01 D. Revelation: Definition – Greek

REVELATION: DEFINITION – GREEK

Revelation 1:1: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ….”[1]

 

 

Lifting the Veil

            The Greek and Hebrew meanings of ‘revelation’ are not contradictory, neither are they identical.  Greek words are from the cultural heritage more familiar to the Western mind whereas Hebrew words relate to Eastern cultural and religious ideas.  This will become more apparent in the following discussion.

            The bridge between Biblical Hebrew and Greek is the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew, translated about 200 B.C.  By comparing the Greek words of the New Testament with the same Greek words of the Septuagint Old Testament, and from there referring to the source words in the Hebrew text, we have some basis for connecting the meaning and ideas behind the words.  As always, however, words are slippery and translation between cultures and between two eras of time, even of the same culture, is not an exact science.

            The root of the Greek word apokalupsis, translated ‘revelation,’ is kalu, meaning ‘a veil or covering.’  The prefix apo is a preposition meaning ‘from, away from.’  The suffix –psis denotes action or process.  Apokalupsis therefore means the action or process of taking away the veil.[2]

 Old Testament Background

            For the Biblical background of the idea of the veil, especially of those that were to be removed, let us consider four prominent veils:  (1) the veil of mortality; (2) the veil of separation; (3) the veil of the Law; and, (4) the veil of the heavens.

            The veil of mortality, that is, unredeemed flesh, became necessary when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and became subject to death.  God clothed them; that is, He put a veil between Him and their sinful flesh.  Isaiah saw this veil as a pall of darkness that had kept the whole world from seeing the full Light of God.  Isaiah 25:7:

And he will destroy, (from Hebrew root bâlaʻ, ‘swallow up’) in this mountain the face of the covering[3] (from Heb. root lûwt) that is cast over all peoples, and the vail (from Heb. root çâkak[4]) that is spread over all nations. (KJV) 

             How is this to be accomplished?  Verse 8:  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces….”  This was achieved in the resurrection of Christ: 1 Cor. 15:54:

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’, (RSV). 

This same hope is expressed in Revelation 7:17 and 21:4.  So the revelation of Christ was the removal of the veil of mortality.

            The veil of mortality was a veil of separation, but there were other veils whose purpose was to achieve a separation.  The most notable of these was the veils of the Tabernacle and the Temple which separated the courts and especially the one that separated the Holy of Holies from the inner court.  The death of Christ also accomplished the removal of that veil:  Matthew 27:51: “And behold, the curtain (veil, KJV) of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, (RSV).  Hebrews 10:19, 20 makes this even more explicit:

We have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain (veil, KJV), that is, through his flesh (RSV).

            The veil of the Holy of Holies separated even the Priesthood from the most holy place.  Through His redemptive death and His work as the eternal High Priest, Christ provided access through Himself to this Holy Place, (Hebrews 9:1-12).

            The Gentiles had been separated racially from the covenants and promises of Israel and considered unclean by the Jews, but:

Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ.  For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility.  Ephesians 2:13, 14.

The veil of racial separation was removed.  The offer of salvation was now universal.

            The Law was a veil highly revered by the Pharisees of Christ‘s time, but Christ taught that the Law was only necessary because of disobedience.  God’s will was that the Law be written in Man’s heart.  Christ taught that the external code of the Law was a veil that often blinded people to the need for the inner Law.

            The story of Moses’ face to face confrontation with God furnishes an example that, ideally, Man should commune with God face to face, and beholding His glory, he should partake of that glory.  Exodus 34:33 says that Moses face shone so that it was necessary for him to veil his face when he talked with the people. I1 Cor. 3:14-18:

But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.  Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is removed.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (RSV)

             The veil of the heavens is expressed in Psalms 104:2:

(O Lord my God) who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain [5] (KJV, ‘tent’, NIV and RSV).

             In Exodus 26 and 36 this word is used 43 times of the curtains and hangings of the tabernacle. Since the heavens were sometimes referred to as analogous to a tabernacle, (Psalms 19:4), the visible heavens would appear to be its “curtain.”  The writer of the book, “John,” was beholding the heavens throughout the writing; it would therefore be appropriate to say that Jesus Christ was revealed through that curtain.

            In the New Testament earthly things are mere copies of the heavenly things, (Hebrews 8:1-5; 9:23-24), based on Exodus 25:40 where the Lord told Moses: “See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain,” (as quoted in Acts 7:44 and Hebrews 8:5).[6] Therefore, the curtains of the tabernacle which Moses built were considered to be copies of the curtain of the heavens.  This explains how Philo and Josephus could describe the hangings of the Temple as symbolic of the heavens (Ant. 3.7.7).[7]

            Acts 3:21 shows that Christ had passed through the veil of the heavens, (also Hebrew 4:14 and Ephesians 4:10), but that they expected Him to be revealed, through the veil, (in some references: “upon the clouds,”) when the time came for the full restoration of God’s will in the earth. Acts 1:9-11 shows that Christ had passed into the heavens and was expected to return from thence.

            The veil of the heavens was opened to the prophets, (i.e. in Ezekiel 1:1).  In the same way, New Testament prophets saw the heavens opened:  John the Baptist, Mark 1:10; Stephen, Acts 7:56; Peter, Acts 10:11; and John the Revelator, Revelations 4:1.  The book of Revelation concerns the visions given to John which, in a sense, represented the opening of the veil of the heavens to prophetic view.

            All of these veils served to hide God from Mankind.  Several of the prophets complained that the Lord is hidden: Isaiah 45:15: “Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself”; Psalm 89:46: “How long, O Lord?  Wilt thou hide thyself for ever?”  And Ezekiel 39:23-4:

And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.  I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them. RSV

            The expected “revelation (apokalupsis), of Jesus Christ” was to remove all of these veils, that is, the veil of mortality, the veil of separation, the veil of the law, and the veil of the heavens.  The book of Revelation shows the fulfillment of these expectations.

 New Testament Background

            The word apokalupsis is found 19 times in the Greek New Testament and is variously translated in the KJV by the following words or phrases: ‘revelation’ 12 times,  ‘manifestation’ once;

 (with ‘eis-) ‘revelation’ once; (with en-) ‘to enlighten’ once; ‘appearing’ once; ‘coming’ once; ‘when Christ shall be revealed’, twice.

            The twelve occurrences of apokalupsis translated ‘revelation’ in the New Testament (KJV) are: Romans 2:5; 16:25; 1 Cor. 14:6, 26; 2 Cor. 12:1, 7; Galatians 1:12; 2:2; Ephesians 1:17; 3:3; 1Pet.1:13; Revelation 1:1.  

             In these instances, when speaking of persons, it means ‘appearing,’ or ‘manifestation;’ when speaking of facts and truths it means ‘disclosure,’ or ‘revelation.’

            In Rom. 8:19 apocalupsis is translated by the KJV as ‘manifestation’.  In 1 Cor. 1:7 apocalupsis is translated by the KJV as ‘coming’.  Therefore, the title could have been translated: “The Manifestation/Coming of Jesus Christ.”

            The Book of Revelation should also be seen as fulfilling the referent Scripture Isaiah 25:7-8, the ‘veil’ of mortality that has been cast over all nations is now being removed in Christ.

            The “Revelation of Jesus Christ” was predicted by several instances in the New Testament (KJV), using a form of the word apocalypse:

            Luke 17:30:  “…day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

            1 Cor. 1:7:  “…waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            2 Thessalonians 1:7:  “…when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed

            1 Pet. 1:7:  “…at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

            1 Pet. 1:13: “…grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…”

            Revelation 1:1:  The revelation of Jesus Christ…”

            The problem for interpretation is: Does the “Revelation” in 1:1 refer to the same event as the others mentioned in the New Testament where the same word is used?  Since the New Testament is the immediate context for the book of Revelation, then there is no reason to believe otherwise.  The view that they are not the same would need defense; the logical view is that they do indeed speak of the same event.  The Book of Revelation announces the fulfillment of the revelation that was predicted by the other New Testament prophets.

            In the Scriptures, prophetic predictions are followed by the historical account of the fulfillment of those predictions.  Although “the things which must shortly come to pass” were in the immediate future at the time John the Revelator received the vision and gave testimony to it, the book was not canonized, that is, did not become Scripture, until after these events had indeed become historical fact.  The canonization of the book by the Christian community was their witness that the prophesied events had indeed come to pass.

            Just as the Old Testament predictions of the first coming of the Messiah are shown to be fulfilled by the Gospel accounts, so the predictions recorded in the New Testament of His second coming, or revelation, are fulfilled in the book of Revelation.  Thus the pattern is complete:  Light has been perfected.

            But the book is eternally relevant, for just as Jesus referred to the events of Noah’s day: “As it was in the days of Noah…”, so should we refer to the events of the end of the Jewish fleshly nation: “As it was in the days of the destruction of Jerusalem“, for that event served as an example of the end of any nation that rejects God.  Yes, even finally, of the end of the whole world.


[1] See Commentary at 1:1 “Revelation: Hebrew” for discussion of the short title: “The Revelation of/to John“.

[2] ZPBD defines “Revelation” as of Latin derivation, and referring to the visible return of the Lord as in 1 Cor. 1:7; 11 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7, 13.  Elsewhere it is said to refer to the making known of truth in propositional or experiential form (p. 720).

[3] This parallel usage would seem to indicate that lûwt and çâkak are synonyms.

[4] I will use the symbol ç for the Hebrew letter çamek and ʻ for the letter ayin.  When called for I will use ‘ǝ’ for the vowel shewa.

[5] Finis Jennings Dake, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, (Lawrenceville, Georgia, Dake Bible Sales, Inc., 1963, eighth printing, 1974), 596, note ‘p.’  The Hebrew word here is yərîy‘ah.

[6] What this pattern means and how Moses fulfilled God’s command has seldom been fully appreciated.  The “pattern” not only included the tabernacle and its furnishings and later the Temple etc., but also the order of the encampments and marches, and later the orders of priests and singers.  This “pattern” also included all of the time-telling functions of the heavenly bodies as well as the ability to orient oneself in space through the cartography developed from the study of the heavens.  How Moses’ laws, ordinances and statutes reflect this pattern will be dealt with in another work, if the Lord will grant me time, grace and strength to develop this insight.

[7] The translator of this work, William Whiston, notes that the explanation of the mystical meaning of the tabernacle and vessels is a Gentile idea and not according to ancient Jewish notions.  (See his note at this place.)

   I believe, however, that Josephus was trying to convey an idea across the cultures that could not adequately be translated without a more complete and detailed explanation of the concepts he sought to convey.  In writing for Gentiles, he attempted to write in terms of the ideas they were familiar with and so seemed to be abandoning the Jewish idea.

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