Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2009
Abstract
MUCH OF REVELATION IS "LITERALLY SYMBOLIC." The question is what the symbolism means— and meant, from literary, political, and religious standpoints. Meaningful interpretation of Rev 17 today hinges upon grasping a sense of what it meant for its original audiences in late first-century Asia Minor. As these apocalyptic messages were read among the churches, how did their original audiences understand the imagery of the woman who rides on the beast, the beast with seven heads and ten horns, and the seven kings and then the eighth? How might they have understood themselves called to receive the text's message then, and how might we best understand this text today?
Recommended Citation
Originally published in Interpretation, January 2009, 63(1), pp. 60-61 http://int.sagepub.com/content/63/1/60.full.pdf+html