fincif'ulVyet the imagery, esp. of Rev 8, fits SantorinweU (see Fouqu(i, SatUorin et ses (ruptimis, 18i9, esp. pp. 22-31, J8n.). Nothing could be more Uke the pit of the abyss than the crater of this volcano, and nothing better fitted to suggest demonic agency than the smoke darkening sun and ajr, the sulphurous vapours which killed the lish in the sea, and blmded and even killed men, the masses of molten rock cast up and fallinK into the sea like a great mountain or the sUr Wormwood, the reddening of tlie sea, the rise and dis,appearance of islands (see also B. K. Emerson, Bulletin of the (ieol. bocicty of Amenca, March 1900). But Santorin is 80 miles from Patmos. Only the hiuhest points of the island Thera, and the smoke of the erup- Uons, could have been seen. Bent refers for details to reports of refugees. Eruptions took place m B.C. 197 and a.d. 46 (Fouqu6,
''^Account must be taken of OT paraUels. Hiihn finds the follow- ing parallels with the Egyptian plagues :-<l) Ex ?"■'".<:'■ Rev gsni 163-<^ ■ (2) Ev 721-82. cf Rev Ifil? ; (6) Ex 98-", cf. Rev 162 ; (7) Ex 91S-26 cf. Rev 8' ll" 1621 ; (8) Ex 10+-15, cf. Rev 93-11 ; (9) Ex 1021-23, cf. Rev 812 91. 2 1610. Prophetic passages hke Is 2 Am 88-», Jl 22-10.30.81 315. 16_ i3 1310.13 ai-i-s-io etc., are to be adduced'; and poetic descriptions of the coming of God, in which the imagery of storm (Ex 1916«) is connected with that of earthquake and volcano, Jg 6*- 5, Ps 18 ■15 etc.
Was earthquake more than a symbol in our wnter"8 eschat- oloirv? Was it the literal power that was to overthrow Rome, and even destroy the present world (cf. 6" with 211)? The fifth trumpet begins with volcanic imagery (91- 2) and passes on to locusts, which at the end seem to symbolize warriors (9^-u). The sixth trumpet begins with armies of horsemen, but the powera by which the horses kill mt-n are the volcanic powers of fire and smoke and brimstone (913-21). The bowls lead more directly to the fall of Rome. Following the same order as to place as the trumpets (1. earth ; 2. sea ; 3. rivers ; 4. sun ; 5. under-world(V); 6 Euphrates), with fewer volcanic features in the first five, and a somewhat closer relation to the Egyptian plagues, they lead up in the sixth to an invasion cf distant kings, and m the seventh to an earthquake again, in which Rome's fall seems to be involved (lO'S). Ch. 17 seems clearly to ascribe Rome's fall to an assault of kings. But when, in 19""- the beasts are over- thrown in an attack, with the kings of the earth as allies, upon Christ and His army, we are ready to ask whether both earth- quake and invasion were not figure, wliiie this is actuaUty.
A'ain, the final attempt of Satan is made by means of armies of distant nations, whom he brings against Zion, but they are destroyed, not by arms, but by fire from heaven (20'-io).
It is to be remembered that both earthquake and the in- vasion of barbarian hordes were very real dangers, and the most terrible that always threatened the Mediterranean civi- lizations. A seer could weU look for a literal overthrow of Rome from either source, especially as prophetic eschatology had already made free use of both, and that with the same blending of the two that is found here (see, e.g., Zeph 11»-18, Jl 21-11, Hag 221.22, Is 13110- 13) 34H.9.1O1), and could easily enlarge either into a world-embracing catastrophe. 'Yet either or both would also serve admirably as figure for events and forces supernatural (demonic and angelic) in character. And the more freely our author passes from one to the other, and even blends the two, the more probable is it that he means neither. _ . .... j.^, ,..
(2) The eavinj 0/ the faithful.— Here also details are difficult to adjust in a literal scheme, and the acceptance of a largely
Poetical form of representation is almost inevitable. Twice the souls' of the martvred dead are spoken of (6« •20«), and here only in the NT do we read of the 'souls' of the dead. Once they are seen in heaven (7, see Spitta, pp. 89, 2963.) beneath the altar, where the blood of a sacrifice would be (Ex 2912, Lv 4' etc.), in which the soul was seated according to Heb. notions (Lv 17I'). 'They are praying for vengeance, and are given a white robe, and bidden to rest a h'tle longer, smce their number is not yet full. Does the wTiter think of the souls of martyrs as literally in this location, or does he thus vividly picture the reality and efficacy of their prayers for vengeance, pictured otherwise in 58 and 83-5 ? (cf. 4 Ezr 4»). Cf. the cry of the uncovered hlood of the slain to God for vengeance (Gn 410, Ezk 24" f., Job 1618) ; also the effective prayers of the oppressed (Ex 2223f., Dt 9* 2415, Sir 3ol3ir., Ja 54) ; sometimes angels are the bearers of such prayers (Zee 112, To 121- 15). See esp. Enoch 9. 162 22'' 40'' 471-2 97:1.6 993 11143. WTien they are seen again it is said that they lived and reigned with Christ for the 1000 vears. As eoult, then, they were not truly living, but this life is due to a resurrection (■ltt^J^), On the other hand, in 7I*-1' the martvrs— or perhaps rather all who have kept the faith amid tribiilation (v.l*)— appear in their white robes in heaven. Joining with angels in the worship of Ood. in a glorj' and blessedness which can be nothing less than final. And yet the description of the consummation in 21-225 li IS has not this setting (the heav enlv throne of Ood, the elders, and livin- beings and angels), but is simply earthly (after the OT) in its leaturea. In the former passage the saints are with (3od, in this