Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/726

670 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Apocalypse

in" the visions nf liislicjul" is shown llip future. This II Ksii. iii. 1-3; ami is till' ins<' in Dun. vii. 1 <7 xrr/ in the Sliivimic IJook of Enoch, i. 2 il neij. As to the cle.scri|)tion of the effect of the vision iMm the seer,

sec Dun.

viii.

27;

Enoch,

l..

3: II Estl. v. 14.

3. The introduction of Angels as the bearers of Tlie Most the revelation is also a standing feature. High does not speak in person (contrast the early Hebrew narratives, the visions in Amos. vii. -i.. etc.), but gives His instruction through the nicdiuui of His heavenly messengers. who act as the seer's guides or interpreters, liringing the mysteries of the unseen world before his eyes, e.])Uiining to him what he sees, answering his questions, and disclosing to him There is hardly an examjile of a true the future. Apocalypse in which the instrumentality of angels In in giving the mes.S!ige is not made prominent. the Assum)ilion of Moses, which consists mainly of jircdiction of the course of Israelite and a detailed .lewish history, the announcement is given to.Ioslma by Moses, just before the death of the latter. So, too, in the Sibylline Oracles, which are for the most part a mere foretelling of future events, the Sibyl But neither of these books can is the only speaker. be called truly representative of apocalyptic literaIn another ture in the narrower sense (see below). writing which has sonielinics bi'cn classed as apocalyptic, the Hook of Jubilees, an angel is indeed the mediator of the revelation, but the vision or dream element is wanting. In this case, however, the book is not at all apocalyptic in its nature. 4. In the typical compositions of this class the The chief concern of the writer is with the Future. Apocalyjise is primarily a Prophecy usually with a distinctly religious aim, intended to show God's way of dealing with men, and His ultimate purposes. The writer presents, sometimes very vividly, a picture of coming events, especially those connected with the end of the present age. Thus, in certain of these writings the subject-matter is vaguely described as " that which shall come to pass in the latter days " (Dan. ii. 2S; compare verse 29); similarly Dan. " to make thee understand what shall befall thy .. 14, people in the latter days"; compare Enoch, i. 1, 2; X. 3 ct seg. So, too, in Uev. i. 1 (compare Dan. ii. 28 that which nuisl f< «fg., LXX.), "Revelation, shortly come to pass. " Past history is often included in the vision, but usually onlv in order to give force and the proper historical setting to the iirediction, as the panorama of successive events passes over imperceptibly from till' known to the unknown. Thus, in the eleventh chajiter of Daniel, the detailed history of the Greek empires in the East, from the conquest of Alexander down to the latter part of the reign of Antioehus Epiphaues (verses 3-39, all presented in the formof a prediction), is continued, without any break, in a scarcely less vivid description (verses 40^.')) of events which had not yet taken place, but were onlj' expected by the writer (see next page. S; III.); viz., the wars which should result in the death of Antiochus and the fall <if his kingdom. All this. however, serves only as the introduction to the remarkable e.schatological prcdii'tions in the twelfth chapter, in which the main jnirpose of the book is to be found. Similarly, in the dream recounted in II Esd. xi. and xii., the eagle, representing the Roman cmpiri'.is followed by the lion, which is the promised Messiah, who is to deliver the chosen people and establish an evcrlast ing kin.gdom. The transition from history to prediction is seen in xii. 28. where the expected end of Domitian's reign and with it the end of the world is foretold. Still another example of the same kind is Sibyllines. iii. G08-623. Compare perliaps also Assump'tio Mosis, vii.-ix. In nearly all the writings.

—

—

.

.

670

which are properly classed as apocalyptic the e.sclia tological element is prominent. In fact, it was thi' growlhof speculation regarding the age to come and the hope for the chosen people (see next page, III.) which more than any thing else occ«sione(i the rise and inlluenced the development of this sort of literature. 5. Still another ehaniclerislic of thi' Apocalypse is f(nmd in certain literary properties which are always present to some extent, and usually are (|iile promS;

The ch'Mient of the mysterious, apjiarent in both the matter and the manner of the writing, is a inarkcci feature in everv typical A)iocaly|)se. The literature of visions and dreams has its own tradiinent.

which are remarkably jiersislent; and this fact uiuismilly well illustrated in the group of Jewish (or Jewish-Christian) writings under consideration. This apocalyptic (|uality ajipears most iilainly (<0 in the use of fantastic imagery. The best illustration is furnisiied by the strange living creatures which figure in so many of the visions "beasts" in which the properties of men, animals, birds, reptiles, or purely imaginary beings are combined in a way that How characteristic is startling and often grotes(pie. a feature this is may be seen from the following list of the most noteworthy passjiges in which such creatures are introduced: Dan. vii. 1-H. viii. 3-12 (both pa.ss!igesof the gri-itest importance for the history of apocalyptic literature); Enoch. Ixxx v.-xc. Slavonic Enoch, xii., xv. 1, xix. 6, xlii. 1, etc.; II Esd. xi. Hebrew 1-xii. 3, 11-32; Greek Apoc. of Bar. ii.. iii. tions, is

—





Testament, Naphtjili's. iii.; Rev. iv. C et seg. (compare Apoc. of Bar. [Syr.] Ii. 11). ix. 7-10, 17-19, xiii. Certain 1-18, xvii, 3, 12; Herin.as, "Vision," iv. 1. inythi<'al or scmimythical beings which aitpear in the Old Testament are also made to play a jiart of increasing imp<irtance in the.se books. Thus "Leviathan" and "Behemoth" (Enoch, Ix. 7, 8; II Esd. vi. 49-52; Apoc. of Bar. xxix. 4); "Gog and Magog" (Sibyllines, iii. 319 et seq., 512 el neq.; compare Enoch. Ivi. 5 et seg.; Rev. xx. 8). As might be exjiccted, foreign mylhologies are also occasionally laid und<T contribution (see below). The apocalyptic (juality is seen again (J) in the frequent use of a mystifying symbolism. This is

well-known cases cmjiloj'ed for the sake of obscurthus, the mysterious in,g the writer's meaning; name"Taxo." Assumptio Mosis, ix. 1; the "number of the beast." OdO, Rev. xiii. 18; the number 888 {'li/anl^), i^ihyllines, i. 326-330. Very siniihir to this is the frer|Uent enigmatic prophecy of the length of time which must elapse before the events predicted come to ])ass; thus, the "time, times, and a half," Dan. xii. 7; the "fifty-eight times" of Enoch, xc. 5, As.sumptio ]Mosis, x, 11; the announcement of a certain number of " weeks " or days (without specifying the starting-point), Dan. ix. 24 et seg., xii. 11. 12; Enoch xciii: 3-10; II Esd. xiv. 11, 12; Apoc. of Bar. xxvi.-xxviii. Rev. xi. 3. xii. 0; compare Assumptio The same tendency is seen also in the miosis, vii. 1. employment of symbolical language in s])eaking of certain persons, things, or events; thus, the "horns" of Dan. vii., viii. Rev. xvii, et neg. the "heads" and " wings " of II Esd. xi. et seg. the seven seals. Rev. vi. trumpets, viii. bowls, xvi. the dragon. Rev. xii. 3-17, XX. 1-3; the eagle, Assumptio Mosis, x. 8; and so on. As typical exainples of more elaborate allegories aside from tho.se in Dan. vii., viii.. II Esd. maybe mentioned; the xi.. xii., already referred to vision of the bulls and the sheep, Enoch, Ixxxv. et seg.; the forest, the vine, the fountain, and the cedar, Apoc. of Bar. xxxvi. et seg. the bright and the black waters, ibid. liii. et seg. the willow and its branches,

most strikingly where f/i mutn'a

illustratecl in the

is















—

—



Hernias, "Similitudines,"

viii.