[B-Greek] OUDEIS in Revelation 15:8

Elizabeth Kline kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Mon Jun 23 18:14:39 EDT 2008


On Jun 23, 2008, at 10:08 AM, Edgar Foster wrote:

> I now have a relatively simple question concerning Revelation 15:8:
>
> KAI EGEMISQH hO NAOS KAPNOU EX THS DOXHS TOU QEOU KAI EK THS  
> DUNAMEWS AUTOU, KAI OUDEIS EDUNATO EISELQEIN EIS TON NAON AXRI  
> TELESQWSIN hAI hEPTA PLHGAI TWN hEPTA AGGELWN.
>
> Do you think that OUDEIS which is functioning substantively in this  
> text is being used in an absolute sense? That appears to be how this  
> term is employed in Matthew 6:24; 9:16; John 1:18.
>
> Wesley's Notes to the Bible indicate that Revelation 15:8 suggests  
> that heavenly beings normally attendant upon the throne of God in hO  
> NAOS were unable to enter while the seven bowls were being poured  
> out as plagues. I guess that I would like to know about the possible  
> referential scope of OUDEIS in this passage.

RE. 15:5 KAI META TAUTA EIDON, KAI HNOIGH hO NAOS THS SKHNHS TOU  
MARTURIOU EN TWi OURANWi,  6 KAI EXHLQON hOI hEPTA AGGELOI h[OI]  
ECONTES TAS hEPTA PLHGAS EK TOU NAOU ENDEDUMENOI LINON KAQARON LAMPRON  
KAI PERIEZWSMENOI PERI TA STHQH ZWNAS CRUSAS.  7 KAI hEN EK TWN  
TESSARWN ZWiWN EDWKEN TOIS hEPTA AGGELOIS hEPTA FIALAS CRUSAS GEMOUSAS  
TOU QUMOU TOU QEOU TOU ZWNTOS EIS TOUS AIWNAS TWN AIWNWN.  8 KAI  
EGEMISQH hO NAOS KAPNOU EK THS DOXHS TOU QEOU KAI EK THS DUNAMEWS  
AUTOU, KAI OUDEIS EDUNATO EISELQEIN EIS TON NAON ACRI TELESQWSIN hAI  
hEPTA PLHGAI TWN hEPTA AGGELWN.

OUDEIS may refer to the heavenly beings, however attempting to work  
out all the visual details of the scenes in the Apocalypse doesn't  
always lead to satisfying results. For example: KAI hEN EK TWN  
TESSARWN ZWiWN EDWKEN TOIS hEPTA AGGELOIS ... Where did hEN EK TWN  
TESSARWN ZWiWN come from? Did hEN leave the other three behind? We are  
explicitly told that KAI EXHLQON hOI hEPTA AGGELOI h[OI] ECONTES TAS  
hEPTA PLHGAS EK TOU NAOU so we know that hOI hEPTA AGGELOI are outside  
and from this we might infer that hEN EK TWN TESSARWN ZWiWN was also  
outside but we are not told that EXHLQEN EK TOU NAOU hEN EK TWN  
TESSARWN ZWiWN. I think R.H.Charles' (ICC Rev) suggestion that we not  
attempt to make this more than a figurative allusion to several Old  
Test theophanies is probably the best way to handle this.

Elizabeth Kline







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