R. Mounce, G. Beale, E. F. A. Lupieri, G. Fee, others) and didn’t find them overly concerned about the use of ἄλλον with ἄγγελον in this context.
Angels are an assumed presence in the Apocalypse of John. From a discourse perspective, we can assume that angelic beings (as a group) are always treated in the discourse as active participants. We see individual angels introduced as new participants to perform some action and then disappear often never to be heard or seen again. But the presence of angels, near at hand and prepared to come “on stage,” is always assumed. For this reason the span of text between Rev. 14:6 and the last mentioned angel, either Rev. 12:7-9 or Rev. 11:15, doesn’t present a major problem for the use of ἄλλον with ἄγγελον in this context. It has been suggested that ἄλλον may function here like the english indefinite article. But it also indicates that this ἄγγελον is one in a series. Note the pattern:
Rev. 7:2 Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον
I saw another angel …
Rev. 8:3 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἦλθεν
Another angel came
Rev. 10:1 Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον ἰσχυρὸν καταβαίνοντα
I saw another mighty angel
Rev. 14:6 Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον …
I saw another angel …
Rev. 14:8 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος δεύτερος ἠκολούθησεν λέγων·
Another angel, a second, followed, saying …
Rev. 14:9 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος τρίτος ἠκολούθησεν αὐτοῖς λέγων
Another angel, a third, followed them, saying …
Rev. 14:15 καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ
Another angel came out of the temple …
Rev. 14:17 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven
[1]Matthias Reinhard Hoffmann, “The destroyer and the lamb: the relationship between angelomorphic and lamb Christology in the Book of Revelation” Mohr Siebeck, 2005, page 35
Rev. 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; RSV
Is there a serious problem concerning the referent of ἄλλον in this text? Or does the problem only reside in the minds of some interpreters? Matthias R. Hoffmann[1] raises the question. I reviewed a host of commentaries on Revelation (H. Alford, H.B. Swete, F. Duesterdieck, R.H. Charles, R. Mounce, G. Beale, E. F. A. Lupieri, G. Fee, others) and didn’t find them overly concerned about the use of ἄλλον with ἄγγελον in this context.
Angels are an assumed presence in the Apocalypse of John. From a discourse perspective, we can assume that angelic beings (as a group) are always treated in the discourse as active participants. We see individual angels introduced as new participants to perform some action and then disappear often never to be heard or seen again. But the presence of angels, near at hand and prepared to come “on stage,” is always assumed. For this reason the span of text between Rev. 14:6 and the last mentioned angel, either Rev. 12:7-9 or Rev. 11:15, doesn’t present a major problem for the use of ἄλλον with ἄγγελον in this context. It has been suggested that ἄλλον may function here like the english indefinite article. But it also indicates that this ἄγγελον is one in a series. Note the pattern:
Rev. 7:2 Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον
I saw another angel …
Rev. 8:3 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἦλθεν
Another angel came
Rev. 10:1 Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον ἰσχυρὸν καταβαίνοντα
I saw another mighty angel
Rev. 14:6 Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον …
I saw another angel …
Rev. 14:8 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος δεύτερος ἠκολούθησεν λέγων·
Another angel, a second, followed, saying …
Rev. 14:9 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος τρίτος ἠκολούθησεν αὐτοῖς λέγων
Another angel, a third, followed them, saying …
Rev. 14:15 καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ
Another angel came out of the temple …
Rev. 14:17 Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven
[1]Matthias Reinhard Hoffmann, “The destroyer and the lamb: the relationship between angelomorphic and lamb Christology in the Book of Revelation” Mohr Siebeck, 2005, page 35
posted by C. Stirling Bartholomew | 2:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home