Revelation 20 related the
culmination of rebellion against God – and a concise description of the
consequences of such rebellion: the
final defeat of Satan and his demonic allies and the commencing of Judgment
Day. Today we shall consider a small
variant in verse 9: does the fire that
destroys the forces of Satan fall explicitly come from God (ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ) or not?
The Byzantine text includes ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Codex Alexandrinus and about 25 minuscules,
as Metzger stated in his Textual
Commentary on the GNT, do not; nor did a text read by Tyconius, Augustine,
and Primasius. The Vulgate as represented
by Novum Testamentum Latine (1906 Stuttgart) includes “a
Deo,” supporting ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Metzger granted that about 120 minuscules
support ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, as do Jerome, Aspringius and Beatus. Codex Gigas also supports the inclusion of
ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ although there is inconsistency about whether it should appear
before or after ἐκ τοῦ ὸὐρανοῦ. Augustine’s
testimony is inconsistent; he apparently read “a Deo” on one occasion.
Versional evidence favoring the inclusion of ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ
includes the Old Latin represented by Codex Gigas, the Sahidic version,
Harklean Syriac, the Armenian version, and some Ethiopic copies.
The testimony of Codex Sinaiticus is somewhat diminished by
the scribe’s initial omission of much of Revelation 20:9-10; in the margin a corrector
has added the missing passage including ἀπὸ τοῦ Θῦ.
Our modern English versions are not consistent. The KJV, Living Oracles (1826), Living Bible,
MEV, NKJV, WEB, and EHV include “from God.”
The 1881 Revised Version, ESV, CEV, CSB, NASB, NET, NIV, NLT, and NRSV
do not include “from God.”
Metzger argued for the non-inclusion of ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ on the
grounds that it originated as an “imitation of 21.2 and 21.10.”
On the other hand, a scribe could consider it
superfluous, or simply omit it accidentally when his line of sight drifted from
the end of the contracted
ουνου to the end of
Θῦ.
My view is that ἀπὸ
τοῦ Θῦ should be retained after εκ τοῦ ουνου. Readers who can provide additional thoughts
are welcome to share them in the comments.
1 comment:
This is a parallel to the pre-incarnate Christ who personally rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrha, as it says in Genesis 19:24.
Here we read that our Lord and Savior gave such people the vengeance of eternal fire, like it says in Jude 1:7. As it says in 2 Peter, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" (2 Peter 2:9). This is a great passage and I think about it often. I also think about Matthew 13:47-50 often.
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