Eight Kings on an Apocalyptic Animal Farm Reflections on Revelation 17:9–11*

EIGHT KINGS ON AN APOCALYPTIC ANIMAL FARM REFLECTIONS ON REVELATION 17:9–11*

Arie W. Zwiep VU University Amsterdam

Introduction

A brief survey of recent New Testament introductions, commentaries and scholarly articles on the Book of Revelation suggests that a growing number of biblical scholars favour an early date for the book’s composition, i.e., shortly after the death of Nero (68 ce) and before the destruction of the Jerusalem temple two years later. This was, in fact, the dominant position of nineteenth-century biblical scholarship.1 While John A.T. Robinson’s pre-70 ce dating of the book was part of larger experiment to see if it was possible to have the entire New Testament collection completed before the destruction of the temple in 70 ce,2— one that could easily be dismissed as an idiosyncrasy of an anti-establishment scholar—in recent times a growing number of biblical scholars of various persuasions have come to defend an early (“Neronian”) date of the book: Christopher C. Rowland (1982),3 Ken-

* Paper read at the Amsterdam New Testament Colloquium at the Faculty of Theology of VU University, 20 March 2012. I have earlier published (and lectured) on this topic in, e.g., Arie W. Zwiep, “Het beest en de acht koningen,” in: idem, Jezus en het heil van Israëls God: Verkenningen in het Nieuwe Testament (EvTheol; Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 2003), 133–51; idem, “Apocalypse Now? Een exercitie in actualiserend bijbellezen n.a.v. de Open- baring van Johannes,” Soteria 24/1 (2007): 3–18. 1 Cf. Joseph B. Lightfoot, Essays on the Work Entitled Supernatural Religion (London, New York: Macmillan, 1889, 21893), 132: “The Apocalypse was written, according to the view which our author [= one of the authors of Supernatural Religion] represents ‘as universally accepted by all competent critics,’ about a.d. 68, 69.” Also (posthumous) Fenton J.A. Hort, The Apocalypse of Saint John: The Greek Text with Introduction, Commentary and Additional Notes (Cambridge Library Collection, Religion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1908, repr. 2010), 1:x (the early date “the general tendency of criticism”). For a brief survey, see John A.T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (London: SCM, 1976), 224–26. 2 Robinson, Redating, 221–53. On the mixed response to the book, see Eric James, A Life of Bishop John A.T. Robinson: Scholar, Pastor, Prophet (London: Collins, 1987), 231–38. 3 Christopher C. Rowland, The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity (London: SPCK, 1982), 403–413. But note that in 2005, he is more cautious: C.C. Rowland, “The Book of Revelation,” in: The New Interpreter’s Bible. New Testament Survey (Nashville: Abingdon, 2005), 345: “Evidence from Revelation itself suggests that an earlier date [than the mid-90s, AZ] is equally likely. This derives from the most obvious reading Eight Kings on An Apocalyptic Animal farm 219 neth L. Gentry (1989),4 Robert B. Moberly (1992),5 J. Christian Wilson (1993),6 E. Earle Ellis (2000),7 Gonzalo Rojas-Flores (2004),8 Stephen S. Smalley (2005),9 Ian Boxall (2007),10 George H. van Kooten (2007),11 and Karl Jaroš (2008),12 to name but a few. One of the classic pillars for dating the book is Rev 17:9–11, “the most obvious interpretation” of which suggests, at least according to these scholars, an early date of the book. In this article I will review the evidence and suggest a more coherent (not necessarily novel) reading of the text. My aim is not solve the problem of the date of Revelation as such, but to tackle only one of the perennial obstacles in response to some of these recent proposals and propose a way of reading that makes sense in the context of the book’s ideology and generic strategies as a whole. In Rev 17:9–11 an angelic interpreter (angelus interpres) gives an at first sight clear and lucid explanation of a vision John had seen earlier on in chapter 13 about the seven-headed Beast from the sea (13:1–10). Explaining the meaning of the seven heads, the angel says: Αἱ ἑπτὰ κεφαλαὶ The seven heads ἑπτὰ ὄρη εἰσίν, are seven mountains of Rev 17:9–10. After Nero’s death in 68 ce, there were four claimants to the throne in one year. So it may have been during the period of great upheaval in the empire while the power struggle was going on that John saw his vision. But the events of the 60s could easily have dominated the visionary horizon if he had his vision thirty years later.” 4 Kenneth L. Gentry, Before Jerusalem Fell. Dating the Book of Revelation. An Exegetical and Historical Argument for a Pre-A.D. 70 Composition (Powder Springs, GA: American Vi- sion, [1989] 31998) (“before the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70”). 5 Robert B. Moberly, “When Was Revelation Conceived?,” Bib 73 (1992): 376–92. 6 J. Christian Wilson, “The Problem of the Domitianic Date of Revelation,” NTS 39 (1993): 587–605. 7 E. Earle Ellis, The Making of the New Testament Documents (Biblical Interpretation 39; Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, 1999; Boston, Leiden: Brill Academic, 2000), 210–16 (ad 68–70). 8 Gonzalo Rojas-Flores, “The Book of Revelation and the First Years of Nero’s Reign,” Bib 85 (2004): 375–92 (“after Nero’s ascension to the throne in 54 and before the earthquake of Laodicea in 60”). 9 Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (London: SPCK, 2005), 2–3 (“[T]he book emerged just before the fall of Jerusa- lem to Titus, Vespasian’s son, in ad 70”). 10 Ian Boxall, The Revelation of Saint John (BNTC; Peabody: Hendrickson; London, New York: Continuum, 2006), 7–10. 11 George H. van Kooten, “The Year of the Four Emperors and the Revelation of John. The ‘pro-Neronian’ Emperors Otho and Vitellius, and the Images and Colossus of Nero in Rome,” JSNT 30 (2007): 205–248 (“during the first half of Vitellius’s reign mid-April and Au- gust 69”) 12 Karl Jaroš, Das Neue Testament und seine Autoren: Eine Einleitung (UTB 3087; Köln, Weimar, Wien: Böhlau, 2008), 191–203 (“wohl noch in der ersten Hälfte des Jahres 70”).