(Of course, this means that appealing to ‘all the nations…’ to show this is about the return of Jesus is a circular argument). Most ETs wrongly translate this as ‘nation’ in Matthew and Revelation, under pressure from the interpretive tradition which assumes this is about Jesus’ return. ![]() Although ‘tribe’ can be used to describe a larger group, it almost always refers to a group within a nation, and in Zechariah it clearly refers to the twelve tribes of Israel. In all three places, that is, in Matthew, Revelation, and Zechariah, the term for the people is φυλή and not ἔθνος, a tribe and not a ‘nation’. The Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great gloryīehold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man They will look to me, the one they have pierced and they will lament for him (v 10) ![]() The land will mourn, tribe by tribe (v 12)Īnd every eye will see him even those who pierced him This combination of OT texts are also combined in Matt 24.30 (though nowhere else in the NT) and some interesting things arise simply from comparing the texts: Matt 24.30 ![]() The parallel texts are Dan 7.13, Zech 12.10 and Zech 12.12, albeit with some adaptations. Some commentators suggest that this verse constitutes a quotation, rather than a mere allusion, since the parallels are so clear, though on no occasion does John use any kind of quotation formula (‘as it is written…’). According to one estimate, Revelation alludes to the OT on 676 occasions, which is on average more than once in each of its 404 verses. In this translation, parts of the verses have been put in inverted commas by the translator to help us realise the use of biblical (that is, Old Testament) language. So on first reading, this interpretation is perhaps not surprising when we look at the verse carefully.Īnd “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him” Īnd all tribes on earth “will mourn because of him.” ![]() We should also note that the phrase is in the present tense ‘He is coming’ Ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται but we often take present tenses in English to have a future sense (as in ‘I am coming round to see you tomorrow’). (Note that the New Testament never uses the now-popular phrase ‘second coming’ of Jesus, since this pairs the future with his ‘first coming’ in the incarnation, whereas the NT always pairs his return with his departure, as in ‘he will return in the same way you have seen him go’ in Acts 1.11). We find the phrase early in the Book of Revelation, at Rev 1.7, and it is striking that the near universal view of commentators on Revelation 1.7 is that it is a reference to the return of Jesus to earth, as promised in Acts 1 and elsewhere. But it is important to reflect on: in this phrase, where is Jesus coming from, and where is he coming to? When will this happen? And what is the origin of the phrase? I think the reason for this is that people assume that the key questions have obvious answers-so we don’t even need to ask them. In my teaching and reflection on issues around eschatology and the ‘second coming’ of Jesus, there is one phrase that keeps coming up, and to which people thinking about these things keep returning: the language of the Son of Man ‘coming with the clouds.’ When I have offered an alternative reading to the key passages in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, this is one of the main things that people get stuck on.
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