Rev 22:16-21
The New Testament > Revelation > Chapter 22
| Previous (Rev 22:11-15) |
Questions
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add questions
Lexical notes
Verse 18-19
This is not a threat that the reader has to accept or believe everything written in this book of prophecy, as it is sometimes interpreted; rather, it is a typical threat to copyists of the book. See Related links.
Verse 20
"I come quickly" is often rendered "I come suddenly". (See: "Record of Christian Work" link below for some published exegesis now available on Google Books.)
Exegesis
Verses 17 and 20 seem to have reference to the early Christian text, the Didache. According to that text, the prayer of thanksgiving (Eucharist) that was offered with the bread and wine during the sacrament of the Lord's supper was "If any man is holy, let him come.... Maran Atha [Come, Lord]. Amen." (See the full text here.) These connections end the book of Revelation on the same note with which it began: that of the sacrament of the Lord's supper. Apparently the whole of the text should be read in connection with the sacrament, as bearing on the sacrament, and perhaps as a dramatic embodiment of the sacrament.
Related links
- Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, HarperCollins, 2005, pp. 53-55. ISBN 0060859512
- "We need always to remember that the copyists of the early Christian Writings were reproducing their texts in a world in which there were not only no printing presses or publishing houses but also no such thing as copyright law... These are dire threats—hellfire and brimstone—for simply changing some words of a text. Some authors, though, were fully determined to make sure their words were transmitted intact, and no threat could be serious enough in the face of copyists who could change texts at will..."
| Previous (Rev 22:11-15) |
