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EXCHANGE

THE

SOLECISMS OF THE APOCALYPSE

BY

T. COWDEN LAUGHLIN

A DISSERTATION

PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

1902

PRINCETON, N. J.

C. 6. ROBINSON & CO., UNIVERSITY PRINTERS

THE

SOLECISMS OF THE APOCALYPSE

BY

T. COWDEN LAUGHLIN

A DISSERTATION

PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

1902

PRINCETON, N. J.

C. 8. ROBINSON & CO., UNIVERSITY PRINTERS

THE SOLECISMS OF THE APOCALYPSE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The leading works consulted in the preparation of this disserta-

tion are the following :

BLASS, "Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch." Gottingen, 1896.

BOUSSET," Die Otfenbarung Johannis." 5 Aufl. Gottingen, 1896.

BUP.TON, "Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek." Chi-

cago, 1893.

CHEYNE & BLACK, " Encyclopaedia Biblica." New York, 1899-1903.EBRARD, "Das Evangelium Johannis." Ziiruch, 1845.

EBRARD," Wissenschaftliche Kritik der evangelischen Geschichte." Dritte

Aufl. Frankfurt a. M., 1868.

EUSEBIUS, " Ecclesiasticae Historiae"

MIGNE, " Patrologia Graeca."

EWALD, " Commentarius in Apocalypsin Johannis Exegeticus et Criticus."

Lipsiae, 1828.

EWALD, "Grammatik der hebraischen Sprache des A. T." Zweite Aufl.

Leipzig, 1835.

EWALD, "Die Johanneischen Schriften iibersetz und erklart." Gottingen,1861-1862.

GREEN, "A Grammar of the Hebrew Language." New York, 1889.GUILLEMARD, " Hebraisms in the Greek Testament." Cambridge, 1879.

HARNACK, Article on Word " Revelation " in " Encycl. Brit.," Vol. XX.

HASTINGS,"Dictionary of the Bible." New York, 1898-1902.

HATCH, " Essays in Biblical Greek." Oxford, 1889.

LIGHTFOOT, "St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians." London and NewYork, 1900.

LtiCKE," Versuch einer Vollstandigen Einleitung in die Offenbarung Johannis

und in die gesammte apokalyptische Litteratur." Bonn. 1852.

MILLIGAN, " Discussions on the Apocalypse." London, 1893.

MOULTON & GEDEN, "A Concordance to the Greek Testament." 2d Edition,New York, 1900.

SALMON, "A Historical Introduction to the Study of the Books of the NewTestament." 9th Edition, London, 1899.

SPITTA, "Die Offenbarung des Johannes." Halle, 1889.

SWETE, "An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek." Cambridge, 1900.

SWETE, "The Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint." 3 vols.

Cambridge, 1887-1894.

THAYER, "Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament." New York, 1887.TISCHENDORF,

" Novum Testamentum Graece." Lipsiae, 1872.TOY,

"Quotations in the New Testament." New York, 1884.

YITEAU," Etude sur le Grec du Nouveau Testament." Paris, 1893-6.

WESTCOTT, "The Gospel According to St. John." London, 1894.WESTCOTT & HORT, "The New Testament in the Original Greek." London

and Cambridge, 1885. (The references in this dissertation are to this text.)

WINER, "A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament." Thayer'sEdition, Andorer, 1874.

239329

I he Solecisms of the Apocalypse.

THE SOLECISMS OF THE APOCALYPSE.

The Greek of the Apocalypse is marked by a series of most

striking peculiarities which, as has long been recognized, are due

in large part to the influence of the Hebrew idiom. They appearin passages imitating the style of the Hebrew Prophets

*

(with

whose writings the Apocalyptist was so familiar2

) or in sentences

or phrases transferred directly from the Hebrew of the Old

Testament or from its Greek translation the LXX. 3 The fol-

lowing pages present the evidence of this Hebrew influence in

sufficient volume and with sufficient discussion of detail to make,it is hoped, a complete demonstration.

4 The solecisms will be

considered under three heads.

1Ebrard, in speaking of the more glaring solecisms of the Apocalypse, says,

that " dieselben nicht unvvillkiihrlich, sondern in halbabsichtlicher Nachahmungdes Colorits der a. t. Sprache entstanden sind. Der Autor der Apokalypse vvollte

offenbar hebraisirond schreibcn;die Sprache und der Stil der a. t. Propheten war

es, die ihm allein in ihrer grossartigen Sehlichtheit geniigte, das Ungeheure wieder-

zugeben, was er geschaut hat." (" Wissenschaftliche Kritik der evangelischenGeschichte." Dritte Ann. Frankfurt a. M. 1868, S. 1106.)

2 Ewald," Die Johannei ;chen Schriften." Bd. II., S. 52.

3 The LXX translation is more Hebraic than the N. T. and does not representa type of Greek established and in actual currency at the time it was made, but

"its

distinctive character is due rather to the translators' exaggerated deference to the

Hebrew sacred text and their mechanical reproduction of it." (Thayer on" Lan-

guage of the New Testament" in Hasting's " Dictionary of the Bible," Vol. Ill,p. 40.) It is not surprising, then, that solecisms are found in the LXX nor in thewritings of those who quoted or made use of that translation.

4 There are no less than 460 O. T. passages made use of in the Apocalypse.Westcott and Hort give a list of these in their

" N. T. Greek," pp. 612 ff. andunder the heading

"Quotations from the O. T." ; but the Apocalypse contains no

quotations proper, although a great part of its language is taken from the O. T.

(Toy, "Quotations in the N. T.," p. 253. Cp. Swete, "An Introduction to theO. T. in Greek," pp. 392 and 404.)

The Solecisms of the Apocalypse. 5

I.

PECULIAR WORDS. 1

1. ISo v.~ It is often followed by a Nominative without verb.

The LXX of the Old Testament prophecies invariablyuses ISov (1) as a translation of the Hebrew word PUPI (behold,lo). Thus, for example, in such passages as Gen. 12:19 f]^f]

-|f^^, the LXX. of which is KOI vvv ISov rj yvvrj aov (evavriovT"n^ *D*O PUH LXX yl8ov ^ evXoyelre TOVtcvpLov. (2) 'I So v is the LXX translation also of the Hebrew word^*|K (behold), which is from the Chaldaic, in such passages as

Dan. 7:5, 6, 7 and 13. It is the translation (3) of the Hebrew

I^N (behold), which is also from the Chaldaic, in Dan. 2 : 31,for example. The LXX translation of each of these three words(mil, n and ^) always ISov.

(a) Many passages in the Apocalypse contain 18 ov directfrom the LXX as, for example : Rev. 1 . 7 1 5 o v epxercu peTa rwv

This follows Dan. (LXX) 7:13 KOI ISov eVl TUV

wi', which follows the Aramaic original (Toy) and the Heb.

"UJJTDJ? TIKI- Rev - 14:14 KOI elSov, ical ISov

\ev/cij) fcal eVl rrjv veffreXyv /caBijfievov O/JLOLOV vlov avdpoyjrov.

This follows the LXX of Dan. 7 : 13 /cal ISov eVt ra>v ve(f>e\a)vrov ovpavov a)? vto? av0pa)7rov, the Hebrew of which is

1 These can scarcely be called solecisms in strictest sense, yet they are peculiar

especially to the Apocalypse, whose author quotes them from the LXX.2Ebrard, in refuting Hitzig, who regards the Gospel of Mark and the Apoca-

lypse as written by the same author, speaks of /5ov in the Apocalypse as' ' Nachah-

mung des Prophetenstiles ..... wer mochte da das oftmalige I5o6 c. ptc. fur ein

unwillkuhrliches, zufalliges halten"

? (" Evangelium Johannis," S. 166.)

6 The Solecisms of the Apocalypse.

and the LXX of Dan. 10:16 KOI ISov o>? 6>otWt9av6p(b7rov, the Hebrew of which is Q-JN ^2 OIDID PUPP(Cp. also Kev. 21 : 3 tSov 97


Amos 4 : 13 Kvpios 6 #eo9, o TravTOKpdrwp (ovopa avTw), which, in

turn, is the translation of the Hebrew of the same passage, i. e.,Amos 4 : 13 (1QEO nKT^ Hinv

3. In the Apocalypse, we always find the word" Jerusalem "

written 'le/jovcraX^/i (indeclinable), but in the Gospel (and

Acts, &c. , where quoted) it invariably has the form 'lepoa-oXvpa.

(Cp. Thayer's "Winer, p. 68.) But this difference is easily ac-

counted for when we note that the writing of the word in the

Apocalypse is the same as that of the LXX (from the HebrewD/2nT) from which the Apocalyptist so often quotes. The

Apocalyptic passages in which tbe word appears and the LXX.

passages from which they are quoted follow : Rev. 21:2 nal TTJV7rd\iv TTjv dyfav

y

lepov


5. In Rev. 12 : 5 we have /cal eTi/cev vldv, apcrev, 05

jroipaiveiv Tcavra ra eOvrj. Cp. Isa. 66 : 7. Here vl6v is mascu-

line and apcrev is neuter. The word for "male" is either

6 apcrrjv (masc.) or TO apcrev (neut.) (Cp. Thayer's Greek

Lex.) In this verse, the writer uses the neuter form while in vs.

13 of the same chapter he employed the masc. (i. e., eSLwgev TTJV

yvvalKa -?rt9 eritcev TOV apcrev a). Since he did not use the

neuter form in both sentences, we should rather expect the mas-

culine in the first instance in connection with the masc. vldv, of

which it is an appositive (although an appositive need only agreein case). But as Ewald suggests, "vlov, apcrev" (i. e., the

masc. and the neut. together) is" bloss Nachahmung von

*"DT P em Sonn em mannliches." (" Die Joh. Schriften." Bd. II.S. 53).*

II.

PECULIAR PHRASES.

1. In Rev. 15:5, (Cp. Acts 7 : 44), occurs the phrase"

-n}?

TOV papTvpiov" or more fully, "6 vabs TT)? o-K^vrj^ TOV

ev TQ> ovpavw." This is a very striking statement, but

it is simply the Greek translation of 1JJ1D /!""!& m such passagesas Ex, 40 : 34, the Hebrew of which is ^nKTlN pJ?H DD

nl

*"1JJ1Q 9 the LXX for this is, /cal eKd\vtyev fj ve


fjiapTVpiov. Ex. 38:21 (LXX) 77 a-uvra^ TT}? a-tcrjvfj^ TOV

fjuapTvp iov.

It is further the LXX translation of nnjBT*?ftH in Num -18 : 2 (LXX) airevavTi TT)? cr #771/779 TOV paprvpiov. 2 Chron.24 : 6 (LXX) et? rrjv a KTJ vrjv rov paprvp iov.

2. Strings of Genitives. Strings of genitives hanging on one

noun or on one another are frequent in the Apocalypse. Rev.

19 : 15 rrjv \7jvbv TOV olvov TOV Ovpov TT}? 0/37779 TOV Oeov TOV iravTO-

tcpaTepos. Rev. 14 : 10 KOI avTos irierai etc TOV otvov TOV Ovpov TOV

6eov TOV ..... ev TO) TTOTTJPLO) TT}? 0/37779 CLVTOV. Rev. 16 : 19 TO

TTOTrjplOV TOV OLVOV TOV 0V/JLOV T1JS 0/377)9 dVTOV. ReV. 14 T 8 $) K TOV

otvov TOV Ovfjiov rr)? Tropveias. Rev. 18 : 3 ort e/c TOV otvov TOV

Ovfjiov TT)? iropveCas avTrjs, &c. (Cp., also, Rev. 22: 19 avro T7)TeLas TavTys. Cp. Rev. 21 : 6.)The passages above are not only imitations of the LXX, but

are all more or less directly quoted from the LXX of Jer. 25 : 15Which is, TO TTOTr)plOV TOV olvOV TOV CLKQCLTQG TOVTOV. Cp. Isa. 51 : 17.

37 Repetition of Prepositions before a series of nouns, as in

Rev. 16 : 13 teal elSov etc TOV o-To'^taT09 TOV SpdrcovTos /cal etc TOV


This repetition of prepositions is in imitation of the LXX usagewhich shows it constantly. Note, for example, Zech. 6:10 Aa/3e

ra eK rrjs at%^a\&>o-ta9 Trap a r&v ap%dvr(0v ical Trap a r&v xprj-

o-ifjicov avrfjs /cal Trap a r&v eTrejvcoKorcov avrrjv. Zech. 1 : 4J

A.Tro(rrpetyare arro rwv oSwv vfjiwv ra)v Trovrjp&v Kal aTrb rwv

eTrir'rjSevfjidrcov vfJL&v r&v TTOV7)pa>v. Zech. 8 : 7 TaSe \eyei Kvpios

TravroKpdra)p 'I8ou eyew o-a>fa> rov \adv /JLOV airo 7^5 avaro\wv ical

CLTTO 77}? Sva-pwv. (Cp. Isa. 43 : 5.) Zech. 1 : 6 /ca0a)


"vollig eigenthiimlich und anomalisch. Hier 1st /caipoix; so viel als

zwei Zeitraume, Jahre, aber dies 1st der technische apokalyptische

Sprachgebrauch aus Daniel 7:25; 12 : 7 genommen, wo dieLXX F* durch Amjow iibersetzt."

m.

PECULIAR CONSTRUCTIONS.

1. In Rev. 2 : 14 occurs the expression 65 eSiSaa-rcev ra> fia\dtc

in which the word " teach " is followed by a Dative of person in

imitation of the Hebrew 7 ""ID/- (Q>. Thayer's Lexicon on the

word &Sao7co> ; also Job 21 : 22, i. e., HJ?1

"! IDT1 ^fc^i"! an(lEwald, "gr. Hebr.," p. 588.)

-2. The Preposition airo with the Nominative. Rev. 1 : 4 curb 6

cov KOI 6 TJV KOI 6 epxdjjievos. This solecism is striking in the

highest degree.1 Some authors have tried to soften the expres-

sion by inserting the article roO after airo. But this would not

explain the anomaly here,"quod scriptor omnino praepositiones

cum nominative jungere soleat."2 The phrase 6 wv /cal 6 fy /cal

is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew name

1 Guillemard speaks of this as" an anomalous construction clearly traceable to

absence of inflexion in Hebrew nouns which made such a violation of grammar less

startling to a Jew writing Greek." (" Hebraisms in the Greek Testament, p. 116.)2Ewald,

" Com. in Apoc.," p. 46.3 Ebrard regards this phrase as intentional on the part of the writer, saying of

it," die absichtliche Behandlung der ganzen Formel 6 uv KO! 6 yv Kal 6 fyx


Jehovah. Liicke regards it" als ein Begriff anzusehen, wodurch

nach Rabbinscher Deutung des Namens Jehova der ewige Gottbezeichnet wird." 1 'O tbv is directly quoted from the LXX ofEx. 3 : 14 KOI elirev 6 #eo9 Trpbs M.cova'fjv \eycov '70) dpi o & v.

Kal elirev Oimo? e/oet? rot? viols 'Icrpafa 6 & v aTrearaX/cev pe TT/JO?a9, the phrase o a>v being the translation of *^fc$ rPi"lN

Thus the Apocalyptist used the expression o o> v directlyfrom the LXX 3 and does not change the form to the Genitiveafter a IT 6. Naturally the other words or parts of the phrase,

namely, 6 rjv ical 6 epxpnevos, are in the same construction as 6 &v" da es kein Particip des Praeteritums von elvai giebt, so ist

schwer einzusehen, wie der Yerfasser das 6 fjv (der war) anders

hatte ausdriicken sollen." 4

3. The Genitive and Accusative joined by Kal, instead of two

Genitives, after a Word of Fullness. The use of the accusative afterthe idea of fullness is a Hebrew idiom. Thus, Rev. 17: 46

%ovaa TTOTrjpiov xpvcrovv ev rrj ^ipl avrijs yefiov /38e\vyfid-T(ov /cal ra a/cdOapra rfjs iropveias avrfjs. (Cp. Jer. 51 : 7).ra a/cdOapra instead of ra>v a/caOdprcov, imitates the Hebrew. Acapital illustration of this usage is found in 2 Sam. 23:7

Even the LXX translation of this passage has followed theHebrew entirely, namely, /cal TT \rjpes a-iSijpov /cal %v\ovSdpaTos. Again, the LXX of Ezek. 39 : 20 has the accusativeafter the word " filled," thus : /cal jOTXi?


Gesenius' "Hebrew and Eng. Lex." on the word &OD, P- 473.Also Liicke,

"Einleitung u. s. w." S. 461. Eev. 17 : 46, then,

(the passage in question) is a mixture of Greek and Hebrew

constructions, the Genitive pSeXvypdrcov after yefjiov being a

Greek construction while the accusative TO, a/cdOapra is

Hebrew.

4. A Double- Gender. The word \rjvds (wine-press) is given adouble gender in Rev. 14: 19 and 20. Thus, teal efta\ev eZ? rrjv

\rjvbv TOV dvfjLov TOV deov TOV peyav [the great wine-press] /cal

CTrarijOrj rj \rjvbs e^coOev TT}? 7ro^,ea)9 ; the feminine Trjv \rjvov

and then the masculine TOV peyav [\rjvdv]. This construction

is found in Isa. 63:3, from which this verse is suggested ; thus

^>*o DDVJNI TIN ..... na^ Tom misHere {O1B is feminine and 22*1*1^ is masculine. Thayer re-marks that this is a variation in gender which can hardly be

matched in Greek though not rare in Hebrew.1

5. Disagreement in Gender. Feminine nouns are frequently

followed by an adjective or participle in the masculine. Rev. 4 : 1

/cal77 fywvr) rj 7Tp(x)T7) r]V rj/covaa ..... X e 7 a) v ; (jxovrj is followed

by the masculine participle \eycov. Rev. 9:13 and 14 KOI

TJKOvaa (f)(0V7jv ^iav eK T&V /cepdrcov ..... \6yovra TO) KT(o a

\eyovra instead of X^yovcrav. Rev. 11:4 al Svco e\alai

VO)7TIOV TOV KVptOV TJJS 77}? CT T O) T 9 J T$ instead

follows the feminine noun e\alai. Rev. 11 : 15 KCLI eyevovTo (fxoval

/jieydXcu ev TW ovpavq), Xeyoi^re? ; Xeyoi'Te? following (j>covai. Rev.

17 : 3 /cal elSov yvvai/ca /caOrj/JLCVWV eTrl Orjpiov KQKKLVOV,

ovd/JiaTa ft\aa-


upon it." ("Heb. Gram.," p. 359.)1 The Apocalyptist imi-

tates this Hebrew construction in the passages just given. Hisdefiance of grammar in those instances was intentional. He

knew, for example, that the feminine adjective should agree with

the feminine noun, as a number of texts show. This is seen

in Rev. 6 : 9 and 10, where there is a feminine noun followed by a

masculine participle and also a feminine noun followed by a

feminine adjective, namely, (jxovfj fjLeydXrj. The same expressionoccurs also in Rev. 7:2; 14:7 and 18. Cp. 16:1, 3, 17;18 : 2, 4, &c. The disagreement in gender is clearly due to

Hebrew influence and Liicke in speaking of such constructions

says," Diese Anomalien losen sich grosstentheils durch die

Annahme einer constructio ad sensum, wie sie auch den bestenSchriftstellern nicht fremd ist."2

6. Disagreement in Case. (1) A Nominative replaced by anAccusative. Rev. 7:9 ecrroiTe? evcoTriov TOV dpovov /cal evcoTriovTOV apviov, 7repi/3eft\7j (Aevovs (rroXa? \evicds. Again Rev.

11:3 teal 7rpo(f)7)Tevaov(7LV (they) rjfjuepas %i\tas ..... 7re/u/3e/3-\r}/jievov


6 and 7a teal elSov a\\ov ayyeXov ..... \eya>v ..... Rev.19 : 14 fcal ra a-rparev/jLaTa ..... rjicoKovdet, avrat ..... e vSe-

bvp^voi ftvcro-ivov \evicov tcadapov. Cp., also, Rev. 13 : 1 ; 14 :14 ;17:3 and 20:4. This neglect of agreement in case is common

enough in Hebrew. Especially when clauses intervened, accurate

constructions were thus neglected.1

7. Anomalous Use of Apposition. The well-known rule thatan appositive agrees with its noun in case, is broken many times

by the language of the Apocalypse.

(1) Nominative in Apposition with Genitive. Rev. 1 : 5 /cal airo

'I^croO ^pto-ToO, o (j,dpTV


XapLo-rovfjiev COL, /cvpie, 6 #eo'?, o Travro/cpdrcop. Rev. 15:3 /cvpie, 6

fleo'?, o TravTO/cpdrcop, as in the LXX of Zech, 3 :8 a/cove 77, 'I^troO?o lepovs 6 fieyas, crv /cal, &c. In the above examples, we find theNominative in apposition with every single oblique case. In each

of these examples (except Nominative in apposition with Vocative),the connection between the preceding substantive and the adjec-tive clause describing it, is a loose one. This is especially true

of the first two examples under (1) and the second, under (3).Of these constructions Ewald writes, " Cujus dictionis causa licetin hebraismo casus non distinguente quaerenda sit."

1 In regardto the examples under (4), we may say that the name Jehovah

appears in the Nominative as in apposition to the Vocative /cvpie

perhaps because it is a direct translation of a Hebrew propername, the author having in mind the appositive construction ofthe Hebrew, where a more extended use is made of it than inoccidental languages ;

2or, again, this construction may have been

used because the Greek article has no form for the Vocative case.

This is Ewald's view who says " denn da die Hebraer keine

Interjection fur den Vokativ haben, so steht das Nomen inAnredeton ganz ungeandert ;

" 3or, further, the writer in these

two instances may have had in mind the Aramaic constructionwhich has no case endings.

4

8. The Absolute Use of the Participle \ejcov. Eev. 11:1 /cal

eBoOr) fJLOi KakajJio^ X e 9 (frtovrjv /cal cb? (frcovrjv ffpovT&v

\eryovres K.T.\. This is LXX usage, corresponding toas the following examples show: Gen. 15 : 1 pera Be ra

ravra eyevrjOrj prjfjia icvpiov 717309 'Aftpaa/u, ev opd^aTi Xeycov, &C.

Gen. 22:20 /cal avrjyye\r) TO> 'A/3/oaayu, Xeyovres K.T.\. Gen.

38 : 13 /cal aTrrjyjeXrj OdfjLap \eyovres /c. r. \. Gen. 40:16

1 " Commentarius in Apocalypsin,"

p. 44.

2Cp. Green, Heb. Gram.," p. 281.

3 " Gram. d. heb. Sprache," S. 568. Cp. Zech. 3 : 8.4Cp. Salmon,

"Introd, to N. T.," p. 240.

5Cp. Thayer's Winer, p. 536.


KOI Sie/So^Or) f] (f)cov7) et? rbv OIKOV \e 'Ia/c&>/3 Xeyovres K. r. \. Josh. 10: 17KOI 7777776X77 TO> 'Irjaov \eyovres K. r. X. Judges 16:2 KOI

az/7777e'X77 rot? Fafat'ot? \6yovres /c. r. X. 1 Sam. 15:12 KOI

7777776X77 TW 2aoi>X \eyovres K. T. X.

9. In Hebrew, very often the emphasized word stands at the

beginning of a sentence without any grammatical connection

with any word in that sentence. The accustomed order is re-

stored by a demonstrative pronoun placed later in the sen-

tence. Examples of this are numerous, as in

Gen. 47:21 1PKJer. 25:31 miT'DKJGen. 2:17 UDQ b^n tib jm 21D HJ?Tn1 Sam. 25:29

y^pn ^D ^inD ftij^p' "]^^The Apocalypse reproduces this peculiarity of structure : Rev.

2:26 teal 6 VIK&V teal 6 rrjpwv a^pi reXov? ra epya /AOV, Scoo-o)

avrw K. T. X. Rev. 3:12 o VLKWV TTOLIJO-Q) avrov arvXov K. T. X.Rev. 3:21 6 VIKMV Saxrco avra> KaQlvai K. T. X.Rev. 6:8 ical 6

eirdvw (avrov) ovojjLa avrca [6] ddvaros.

10. Sentences Joined by /ecu. Rev. 11:3 teal Sao-co rot? Svcrlv

LV fiov /cal 7rpo


/jLe\\rj o-a\7r{eiv, /cal erekeadr] TO fAv$-which admits of no inflection to represent case. Consequently,when this relative " is governed by a verb, noun or preposition,this is shown by appending an appropriate pronominal suffix to

the governing word",1 as for example, ir6t^ *) VI N or Ijm "Ifc^K

This use in Hebrew may be seen in the following examples :

Dpjr ^ny htiw nn^ -nmm n^sni ^nnnn isa. 41 : g ^npinn n^^. A

splendid illustration is found in Amos 9:12 i)E^np3 "1?KDn*1^ TheLXX follows the Hebrew exactly here, namely, KOIirdvTa TO, eQvr\ e ov? liriKetcK^Tai TO ovofjid /JLOV evr* a^rou?.

2

This Hebraism very often occurs3 in the LXX.4

Examples of this redundant use of CLVTOS in relative sen-

tences are found in the following Apocalyptic passages : Rev.

3:8 i)v ovSels StWrat K\elaaL avTTJv. Rev. 7:2 ol? eSodrj aurot?

Trjv yrjv K. T. X. Rev. 7:9 ov api&/juijaai, avTOV

1Green,

" Heb. Gram.", p. 367; Cp. p. 106.* This LXX passage is directly quoted in Acts 15 : 17, thus proving that the

writer of Acts employed Hebraisms when quoting from the LXX.3Cp. Thayer's

" Grk. Eng. Lex.", p. 86 (5) ; Bousset,"Offenbarung Johan-

nis," S. 184. Cp. Ewald, "gr. hebr.", ss. 647-648; Green, "Hebrew Gram.",p. 368.

4Cp., for example, Ex. 3:5; Eccl. 10:17; Deut. 4:7, 8, 19, 32; Deut

14:9; 19:17; Josh. 2: 10.


e&vvaro. Rev. 13:8 ov ov yeypaTrrai TO OVO/JLCL avTOv ev TOJ

/8t/3\to>. Rev. 13:12 ov eOepajrevdrj rj 77X77777 TOV Oavdrov avTOv.

Rev. 20:8 &v 6 apid/ibs avT&v &>9 r) afjL/j,o


ecrovrai ovcuXa rot9 SovXevovcnv avrols. Zech. 2:10 StoVt ISov

eyob e p % o /x a i /cal KaracrKr]va)cr(i) ev pecra) crov.

15. Neuter Plural Subject with Plural Verb. In the Apoca-

lypse, neuter plural nouns are very frequently followed by pluralverbs.

1 Rev. 4:5 a e I cr i v ra errrd rrvevpara rov deov. Rev. 4 : 8

/cat ra recrcre pa^wa a K. r. \. Rev. 5:14 Kal ra recraepa

fa>a e\ev 6 -x/r o v r a i Kal ev (f) pav-

OijcrovraL. Ezek. 39:7 /cat yvtocrovrat, ra eOvrj on,

dpi icvpios. Nahum 3:10 /cat ra v^ma avrrjs eSaCp., also, LXX passages quoted by Justin Martyr in U II/>09Tpvva 'lovSatov At 1X0709." (Otto's Edition, Vol. I,

pp. 408, 426, 434, 444, 480, &c.) But what is of special interest

here, is the fact that this anomaly often occurs in passages quoted

directly from the LXX. This is true of the following: Rev.15:4 ort rrdvra ra e 9 v 77 e^ovcnv /cat rrpocricvvr)crova-i,v evcoTrtov

(TOV. Kal ra SiKaitb pard crov e^>avepa>Oj](T av a direct quo*tation from the LXX of Ps. 86: 9 T dvra ra eOvrj (ocra erroperas')r}%ovcrt,v Kal rrpoo-KWijcrovcriv evamov crov. (Cp. Isa. 66:23.)Rev. 18:3 rrerrrw Kav (or rrerrtoKav) rrdvra ra e0vr). This isLXX of Jer. 51:7 (28:7) aTro rov oivov avrr\^ erriocrav eOvrjSta TOVTO eora\ev6rj(Tav. Rev. 21:24 /cat irep ire arrj cr ouor iv ra

e6v7j 8ta TOU (/>&)T09 auT7}9. This is from the LXX of Isa. 60 :3/cat TT o pevcr ovrai y8acrtXet9 ra) (fxorl crov, Kal e VTJ rfj Xaft-TT p 6 r f] r i aov. Rev. 11 :18 /cat ra eQvrj & p 7 ia rj cr a v. The

1 The neuter plural is often found, however, with singular verbs, as in Rev.

Kev. 2 : 27; 8:3; 13 : 14 ; 14 : 13 ; 16 : 14 ; 18 : 14 ; 19 : 14 ; 20 : 3, 5, 7, 12 ; 21 : 12.


LXX of Ps. 46 (45): 6 is erapaxOijcrav eQvr), e/cXivavpatritetai. Cp. Ps. (LXX) '2:1, i. e., ri eQpvagav e0vij. Rev.19 :21 real Trdvra opvea e^opTaOrjaav ex r&v aapicwv avrcov. This is

from the LXX of Ezek. 39:1721, i. e., elwov jravrl bpvew Trereivyfcal Trpbs irdma ra dypid rov TreSiov d^drjre KOI ep%(r6e

dyecr0e Trieade efJLTrXrjo'Oija'eo-Oe Such pas-

sages show conclusively the influence of the LXX upon the writer.This completes our examination ofthe Solecisms of the Apoca-

lypse,1

which, as we have shown, are clearly due to the influencewhich the prophetic writings of the Old Testament, either in their

Hebrew form or in that of their translation into Greek the

Septuagint exerted upon the Author.

1 See Corollaries on next page.


COBOLLARIES.

We present the following corollaries which grow out of thepreceding discussions :

1. Since the solecisms of the Apocalypse are to be accounted

for in the manner just described, they form no argument in favor

of the " Early Date" *

for the composition of the Apocalypse as

maintained by Westcott,2

Lightfoot3 and Salmon. 4

2. The Solecisms of the Apocalypse do not invalidate the

testimony of Irenaeus5 as to the composition

6 of the Apocalypse.

3. Those writers 7 who hold that John's Gospel and the

Apocalypse were written by the same author, need not infer that

an interval offrom twenty to thirty years intervened between the two

compositions.

4. Viewing the evidence as a whole, the impression is strongthat the author of the Apocalypse made use of the LXX andHebrew idiom in a conscious effort to reproduce the manner and

spirit of the ancient Prophets ; it was not through ignorance of

correct Greek usage.NOTE. The difference between the language of John's Gospel

and the Apocalypse, due mainly to the solecisms of the latter, has

1 About the year 68 A. D.J "The Gospel According to St. John," p. Ixxxvi of the Introduction.3 " St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians," Sixth Edition, p. 363.4 "A Historical Introduction to the Study of the Books of the New Testament,"

Edition 1889, pp. 241-242.5Cp. his treati.-e entitled "'E\tyxov Kc" &va-Tp6irr}s TTJS \f/evduvv/j.ov 7Pi6


led to very different opinions as to the Authorshipl of the two

writings. Thus besides Dionysius2 of the third century A. D.,

the following writers, Schleiermacher, Credner, De Wette,Neander (David Mendel), Liicke, Bleek, Ewald and Diisterdieck,hold that the Apostle John wrote the Gospel, hut not the Apoc-

alypse ; other writers, such as Kostliu, Zeller, Schwegler, Baur,Davidson and Hilgenfeld, maintain that the Apostle wrote the

Apocalypse but not the Gospel.3

1 The Authorship of the Apocalypse is discussed at length by Bousset in" Die

Offenbarung Johannis," SS. 33-51 and by Milligan in his "Discussions on the

Apocalypse," pp. 148-179.2Eusebius,

" Eccl. Hist.", Lib. VII. 25.3 Still other writers, for a different reason, or reasons, such as Keim, Volkmar,

Scholten, Lipsius, Harnack, Pfleiderer, Weizsacker and Bousset, regard the ApostleJohn as the author of neither the Gospel nor the Apocalypse.*

*Cp., for example, Bousset, in

" Die Offenbarung Johannis," SS. 33-51.

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