5 ἵππου,
~ , lo 21. καὶ ot λοιποὶ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ
τῇ ἐξελθούση ἐκ τοῦ στόματος
‘ , , 3 3 ρ 3 fal cal ρα καὶ πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν.
power. The oracle is brief and un- coloured. It rounds off the preceding predictions and at the same time paves the way for the magnificent finalé of XXi.-xxil., on which the writer puts forth all his powers. But it is more than usually enigmatic and allusive. ‘* Dans ces derniers chapitres les tableaux qui passent sous nos yeux n’ont plus la fraicheur vivante de ceux qui ont précédé. L’imagination ayant affaire a des con- ceptions absolument idéales et sans aucune analogie avec les réalités con- crétes de la nature, est naturellement moins sfire d’elle-méme, et ne parvient plus aussi facilement a satisfaire celle du lecteur’’ (Reuss). Ingenious attempts have been made (e.g., by Vischer, Spitta, and Wellhausen) to disentangle a Jewish source from the passage, but real problem is raised and solved on the soil of the variant traditions which John moulded at this point for his own Christian purposes. In the crea- tion-myth the binding of the chaos- dragon or his allies took place at the beginning of the world’s history (cf. Prayer of Manass. 2-4). As the dragon came to be moralised into the power of spiritual evil, this temporary restraint (cf. on ver. 2) was transferred to the be- ginning of the end, by a modification of the primitive view which probably goes back to Iranian theology (cf. Stave, 175 f., Baljon, Volter, 12ο f., Briggs, etc.). The conception of messiah’s reign as preliminary and limited on earth was not unknown to Judaism (Excycl. Relig. and Ethics, i. 203 f.) or even to primitive Christianity (cf. 1 Cor. xv. 2ἵ- 28, where Paul develops it differently). But the identification of it with the sabbath of the celestial week (which was originally non-messianic, cf. Slav. En. xxxii. xxxiii.) and the association of it with the martyrs are peculiar to John’s outlook. A further idiosyncracy is the connection between the Gog and Magog attack and the final manceuvre of Satan, The psychological clue to these con- ceptions probably lies in the prophet’s desire to provide a special compensation for the martyrs, prior to the general bliss of the saints. This may have de- termined his adoption or adaptation of the chiliastic tradition, which also con- served the archaic hope of an earthly
zi. XX. I—4.