Praising God beside the Sea

An Intertextual Study of Revelation 15 and Exodus 15

HaYoung Son

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781532612916
  9781532612930
• eBook ISBN:
  9781532612923
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

This study offers a creative combination of methodologies to provide grounded intertextual procedure for the apocalyptic genre with impact on understanding Revelation 15. Along with the analysis on narrative elements (to prove the similarity in the scenery background) and examinations of the designation and context of the songs, this research reveals thematic parallels in the contents of the songs in Exodus 15:1-18 and Revelation 15:3-4, not argued fully to this point in studies of the Apocalypse. These diverse analyses of the intertextuality between Exodus 15 and Revelation 15 strengthen the argument that Exodus 15 should be considered as the OT source of Revelation 15:3-4. John's elaborate, deliberate skills interweaving the Exodus theme with his eschatological vision can be observed in the whole book of Revelation, in the vision of the bowl judgments (Revelation 15-16), in the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Revelation 15:3-4), and even in the duality of the song's title. John offers a glimpse of the readers' ultimate victory in their present time and at the eschaton by reminding them of their almighty God, who saved the Israelites in the Exodus journey, especially at the Red Sea.

1

Old Testament Sources in Revelation 15:3–4

Figure 2. Outline of the First Chapter

Revelation 15:3b–4 consists of a song called “the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (τὴν ῷδὴν Μωϋσέως τοῦ δούλου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν ῷδὴν τοῦ ἀρνίου, Rev 15:3a). Because of the designation, “the song of Moses,” the following three passages have been suggested as the source: Exod 15:1–18,1 Deut 32:1–43,2 and Ps 90.3 However, due to no visible linguistic links between these passages and Rev 15:3b–4, other passages also have been suggested as the source: for example, Exod 34:10; Ps 86:8–10; 98:2; 111:2; 139:14; 145:17; Isa 2:2; Jer 10:7; 11:20 LXX; Amos 3:13; 4:13 LXX; 5:8; Mal 1:11.4

Among these possibilities, Ps 86:8–10 shows “the closest linguistic parallel with Rev 15:3–4.”5 The following table will help illustrate these parallels.6

Ps 86:8–10	Rev 15:3b–4
οὐκ ἔστιν ὅμοιός σοι ἐν θεοῖς κύριε καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν κατὰ τὰ ἔργα σου 9 πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ὅσα ἐποίησας ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου κύριε καὶ δοξάσουσιν τὸ ὄνομά σου 10 ὅτι μέγας εἶ σὺ καὶ ποιῶν θαυμάσια σὺ εἶ ὁ θεὸς μόνος ὁ μέγας (LXX 85:8–10)	μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ τὰ ἔργα σου, κύριε ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ· δίκαιαι καὶ ἀληθιναὶ αἱ ὁδοί σου, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν 4 τίς οὐ μὴ φοβηθῇ, κύριε, καὶ δοξάσει τὸ ὄνομά σου; ὅτι μόνος ὅσιος, ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου, ὅτι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ἐφανερώθησαν.

Table 1. Psalm 86:8–10 and Revelation 15:3b–4

The remainder of Rev 15:3b–4, not covered by the verbal allusions to Ps 86:8–10, is covered by Deut 32:4 and Ps 145:17 (δίκαιαι . . . ἀληθιναὶ αἱ ὁδοί . . . ὅσιος), by Amos 3:13; 4:13; 5:8 (κύριε ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ),7 by Ps 98:2 and Jer 11:20 (τὰ δικαιώματά σου ἐφανερώθησαν), and so on.8 Therefore, Rev 15:3b–4 can be understood as a “pastiche of stereotypical hymnic phrases gathered primarily from the Psalms,” a “collection,” an “amalgam,” or a “cento of quotations from many parts of the Old Testament.”9 To evaluate the primary source used in the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, the researcher will examine the background of the song(s) (Rev 15:2), the designation of the song(s) (Rev 15:3a), the content of the song(s) (Rev 15:3b–4), and the context of the song(s) in Rev 15.10

The Scenery Background of the Song(s)

In this section, literary analysis (narrative criticism) will be used for analyzing and comparing narrative elements (i.e., characters, temporal-spatial setting, and plot). First, the question “Can narrative criticism be applied to Revelation?” will be answered.

Use of Narrative Criticism

Narrative criticism is a critical method for analyzing biblical narratives.11 In the NT, narrative criticism generally is applied to the Gospels and Acts. However, narrative criticism also has been applied to the Pauline and General Epistles and Revelation. Norman R. Petersen justified the method’s application to the Epistles by saying, “Epistles may also be studied in terms of the stories that lie behind the letters.”12 Borrowing John J. Collins’s definition of apocalypse (“a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework”),13 Mel Gnatkowski justified narrative criticis...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Old Testament Sources in Revelation 15:3–4
• Chapter 2: Purpose of the Exodus Theme in Revelation 15
• Chapter 3: Use of the Exodus Theme in Revelation 15
• Chapter 4: Conclusion
• Epilogue
• Bibliography