Re: REV 4:1 and 6:1

From: clayton stirling bartholomew (c.s.bartholomew@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Sun Mar 22 1998 - 14:12:43 EST


James C. Clardy, Jr. wrote:
>
> What's the difference between ANABA in Revelation 4:1 and
> ERXOU in Revelation 6:1?
>
> Is there any distinction between invitation and command in the
> Greek?

James,

Both of these verbs are imperatives but that is not saying much. I think you
are right that the first case in 4:1 ANABA is a command/invitation. It is a
command but there is no sense of coercion. There is no conceivable reason why
John would not want to comply with this so it is really an invitation.

The second case is a command on the surface. It has the form of a command. But
I think it is really an announcement. It is a signal to the first horseman,
again on the surface. But I don't think the first horseman needs to be told it
is time to come. I think ERXOU in 6:1 functions primarily as an announcement
of the first horseman to those who are looking on.

These statements are not based on lexical or syntactical considerations. They
are literary judgments and therefore subjective. However they are conclusions
I have reached after reading the passage several hundred times in the GNT.

-- 
Clayton Stirling Bartholomew
Three Tree Point
P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062


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