"
APOCALYPSE:
8
1.
The Terms "Apoca-
lypse " and "Apocalyptic."
.m
'
.Viicicalypsi,"
iu the UTiiiinolDgy of «iily .Ii-visli iiiid C'liristiaii literature, is a revelation of hidden thiiifis niven by God to some one of his chosen saints or(still oftener) The wonl the written account of such a revelation. is derived from the Greek ('i-nKti/vif'ir, "uncoverinfr, "disclosure"; a noun which does not appear at all in clas.sical Greek, and in the later jirofane writers is not employed in any way that corresponds to the use above mentioned; it seems to have origi nated among Greek-speakinfr Jews, and then passed from them to the Christians, who developed it still further. The Greek verb a7roKa?.'virTetv is occasionally employed in the Scptuagint to translate the Hebrew
("reveal"): thus, of a secret, Prov. .i. 13; com pare Ecclus. iv.18, x.ii. 22, .li. 23 [.lii.l] of future events disclosed by God, Amos, iii. 7, and especially ilhi
idioms |ts n?3, " uncover the ear," Q^yy n?i. "uncover the eyes," meaning "reveal." Num. .xii. 31, ..iv. 4.16(compare Knoch, i, 2); compare further So also Theodotion's trans I Sam. ii. 27, iii. 21, etc. lation of the Aramaic X73. Dan. ii. 10. 22. 28 el xi'/.A'. The noun aTo/id/ii/ic appears in the Greek translation of Eeelus. with the meaning "disclosure "of what is in the
unknown, Ecclus.
.x.xii.
22
(/'iwrz/p/oD arruKa'/.infii^,
"re-
— compare Theodotion's trans-
vealingof a mv.stery " lation of Dau."ii. 1!», 28
et xefj.), xli.
23
[xlii. I], xi. 27.
The
nearest approach to this usage w hieli has been observed in a profane writer is the passage in Plurf/^ afiapTiaf ri/v tarch, "Jloralia." 70 F: id yap .
vox'^ETiiatv
Apion Apocalypse
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
669
K(u
fi-nKn/-vijuv
.
.
(iTop^rjrnv
tii'ttt,
K.r.
(th<'
reference in Ste|)lianus, "Thesjiurus "); but it must also have been iu u.se among Greek speidiing Jews at the beginning of the conunon era in the sense "revelation from God." Thus, when Paul speaks of " "visions and revelations [iiToK«/ii/'Mr] of the Lonl (II Cor. xii. 1, 7: I Cor. xiv. 6, 26; compare Justin. "Trypho." p. 81), he is plaiidy using a term wi-11 known to Ilelleuists, in its history directly connected with the Sejituagint use of the verb in such passiigesas Num. xxii. iJl.l Sam. iii. 21. and such use of the noun as that found in Ecclesiastieus (Hennas, "Vision." The iii. 3 should perliai>s also be compareil here). same may be sjiid of its use in Hev. i. 1 it illustrates Jewish isage. Further evidence of the same kind may be foimd in the words of Luke. ii. 32, (pur lir aToK(iXei/io' ilh'uv (compare the <!ri<'k of Ps. xeviii. 2), "a light for revelation to the Gentiles," occurring
a context which is Hebrew through and through. Hellenistic Jews, then, employed the noun a-oKii'/rj'i( in speaking of visions and revelations sent from God. No etymological ei|uivalent of the wonl in this signitleatiou was iu use, however, either in Hebrew or The t<'rm commonly used in the Old in Animnic. Testament is pjn (also p'jn. nmo) " vision "; see, for iu
example, Dan.
The use of
viii. 1.
to designate the written account of such a vision, or the book containing it. was This usiige apparently the next step. Use of the had its origin in thi' litli' given to the New Testament A]>ocalypse; which Term. title was itself obtaineil, very natuavaita'/.vxfiit
from the opening words ATiwi;u>e^/r'I;/(Toir Xpiaabove), in whi<li the term "revelation " is of course us<'d simply to desiribe the eontenis of the book, not as a liteniry designation. The name Apocalypse was then given to othiT writingsof the same geiiend character, of which many appiand at about rally,
roi>(se'e
From the .second century it was applied this time. to a number of books, both Jewish and Christian, which show the same clianicteristic features. Ik'-
sides the Apocalvpse of .John (thus named in some of the earliest of the Christian Fathers), the Mura-
fragment, Clement of Alexandria, and others mention an Apocalypse of Peter. Apocalypses of Adam and Abraham (K]ii]ihanius) an<l of Elia.s (Jerome) also begin to be mentioned; see, for example, the six titles of this kind in the "List of the 60 Canonical Books" (published, ir/.. in Preuschen, " Anale<ta," p. l.")9). The use of the Greek noun to designate writings belonging to a certain class of literary products is thus of Christian origin, the original norm of the class being the New Testament tori
l^•velation.
In recent times the designation apocalyptic literature, or apocalyptic, has conmionly been used to include all the various portions of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, whether canonical or apocryl>hal. iu which eschatological predictions are given in the form of a revelation. That the term is at present .somewhat loosely used, and often made to include what is not properly apocalyptic, is due in jiart to the fact that the study of this literature as is companitively recent. § II. Characteristic Features. Both because
a distinct class
of the origin of the name a]]oealyptic. and still more because of the |)rominence with which certain wellmarked characteristics appear in the typical writings of this class, there is justitication for giving tlie Apocalypse a place by itself, as a distinct branch of literature; and it is both possible and desirable to mark olT the boundary lines with some distinctness. As characteristic features of the Apocalypse the following may lie noted: 1. It is a revelation of mysteries, things which lie bi'Vond the ordinary range of human knowledge. The .Most High gives to His sjiints detinite instruction in regard to hidden matters, whether things altogether foreign to human experience, or merely events in hinnan history which have not yet come to Some of the secrets of heaven are disclosed, Iiass. in greater or less detail: the purposes of God; the deeds and chanicteristics of angels and evil spirits; the explanation of natural phenomena; the story of Creation and the history of primitive man; imjiendiiig I'Veuts. especially those connected with the future of Israel; the end of the world; the tinal judgment, and the fate of mankind; the Messianic age; In the 15ook of Enoch, pictures of heaven and hell. the m<ist comprehensive Jewish Apocalypse, the revelation includes all of these various elements. 2. Thedisclosureof hidden wisdom is made through Because of the peculiar nature a vision or a dream. of the sidijeet matter, this is evidently the most natural lit<niry form. Moreover, the maunerof the revelation, and the experience of the one who receives Usuit, are generally made more or less prominent. ally, though not always, the accivunt is given in the There is something portentous in the first person. circumstances, corresponding to tlie importance of the sicrels about to be diselo.sed. Theeli'ineiil of the mysterious, often so prominent iu the vision itself, Somr of is foreslnulowed in the |ireliminary events. the persistent features of ihi' "apoealypli<' tradition" ari' connected with the circumstances of the As vision and the pi'rsonal experience of the seer. Daniel after long fasting stands by the river, a lieaveidy iM'ing appears to him. an<l thi' revilatii'n follows (Diin. X. 2
1
1
mi/.).
.?ohn. in
the
New
Tistament
Kevelation (i. Hit m'/.), has a like experience, told in very similar words. Compare also Hie lirst elmpler of ihe (ireek ,poealypse of Ifairuch; and the Svriac t^r. as .Vpocalypsi', vi. 1 it mi/., xiii. I il *'/., Iv. 1-3. tin" prophi't lies uprni his bed. dislre,s.s<(l for tlii' future of his people, he falls into a sort of trance, and
