Blood crimes avenged in seven bowls: Revelation 17 as an explanation of the fifth and sixth plagues

Authors

  • Vanderlei Dorneles Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo - UNASP, São Paulo, (Brasil)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19141/1809-2454.kerygma.v20.n1.pe1682

Keywords:

Babylon, Judgment, Plagues, Literary structure, Revelation

Abstract

Interpreters generally consider that Babylon is remembered by God during the seventh bowl of the wrath (cf. Rev 16:19). After this, God would pour out his wrath upon her. However, according to Revelation 15:1 and 16:17, God’s wrath is completely satisfied throughout the first six bowls and when the seventh bowl is poured out “on the air.” Even before the theophanies of the seventh bowl, God declares himself satisfied with the execution of bowl’s judgment, with the statement “It is done!” Furthermore, in the most predominant reading of this textual unity, God would have remembered Babylon to give her the cup of the wrath after the “great city” was divided into three parts, or completely destroyed, which would suggest an anachronism in this section (Rev 16:17-21). Questions of structure and linguistic aspects must be analyzed in order to clarify the meaning of the vision of Revelation 17 after the seven plagues, and what kind of relationship this account has with the vision of the seven plagues (Rev 16). This article uses an exegetical methodology with structural analysis in the search for more answers to these questions. The hypothesis defended here is that Revelation 17 does not report a later event nor an unfolding of the seventh bowl, but an explanation of the fifth and sixth plagues.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Vanderlei Dorneles, Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo - UNASP, São Paulo, (Brasil)

Doutor em Ciências da Religião pela Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, e em Ciências da Comunicação, pela Universidade de São Paulo; mestre em Comunicação Social, pela Universidade Metodista de São Paulo; graduado em Teologia, pelo Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo, e em Comunicação Social, pela Universidade de Sorocaba.

References

AUNE, D. E. Revelation 1-5. Dallas, TX: Word, 1997. (Word Biblical Commentary, v. 52a).

AUNE, D. E. Revelation 6-16. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1998. (Word Biblical Commentary, v. 52b).

BEALE, G. K. The book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999. (The New International Greek Testament Commentary).

BROWN, C. (ed.). The new international dictionary of the New Testament theology. V. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978.

COLLINS, A. Y. The combat myth in the book of Revelation. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001.

CUSTER, S. From Patmos to paradise: a commentary on Revelation. Greenville, SC: BJU Press, 2004.

DORNELES, V. Adorai aquele que fez: a narrativa da criação e o clímax do grande conflito em Apocalipse 12 a 14. Revista Criacionista Brasileira, n. 100, 2019, p. 6-21.

FARRER, A. A rebirth of images: the making of St. John Apocalypse. Nova York: State University of New York Press, 1986.

FIORENZA, E. S. The book of Revelation: justice and judgment. Mineápolis, MN: Fortress, 1998.

JOHNSON, A. F. Revelation. In: GAEBELEIN, F. E. (ed.). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981. v. 12.

KISTEMAKER, S. J. Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001. (New Testament Commentary).

KOESTER, C. R. Revelation: a new translation with introduction and commentary. New Heaven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014. (The Anchor Yale Bible).

KRODEL, G. A. Revelation. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1989. (Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament).

LARONDELLE, H. K. Armageddon: sixth and seventh plagues. In: HOLBROOK, F. B. (ed.). Symposium on Revelation, book 2: exegetical and general studies. Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute, 1992, p. 373-390. (Daniel and Revelation Committee Series).

LARONDELLE, H. K. Chariots of salvation: the biblical drama of Armageddon. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1987.

LÉVI-STRAUSS, C. The structural study of myth. The Journal of American Folklore, v. 68, n. 270, p. 428-44, 1955.

METZGER, B. Breaking the code: understanding the book of Revelation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1993.

MICHAELS, J. R. Interpreting the book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1992.

MOUNCE, R. H. The book of Revelation. ed. rev. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977. (The New International Commentary on the New Testament).

MUELLER, E. When the prophecy repeats itself: recapitulation in Revelation. Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute, 2015. (Biblical Research Institute Release, v. 14).

MURPHY, F. J. Fallen is Babylon: the Revelation to John. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press, 1998.

NICHOL, F. D. (ed.). Comentário bíblico adventista do sétimo dia. Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2014.

OSBORNE, G. Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002. (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament).

PAULIEN, J. Armageddon at the door. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2008.

PAULIEN, J. Decoding Revelation’s trumpets: literary allusions and the interpretation of Revelation 8:7-12. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1988. (Andrews University Seminary Doctoral Dissertation Series, v. 11).

RICOEUR, P. The symbolism of evil. Boston: Beacon, 1963.

ROTZ, C. Revelation: a commentary in the New Testament. Kansas, AK: Beacon Hill Press, 2012.

SMALLEY, S. S. The Revelation of John: a commentary on the Greek text of the Apocalypse. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005.

STEFANOVIC, R. Revelation of Jesus Christ: commentary on the book of Revelation. 2. ed. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2009.

THOMAS, J. C. The Apocalypse: a literary and theological commentary. Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2012.

WELLCOME, I. C. History of the second advent message and mission, doctrine and people. Yarmouth, ME: I. C. Wellcome, 1874.

WHITE, E. G. Notes of travel. Review and Herald, 25 nov. 1884.

WHITE, E. G. O grande conflito. 42. ed. Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2004.

Downloads

Published

2025-05-27

How to Cite

DORNELES, V. Blood crimes avenged in seven bowls: Revelation 17 as an explanation of the fifth and sixth plagues. Kerygma, Engenheiro coelho (SP), v. 20, n. 1, p. e1682, 2025. DOI: 10.19141/1809-2454.kerygma.v20.n1.pe1682. Disponível em: https://unasp.emnuvens.com.br/kerygma/article/view/1682. Acesso em: 9 jun. 2025.

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2025): Fluxo contínuo

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Kerygma

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish on Kerygma must agree to the following terms:

  1. Once accepted for publication, the copyright of articles is automatically transferred to Kerygma.
  2. All material used in the text that is copyrighted by third parties must be duly referenced.
  3. Authors must also retain the reproduction rights of images and tables in their material, if necessary.
  4. The authors guarantee that the submitted text is entirely their authorship and has not been submitted and/or published elsewhere.
  5. The opinions, ideas and concepts expressed in the texts are the sole responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Kerygma;
  6. The editors reserve the right to make textual adjustments and adapt to the publication's norms.
  7. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International, which allows sharing of the work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal. This license allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they give proper credit to you and their new works are not used for commercial purposes. However, users are not required to license those derivative works under the same terms.
  8. The authors agree with the free reproduction of their material by Kerygma, which may adapt, modify, condense, summarize, reduce, compile, expand, alter, mix with other content, include images, graphics, digital objects, infographics and hyperlinks, illustrate, diagram, divide, update, translate and carry out any other transformations, requiring the participation or express authorization of the authors.
  9. The authors agree that Kerygma can distribute the articles through cable, fiber optics, satellite, airwaves or any other system that allows access to the user at a specific time and place, either by free channels or by systems that import payment. Kerygma may also include work in a physical or virtual database, archiving in printed format, storing on a computer, in a cloud system, microfilming and other current forms of archiving or that may still be developed, with or without profit.
  10. Authors are permitted to enter into separate, additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work in this journal (e.g., publishing it in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment in the new publication of its initial publication in this journal.
  11. Kerygma owns the rights to all works published by it. The full reproduction of these texts in other publications, for any other purpose, by any means, requires written authorization from the publisher. The same goes for partial reproductions, such as summary, abstract, portions with more than 500 words of the text, tables, figures, illustrations, etc.
  12. Authors are granted permission and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their personal websites) at any point before or during the editorial process. This is because it can lead to productive alterations and increase the impact and citation of the published work. (See "The effect of open access and downloads ('hits') on citation impact: a bibliography of studies.")