01 B. Revelation: Definition – Hebrew

Revelation: Definition – Hebrew

Revelation 1:1: “The Revelation.”

            A study of the book of Revelation must begin at the beginning – with the meaning of the word ‘revelation.’  The purpose of this lesson will be to discover that meaning in the Hebrew context of the times of the early Church to which it was originally written.  Since it is generally agreed that the book was first written in Hebrew,[1] and then translated into Greek, we must examine the word from both of these source languages.  However, since we do not have the original Hebrew manuscripts, we can only attain the most probable Hebrew words through a process of back translation from the Greek.  Although this process presents several difficulties, our efforts will be well rewarded because it will help us to experience the blessing that is pronounced upon those who read and keep the words of the book.

            Since the Church in the period before the destruction of the Temple was largely Jewish Christians, and since the book was written to alert these Christians to the impending destruction of Babylon/Jerusalem, we should expect that it should be written in the Hebrew.  Their tradition was: “If any write the holy books in any language, or in any character, yet he shall not read in them [publicly in the synagogue] … unless they be written in Hebrew.”[2]  It was therefore necessary that the book be written in Hebrew for it to have been acceptable for reading to the very audience to which it was originally addressed, (Revelation 1:3: “Blessed is he who reads aloud.”).

            Hebrew was also considered the “prophetic language,” the language of the Holy Spirit, and therefore essential for the giving of prophecy.  They believed that prophecy ceased when the Hebrew tongue fell into disuse.  The New Testament writers believed that the return of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the consequent gift of tongues restored the gift of prophecy to the Church.  However, since the book of Revelation is a “prophecy,” (1:3), it is most likely that it was originally written in Hebrew.

The Title: The Revelation of Jesus Christ:

            As in much of the Hebrew Bible, the opening sentence is the textual title of the work.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place.  (Rev. 1:1 RSV)

The word ‘revelation’ here is quite different from the word used in the title, “The revelation to John.”  The revelation to John” is not the same kind of thing as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”  The Revelation of John” is the title given to the book by the Greek translators and/or editors and was probably not in the original.  It is a statement of authorship, not the title of the book.

 Revelation as “Perfection of Light“:

            In the title “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” we may have the translation of the Hebrew term Urim ve Thummim, literally translated, ‘Lights and Perfections,’ with the sense of ‘Perfection of Light,’ or ‘Revelation.’[3] Four Old Testament passages serve especially as referents for this term:  Genesis 1:3; Deuteronomy 33:8; Ezra 2:63 and Nehemiah 7:65.

            Genesis 1:3 gives the account of the beginning, or breaking forth, of Light.  The form used in the Hebrew indicates a progression of Light, rather than completion.  Some translators would prefer: “Let Light begin to be,” or: “Let Light begin to proceed forth” (i.e., from God, the Source of Light.)[4] We should understand, then, that in the phrase “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” ‘Revelation’ means the Perfection of the Light which began to be in Genesis 1:3, indicating the perfect fulfillment of God’s will from the beginning and serving to complete the full circle of the written word.[5]  (See Introductory Article “The Light that Precedes and Supercedes All Creation”).

Which God gave unto Him…”

            References to Urim ve Thummim in Exodus 28:30 and Leviticus 8:8, show that it was something given to the priesthood.[6]  Deuteronomy 33:8 indicates that it is Christ, the Holy One, Who is to receive, (be given), the Urim ve Thummim: 

And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the water of Meribah. (RSV).

             Thy Holy One” with Whom they strove was God according to Psalm 95:9, and the Thummim and Urim are His revelations and lights.  Moses‘ exhortation to Levi, then, was to seek the Wisdom of God, that is, to operate in the spiritual role of the priesthood, looking forward prophetically to the coming of Christ who was to be the fulfillment, or Perfection of Light.[7]

            In 1 Samuel 28:6 we find Saul inquiring of the Lord, but “the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, (lights), or by prophets.  Spiritual insight had forsaken him.  He was no longer equipped to lead God’s people.

            The other references to Urim ve Thummim are found in the accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah of the return of the exiles after the Babylonian captivity.  In Ezra 2:59-63 and Nehemiah 7:61-5, the priesthood was being purged of those who were illegitimate or who were of mixed blood who were not found in the genealogical record.  These were told “not to partake of the holy food until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim,” (RSV).  This passage could also be translated: “until there stand a priest for Lights and Revelations.”  If we interpret the words ‘revelation’ (in Revelation 1:1), as Urim ve Thummim, this priestly role is filled by Jesus Christ.

            In the time of Christ, the rabbis taught and it was commonly believed that the Urim ve Thummim had never yet returned to Israel [8]and therefore that there was no priest worthy to make the judgments required to be made by Urim ve Thummim.[9]  The New Testament shows, however, that Christ is that Priest, (Hebrews 4:14-16.)  Peter believed that those in Christ are qualified to enter into the Royal Priesthood, (1 Pet. 2:9), that is, that their Priesthood is made legitimate in Christ.  From this we know that Peter believed that Christ had the necessary Urim ve Thummim to legitimate the Priesthood. 

            In Revelation 2:17 Christ is offering the holy food, “the hidden manna” of Ezra 2:63, to “those who overcome.”  This was the role of the one whom Ezra and Nehemiah had awaited.

The Urim ve Thummim : ‘given’, not “put in”.

            The wording “which God gave unto Him” is ambiguous in that it may be understood in two ways: Was the revelation given to reveal Him? Or to reveal to Him?  The Scriptures show clearly that Christ was already possessed of all Wisdom: 1 Cor. 1:24, 30; Colossians 2:2-3.  The resolution of the ambiguity may be found in the meaning of the word ‘gave’.

            The Hebrew word nathan is usually translated as ‘to give’, but in Exodus 28:30 and Leviticus 8:8, the modern English versions render it as ‘put in.’  When we understand that Lights and Revelations were given, instead of ‘put in,’ then their proper relationship to the breastplate of judgment becomes clear.  The priests were given the spiritual endowment of knowledge and insight, (i.e. light), required to render the proper decisions and righteous judgments.  The Urim ve Thummim was not some material object or icon placed in the breastplate but rather a spiritual gift, the Word of Wisdom.

            This is borne out by the usage in Numbers 27:21 where Eleazar is to advise Joshua concerning the going out and coming in of the people: 

And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim, (lights), before the Lord.

That is, counsel is to be sought of the Lord by the judgment of Lights.  Light is equivalent to Wisdom as is borne out by the passage in Proverbs 8:22:

The Lord created me (Wisdom) at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. (RSV).

The first of God’s recorded acts, the beginning of His work, was to speak Light into the chaos in Genesis 1:3, therefore Wisdom is Light.  Christ is therefore not only the Light of the World, but is also the Wisdom of God, (1 Cor. 1:24 and Isaiah 11:2.)[10]

            This productive Light of God, which is Christ, (John 1:1-4), is also the principle of order in the universe.  In Genesis 1:2 the earth was in a chaotic condition but as God began to create, the Spirit of God brooded over the chaos.  Then He commanded Light to be and order, (Greek Logos), prevailed.  The Creative Word first created order.  Therefore the Creative Word, (Logos), equals order, Light and Wisdom.  Christ, in His full revelation, is all of these. [11]

            The Scriptures, as the written Word of God, are also a manifestation of the Light of RevelationPsalm 119:105:   “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

 119:130:   The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”

 And Proverbs 6:23: “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life,” (KJV).

             The final book of the Bible therefore is the Perfection of the Light of the written word.  As such, it shows the completion, the full and final development and the ultimate fulfillment of the entire Scripture.  It might well be said that it contains either a direct reference or an indirect allusion to all of the other passages of Scripture.  One should not expect to understand its meaning without a good working knowledge of the rest of the Bible.

            The Revelation of Christ was to impart the hidden Wisdom to believers: Ephesians 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:18-31.  This revelation wisdom would make known the mystery of hidden things: Romans 16:25-6; Ephesians 1:9; 3:3-11; 1 Cor. 2:4-16; Colossians 1:26-7.[12]

            The Revelation (that is, the Urim ve Thummim) of Jesus Christ which God gave (nathan) unto Him…” shows that God the Father gave to Christ His Urim ve Thummim as His Chosen High Priest, thereby fulfilling the expectation expressed in Ezra and Nehemiah of a Priest Who should come to speak with authority in matters of judgment.  The Bible would have been incomplete and the issue would have been unresolved without the book of Revelation which shows that Christ fulfilled and received the Urim ve Thummim.

Penetrating or Removing the Veil:

            The Hebrew word that would most nearly correspond to the Greek ‘veil’ is lôwt, ‘covering,’ as in Isaiah 25:7-8:

And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ destroys that vail of death.

            The title of the book therefore suggests its entire contents: Jesus revealed by/through the veil of the heavens, the cynosure of the universe, the “ensign for the nations“, the One “lifted up” to draw all men to Himself.  He is shown, not only as the One Revealed, but also as the Revealer, the Perfection of Light, the Urim ve Thummim.


[1] For example, Tenny says:  “The so-called grammatical mistakes are chiefly unidiomatic translations of Hebrew or Aramaic expressions which would be impossible to render literally into Greek (ZPBD 721).”

   R. H. Charles in article “John‘s Grammar” says: “In fact, John the Seer used a unique style, the true character of which no Grammar of the New Testament has as yet recognized.  He thought in Hebrew (footnote 1.), and he frequently reproduces Hebrew idioms literally in Greek.  But his solecistic style cannot be wholly explained from its Hebraistic colouring” (The International Critical Commentary p. x, hereafter referred to as ICC).

   (“Footnote 1: Dealt with in Studies in the Apocalypse, pp. 79-102.”)  [‘solecistic’ – (1) an ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence; also: a minor blunder in speech; (2) something deviating from the proper, normal, or accepted order.”)

   Eusebius quotes Clement as saying that the Epistle to the Hebrews was originally written in Hebrew and translated by Luke into Greek (History of the Church, 6.14.1).

   Eusebius also taught that Origen “…mastered the Hebrew language, and secured for himself a copy, in the actual Hebrew script, of the original documents circulating among the Jews” (ibid., 6.16.1).  Origen also taught that Matthew was first written in Aramaic for Jewish believers (ibid., 6.25.10).

   Some interpreters believe the original language was Hebrew and some Aramaic.  Since the two languages are very closely related, – in fact Aramaic may be termed a dialect of Hebrew, – there need be no dispute as to the fact that it was one or the other or a mixture of both.

[2] CNT, vol.4, p. 296, quoting Massech Sopher cap., I, hal. 6.

[3] See Commentary at 1:3 “Time” and at 1:8 “Alpha and Omega” for further discussion of how the phrase “Urim ve Thummim” relates to the alphabetic pattern.  WS at 1:1.

[4] This view was expressed by Dr. Hugo McCord in his Biblical Hebrew course conducted at Oklahoma Christian College.

[5]  See Commentary at 1:3 “Christ as Light and Time“.

[6] Chapter and verse divisions are from the English translations. The Hebrew Bible sometimes does not follow these same divisions.

   ZPBD “Revelation, Book of The” says: “The title which the book itself assumes (1:1) may mean either ‘the revelation which Christ possesses and imparts,’ or ‘the unveiling of the person of Christ.’  Grammatically, the former is preferable, for this text states that God gave this disclosure to Christ that He might impart it to His servants” (721).

   Note: The lexicon definitions of Urim ve Thummim do not coincide at all with the root word!  They usually describe it as some kind of dice! (See Strong’s definition below.)  It seems rather idolatrous to think that this most sacred and consequential practice should be done with dice, like a common gambler.

   Strong‘s definition of urim, #0224: 1) stones kept in a pouch on the high-priest’s breastplate, used in determining God’s decision in certain questions and issues.

   Strong‘s definition of thummim, #08550: “Thummim = perfection, 1) stones provided for the means of achieving a sacred lot, 1a) used with the Urim, the will of God was revealed

   Strong‘s definition of nathan, #05414, usually translated ‘to give,’ but in the instances involving urim ve thummim translated ‘to put’.  It is translated ‘to give’ 1078 times, but in the case of the urim ve thummim, it is translated ‘to put’ 191 times.  I insist that the Urim ve Thummim was “given”, not “put in”.

[7] Deut. 33:8 refers back in turn to Num. 20:l-13.  In this account Moses was told to speak to the Rock, but instead, He smote the Rock.  The New Testament interpreted this event in 1 Cor. 10:4 where it is stated that the Rock was Christ.  We understand that the smiting of the Rock was prophetically the smiting of Christ, therefore, strife against God.

[8] CNT, (295) quotes Leusden’s edition, vol.2. p. 932 of the Jerusalem Talmud tract Taanith, fol.56.1:  “‘There were five things wanting under the second Temple which were under the first; the fire from heaven, the ark, Urim and Thummim, the oil of anointing and the Holy Spirit,’ or the Spirit of prophecy: let the Hebrew tongue, the prophetic language, be added also.”

[9] The Apocryphal book of 1 Esd. 5:40: “And Nehemiah and Attharias told them not to share in the holy things until a high priest should appear wearing Urim and Thummim.”  The footnote to this verse says: “The name Nehemiah is not found in the lists in Ezra and Neh.; ”the governor’ … orders the community to await the appearance of a high priest before participating in the holy things” (OAA, 11 n. 40).

[10] See also Part 2 of this work:  “Referents: Enoch“, for Enoch, pp. xvi. and 67-8.

   The idea that the expected Messiah should be One Who was the embodiment of Wisdom is expressed in Enoch‘s visions, for example, of “The Elect One.”  “49.1 For wisdom is poured out like water, and Glory faileth not before him for evermore.  2.  For he is mighty in all the secrets of righteousness … 3. And in him dwells the spirit of wisdom, And the Spirit which gives insight, And the spirit of understanding and of might, And the spirit of those who have fallen asleep in righteousness. 4. And he shall judge the secret things.”

   “51.3. And the Elect One shall in those days sit on My throne, And his mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel: For the Lord of Spirits hath given (them) to him and hath glorified him.”

 [11] See also Charles, Enoch: “And at that hour the Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, And his name before the Head of Days.  3. Yea, before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven were made, His name was named before the Lord of Spirits”( p. 66. 48. 2).  See also my Part 2 of this work:  “Referents, Enoch” at 5:13 and 21:6.

[12] The “Revelation of Jesus Christ” was also the revelation of the mystery of God and the wisdom of God:  Eph. 3:9-13 and Colossians 1:26-28; 2:2-3.  (See also my Commentary on 1:13, “Son of Man.”)

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