The Jewish Annotated New Testament (303 page)

5
:
Lion of the tribe of Judah
, Gen 49.9–10; here, a messianic title.
Root of David
, Isa 11.1–10. The messiah is the one to open the scroll.
Has conquered
, overcome death and sin by sacrifice and resurrection.

6
–7
:
Lamb … as if … slaughtered
, the crucified messiah in risen, heavenly form (cf. v. 9; 11.8). The lamb was also the main Passover sacrifice while the Temple stood (Ex 12.21; cf. 1 Cor 5.7; Jn 1.29,36). The correspondence of its sevenfold attributes to seven spirits (see 1.4n.), congregations, and seals signifies the perfection of all things radiating from heaven.
Right hand
, the hand of power (e.g., Ps 89.13 [Heb v. 14]), favor (Ps 80.15 [Heb v. 16]), and blessing (Gen 48.17).

8
:
Incense … prayers
, incense was a Temple offering (Ex 30.6) and was taken to symbolize prayer (Ps 141.2).
Saints
, members of the community.

9
:
New song
, a way of indicating a new beginning or a new era; Isa 42.10; Ps 33.3; 40.3 [Heb v. 4].
Every tribe
, the ecumenical image of those included in kingdom and priesthood presupposes their Jewish observance (cf. Tob 13.11–17;
2 Bar
. 51.7–15). The liturgy suggests heavenly enthronement and a new cosmic era (cf.
Ascen. Isa
. 7–10).

10
:
Kingdom and priests
, Ex 19.6 is here democratized from Israel to all people (cf. 1 Pet 2.9).
Reign on earth
, the eschatological age will be established in earthly rule.

11
:
Myriads
, Dan 7.10; Jewish apocalyptic visions of the heavenly throne room often envisioned the innumerability of angels around the throne.

12
–13
: The heavenly song makes a clear distinction between the enthroned one and the sacrificial Lamb.

6.1
–17: The first six seals.
In the interconnected world of heavenly symbols, the seals holding the scroll closed each release an angel of vengeance or catastrophe.

1
:
Lamb
, see 5.6–7n.

2
:
White horse
, John introduces horses first (2,4,5b,8a). Horses in the Mediterranean world, associated with Greek and Roman armies, signified raw military power (see also
1 En
. 86.4; 88.3). The four horsemen represent conquest (v. 2), internecine violence (v. 4), famine and inflation (v. 6), and death (v. 8).

5
–6
:
Scales
and inflated pricing signify economic breakdown. The famine is short lived, however; it affects
wheat
and
barley
.

8
:
Death
(Gk “thanatos,” recalling Heb “Mot,” a northwest Semitic deity of death [Hab 2.5]) is accompanied by
Hades
, the Greek underworld. Their coupling may reflect the parallelism of “Mot” and “Sheol” in ancient Hebrew poetry (Isa 28.15,18; Ps 18.5; 49.14; 116.3).

9
: The heavenly
altar
, a privileged sight in apocalyptic literature, reminiscent of apocalyptic topographies of the afterlife, like
1 En
. 22 and
Apoc. Zeph
. Martyrs appear in Jewish literature in 2 Macc 7 and 4 Macc.

10
: The slaughtered righteous cry out to
avenge our blood
, following a theme in Jewish apocalyptic literature (cf.
1 En
. 47).

11
:
White robe
, see 1.14n.
Number
, speculation on such divine plans for the number of righteous dead was common in early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic:
1 En
. 47.4;
4 Ezra
4.35–37;
2 Bar
. 23.5; cf. Rom 11.25;
5 Ezra
[2 Esd 1–2] 2.38–41.

12
–14
: John envisions the utter collapse of the cosmos (see also, Joel 2.30–32 [Heb 3.4]).

17
: The
day of their wrath
(see Zeph 1.14–16) will impel suicide.

7.1
–8: The 144,000 sealed.
The visionary sequence alternates between images of cosmic cataclysm and images of spectacular glory.

1
–3
:
Angels
of
the four winds
(cf.
1 En
. 18.1–5; 72) and an angel who rises with
the sun
declare a temporary reprieve from destruction until the sealing of righteous is completed.
Marked the … foreheads
, following the scene in Ezek 9, the righteous are sealed on the forehead, reflecting amuletic practices like the placement of “tefillin” (Deut 6.8; cf. Rev 13.16–17; Ezek 9.4).

4
–8
: The twelve tribes of Israel (not including Dan and Ephraim), multiplied by twelve thousand, this “census” of the righteous resembles military lists like those in 1QM. John’s eschatology revolves around the restoration of the tribes of Israel, as in Ezek 37.15–22; cf. Tob 13.13;
4 Ezra
13.13, 39–47;
2 Bar
. 78.4–7, and affirming the fundamentally ethnic ideology of this book (cf. 7.4b). In 14.1–5 this same
144,000
are credited with a special degree of purity that involved celibacy, perhaps reflecting priestly rules for holy war (Ex 19.15; 1 Sam 21.4).

7
.9–12:
Universal worship.

9
:
Great multitude
, Gentiles who have devoted themselves to purity (white robes) and to the God and messiah of Judaism (cf. 15.3–4; Tob 13.11).
Palm branches
, cf. Mt 21.8; Mk 11.8; 1 Macc 13.51.

11
:
Elders and … living creatures
, see 4.4n.; 4.6n.

7.13
–17: Reward for fidelity during the tribulation.
The idea of purification by means of martyrdom may be inspired by Dan 11.35; the motif of a great tribulation (Gk “thlipsis”) became a common feature among early Jesus-believers (Mk 13.19, 24;2 Thess 1; etc.). Gentiles thus sanctified become like priests, servants before the heavenly throne and within the heavenly temple.

14
:
You are the one that knows
, see Zech 4.5.
Blood of the lamb
, see 5.6–7n., and “Names Inscribed on the Body,” p.
485
.

16
: John refers to Isa 49.10, which originally concerned the return from the Babylonian exile, in depicting the blessed status of the sanctified Gentiles.

17
: The Lamb’s status
at the center of the throne
does not imply a merging with God but rather anticipates its eschatological status on Mount Zion (14.1) and at the center of the new Jerusalem (21.22–23); the continuation of the verse cites the eschatological Isa 25.8.

8.1
: The seventh seal.
The
silence
provides an aural break between the heavenly liturgy of the righteous and the sequence of acts initiated with the opening of the
seventh seal
.

8.2
–10.11:
The seven trumpets.

2
:
Trumpets
recall priestly duties at festivals and the changing of times, at the Temple, and especially in holy war (cf. Num 10.1–10; 1QM cols. 7–9, 17–18; cf. Isa 27.13).

3
–4
:
Censer
, incense offering by the altar before God’s throne affirms the
trumpets’
priestly, liturgical character. See Lev 16.12–13.

5
:
Fire
on the altar suggests that the heavenly worship replicates in every way the Temple in Jerusalem. Angelic trumpets, symbols of proper priestly function in heaven, result paradoxically in destruction on earth (inspired generally by the ten plagues [Ex 7–11]).

8.6
–13:
Trumpets 1–4.

7
:
Hail and fire
, and
blood
from the
first
trumpet recall the seventh plague upon the Egyptians (Ex 9.23–25). The limitation of destruction to a third allows room for still greater catastrophe later.

8
–9
: The
second
trumpet (
sea became blood
) recalls the first plague (Ex 7.20–21) but applies the destruction also to maritime culture.

10
–11
:
Great star
, cf. Lk 10.18.
Wormwood
, a bitter herb; in Jer 9.15; 23.15 it is punishment for idolatry.

12
: The
fourth
trumpet’s effects recall the ninth plague (Ex 10.21–23) as well as many depictions of the darkness of the Day of the Lord (e.g., Joel 3.14).

13
:
Eagle
, usually a symbol of Rome; here used ironically as the herald of Rome’s destruction.
Woe, woe, woe
, the next three trumpets are woes (9.12).

9.1
–12:
The fifth trumpet.

1
: The
star that had fallen from heaven
is charged with opening temporarily the portal of the underworld, allowing the limited escape of underworld demons; see 8.11.
Bottomless pit
, the source of evil (11.7; 17.8).

3
:
Locusts
, if inspired by the eighth plague (cf. Ex 10.12–15), John has magnified the horror from mere agricultural threat (cf. 9.4) to monstrous danger to humans (9.5–10), recalling military vehicles (9.9).

7
–8
: The
appearance
of the
locusts
recalls Joel 1–2. As in Ezekiel’s vision of the punishment of Jerusalem (Ezek 9.4–9), the locusts do not harm the 144,000 bearing the seal of God.