Thursday, June 25, 2020

Craig Koester on Revelation 5:8 and 8:3

 

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. (Rev 5:8)

 

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (Rev 8:3)

 

Commenting on Rev 5:8, Craig Koester wrote:

 

The way the heavenly beings bringing the saints’ prayers before God had precedent in Jewish writings (Tob 12:12), but the more common idea was that angels interceded (1 En. 9:3; 40:6; 47:2; 104:1; T. Dan 6:2) or offered sacrifices (T. Levi 3:5) on behalf of the righteous. (Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary [AB 38A; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014], 379)

 

On Rev 8:3, we read:

 

Jewish sources sometimes told of angels interceding on behalf of the righteous (1 En. 9:3; T. Levi 3:5), but in Revelation the angel brings the saints’ own prayers before God (Tob 12:12; Rev 5:8) (Ibid., 432-33)

 

Here are the extra-canonical works Koester references:

 

So now when you and Sarah prayed, it was I [the archangel Raphael] who brought and read the record of your prayer before the glory of the Lord, and likewise whenever you would bury the dead. (Tobit 12:12 NRSV)

 

And now, [O] holy ones of heaven, the souls of people are putting their case before you pleading, 'Bring our judgment before the Most High.'" (1 Enoch 9:3)

 

And the third voice I heard interceding and praying on behalf of those who dwell upon the earth and supplicating in the name of the Lord of the Spirits. (1 Enoch 40:6)

 

There shall be days when all the holy ones who dwell in the heavens above shall dwell (together). And with one voice, they shall supplicate and pray--glorifying praising, and blessing the name of the Lord of the Spirits--on behalf of the blood of the righteous ones which has been shed. Their prayers shall not stop from exhaustion before the Lord of the Spirits--neither will they relax forever--(until) judgment is executed for them. (1 Enoch 47:2)

 

"I swear unto you that in heaven the angels will remember you for good before the glory of the Great One; and your names shall be written before the glory of the Great One. (1 Enoch 104:1)

 

Draw near to God and to the angel who intercedes for you, because he is the mediator between God and men for the peace of Israel. He shall stand in opposition to the kingdom of the enemy. (Testament of Dan 6:2)

 

There with him are the archangels, who serve and offer propitiatory sacrifices to the Lord in behalf of all the sins of ignorance of the righteous ones. (Testament of Levi 3:5)