View text source at Wikipedia

Revelation 8

Revelation 8
Revelation 1:13-2:1 on the verso side of Papyrus 98 from the second century.
BookBook of Revelation
CategoryApocalypse
Christian Bible partNew Testament
Order in the Christian part27

Revelation 8 is the eighth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle,[1][2] but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate.[3]

In verse 1, the opening of the seventh seal concludes a section beginning in chapter 6 which records the opening of the "Seven Seals". Verses 2-13 and chapters 9 to 11 contain an account relating to the sounding of the "Seven Trumpets".[4][5] In chapter 8, the first four angels' trumpets are sounded.

Text

[edit]

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 13 verses.

Textual witnesses

[edit]

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others:[6][a]

The seven angels with seven trumpets, and the angel with a censer, from the Bamberg Apocalypse.

The Seventh Seal (8:1–5)

[edit]

Verse 1

[edit]
When He (the Lamb) opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.[8]

"The silence in heaven, lasting about a half-hour, begins at the place where the songs of praise still resound (Revelation 7:10–12)."[9] The Expanded Bible describes the silence as "a dramatic pause induced by awe".[10] Silence in the presence of God is evoked by several of the minor prophets: Habakkuk 2:20, Zephaniah 1:7 and Zechariah 2:13.[11]

Verse 2

[edit]
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.[12]

Verse 3

[edit]
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.[14]

The First Four Trumpets (8:6–12)

[edit]

Similar to the first four seals, 'the first four trumpet-blasts' form a quartet', each affecting a third of the four regions of God's creation: earth, sea, fresh water, and heavens (cf. Revelation 14:7).[15]

Verse 6

[edit]
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.[16]

Mayer points out that "this includes the grasping of the trumpets in such a way that they could bring them to their mouths".[9]

Verse 7

[edit]
And the first blew the trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown to the earth, and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.[17]


Verse 8

[edit]
Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood,[18]


Verse 11

[edit]
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.[19][20]

Before the Last Three Trumpets (8:13)

[edit]

This part serves as a marker (similar to the others in Revelation 9:12; Revelation 11:14) to indicate the sequence of the woes and to make aware the '(slow) progress' of the terrifying plagues.[15]

Verse 13

[edit]
And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"[21]

See also

[edit]

Note

[edit]
  1. ^ The Book of Revelation is missing from Codex Vaticanus.[7]
  2. ^ NU: 'the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament' and 'the 4th edition United Bible Societies'; M:'the Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text'.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Davids, Peter H (1982). I Howard Marshall and W Ward Gasque (ed.). New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle of James (Repr. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. ISBN 0802823882.
  2. ^ Evans, Craig A (2005). Craig A Evans (ed.). Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: John, Hebrews-Revelation. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor. ISBN 0781442281.
  3. ^ F. L. Cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 45
  4. ^ a b Simcox, W. H., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Revelation 8, accessed 27 October 2018
  5. ^ Bauckham 2007, p. 1289.
  6. ^ Elliott, J. K. "Revelations from the apparatus criticus of the Book of Revelation: How Textual Criticism Can Help Historians." Union Seminary Quarterly Review 63, no. 3-4 (2012): 1-23.
  7. ^ Claremont Coptic Encyclopaedia, Codex Vaticanus, accessed 29 September 2018
  8. ^ Revelation 8:1 NKJV; "the Lamb" is added in the English Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version
  9. ^ a b c Meyer, H. A. W., Meyer's NT Commentary on Revelation 8, accessed 26 October 2018
  10. ^ Revelation 8:1: Expanded Bible
  11. ^ Jerusalem Bible (1966), footnote at Revelation 8:1
  12. ^ Revelation 8:2 NKJV
  13. ^ Tobit 12:7 Douai-Rheims Bible
  14. ^ Revelation 8:3 KJV
  15. ^ a b Bauckham 2007, p. 1294.
  16. ^ Revelation 8:6 NKJV
  17. ^ Revelation 8:7 LEB
  18. ^ Revelation 8:8 NLT
  19. ^ Revelation 8:11 NKJV
  20. ^ John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible - Revelation 8:11
  21. ^ Revelation 8:13 NKJV
  22. ^ a b Revelation 8:13 Greek Text Analysis. Biblehub.com
  23. ^ Note [c] on Revelation 8:13 in NKJV
  24. ^ N-A28

Bibliography

[edit]

Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Gill, John. Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746-1763).

[edit]