The Ladies and the Cities by Humphrey Edith M.;

Author:Humphrey, Edith M.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2018-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Hidden and Revealed Glory

Besides the broad structure, other details indicate a close connection between the two ladies. Both the narrative of ch. 12 and the description of ch. 21 are connected with a measuring of the Temple. In ch. 11, John is told to measure the inner court of the Temple (the outer is under siege) with a κάλαμος ὄμοιος ῥάβδω, but no dimensions are given; in ch. 21 the angel measures by means of a golden κάλαμος an immense city of almost unimaginable proportions. The pattern followed in chs. 11-12 is measuring-testing, but in chs. 21-22, it is presentation-measuring. Bornkamm suggests this parallelism: ‘Man wird endlich auch fragen dürfen, ob nicht die Ausmessung und Bewahrung des Tempels, womit der Inhalt des kleinen Büchleins beginnt (11,1), ein verheissungsvolles Vorzeichen ist für die Ausmessung des neuen Jerusalem (21, 15ff)’.86 If this line is followed, then the glory of ch. 12 is hidden; the glory of ch. 21 is revealed. In 12.11, the witnesses conquer by their death; in 21.4, there is no more death for those who have conquered. The settings are related by contrast as well. To the desert-mountain contrast may be added the ‘sea’ by which the Dragon (not John) stands at 12.18, versus the οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι of 21.1. Where the narrative left off, the description of transformed reality begins. Again, the demonic river of the Dragon has been replaced by the river of life in 22.1. Moreover, the desert imagery has given way to garden symbolism, as the description of 22.2 makes clear. The hymn of 12.12 blesses οὐρανοὶ καὶ οἱ ἐν αὐτος σκηνοντες while 21.3 tells us that the relationship between heaven and redeemed earth has changed, so that ἠ σκηνὴ το θεο μετὰ τν ἀνθρώπων καὶ σκηνώσει μετ’ αὐτν.

Concerning the description of the heavenly woman and the city-bride in particular, several observations are to be made. The ch. 12 woman stands on the moon, is clothed with the sun, and wears a crown of 12 stars; the holy city has no need of sun or moon, since her δóξα and φωστήρ (21.11) are from God (or are God), and she has 12 gates supervised by 12 angels. Farrer comments that the crown of the heavenly lady has become the ‘battlemented crown’ of the city, a commonplace in ancient iconography.87 The first woman labours under childbirth, the penalty of Genesis 3, giving a loud cry, while with the second woman every κατάθεμα is gone, and there are no more tears or crying. Occasional help is given to the first woman in extremis by heaven and earth;88 the second woman is pictured in an intimate and permanent connection with God and the rejuvenated earth.

What we are left with is a close relationship of the two figures, but not an exact identity. The hidden glory of the persecuted woman (she is only a portent)89 in ch. 12 becomes the evident glory of the blissful bride in ch. 21. The New Jerusalem is the answer to the ongoing war between the Woman and her seed and the Dragon.

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