Friday, April 22, 2011

Linguistic/Thematic Parallels between Revelation 12 and 20

Obviously a major debate in eschatology is the question of what the vision of Revelation 20 refers to. While Premillennialists contend that Revelation 20 should be read as chronologically following chapter 19, Amillennialists hold that chapter 20 begins a new recapitulation of the series of events that are discussed repeatedly in the book. One argument in favor of the Amillennial position cites the parallels between chapter 12 and 20, concluding that these two texts are discussing the same events in redemptive history but from different perspectives. That is, if chapter 12 is referring to the cross/resurrection/church age, then chapter 20 is as well. Here are some of the parallels:



Revelation 12:7-12

Revelation 20:1-6





v. 7 ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ
v. 1 ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ





v. 7 ἄγγελοι
v. 1 ἄγγελον





v.9 ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὁ καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς
v. 2 τὸν δράκοντα, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὅς ἐστιν Διάβολος καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς





v. 9 ἐβλήθη
v. 3 ἔβαλεν





v. 9 ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην
v. 3 ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη





v. 12 ὀλίγον καιρὸν ἔχει
v. 3 μικρὸν χρόνον





v. 10 ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ
v. 6 ἱερεῖς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν





v. 11 διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν
v. 4 διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ

4 comments:

  1. See Greg Beale's commentary for details.

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  2. Hey Fred,

    Thanks for sharing the article. I won't have time to respond to it now, but readers will benefit from having the other view presented.

    Blessings,
    Evan

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  3. You don't have to necessarily respond unless you want to. I just note it for others to benefit from. The recapitulation view isn't airtight and whether one is willing to interpret Revelation 12 and 20 as a progression or a recapitulation depends upon the hermeneutic presuppositions he brings to interpreting the exegesis.

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