1:2. Word of God:
Who bare record of
the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, (RSV).
Or
perhaps: “…to the
word of God even to the testimony of Jesus Christ.” That is, the
Word of God is the testimony of Jesus Christ.[1]
When John speaks of “the Word of God,” he not only has in
mind the concepts of the Greek logos,[2]
which has been so extensively discussed, but also the Hebrew ideas, not only
of the creatively powerful Word, but also of the artistically beautiful Word of
Light, of poetry and music. The Word, as logos, is:
For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and
marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him
no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with
whom we have to do, (Hebrews 4:12-13, RSV).[3]
The Word reveals the innermost
Man and exposes him. It also reveals the deep things of God to the very spirit
of Man.
Every
word of God is literature in its highest and purest form. In Genesis 1:3 when God
said: “Let there be Light,” He brought Light to light, bearing it forth. The New
Testament writer must have had this in mind when he said: “…hath brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel,” (2 Timothy 1:10. See also Rom. 2:7).
When
God forbade the use of the art forms of graven images, the effect was to divert
the energy of this artistic expression into the only form allowed to the
engravers, writing. Phonetic writing is the image of the spoken word, the
spoken word made visible and durable. In order that writing might not violate
the commandment not to make any graven images, the characters could not be like
those of the Egyptians, (and other ancient writing systems), hieroglyphic
pictures of their idol gods, but had to be abstract designs. In fact, this requirement
for abstraction necessitated the development of a phonetic script, that is, a “picture”
not of any creature in heaven, earth or sea, but an image of sound. It is
therefore almost certain that Moses did indeed
develop the principle of phonetic writing, as tradition would also have it,
probably using the alphabet as a syllabary, which would have been phonetic for
the Hebrew language of that
time.
Thus the “Word of God” in the Book
of Revelation is a powerful and beautiful poem about the
Loveliest Subject, Jesus Christ.
1:2. Testimony: Who bare record of
the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things
that he saw.
The original form of the Book of Revelation may have been a Hebrew Psalm, as indicated by
the use of the word “testimony.”
The
word translated “bare record” and “testimony,” from the Greek word martureo, is found here and in 1:9; 6:9;
11:7; 12:11, 17; 19:10; 22:16 and 20. It is translated in 1:2 as “bare record,”
(KJV), and in 22:16 and 20 as “testify.” A form of the word
is also found in 15:5: “tabernacle of the
testimony.”
A
possible Hebrew word
corresponding to the Greek word martureo is ‘êdûth. From the same root we have ‘êd one sense of which is “a recorder, i.e. prince.” John was the official
recorder with the authority of a prince.[4]
Another
meaning of ‘êdûth is: “Revelation, hence a revealed psalm, Psalm 60:l; 80:l….Others
consider it to mean a lyric poem, one to be sung to the lyre” (ibid., 608).[5] If this was the word in the short title of the Book of
Revelation, (i.e. “The [‘êdûth] “Revelation”
of John”), it would then correspond to the title of Psalm 80,
translated by the RSV as “A Testimony of Asaph.” The title of the Book
could then be translated: “A Psalm (or Testimony) of John.” If it were part of the long title of verses
one and two, it would probably indicate that John was the recorder of “The
Psalm, (or Testimony), of Jesus Christ.”
If this
were indeed the Hebrew word used in the
title, it would indicate that the literary form of the Book is an inspired,
prophetic Psalm. (It might be both a Psalm and a prophecy, for prophecy
was often given in the form of a Psalm and the Psalms are often prophecies). If
it is indeed a Psalm, we should expect to find traces of literary form and
language characteristic of Hebrew poetry and indeed some of these are still
discernable even in translation. R. H. Charles says that “The
Seer, [i.e. John], wrote in poetic form, using parallelism and strophe
and anti-strophe.” He says that the Book is a “Book of Songs, dirges and
threnodies.”[6] (See
Introductory Articles: “Genre: Poetry.“)
One
unique form of Hebrew poetry in the Old
Testament is the alphabetic acrostics found in many Psalms, most notably Psalm 119. The entire Book of Lamentation as well as
portions of the prophets are also written in this alphabetic form.[7] Some indications that the Book of Revelation may have been
written in this pattern may be found in the repeated phrase: “I Am Alpha and Omega,” (i.e. the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet,
translating the Hebrew Aleph and Tau.) There is also
the equivalent phrase: “I am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Another
possible fossil trace of the alphabetic pattern may be found in the fact that
the Book has twenty-two chapters, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The
original divisions into chapters and verses, however, has probably been altered
considerably in transmission of the text and the alphabetic pattern has been
impossible to preserve in translation just as it was in the Old Testament
passages, and as many other features of poetry are impossible to translate
adequately.
While
the foregoing is speculative, there is textual evidence for it and the
cumulative evidence from other features of the Book adds to its credibility.
1:2. All He Saw: Who bare record of
the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things
that he saw.
This
verse tells us that the message given to John the Revelator, to which he became a witness, was the Word of God. That
is, the Scriptures are the testimony of
Jesus Christ. The Scriptures are to be interpreted as the testimony
to Jesus as the Messiah, the Anointed One.
We are
therefore, from the meaning of this verse, to expect that the Book of
Revelation is to contain a
verification of the Scriptures in their role as a testimony of Jesus Christ. The Book is to corroborate, substantiate, confirm,
prove, make certain, and establish the Scriptures.
The Book
is also to contain an eye witness account. John has already
stated in the Gospel of John and in
the Book of 1 John, that he is an eyewitness to the life and ministry of
Jesus Christ:
That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we
have seen [it], and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which
was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and
heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly
our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, (1 John 1).
Now in
the Book of Revelation he is giving his
eye witness account of the spiritual realities revealed to him while in the
Spirit.
The Genizah: The genizah,
(translated “hiding place” or “treasury” see Ezra 6:1), is a closet
or room in the synagogue where damaged or tattered scrolls were relegated and
which served also as a storeroom for the sacred scrolls. One of the secrets of
the Hebrew priesthood was
the ways in which the starry heavens are the original genizah or storeroom for the Torah. “The Heavens
declare the glory of God.” Here,
John is looking into
the original, prototypic genizah, the
heavens.
[1] John 5:39. (‘Word’
= Greek ‘logos.’
Used also in Revelation 1: 9; 3:8, 10; 6:9; 12:11; 17:17; 19:13;
20:4; 21:5; 22:18, 19.
[2] Strong's computer
based lexicon says: ‘A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 BC to designate the divine reason
or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This word was well suited to
John's purpose in John 1.’
[3] The ‘living and active’ Word is spoken of in Psalm 107:20; 147:15, 18; Heb. 1:2-3; 1 Corinthians.
8:6; Colossians 1:15-17.
[4] Ges.Lexicon, 607.
[5] The word ‘êdûth
is in the Psalm titles of Ps. 60:1 and 80:1 in the Hebrew Bible. Psalm
titles are not usually given a verse number in the English translations. This results in a difference in
numbering verses between the Hebrew and English versions.
[6] Stroph – (l) the movement of the
classical Greek chorus while turning from one side to the
other of the orchestra; (2)a: a rhythmic system composed of two or more lines
repeated as a unit; esp. such a unit recurring in a series of strophic units.
b: stanza... ántistroph – a returning movement in Greek choral dance exactly answering to a previous
strophe... threnody: a song of
lamentation for the dead; elegy. (ICC v. 44, p. xiv.).
