Sunday, June 19, 2022

JST Revelation 12:1: The "Great Sign/Wonder in Heaven" having a Correspondence to "things on the earth"

KJV Rev 12:1 reads:

 

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

 

The JST for this verse reads:

 

And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. (1867 Inspired Version)

 

The JST makes it explicit that what is happening "in heaven" mirrors something that is also happening on the earth. This is all the more important as Rev 12:1-6 is taken by some (myself included) to be the strongest passage in the New Testament for a General Apostasy, with the “woman” being the “Church.”

 

The following image (and transcription based thereon) is from New Testament Manuscript folio 4, p. 152:

 



 

1 And thare appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; A woman clothed with the son, and <the> moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of [seven]<twelve> stars[;]

 

As for the "wonder"/"sign" variant: one will note that modern translations use "sign" (e.g. NASB; Lexham; ESV; NET; NIV; NJV; the RSV and NRSV uses "portent" [see below]), the Greek word being σημεῖον (BDAG: 1. a sign or distinguishing mark whereby someth[ing] is known, sign, token, indication). "Wonder" is an allowable translation as it carries with it the meaning of "miracle" or, in the context of Rev 12:1, a "portent" (per BDAG: "terrifying appearances in the heavens, never before seen, as portents of the last days Lk 21:11, 25 (Appian, Bell. Civ. 4, 4 §14 σημεῖα πολλά around the sun; AscIs 3, 20); Ac 2:19 (cp. Jo 3:3); s. D 16:6. Of that which the seer of the Apocalypse sees ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ Rv 12:1, 3; 15:1.)