From: clayton stirling bartholomew (c.s.bartholomew@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Wed Dec 17 1997 - 16:01:43 EST
Jonathan
The text of this verse is a nightmare. H.B. Swete says:
"The epigrammatic style of this saying has perplexed the scribes ..."
Bruce Metzger says:
"The epigrammatic style of the saying has perplexed the scribes."
You will notice that Metzger has replaced the demonstrative pronoun "this"
with the direct article "the". This variant can probably be attributed to a
transcription error.
R. H. Charles reconstructed the text in the same manner as it appears in the
text now received by all. I would take this to indicate that R. H. Charles
probably had some influence on the "Committee" or the "Gang of Five."
R. H. Charles reconstruction reads:
EI TIS EIS AICMALWSIAN
EIS AICMALWSIAN hUPAGEI
EI TIS EN MACAIRHi APOKTANQHNAI
AUTON EN MACAIRHi APOKTANQHNAI
The meaning of this epigram has several layers. One layer of the meaning is
the strong sense of "destiny" which is notable through out the Apocalypse. The
Apocalypse is a book about "destiny" at several levels; Cosmic destiny,
national destiny and personal destiny. In this epigram the author is talking
about personal destiny. He is saying certain people are marked for captivity
and certain people are marked for death by the sword.
I realize in looking over my post that I have not addressed your real question
which was about how this verse hangs together structurally. In looking over
these four lines I cannot find anything difficult about their structure.
Perhaps AUTON in line four is a little awkward. This verse reads a lot like
numerous portions of the LXX. Certainly one could find passages in the Isa.
or Jer. (LXX) which are far more cryptic than this.
-- Clayton Stirling Bartholomew Three Tree Point P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062
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