xx | Introduction
The writers of Jewish apocalyptic employed symbolic knowledge, often taken
from Babylonian mythology. This stands to reason, since a large number of the
members of the Kingdom of Judah were exiled to Babylon ca. 597 BCE. It was
here that many Jewish thinkers were exposed not only to Babylonian mythology
but also to the language and thought of Zoroastrianism. The Hebrew Bible book
of Daniel, for example, is set entirely in Babylon. The seventh chapter of Daniel
contains Daniel’s apocalyptic vision of four worldly kingdoms that will eventually
be superseded by the Kingdom of God. “In the first year of Belshazzar, King of
Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed . . . And
four great beasts came out of the sea, different from one another” (Dan. 7:1, 7:3).
The four kingdoms of Babylon, the Medes, Persia, and Greece are represented,
respectively, by a lion, bear, leopard, and beast.
As a general rule, it is safe to say that Jewish and Christian apocalyptic is
pseudonymous. For example, scholars date the life of the patriarch Abraham some-
time in the second millennium BCE, while the apocalypse that bears his name was
composed during the period 70–150 CE. The Christian apocalypses attributed to
Peter and Paul appeared a century after their deaths and most certainly were not
written by the Apostles of the same name. It remains an open question, and one
that is beyond the scope of the present work whether the author of the book of
Revelation is the same John that wrote the Gospel according to John and the First,
Second, and Third Epistles of John. The writer of a particular apocalypse claimed
a literary or even theological kinship with the individual whose name he adopted
as a nom de plume. By so doing, the pseudonymous author also acquired a claim to
the authority of his predecessor, thereby lending credence to his apocalypse.
Apocalyptic language can further be found in two other sources of Hebrew
Literature: the Major Prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and the Dead Sea
Scrolls of Qumran.
The Hebrew Prophets
The Hebrew prophets employed eschatological themes and apocalyptic imag-
ery. The general background to these themes and images is the apostasy of Israel
and Judah. According to the prophets, the residents of these two kingdoms were
guilty of worshipping deities other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The prophets warn that if repentance is not forthcoming, the kingdom will lose its
national identity and the citizens will be exiled into captivity.
Isaiah (740–687 BCE) raged against wickedness and idolatry in Judah and
Israel. He accused Israel of being a sinful nation “a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evil doers, sons who deal corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord, they
have despised the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 1:4 RSV) and are utterly estranged.
