14—17.
345
A ~ 15. καὶ οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ὅμοιοι ᾿ χαλκολιβάνῳω, ὡς ἐν Kapivy v ii. τῇ, of.
πεπυρωµένης * }
καὶ " ἡ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ ὡς φωνὴ ὑδάτων πολλῶν : 16. καὶ * ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ ἀστέρας ἑπτά :
Ezek. 1. 7
(LXX). w Ezek. i.
24, xliii. 2
(Heb.),
4 Esd. vi.
Δ ~ A = 17. καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόµατος αὐτοῦ ῥομφαία δίστοµος ὀξεῖα ἐκ- x Pres. pte.
Tropevopery *
9 3 a , x A καὶ ΄ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ ὡς 6 ἥλιος Φαίνει ἐν τῇ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ.
= pres. indic. (Heb. idiom ?) as often.
17. Καὶ ὅτε εἶδον αὐτόν, "ἔπεσα πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὡς y 2 Thess.
νεκρός: καὶ > ἔθηκεν τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ λέγων, “Mh Φφοβοῦ:
z Judg. ν. 31, Slav. En. i. 5, xix. 1.
ii. 8, cf.
4Esd. xiii. 4, 1Ο, ang Isa.xlix.2.
a Isa. vi. 5, Dan. viii. 17-18, x. 17-19, En. xiv. 13-14, 19, 24-25, Slav. En. i. 7-8, Tob xii. 16, Add. Esth, xv. 15, Matt. xxviii. 4.
b Dan, x. 10, 12.
1 πεπυρωµενοι (PQ, etc., And., Ar., so Al., WH marg.) and mwervpwpevo(py, min., vg., Sah., Syr., S., Aeth., Vict., so Ti, Bj., Bs., Holtzm.) seem variant corrections of the original genitive πεπνρωµενης (AC, so Lach., Tr., WH, Ws., Sw.)—Pr. = sicut
de fornace ignea.
The reference then is to amber or to some composition like brass or (copper) bronze; only, it contains gold (cf. vulg. = aurichal- cum, a valuable and gleaming metal). Abbott (201) sees a corruption of some phrase like χαλκὸν ἐν κλιβάνῳ, while
others suggest χαλκός and {2 (ο
glowing white brass). Haussleiter would upon inadequate grounds omit ὡς ἐκ. κ. πεπ. (219-24).
Ver. 16. The care and control exer- cised by Christ over the churches only come forward after the suggestions of majesty and authority (13-15) which followed the initial idea of Christ’s central position (ἐν péow) among the churches. Cf. v. 6 (ἐν péow) for another reference to Christ’s central authority— ἔχων, κ.τ.λ. For the astrological back- ground of this figure, cf. Jeremias 24 f. The traditional symbol, of which an interpretation is given later (ver. 20), probably referred to the seven planets rather than to the Pleiades or any other constellation. Ifthe description is to be visualised, the seven stars may be pic- tured as lying on Christ’s palm in the form of the stars in the constellation of Ursa Μα]οτ--ῥομφαία, κ.τ.λ. By a vivid objectifying of the divine word (corresponding to that, e.g., in Isa. ix. 8 f., ix. 4, and suggested by the tongue- shaped appearance of the short Roman sword or dagger), the figure of the sharp sword issuing from the mouth is applied (in Ps. Sol. xvii. 27, 39, as here) to the messiah, as in Jewish literature to God (Ps. cxlix. 6, etc.) and to wisdom (Sap. xviii. 15), elsewhere to the λόγος τοῦ
θεοῦ (Heb. iv. 12, cf. Apoc. xix. 13-15): Christ’s power of reproof and punish- ment is to be directed against the church (ii. 12 f.) as well as against the world of heathen opposition (xix. 21, where the trait is artistically moreappropriate). As a nimbus or coronata radiata sometimes crowned the emperor (“image des rayons lumineux qu’il lance sur le monde,” Beur- lier), so the face of Christ (ὄψις as in John xi. 44, cf. below, x. 1) is aptly termed, as in the usual description of angelic visitants (reff.), bright as sunshine un- intercepted by mist or clouds. This is the climax of the delineation.
Ver. 17. ἔπεσα κ.τ.λ., the stereo- typed behaviour (cf. Num. xxiv. 4) in such apocalyptic trances (Weinel, 129, το. kes 7. 375), Ες for the terror of spiritual experience cf. Schiller’s lines: “Schrecklich ist es Deiner Wahrheit | Sterbliches Gefass zu seyn”); Jesus, however, does here what Michael (En. Ixxi. 3) or some other friendly angel does in most Jewish apocalypses. There is no dialogue between the prophet and Christ, as there is afterwards between him and the celestial beings—py 9. The triple reassurance is (1) that the mysterious, overwhelming Figure reveals his character, experience and authority, instead of proving an alien unearthly visitant; (2) the vision has a practical object (‘‘ write,’ το) bearing upon hu- man life, and (3) consequently the mysteries are not left as baffling enigmas. All the early Christian revelations which are self-contained, presuppose the risen Christ as their source; the Apocalypse of Peter, being fragmentary, is hardly