Conclusion (22.6–10)

English

And he said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show his slaves what must happen soon. And see, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of this scroll’s prophecy.’

And I, John, the one who saw these things—and when I heard and looked, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me, ‘Stop that. I am a fellow slave of you and your brothers, the prophets and the ones who keep this scroll’s words. Worship God.’

And he said to me, ‘Do not seal the words of this scroll’s prophecy, because the time is near.

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Interpretation

This section is a complete retread of other parts of the book. It repeats the chain of transmission from chapter 1, but excludes Jesus as the link between God and the angel. The most puzzling feature of the final chapter is the failure to distinguish alternating speakers. The angel in the chain is clearly the speaker in verse 9, while Jesus is the speaker in verses 7, 12, and 16, and Jesus or perhaps God is the speaker in verse 13. But who is the speaker in verses 6 (angel or Jesus), 10–11 (angel or Jesus), 14–15 (angel, Jesus, or author), and 18–19 (Jesus or author)? Jesus cannot be identified with the angel who refuses worship, because he sent the angel according to verse 16.

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Parallels

Daniel

7.2 I, Daniel, saw in my vision

8.26 ‘As for you, seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.’

12.4 ‘But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end.’

Revelation of Zephaniah

B.7 Truly, I, Zephaniah, saw these things in my vision.

4 Ezra

3.1 In the thirtieth year after the destruction of the city, I was in Babylon—I, Salathiel, who am also called Ezra.

14.45–48 And when the forty days were ended, the Most High spoke to me, saying, ‘Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first, and let the worthy and the unworthy read them; but keep the seventy that were written last, in order to give them to the wise among your people. For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge.’ And I did so.

2 Baruch

87 And it happened when I had finished all the words of this letter and had written it carefully until the end, I folded it, sealed it cautiously, and bound it to the neck of the eagle. And I let it go and sent it away.