"His Bride Has Prepared Herself": Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery

Author(s): Jan Fekkes III

Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 109, No. 2 (Summer, 1990), pp. 269-287
Published by: The Society of Biblical Literature
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JBL 109/2 (1990) 269-287

"HIS BRIDE HAS PREPARED HERSELF":

REVELATION 19-21 AND
ISAIAN NUPTIAL IMAGERY
JAN FEKKES III
221 E. WallStreet,CamanoIsland,WA98292

In the visionary drama of the book of Revelation, two of the principal

dramatis personae which appear are the collective images of Harlot-Babylon
and the Bride-New Jerusalem. A variety of parallels between the Babylon
section (chaps. 17-18) and the New Jerusalem section (chaps. 21-22) show
that the author of Revelation consciously and consistently plays one against
the other by adopting similar introductory phraseology, thematic sequences,
and verbal patterns. It is appropriate then that the introduction of the bride
theme (Rev 19:7-9) immediately follows the celebration of the harlot'sjudg-
ment (19:1-4). Within the hymnic pericope of Rev 19:5-9, vv. 7-9 announce
the wedding of the Lamb and the preparation of his bride. This passage
prepares for and anticipates Rev 21:2, where the bride is introduced and
21:9-21, where the bride is described. In all three places the author of
Revelation builds on OT traditions that use marriage symbolism to describe
the relationship between Yahwehand his faithful people. The purpose of the
present article is to explore the interrelationship of the three passages that
make up the bride construct in Revelation (19:7-9; 21:2;21:9, 18-21) and their
dependence on OT nuptial imagery, in particular Isa 61:10 and 54:11-12.

I. Revelation 19-21 and Isa 61:10

Rev 19:7-8 Rev 21:2b
&y
Xoctpw4ievxoCLxXLOcllev eitov
'IepouaocXkt x?atvv
xoctwacwtlv trv a6oxv oc~3t7 Yq-otjot4ajLevqv
Cw vuiVtpyqv
OTL •XOev
n6 Y&Toq L
&0pvCou
ooU drcs curr-
' -
"qt ocihou
xodt-qyuv-j cotoc v ocu'cq xexoawq-qjlv-qv
"-CC
-iqtoC.tia e(utCqv
t 6O" OUcTt
xocd ~evpx o(tr L
prtLpX
36aatvovXoyl.trtpvxoCOocp6v
tb y&p 36aatvov t& atxctw1xocl-co
e•artv.
tCOVyC'CyV

269

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270 Journal of Biblical Literature

Isa 61:10

The
Isa
influence
61:10ofon Rev 21:2b has long been acknowledged by
In viewof this, it is surprising that the possibil
commentators
'T '71150:) LOU7CztxT)pio? vWauae yTp
awTItpLouxoCL
?te 4J.zTLOV XLTWVoc
Y
-11j 'Vnez PPOaUqTS014 i) V L(VLCW
7tPliOlqXe
" LtV
f*=4 'N77z oL iLLcc xoCCi)VU?vLpTJV

The influence of Isa 61:10on Rev 21:2b has long been acknowledged by
commentators.' In view of this, it is surprising that the possibility of a similar
inspiration in the earlier parallel passage of 19:7-9 has been left relatively
unexplored. Part of the reason for this is that in chap. 19, commentators have
generally been concerned with and distracted by the presence of traditions
relating to the eschatological wedding parables found in the Gospels,
especially Matthew. These affinities are not to be denied; but, on the other
hand, they do not account for all the various strands of marriage imagery
which John employs. A breakdown of those elements of wedding symbolism
that appear in Rev 19:7-9 (and the related passage in 21:2) betrays instead
a synthesis of OT and early Christian traditions, with Isa 61:10offering several
parallels.
19:7ba The eschatological "wedding" in which the Messiah is
(y,&tog)does not specifically use
"bridegroom" though John
(vujcpt•oq,
this word of Christ): Matt 22:1-13; 25:1-13 (cf. Mark2:19-20 par;
2 Cor 11:2;Eph 5:22-33; John 3:29).
19:7bp; The people of God as the "bride"(yuv', v6t4qcP): Isa 61:10 (cf.
(21:2, 9; 62:4-5; Hosea 2; 2 Cor 11:2;Eph 5:22-33).
22:17)
19:7bp; The bride "prepared"(tzoLtt&iw) and "adorned"(xoaoliw):Isa
(21:2b) 61:10 (cf. 49:18).
19:8a, 14 The bride divinely granted (8 6q ocr~tj)a wedding garment: Isa
61:10.
19:9a The wedding meal (8etnvov toG y&•tou):Matt 22:1-13 (using
ptlaoov;cf. Matt 26:9; 4 Ezra 9:47).
19:9a The invited guests (ol Matt 22:1-13.
xexXh•jlivoL):
Elsewhere in Revelation where John has transmitted early Christian

P. van Bergen, "DansI'attente de la nouvelle Jerusalem:' Lumiereet vie, Supplementbiblique

45 (1959) 1-9; R. Batey, New TestamentNuptial Imagery (Leiden: Brill, 1971)57; D. Aune, "Bride
of Christ:' ISBE, 1. 547.
2 L. A. Vos, The
Synoptic Traditions in the Apocalypse (Kampen: Kok, 1965) 163-74; E.
Schiissler Fiorenza, The Book of Revelation:Justice and Judgement (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985)
104; T Holtz, Die Christologie der Apokalypse des Johannes (Berlin: Akademie, 1962) 190.

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 271

traditions, they have almost always appeared in close combination with par-
allel OT traditions (e.g., Rev 6:12-17 and 14:14-20). Rarely does the prophet
present distinctly Christian testimonia on their own authority, independent
of some related OT foundation. It is consistent with this pattern that in the
present case we find a similar integration of old and new combining direct
prophetic statement with later Christian development. However, it is impor-
tant to note that, after its introduction (19:7-9), when the bride theme is
taken up again (21:2) and developed (21:9-21), the OT connections prevail
and identifiable early Christian traditions fade from view.
This makes it all the more important to recognize the introductory func-
tion of 19:7-9 in relation to the presentation of the Bride-New Jerusalem of
Revelation 21? Although in the latter the bride may be described primarily
on the basis of OT motifs, it will be argued that the nuptial imagery of chap.
21 should not be explained in isolation from the combination of OT and early
Christian tradition found in the hymnic preamble of 19:7-9. With this
understanding of the complementary relationship between Rev 19:7-9 and
21:2ff.in mind, we can now move on to discuss in more detail the extent and
nature of the Isaiah allusions contained in these two passages.
(1) Rev 19:7a XoCpcwIvxod &y'0 TLjCEv . . . . . . , "Let us
rejoice and be glad.., .for.. .
Various parallels to this introductory call to praise have been noted by
commentators, e.g., Matt 5:12a xod Pss 96
(XocupeT•E &'yoXXLtaE, 5TL.. .),
(97):1; 118:24. But if any specific source is to be sought for this somewhat
stylized phrase, a more likely candidate would be Isa 61:10a,which offers a
similar structure, diction, and theme. There, as in Revelation, an introductory
expression of praise to God (using V• and 5 3, which are commonly trans-
lated with Xocpwo and &yyoXtltio respectively) is followed by the ground of
praise (C, "for"),which contains not only marriage imagery but a similar
clothing allegory as well.
(2) Rev 19:7bp3 xotd-qyuvl 0ocrto6,"and his bride"4
21:2 d xexoarn
ac v61lpipv tIdt v-qvtC &vpt occ~tj, "as a
bride adorned for her husband"

3 Contra Holtz, who on the basis of variations in terminology between 19:7-9 and 21:2
questions whether the two passages should be closely connected (Christologie, 186-87). Such
differences, however, are typical of John'smethod of thematic recapitulation; cf. G. B. Caird, A
Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York:Harper & Row, 1966) 234.
4 A few MSS (02 gig co Apr) read for in 19:7. The use of here in anticipation
v6t•cpr "yuvl "yuvl
of the wedding follows Jewish convention, where engagement (VIN; Mish. DIN; ~vrlnae6w)
served as a formal and legally binding startingpoint of a marriage,which was then consummated
with the wedding (7i-rni; Deut 22:23-24; Matt 1:18-25; Joseph and Aseneth 21:1"It does
y"&•og)
not befit a man to sleep with his wife [yuvl] before the wedding [[p6 tcrv
y&d.ov]" (C. Burchard,
"Josephand Aseneth:' OTP,2. 241); Greek text from C. Burchard, "Ein vorliufiger griechischer
Text von Joseph und Aseneth:' Dielheimer Bliitter zum Alten Testament14 (1979) 2-53. Cf. also
Joseph and Aseneth 21:3; 23:3; IDB, 3. 284.

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272 Journal of Biblical Literature

21:9
qvv6ttjqyv
v yuv
7ou &pvtou,"the bride, the
of the lamb" •xcx
wife
22:17 -q "the bride"
v6tcp-q,
Although a similar idea may be found in 2 Cor 11:2 and Eph 5:22-33,
in the NT only Revelation appears to use "bride,'of the Christian com-
This is not to that the v6•tp•q,of this
munity.5 say application symbol to the church
(whether earthly, eschatological, or both) is in every instance one of formal
equivalence, any more than that the interpretation of the New Jerusalem
image can be limited to a single frame of reference. But it is still best taken
as a relational metaphor, whose primary referent is the salvation community.
The use of marriage imagery in general to illustrate various aspects of
the relationship between God and his people is found in several OT pro-
phetic writers, but appears to have been especially popular in the Isaianic
school. Of the dozen or so OT passages where figurative marriage terminol-
ogy is employed, more than half come from Isaiah 40-66.
"Engagement" (V'iN): Hos 2:21-22; ) Jer 2:2
"Bride"(75)): Isa 49:18; 61:10;62:5 (rfi)
"Wife"("VR): Ezek 16:32; Isa 54:6
Yahweh as "bridegroom"(IMr):Isa 62:5 (cf. 61:10)
Yahweh as "husband":(VOW)Hos 2:18; (51M)Isa 54:5; Jer 3:14; 31:32
"To marry/be married" (51V=):Isa 62:4-5
Not only is Isaiah represented in five of the six categories, but it alone
utilizes the term "bride"in this special spiritual sense.6 Furthermore, only
Isaiah employs marriage imagery in a consistently positive manner of the
future relationship between Yahwehand his faithful remnant symbolized by
the personified Zion-Jerusalem?.This eschatological perspective and collec-
tive symbol system help to explain Isaiah's particular suitability as a model
for John'sevocation of the Bride-New Jerusalem. To suggest then, as H. Kraft
has done, that John has used the marriage imagery of Ezekiel 16 to describe
the New Jerusalem in Rev 21:2 is fundamentally to misunderstand his use of
OT prophecy. Ezekiel 16 is a negative portrayalof unfaithfulearthlyJerusalem

5 Though cf. John 3:29 and A. Feuillet, who argues for a special affinitybetween the marriage
imagery of Revelation and the Gospel of John ("Le festin des noces de l'agneau et ses anticipa-
tions:' Esprit et Vie 97 [1987] 353-62).
6 Of course, an allegorical interpretation of the Song of Solomon, which speaks of the bride

throughout, would offer another possible inspiration for this idea. For the earliest evidence of
such an approach, see IDB, 4. 421-22; and P. Vulliaud, Le Cantique des Cantiques d'aprks le
tradition juive (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1925).
7 Although the identity of the speaker in Isa 61:10 is not readily apparent, that it is Zion-
Jerusalem can easily be inferred from the surrounding context (esp. 62:1). The targum makes
this clear by adding "Jerusalemhath said"as an introduction to 61:10;see R. N. Whybray,Isaiah
40-66 (NCB; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 245.
8 H. Kraft, Die Offenbarungdes Johannes (Tiibingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1974) 263.

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 273

which stands as the antithesis of the eschatological temple and city of Ezekiel
40-48. John clearly recognizes this contrast, for in Rev 17:16 he uses the
parallel passage of Ezek 23:29, 25 (cf. 16:39-41) to describe Harlot-Babylon.
It is therefore most unlikely that he would apply Ezekiel 16 to the New
Jerusalem. John is describing the New Jerusalem not with random OT motifs
but with prophetic texts specifically concerned with the glorious eschato-
logical Jerusalem?
(3) Rev 19:8 xodci9'18 0cq='v-c vxptPt•pfX0Yt Pf36aatvov ,Xqctjtp'vxocrop6v,
C6y"&p T
ft3Lvov COC& LtxXLct' cuc v &y"wv 'adv, "andit was
granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and
pure; for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints"
There may not be much in the way of close dictional correspondence
between this sentence and Isa 61:10,but the conceptual similarities are strik-
ing and unique. Both texts refer to the clothing of the salvation community
collectively and emphasize that the garment is a gift from God: "He has
clothed me"//"itwas granted her to be clothed'" More significant still is the
fact that in both passages the clothing is symbolic of a similar spiritual
quality:
Isa 61:10:the robe = righteousness
Rev 19:8b: the fine linen (garment) = righteous deeds
The difference between "righteousness" and "righteous deeds"
involves only a small change of form(, Tg)
since 7p'l in the plural
(8txalc•C•a)
means "righteous acts," although 8Lxa(wCot[does occasionally translate the
singular in the LXX.VoIf indeed Isa 61:10 lies behind both the clothing
metaphor in 19:8a and its interpretation in 19:8b, it would suggest that the
latter is part of the original development and not a secondary gloss as some
commentators have In addition, the attribution of
to the bride'ssuggested..' ,Xoq1utp60,
attire may have been suggested by Isa 62:1, which con-
"bright,'
tinues the theme of 61:10and speaks of the "brightness"("1?) of Jerusalem's
righteousness (cf. Rev 15:6).

9 See further J. Fekkes, "Isaiahand Prophetic Traditionsin the Book of Revelation: Visionary
Antecedents and their Development" (Ph.D. diss., Manchester, 1988) 92-99.
10
(2 Sam [Kgdms] 19:29; Prov 8:20 [B]; Ezek 18:21 [A]; cf. BDB, 842; BAGD, 197). There is
no possibility of connection between 6aatvoq, "fine 33fand Hebrew or Both
linen," "1.
Hebrew words are strictly generic terms for clothing with no indication of quality. John's use
of 6ooaavoq here stems rather from the harlot/bride parallelism and is used first of Babylon in
Rev 18:16,where the description was probably inspired by Ezek 16:10-13, 16-18. I. T Beckwith
observes in ra&8txatg.rtX another contrast with the harlot (r&
&a8txT'jur 18:5) (The Apocalypse
of John [New York:Macmillan, 1919] 727).
11 R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation St. John
of (ICC;
Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1920); U. B. Mfiller, Die Offenbarungdes Johannes (Okumenischer
Taschenbuch-Kommentar 19; Wfirzburg:Echter, 1984) 319; contra Caird, Revelation, 234.

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274 Journal of Biblical Literature

(4) Rev 19:7bp xaod$qyuv1 ocaoo tzroljtGiav ocuztv,"andhis bride has

prepared herself"
Rev 21:2b cW v6~.tcP-v
q1o"-Utj0(0V-lV xexo ktlt•ev-lvt &vpt 0c(jUz1,
"prepared as a bride adorned for her husband"
Of all the various motifs that Revelation has in common with Isa 61:10,
it is the simile of the bride "adorned"in Rev 21:2b that exhibits the closest
dictional correspondence. A virtually identical rendering of the reflexive
'rYn "as a bride adorns herself,"'with a passive participle is found in
)z,
Aquila: cwS
v6t•cpijvxoaltoultvlv, "as a bride adorned.'12 Whether or not the
reflexive phrase of Rev 19:7bp reflects another, more literal
of (q1olG•iavitueti1v)
In
reading the Hebrew is questionable. 19:7bp itself has no
antecedent in Isa 61:10,but serves an important function ~tzoCt0G•ev
as a linkword with
21:2b, where the nature of the preparation receives further definition. How-
ever, given the thematic relationship between 19:7-9 and 21:2 and the pres-
ence of at least some verbal affinities (yuvi4= v6tcp-q, the influence of
Isa 61:10 on 19:7bp, as well as on 21:2b, seems likely. eauzi1v),
Overall, while the dictional connections between Rev 19:7-8 and Isa
61:10are in individual cases doubtful or inexact, the concentration of various
parallel terms and concepts within the single theme of marriage adds a
cumulative force to the proposed allusion. Recognition of a structural and
thematic relationship between Rev 19:7-9 and 21:2-21 further strengthens
the probability of this biblical link.
Before discussing the broader implications of John'snuptial imagery, it
is necessary to treat one further Isaiah allusion which forms the third and
final part of the bride construct.

II. Revelation 19-21 and Isa 54:11-12

Rev 21:18-21

x• Yj~V
q 4LqtqLzo) OCUT7~
91aactLxa1 "i • XpuaGov
zT.XouqxaOcapbv
7t6XL,
(loLtov x xapi, ot OE to
U0(), ,lO o
TUXouqTI Cj Cit c "c
7trv'O
et6,•c& tL,•
Xexoa.l?tLvo0" . . . xc 0o[ 6xaa 7uXCveq
oc.wxo( t10pyo'pt-CaL,(&v&e
OC xoGCog"tUv

12 Symmachus likewise gives a passive construction (kS v6tcplv 7reptxEmtLvnEv), whereas the
LXX brings the phrase in line with the active subject-object clauses in 61:10a and is quite
different. A remarkablyclose parallel occurs in the description of Aseneth in Joseph and Aseneth
4:2, xexoaoTlEvrlv cg v6tqcplvOo6, "adorned as a bride of the exact significance
God,' though
of here is a matter of debate (Burchard, "Text:'7; OTP,2. 206 n. 4a; M. Philonenko, Joseph
O•o6
et Aseneth: Introduction, texte critique, traduction et notes [SPB 13; Leiden: Brill, 1968] 141).Cf.
Achille Tatius 3.7.5, 6atcep At8Lv~I t v6t"[in xexoaE[Oy "as a bride adorned for Hades"; Herm.
Vis. 4.2.1. "~vas,

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 275

7tUXW)VCV
'V E4 Vo' t(py(pLtou,
xao ~ t(a tiq 7t"6Xeoq
XpuaGov
tC1X
xococpv W"
q "o( 8Ltouyqq.

Isa 54:11-12

An interesting
two verses of Isaiah, tradition history
which, while lies behind
providing the
helpful interpretation
insights of usage,
into John's these

at the same time requires careful evaluation. A comparison of those texts

which make up this history of interpretation is complicated particularly by
the vague and ambiguous nature of the terminology contained in the original
building and theofstructural
employed oracle Isaiah. This applies that
components to adorn.
boththey the precious
To help materials
unclutter

the accompanying discussion and to facilitate easy reference, I will present

the various traditions in a chart (see p. 276), along with an assessment of the
individual motifs in the order in which they appear in Revelation.'3

(1) Rev 21:18a zXL

Yj ~O
e G , "and the
hv4tO•t7oo
of its T.xOU&
wall (was) •••to
jasper"
end6mesis

The central architectural feature of John'scity is the wall, which is men-

tioned
parts: (a) no fewer than
interestinO six times (21:12,
traditionu, 14-15, 17-19)
"the foundations of theand
wall"is divided
(21: 14, into two
19), and
(b)e vague and ambigu ous. Although the exact etymology and meaning of
ivYidual remain obscure, the context in
1)
which
they appJohn uses it suggests two
M Ifli-qat remain obscure, the context in which John uses it suggests two

13 For the text of Tobit, consult R. Hanhart, Septuaginta: Tobit (G6ttingen: Vandenhoeck &

Ruprecht, 1983). I have followed the longer recension (S OL), which has received recent sup-
port in the discovery of fragments of Tobit at Qumran; see E. Schiirer, The History of the Jewish
People in the Age of Jesus Christ (ed. G. Vermes, F Miller, M. Black; Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
1973, 1979, 1986, 1987) III.1, 224-25. Both Schiirer and Hanhart apparently failed to notice that
J. T Milik furnishes five examples from the Aramaic fragments with which one can make a
comparison (The Books of Enoch [Oxford:Clarendon, 1976] 163, 186, 191, 197). For 5QJN, see
K. Beyer,Die aramiiischen Texteaus die TotenMeer (G6ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1984)
214-22; and for the Targum, J. F Stenning, The Targumof Isaiah (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949)
183-84.

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276 Journal of Biblical Literature

Chart 1
Isa 54:11-12 MT LXX Tob 13:16-18a 5QJN Rev 21:18-21 Tg. Isa.
1. stones stone streets streets streets pavement
antimony carbuncle carbuncle & white stone pure gold stones
Ophir-stone antimony
2. foundations foundations foundations foundations
sapphires sapphire (of wall) jewels
precious stones
3. battlements battlements battlements timbers
"C'I ? jasper pure gold pearls
4. gates gates doors gate gates gates
? carbuncles crystal sapphire sapphire pearls carbuncles
stones & emerald
5. border (= wall) wall wall _v8W__latS border
precious precious precious (of wall) precious
stones stones stone jasper stones

options.14Since the obviously refer to that which forms the founda-

OE•i•XtOL
tion or base of the wall, must in some way be connected with
the Iv8jwEotatg
that part of the wall which is built on and rises above the foundation. Thus,
iv8C4tyqatLmay denote either the material of the upper wall'5 or the (upper)
structure of the wall in general (as opposed to its foundations).16In any case,

14 The issue is further complicated by a variant reading in the bulk of the Byzantine tradition,
which has v86[tratSrather than ev8Wppaotq. Whether or not the two different spellings even
represent the same word is not entirely clear. J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan take them as one
word (The Vocabularyof the GreekNew Testament[GrandRapids:Eerdmans, 1930] 212), but LSJ
(pp. 561-62) and BAGD (p. 263) imply a distinction (though the latter end up conjecturing the
same meaning for ev8W'Iaqnat which LSJ give to The grammars are no less confusing.
Moulton regards EvM61tiatq!).
as due to a false etymology and takes it from iv and &8W&co
IvM61aqtS (A Gram-
mar of New Testament Greek [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1929] 2. 73, 307). A. T Robertson, on
the other hand, derives Ev86p8[tast from Av80op[E and accepts as a variant spelling (A
Grammar of the Greek New Testament[Nashville: Broadman, ev8wcjaqrtS
1934] 151, 201). Despite all this
ambiguity it seems preferable to accept ev8wc as the correct reading here and allow that
it has something to do with construction. ToaqrtSthe sources listed in the dictionaries can be added
PapyrusDura 19.15(88/89 CE),which supports the spelling Ev8'sV8Wart, though unfortunatelythe
context adds little clarity to the lexical discussion.
15 So Beckwith, Apocalypse, 761-62; and Miuller,Offenbarung,359.
16 The Versions and Latin fathers tend to support this second option (cf. H. C. Hoskier, Con-
cerning the Textof the Apocalypse [London: Quaritch, 1929] 2. 600), and it is followed also by
Charles and others. Since John himself makes a distinction between the OeliXlto and the
of the wall, it seems highly unlikely that the latter is also some kind of foundation,
v&4aptrlYtl
as R. H. Mounce and BAGD suggest (The Book of Revelation [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977]
381; BAGD, 263); contra Beckwith, Apocalypse, 762; and Miiller, Offenbarung, 359 ("Nicht
>Unterbau<<"). A third option, presented by H. B. Swete (The Apocalypse of St. John [London:
Macmillan, 1909] 290) and followed by P. Prigent (LApocalypsede Saint Jean [CNT 14; Paris:
Delachaux & Niestl6, 1981] 340-41) holds that the wall is merely inlaid with jasper.

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 277

it is not likely that John is referring to some unique feature of the wall (e.g.,
battlements of jasper; see no. 3 in chart 1), since Rev 21:18 appears to be a
general summary statement giving the building materials employed for the
city and its wall, following their measuring in 21:16-17.
The ev6•*.LnoatL of the wall is said to be made of jasper. When we take
into account that a few verses earlier John calls jasper a "mostprecious stone"
(21:11;cf. 4:3), there seems to be closer affinity here between Revelation and
Tob 13:17b,"andall your walls with precious stone,' than between Revelation
and Isa 54:12, which has plural "stones:'By itself this minor similarity carries
little significance, but, in the light of stronger connections to Tobit that will
emerge in the remaining elements of Rev 21:18-21, it may be more than the
result of chance.

(2) Rev 21:19a o Oe?titOL

to T7n'XE
TreyXou~ C V'di
Wo
c06),of the wall of TL•tlyt
"the foundations the city
xexoa•t.lievoL,
were adorned with every precious stone."
The foundations of the city wall were first introduced in 21:14, where
they were said to be twelve in number and inscribed with the names of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb (cf. Eph 2:20). Whereas in Isa 54:11 and the
other dependent texts the foundations are associated with the city generally,
John assigns them a more specific role in connection with the "wall"of the
city. Instead of "sapphire"alone, the twelve foundation stones of the New
Jerusalem are adorned with "everyprecious stone,"of which sapphire is just
one of many.
For the enumeration of the twelve jewels in Rev 21:19b-20 most com-
mentators agree that John shifts here to the gem tradition of the high priest's
breastplate in Exod 28:15-21 (cf. 39:8-14), with Ezek 28:13 usually cited as
a secondary parallel.7 But no one appears to have noticed that John's in-
troduction to the list of gems XW*ertlyt"W
xexoaoylievoL)follows closely
(7rtcv',
the introduction to Ezekiel's list, 7
D0n nip ='N r ), '"every precious stone
was your covering:"It may be then that the order of influence should be
reversed and that John begins with Ezekiel and supplements with Exodus.
In any case, he has moved, at least temporarily, away from Isaiah to other
traditions. To Isaiah 54 he returns in Rev 21:21.

(3) Rev 21:21a xo? o

ciGtexo Xucveq60S2exoc "and the
f1tcpym•ProTL,
twelve gates (were) twelve pearls"
From Rev 21:12 we learn that the city also has twelve gates with twelve
angelic sentries and that upon the gates are written the names of the twelve
tribes of Israel. In the following verse (21:13),the configuration of the gates

17 For a recent treatment of John'sgem list and a review of past theories, see W W Reader,
"The Twelve Jewels of Revelation 21:19-20: Tradition History and Modern Interpretations,"'
JBL
100 (1981) 433-57.

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278 Journal of Biblical Literature

according to the four points of the compass is outlined. Much of this tradition
is inspired by Ezekiel 40-48, but concerning the compositional makeup of
the gates Ezekiel saysnothing. So in Rev 21:21aJohn returns to his adaptation
of Isa 54:11-12.
Each of the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem is said to be made of a
single pearl. Is this association John's own innovation on the basis of Isa
54:12b, or does it stem from contemporary Jewish eschatological specula-
tion? Because of the uncertainty that typically surrounds the etymology and
meaning of many ancient gem names, opportunities for conjecture fre-
quently presented themselves to early translators and interpreters of the
biblical record. This is particularly the case with Isa 54:12ab,where three of
the four principal terms are obscure.
And I will make your Smityk (of) kdkd
And your gates (of) stones of 'qdh
The first two Hebrew words are only used twice in the OT and the third,
(MTIp),with which we are particularly concerned, is a hapax legomenon. In
such circumstances, two main options were open to those working with the
text: either admit one's ignorance and provide a suitable substitute, or offer
a conjecture based on whatever information might be known or obtained
about the word in question.8 Fortunately, in the present instance the inter-
pretive history of ilpR is fairly well defined and can shed some light on the
way John himself may have approached the text.
As is natural, most interpreters related MnpRto the nearest cognate root
'1"p.But since this word has one meaning in Hebrew and another in
Aramaic, two distinct lines of development ensued19 (see chart 2 on the
following page).
At this point the Hebrew genealogy has reached its full potential, but
the Aramaic stemma is open-ended and invites yet another stage of inter-
pretation to answer the question, What is meant by "stones hollowed out"?20
Since the rest of the building oracle in Isa 54:11-12 employs costly materials,
it would be natural to assume that the stones spoken of here are precious

18 A third alternative is simply to transliterate the word in question, as Jerome has done: ecda
(HALAT,1. 80).
~9 For the following list I have utilized the lexical discussions of BDB, 869; HALAT,1. 80; M.
Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim (New York: Judaica, 1971) 1315; EncJud 13. 1011. R.
Johanan'sinterpretation of Isa 54:12 is found in Midr.Pss. 87.2 and Pesiq. Rab Kah. 18.5, where
it is introduced with the lemma, "and Thy gates of stones hollowed out" (W. G. Braude, The
Midrash on Psalms [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959] 2, 75; cf. 492 n. 5; W G. Braude
and I. J. Kapstein, Pgsiktad6 Rab Kahdna[London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1975] 219). Tg.Isa. does
have pearls in the previous line (54:12a) as a conjecture for the obscure "t.
20 Though even at this stage the translator could be satisfied that he had provided a sense

that fit very well with the idea of city gates, that is, "I will make.., .your gates of (precious)
stones hollowed The interpreter, on the other hand, would likely want to go further.
out."

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 279

Chart 2

Word: mp"

Source: (Heb.) m-1= to kindle (Aram.)mT = to bore

?Meaning: sparkle,fieryglow a thing bored, hollowedout

Interpretationof
mrpo=w LXX Aquila
stones of crystal stones of boring

Tobit Tg. Isa. Symmachus, R. Johanan

Vulgate
sapphires and carbuncles stones of stones
emeralds carvedwork hollowedout

stones. Now, to ask what is a precious stone that is often bored or hollowed
out seems to imply the obvious. For then, as now, pearls were highly prized
and were commonly drilled and strung together in necklaces.1
As has often been noted, the association of pearls with the gates of the
future Jerusalem is also found in rabbinic tradition, from which the testimony
of R. Johanan is usually quoted:

The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the time to come bring precious
stones and pearlswhich are thirty[cubits]by thirtyand will cut out from
them [openings]ten [cubits]by twenty,and will set them up in the gates
of Jerusalem.(b. B. Bat. 75a)22

It is important to note that this and similar haggadic traditions (none of

which predates 200 CE) are generally presented as expositions of Isa 54:12,

21
Pliny, Natural History 9.54 (106): "The first place therefore and the topmost rank among
all things of price is held by pearls"'Aelian, De Natura Animalium 10.13:"The pearl, it seems,
is like a stone [xOco]"'
Theophrastus (quoted in Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 3.93): "Amongstones
which are much admired is the so-called margarites... with it are made the costliest
[Xl•ov]
necklaces:' Pliny (Natural History 9.58 [117])also mentions Lollia Paulina (the consort of Gaius)
at a betrothal banquet "coveredwith emeralds and pearls interlaced alternately and shining all
over her head, hair, ears, neck, and fingers:' These were spoils from the eastern provinces. For
archaeological examples from the period, see R. A. Higgins, Greekand RomanJewelry (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1980) esp. 181 and plate 55a.
22 Other variations of Johanan'swords are found in b. Sanh. 100a; Midr. Pss. 87.2; and Pesiq.

Rab Kah. 18.5. In the first three references, his testimony is related to the gates of Jerusalem
generally, whereas in the last only the east gate of the temple and its two wickets are referred
to. Interestingly, Johanan provides the measurements of the gates - something which John
evidently had in mind (Rev 21:15),but for some reason left out.

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280 Journal of Biblical Literature

though to what extent this is the compiler's doing is not always clear.23
Whether or not these interpretations go back to John's day is not really
necessary to prove, since, as the above construct shows, he could easily have
come to such a conclusion on the basis of the text of Isa 54:12b alone. The
tradition of the "pearlygates"in Rev 21:21is therefore probably not the inven-
tion of John'sfertile imagination, nor even an innovative substitution in the
face of textual difficulty,but rather a well-reasoned and comprehensive inter-
pretation of Isa 54:12b.4 From this exegetical base proceeds a final haggadic
embellishment: "Each of the gates [was] made of a single pearl."

(4) Rev 21:21b xcitl •n;XateA na

t6Xw XpuoaovxoCOocpbv
"and the co Uo0Xoo
street of the city was pure
Statouy, gold,
transparent as glass"
The pericope of the building materials of the New Jerusalem (21:18-21)con-
cludes with the observation that the street of the New Jerusalem was made
of "pure gold.'25 Commentators have tended to gloss quickly over this line,
without taking into consideration the source of the imagery. But there is
much to suggest that this final architectural feature, like that of the wall, foun-
dations, and gates, had its inspiration in the building oracle of Isa 54:11-12,
though not directly, but probably as it has been interpreted in Tob 13:16-17.
In the first place, the street motif is the only architectural feature in Rev
21:18-21 that has not been mentioned in the two preceding units of 21:12-14
(introduction) and 21:15-17 (measuring).6 That it is included here suggests
that it was part of a source which John adopts in 21:18-21 for the composition
of the city and its constituent parts. Second, the addition of streets to the
eschatological city blueprint was first made specific by the author of Tobit,
on the basis of an interpretation of Isa 54:11b.7 Although it may have been

23 Collections of rabbinic exposition of Isa 54:11-12 are found in Midr.Pss. 87.1-2 and Pesiq.

Rab Kah. 18.5, which include a variety of pearl traditions. Other Jewish and Near Eastern pearl
legends are gathered together in E. Burrows, "The Pearl in the Apocalypse,"JTS 43 (1942)
177-79.
24 Only Caird specifically upholds a connection: "The Hebrew 'eqdah... [John] takes to
mean pearls"(Revelation,277). J. Sweet is less direct: "The Jews took the 'carbuncles'of Isa 54:12
to be pearls" (Revelation [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979] 306). Both statements are only
indirectly true, however, since nowhere is n'pR itself taken to mean "pearls"but the phrase
n:ipR •'• is interpreted as denoting pearls.
25 Some commentators (e.g., Charles, Caird) take ' as "streets,"but there is
ntha?c~r generic
very little precedent for this, either in the OT or in John'susage (Rev 11:8;22:2). A comparison
of the plan of 5QJN, which has several smaller streets of sixty-seven cubits width, but one main
street of ninety-two cubits passing through the middle of the city, suggests that John particularly
has in mind this central thoroughfare.
26 Apart from Tv
,v8Wc'zLatq,which is connected with the wall.
27 All the versions of Tobit agree in reading aoXothacrEo/I
/vOpaxt/ I n(oXoy•Ofiaovroat, of which
t interprets Hebrew ~NR, • &v0paxt corresponds to "1fl (as in LXX), and the verb
nXtc••a7a
(rljpooy. parallels (1'33R)... .'Mn . Tg. Isa. reflects a similar interpretation in its addition of
"I•nsD, "I will set the stones of your pavement with antimony.'

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 281

possible for John to come to a similar understanding of Isa 54:11bon his own,
there are two further reasons why this is less likely than the suggestion that
he is here dependent on Tobit.
First of all, Isa 54:11bbegins the list of architectural features of the future
Jerusalem, but both John and the author of Tobit have placed the street tradi-
tion last in their outline. Now while it may be granted that both authors could
have come to a similar interpretation of Isa 54:11b independently (i.e., that
the "stones"spoken of in 54:11b refer to the streets of the city), it is most
unlikely that each would also have taken the first element in Isaiah'sdescrip-
tion and moved it to the end of their building inventories. It is more natural
to assume that John'sinclusion of the street motif and its position presuppose
the interpretation of Isa 54:11b given in Tob 13:17a.8
Second, when we turn to consider John's association of the street with
"puregold" (XpuaCov here again the evidence points to the influence
xCOxp6v),
of Tobit. This is not to say that the author of Tobit himself explicitly makes
such a connection (at least as far as the Greek translations show), for it was
already noted above that he roughly adopts the terminology of Isaiah. But the
vocabulary and word order of Tob 13:16b-17a provide a unique opportunity
for making just such a connection.
oL7rdpTOL the towers of Jerusalem shall be
Iepouo),X'q7L
XpU~.aw built with gold,
otxo6011n9Olaovwrt
XORCoL popIyX~TVEC• )
Vodv and their battlements
XpuvaqxaccOap4'rat"ZA=irt with pure gold; the streets of
7
IEpovuacrr Jerusalem
&vOpocxtrlXqpooTrlColoovroct will be inlaid with carbuncle and
loucpLp. xo.t ,•,*• stone of Ophir.

Making this interpretation work grammatically is, of course, another

matter and cannot be achieved without upsetting the surrounding syntax in
some way. We might, for example, make a break after ocur3tvand take xoa of
oAE tv with the first Xpuooa,but this destroys the obvious paral-
7rpo~tcXtveq
lelism, and a xoacwould then be expected before the second XpuaotE.29
Even if this punctuation were accepted, more problems would be
created in the following clause, where the last line would lose its subject-
unless it were understood as a continuation and an expansion of the pre-
ceding sentence.

28 Tobit'sadaptation of Isa 54:11-12 and specifically the street theme appears also to have in-

fluenced the New Jerusalem vision of 5QJN (see Fekkes, "Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions,"94
n. 73).
29 This sentence in Tobit
(oi I6pyot . . . o 7Zpoj1a V6q oalbrv)corresponds roughly to Isa
54:12a "Inw w" 0lI nWVI,though whether Xpuatov,"gold,"' is an interpretation of or substitu-
tion for the somewhat obscure f"In is unclear (cf. BDB, 461; Jastrow, Dictionary. 614).

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282 Journal of Biblical Literature

With pure gold the streets of Jerusalem [will be built];

with carbuncle and stone of Ophir will they be inlaid.
All these difficulties however presuppose a Greek text that faithfully
represents its Hebrew or Aramaic Vorlage. Depending on word order,
vocabulary, the presence or absence of prepositions, conjunctions, etc., the
syntactical limitations and relationships of the Greek text may prove to be
more ambiguous or flexible in the Semitic original?0The answer to this ques-
tion must await the publication of the Tobit manuscripts from Qumran,
which contain a large Aramaic fragment of Tob 13:12-14:3?'
Despite these uncertainties, the juxtaposition of "pure gold" and "the
street(s) of (Jerusalem)"in both Tobit and Revelation seems too convenient
to be incidental, particularlywhen there is already some evidence that Tobit's
interpretation of Isa 54:11-12 has influenced other facets of the description
in Rev 21:18-21.
Altogether then, an analysis of the preceding four elements of Rev
21:18-21 suggests that John draws not only on the New Jerusalem prophecy
of Isa 54:11-12, but also on Tob 13:16-17, which reaffirms and extends the
original oracle of Second Isaiah?2 Building on this double foundation, he
combines their basic ingredients with his own colorful detail to achieve a
creative synthesis of past and present prophecy. Recognition of John'sdepen-
dence on Tobit renders obsolete the repeated negative appraisalsof Charles,

[O]fthe books whichwe designatethe Apocrypha,there is, so faras I am

aware,no indubitableevidence that he has laid them undertributeeven
in a single passage.... John passed by the Apocryphasimplybecause it
wasalmostwhollylackingin the propheticelement.... Ourauthorshows
no acquaintancewith the Apocrypha.3

30 One OL MSof Tobit (Lax) actually reads et plateae tuae sternentur auro mundo, "andyour
streets will be paved with pure gold,"but this must certainly be an assimilation to the tradition
of Revelation.
31 4QTobaram1. According to J. Strugnell (in a lecture delivered at the Symposium on the
Manuscripts from the Judaean Desert, University College, London, June 11-12, 1987), publica-
tion of the Tobit and other Apocrypha fragments is projected for vol. 10 of DJD (1989/90).
32 Beckwith (Revelation, 761) and A. Wikenhauser (Die Offenbarungdes Johannes [RNT 9; 3d

ed.; Regensburg: Pustet, 1959] 159) are among the few commentators to acknowledge John's
direct use of Tobit. Evidence for the use of Tobit as scripture in the early (eastern) churches
is first found with Polycarp (Phil. 10:2), bishop of Smyrna a generation after John addressed the
church there (Schiirer, The History, III.1, 227). It is reasonable to assume that this practice had
some precedent in earlier Jewish-Christian circles, of which John then may form an important
witness. R. T Beckwith cites Did. 1:21 ITob 4:15 as an earlier example, but besides there being
little dictional resemblance, negative formulations of the golden rule are too common to warrant
drawing a parallel in this case (The Old TestamentCanon of the New TestamentChurch [Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986] 388; cf. F. Zimmermann, The Book of Tobit [New York:Harper, 1958]
159-60).
33 Charles, Lectures on the Apocalypse: The Schweich Lectures (London: Humphrey-Milford,
1922) 73.

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 283

III. Conclusions
With the foregoing redactional analysis in mind, we may now ask for
what purpose are the traditions relating to the precious building materials of
the New Jerusalem employed, and how does this unit (Rev 21:18-21) fit into
the wider visionary framework and thematic development of John'sbook? It
is here that we can return to our original discussion of the bride motif.
Nuptial imagery is at the heart of John'sevocation of the New Jerusalem.
As is typical of weddings, the bride occupies the center of attention. The
visionary drama of the bride unfolds in three progressive stages of develop-
ment. Rev 19:7-9 shows the planning and final preparations stage: a formal
wedding announcement is given; the marriage supper is arranged; and the
guest list is finalized. The start of the ceremony is imminent, for the bride
"hasprepared herself" and awaits her entrance. Her moment of glory arrives
in 21:2, where she descends as the New Jerusalem "prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband:' This debut is immediately followed in 21:3 by a
reciprocal covenant promise which is ultimately patterned after Near
Eastern marriage contracts, "andthey shall be his people[sl, and God himself
shall be with them [and be their God].'34The third and final stage of the bride
theme comes in 21:18-21, where the description of her adornment, antici-
pated in 21:2, 9 is finally presented. All three units, 19:7-9, 21:2, and 21:18-21
are linked to one another by connecting words: (19:7) - iot-
- irotLttoi
LeRo xoao•td (21:2) -* xoaot•o (21:19).
That Rev 21:18-21 forms an integral part and a continuation of the bride
scheme is overlooked by most commentators, but this conclusion is sustained
by a variety of considerations. In addition to what has already been noted:
(1) The description of the bride adorned (21:18-21) is the anti-image of the
harlot adorned (17:4; 18:16).There is in outward appearance little difference
between the two, and therefore it is probably incorrect to suppose that the

34 The bracketed elements reflect Ms discrepancies, but the context and structure lead one
to expect the second parallel clause of the covenant formula. The conjugal promise "I will be
their God, and they shall be my people" is often found in OT prophetic writers along with mar-
riage imagery, e.g., Hosea 1-2; Jeremiah 31; cf. Ezekiel 16, and M. Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20 (AB
20; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983) 254, 277-78. Compare also the mutual formula from an
Elephantine marriage contract, "She is my wife and I her husband from this day forever"(A. E.
Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. [Oxford: Clarendon, 1923] 44-46), and the
similar declaration from a Murabba'at contract (117CE),"you will be my wife ... and as for me,
I will feed and clothe you, from this day onwards"(DJD, 2. 110-12). There is, however, some
tension caused here by John's fusion of OT and early Christian marriage symbolism. While he
takes up the Christian idea of the Messiah as bridegroom (Rev 19:7; 21:2, 9), he does not com-
pletely relinquish the OT focus on the special relationship between God and his people. The
relevance of the bridegroom image appears to center in the preeschatological event of redemp-
tion and its corollary, the parousia. For in the New Jerusalem, the privileges of eschatological
union seem coextensive, whether between God and the community or Christ and the commu-
nity. A similar ambiguity is found in Joseph and Aseneth 4:2, where Asenath is adorned as "a
bride of God,:'although Joseph is the bridegroom (OTP,1. 206).

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284 Journal of Biblical Literature

harlot's splendorous attire is in itself a sign of wickedness. The distinction is

one of inward character and purpose. Harlot-Babylonentices men to become
involved in an evil system, while the Bride-New Jerusalem draws men to its
glory in order to worship the true God35
(2) The New Jerusalem prophecy of Isa 54:11-12, which serves as John's
principal model for 21:18-21, is itself part of a larger oracle that employs
marriage imagery and may also be taken as a symbolic representation of the
personified city as a wife gloriously adorned for her husband?6
(3) By his summary statement in Rev 21:2b "prepared as a bride
adorned,"John shows himself conscious of the fact that the vision of the bride
clothed in white linen (19:8) and decked with gold, precious stones, and
especially pearls (21:18-21) reflects contemporary wedding customs among
royalty and the affluent37 The most intriguing parallel occurs in the
Hellenistic romance of Joseph and Aseneth, where Aseneth's bridal panoply
is described in detail.

And Aseneth... broughtout her first robe, (the one) of wedding,like

lightningin appearance38and dressedin it. And she girdeda golden and
royalgirdle around(herself)which was made of preciousstones.And she
put braceletson her fingers.. . and precious ornamentsshe put around
her neck in whichinnumerablecostly(and)preciousstoneswerefastened,
and a golden crownshe put on her head, and on that crown... was a big
sapphirestone, and aroundthe big stone were six costly stones?9

35 The seductive power of jewelry is well illustrated in T Jud. 12:2-3; cf. also Ezek 16:8-18,
which has influenced John's presentation of Harlot-Babylon.
36 The use of antimony and jewels in 54:11-12 "may have been chosen here to suggest the

image of Zion as a splendidly groomed woman"(Whybray,Isaiah 40-66, 188). "In this verse the
profile of Zion, Yahweh'sbride, 'made up' with eye-paint, shines through the picture of her as
a city (cf. Rev XXI.2)"(R. North, The Second Isaiah [Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1964] 252).
More detailed discussions of the context and symbolism of Isaiah 54 can be found in R. Martin-
Achard, "Esaie LIV et la nouvelle Jerusalem,"in Congress Volume:Vienna, 1980 (VTSup 32;
Leiden: Brill, 1980) 238-62, esp. 253-57; R. Lack, La Symbolique du livre d'Isaie (AnBib 59;
Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1973) 195, 220-22, 225; and W. A. M. Beuken, "IsaiahLIV: The
Multiple Identity of the Person Addressed,"OTS 19 (1974) 29-70.
37 Pliny (Letters 5.16) mentions a father preparing for his young daughter'swedding, referring

to "the money he was to have laid out upon cloaths, pearls, and jewels for her marriage";and
in T Jud. 13:5 Judah'sfather-in-law decks his daughter in gold and pearls in anticipation of her
marriage;cf. also Cant 1:10-11;Isa 3:16-24; Ezek 16:8-18; Ps 45:13-15; Herm. Vis. 4.2.1-2; 1 Tim
2:9; 1 Pet 3:3; L. Friedlander,RomanLife and Mannersunder the Early Empire (7th ed.; London:
Routledge & K. Paul, 1908) 1. 235. On this level of meaning, the precious stones of the founda-
tions interspersed with the pearls of the gates form a beautiful necklace which adorns the bride
(cf. the example in Higgins, Greek and RomanJewelry, 181, plate 55a, and the Pliny quote in
n. 21 above).
38 Possibly a
p6car77 aCoXlas in 3:6.
39 Joseph and Aseneth 18:5-6 (OTP,2. 232); cf. 15:10and the dressing scene of 3:6-4:1. Joseph
the bridegroom is elsewhere referred to as "the firstborn son of God" (21:4;cf. 6:3-5; 13:13-14;
23:10) and Aseneth as "the bride of the great king's firstborn son" (21:20). On this basis, E.
Staufferregarded Joseph as a messianic figure whose marriage to Aseneth symbolized the union

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 285

When taken together with the symbolization of Aseneth as a "city"(15:7;

16:6; 17:6; 19:8-9), with "walls"(15:7;19:5; 22:13), "foundations"(22:13), and
"pillars"(17:6;cf. Rev 3:12), the nuptial imagery of Joseph and Aseneth has
been seen to offer a close analogy to John's presentation of the Bride-New
Jerusalem. But despite these similarities, there is little evidence to support
the view that Aseneth is an allegorical or even typological figure of the New
Jerusalem.4
Aseneth is not simply a city, but a city of refuge, and attains this position
by virtue of her repentance, apart from her role as a bride. As such, she
represents the archetypal mother (16:16, of all who turn in
ptirap6ntoXl•)
repentance from idolatry and lawlessness to worship the living God. The
physical and emotional steps of her conversion (chaps. 10-17) constitute the
ideal paradigm for all subsequent Gentile proselytes. Little or no eschato-
logical significance is attached to this image, and the author reveals else-
where that his expectation of future inheritance is a spiritual and heavenly
rest (8:9; 15:7; 22:13)P"
But even if Aseneth bears little or no relation to the New Jerusalem, the
bridal traditions and building imagery employed still provide useful back-
ground material for setting John's images in context.
If then Rev 21:18-21 is taken as the final installment of the bride theme,
some implications emerge for the interpretation of the precious materials
with which the bride is adorned. When in 19:7 John announces that the
bride "has prepared herself," it is logical to suppose that included in that
preparation is not only the fine linen wedding gown of 19:8 but also the bridal
trappings of 21:18-21. And since the fine linen of the bride is interpreted by
John himself as symbolic of "the righteous acts of the saints,"'is it not likely
that the glorious adornment of 21:18-21 carries a similar spiritual meaning?
Commentators have come to various conclusions as to the nature of the
precious stones symbolism, ranging from a literal interpretation to allegory.
These interpretations tend to fall into two broad categories depending on
whether the city of Revelation 21-22 is understood as an entity in itself in
some way distinct from the redeemed community,42 or is wholly a collective

between God's city-Zion-and the Messiah (TDNT, 1. 657). Cf. T Holtz, "Christliche Inter-
polationen in 'Joseph und Aseneth," NTS 14 (1967-68) 482-97, 491 n. 4.
40 Contra Stauffer (TDNT, 1. 657), and U. Fischer, Eschatologie und Jenseitserwartung im
hellenistischen Diasporajudentum (BZNW 44; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1978) 115-20. Fischer's view
is rejected by Burchard (OTP,2. 189) and Schuirer(The History, III.1, 548 n. 64).
41 Burchard, OTP,2. 190; contra Fischer, Eschatologie, 118-20. Fischer's appeal to LXX Zech
2:15 (p. 117), which lies behind Aseneth's title and the accompanying motto (15:7; 19:5, 8), is
misleading. The relevance of this text concerns its prophecy of the ingathering of the Gentiles
and not the surrounding motifs relating to the place of salvation. Cf. also Joseph and Aseneth
19:8-9 with LXX Amos 7:7 and LXX Mic 4:7.
42 Charles, Revelation, 2. 157-61; Justin, Dialogue 81; Irenaeus, Adv. haer. 5.34.4; cf. Mounce,
Revelation, 370. Helpful discussions of the relationship of the city image to the community are

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286 Journal of Biblical Literature

symbol of the community, to the exclusion of other physical and spatial

realities.43 So some regard the gem motif as simply poetic hyperbole accent-
ing the beauty and worth of the city generally44or emphasizing its qualities
of light and brilliance,45 whereas others relate it to the perfected saints as the
spiritual building blocks of the eschatological community.46
That the symbolism evokes several levels of meaning may well be inten-
tional, and a spiritual interpretation of the bridal imagery or other facets of
the New Jerusalem does not necessarily exclude the possibility that John's
eschatological hope includes a literal earthly city. The future restoration of
Zion-Jerusalem as a religious and political center from which God and his
Anointed will rule the nations is clearly an important part of his shared pro-
phetic heritage (cf. especially 21:22-22:5 with Isaiah 60). Yet after acknowl-
edging the colorful and evocative nature of such a future scenario, one must
recognize that John transformsvarious prophetic details and spatial expecta-
tions into spiritual realities.47
On the one hand, it seems clear that he is working within the circle of
tradition that likens people or a community to a building or temple.48He has
combined this idea, which generally has no precious building materials
motif, with OT prophecies of Jerusalem restored in glory and features of Near
Eastern temple construction. Indeed, John's city is a temple-city, and the
redeemed eschatological community is the spiritual temple in which God
and the Lamb dwell and are worshiped. Thus, when viewed through the
prism of building imagery, the costly ingredients of the city may represent
the eternal glory, purity, and durability of the perfected community.
But when viewed from the perspective of nuptial imagery, the glorious
bridal attire and ornaments of the New Jerusalem reach back from the future

found in M. Rissi (The Future of the World [Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1972] 55-56) and Holtz
(Christologie, 191-95).
43 R. H. Gundry, "The New Jerusalem: People as Place, not Place for People,:'NovT29 (1987)
254-64; and J. M. Ford ("The Heavenly Jerusalem and Orthodox Judaism,"in Donum gentili-
cium: New TestamentStudies in Honourof David Daube [ed. E. Bammel, C. K. Barrett, and W. D.
Davies; Oxford: Clarendon, 1978] 215-26), who states, "it is an allegory of the ideal community"
(p. 223); similarly Clement of Alexandria,Paedagogus2.12.119:1;Origen, Contra Celsum 8.19-20.
44 Kraft, Offenbarung,272; D. Georgi, "Die Visionen vom himmlischen Jerusalem in Apk 21
und 22,:'in Kirche:Festschriftfiir Gunther Bornkammzum 75. Geburtstag (ed. D. Liihrmannand
G. Strecker; Tiibingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1980) 351-72, 367; contra Reader, "The Twelve Jewels of
Revelation 21:19-20,:'455-56.
45 Beckwith, Apocalypse, 762; Caird, Revelation, 274; cf. Ps. Philo, Bib. Ant. 26:13-15.
46 Swete,
Apocalypse, 293-94; J. M. Ford, "The Jewel of Discernment (A Study of Stone
Symbolism),:'BZ n.E 11 (1967) 109-16.
47 Fekkes, "Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions,"'
95-98, 277-90.
48 To the
many examples provided by Ford ("TheJewel of Discernment"), add the discussion
of 4QpIsad by J. M. Baumgarten, "The Duodecimal Courts of Qumran, Revelation, and the
Sanhedrin,"' JBL 95 (1976) 59-78, esp. 65-71; M. P. Horgan, Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations
of Biblical Books (CBQMS 8; Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1978)
125-31; Rissi, Future of the World, 49; and Martin-Achard,"Esaie LIV, 257-58.

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 Fekkes: Revelation 19-21 and Isaian Nuptial Imagery 287

into the present and serve as a symbolic testimony to the faithfulness of the
earthly community.9 Just as the fine linen of the bride stands as a metaphor
for the "righteous deeds of the saints" (19:8; cf. 3:4-5), so also her bridal
ornaments are collectively emblematic of the spiritual fidelity and holy con-
duct of those in the churches who "overcame."The fact that Rev 21:2 and
21:18-21 are separated from 19:7-9 by the millennium does not seriously
affect their interrelationship, for everything that the bride could do to prepare
herself had to be done before the parousia, as the exhortations of the seven
letters make clear. This explains the placement of 19:7-9 immediately before
the parousia (19:11-21) and again corroborates its introductory function.o0
The eschatological union of the bride (19:7-9, 14; 21-22) and bridegroom
(19:11-21;20:4-6) consummates the relationship between Christ and his
church first portrayed in Revelation 1-3, which begins with a vision of Christ
adorned (1:12-20), followed by his admonitions to the church to prepare
herself for his appearing (chaps. Her successful preparation ends the
difficult period of engagement and 2-3).1
occasions the joyous announcement: "the
marriage of the Lamb has come" (Rev 19:7b).

49 Although I find Gundry's literal interpretation of the precious stones as a materialistic

reward and future compensation for the earthly poverty of the saints hardly convincing ("The
New Jerusalem,"261).
50 This procedure follows a pattern similar to that employed with the description of Harlot-
Babylon, where the main development (Revelation 17-18) is preceded by a summary statement
that contains the same OT substructure (14:8-11).In addition, a variety of formal parallels point
to an antithetic relationship between 14:6-13 and 19:5-10 (e.g., 14:61119:5;14:131119:9;cf.
14:14-201119:11-21;J.-L. D'Aragon,"The Apocalypse,"'JBC 2. 489; Prigent, L'Apocalypse,282.
5~ Sweet, Revelation, 301. While Christ's adornment in chap. 1 is not necessarily that of a
bridegroom, this does not alter the fundamental relationship of anticipation and fulfillment
between Revelation 1-3 and 19-22. It is only natural that John reserve the nuptial imagery for
the latter stage, where it serves to underline the community's transition from temporary hard-
ship and faithful preparation to eternal glory and companionship with its Lord.

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