ing yet motionless. In the other and only remain- ing passage (15^) he beholds 'a glassy sea mingled with fire.' On its shores the redeemed stand, as the children of Israel did on the shores of the Red Sea, victorious, singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. See, further, next article.
Georoe L. Robinson.
SEA OF GLASS.— In the literature of the Apos- tolic Age the conception of the Sea of Glass occurs only in Rev 4° 15". In the former passage, the Sea of Glass like crystal (6d\aaaa vaKivq buoia KpuardWif}) forms a part of tlie surroundings of the throne in heaven. In the latter passage the position of the Sea is not mentioned, but isno doubt understood to be the same, and the Sea itself is further described as ' mingled with fire' (fi.efj.cyfj.^piii> Trvpi). The mar- tyrs are seen standing upon it, singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb.
It is easier to trace back into the OT the origin of the symbolism of the Apocalypse, and to collect parallels from the religious literature of other nations, than to interpret the precise meaning of this particular symbol in the mind of the author of the Apocalyp.se. We shall in this article endea- vour to collect the various parallels and possible sources of this conception, afterwards attempting to classify them, in order to show the various streams of thought that have combined to yiebl this climax of ajiocalyptic symbolism. Finally, an attempt will be made to interpret its meaning in the Ajjocalypse.
1. Sources of the symbol.— It may be remarked that all the parallels collected below are not of necessity to be regarded as sources of this particu- lar conception, but they all offer possible links of connexion with it.
(a) We have, first, the conception, at once mj'tlio- logical and cosmological, of the upper sea, the waters in the heavens, separated by the firmament ((TTepioiixa.) from the waters below (Gn 1""'). This is directly connected with the Babylonian chaos- myth of the conquest of the chaos-dragon Tiamat by Marduk. Moreover, in the Babylonian cosmo- gony the heavenly universe is divided into three parts corresponding to those of the earthly universe, the third and lowest division being the heavenly ocean (cf. A. Jeremias, The OT in the Light of the Ancient East, Eng. tr., 2 vols., London, 1911, i. 6 ft".). See2£)i. xxvii. 1-3.
(6) In the theophany in Ex 24'" a pavement of sapphire is described as being under the feet of God.
(c) In the apocalyptic vLsion of Ezekiel, upon which the symbolism of Rev 4 is most directly based, a firmament like the colour of the terrible crystal is stretched over the heads of the four living creatures, and upon it is placed the throne like sapphire stone (Ezk 1--26)
(rf) In the vision of the Ancient of Days in Dn 7"''" a fiery stream issues from the throne.
(e) In 1 En. xiv. 10-17, in the similar vision of the house and of the throne of God, the floor of the first house is of crystal and that of i\ie second house is of fire, also from underneath the throne come streams of flaming fire (cf. also Ixxi. 6).
(/) In Test. Lev. ii. 7 a hanging sea divides the first heaven from the second in the later recension ; in the earliest form of the document the hanging sea is in the first heaven.
(7) Finally, an interesting passage from i\\e Bun- dahii may be quoted (SEE v. 125 f.) : ' Afterwards, the fire and halo melt the metal of Shatvatr3, in the hills and mountains, and it remains on this earth like a river. Then all men will ])ass into that melted metal and become pure' (cf. Sih. Orac. iii. 84 f., ii. 2S5f.). The list might be enlarged, but these passages are representative both of the distribution of the conception and of the different forms which it assumed.
SEA OF GLASS
SKAL
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2. ClaBsiflcation of motives underlying the symbol. — (") We find the c-osiiiolof;ical sij^^nitiuance of the lieavenly sea. Tlie celestial universe is the counterpart of tlie eartlily. The Zodiac, the abo<le of the t'ods, rises above and upon tlie lieavenly sea. Later tlie sea itself and the solid lirniaiiient con- ceived of as supporting it seem to unite in the symbol, and we have the throne resting upon a crystalline sapphire foundation or pavement. There may also enter into the symbol .some element of the myth of the comiuest of Tiamat. The sea stretched out calm and glassy before the thnme may in part symbolize the victory of the divinity over the element of chaos.
(6) There is the eschatological element. In the period view of liistory based on astronomical observations and characteristic of Babylonian re- ligion, the world was to be destroyed by a fire- flood at the close of the age which was ushered in by the water-flood. This idea is present also in the Avesta and in most early religions. Hence the sea of glass mingled with fire may contain a trace of this conception. From the throne pro- ceeded not only the heavenly river of water of life, clear as crystal, but also the fire-stream of judg- ment. The martyrs also standing upon the fiery sea suggest the symbolism of puriflcation and triumph (cf. the idea in the passage quoted above from the Bundahii, where the righteous walking through the fire-flood are unharmed by it).