Thursday, April 11, 2013

Sunday Knox: Revelation 5:11-14

Yeah, we are going all Knox, all the time here!  I have enjoyed it, I hope you have as well.  This week's selection comes from the second reading for this coming Sunday's Mass.  Enjoy!


Knox:
“Then I heard, in my vision, the voices of a multitude of angels, standing on every side of the throne, where the living figures and the elders were, in thousands of thousands,[a] and crying aloud, Power and Godhead, wisdom and strength, honour and glory and blessing are his by right, the Lamb that was slain.[b]  And every creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all that is in it,[c] I heard crying out together, Blessing and honour and glory and power, through endless ages, to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. Then the four living figures said, Amen; and the twenty-four elders fell prostrate, worshipping him who lives for ever and ever.[d]”
a.    Apocalypse 5:11 The Greek has, ‘in ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands’.
b.   Apocalypse 5:12 ‘Godhead’; the Greek here has ‘riches’, and it seems likely that the Latin version arose from a faulty reading.
c.    Apocalypse 5:13 ‘And on the sea, and all that is in it’; this is perhaps the best account to give of the Latin text here, but it is curious that ‘on’ and ‘in’ should be rendered by the same preposition in Latin. The Greek text seems to be ‘every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all that is in them’; it is hard to see that the last six words add anything to the sense.
d.   Apocalypse 5:14 The last seven words of this verse are of doubtful authority in the Greek, and are missing in some Latin manuscripts.


 NAB:
“I, John, looked and heard the voices of many angels
who surrounded the throne
and the living creatures and the elders.
They were countless in number, and they cried out in a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and blessing.”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and in the sea,
everything in the universe, cry out:
“To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor, glory and might,
forever and ever.”
The four living creatures answered, “Amen,”
and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

* [5:11] Countless: literally, “100,000,000 plus 1,000,000,” used by the author to express infinity.

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