Neotestamentica

In this study, Sarah U. Dixon undertakes a comprehensive study of the phrase “the witness of Jesus” (ἡ μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ) in the book of Revelation and argues that it is “possible and even preferable” (30) to maintain the same meaning as in 1:2 in all cases. While the expression in 1:2 is generally understood as referring to the revelation in the book of Revelation, in the other passages (1:9; 12:17; 19:10 and 20:4) it is “commonly understood to be reference to the testimony that Jesus gave in his life and/or death, a reference to a Christian testimony about Jesus” (150). An obstacle against Dixon’s thesis according to many interpreters is that it seems to be “an odd intratextual situation in which the followers of the Lamb ‘have’ the book that they themselves are part of” (57).

Chapter One, Introduction, presents the project and briefly examines the meaning of the expression in 1:2. Chapter Two explores the possibility that “the testimony of Jesus” may also refer to the book of Revelation in the other passages of Revelation by comparing these with other apocalyptic works like Daniel and 1 Enoch. In the light of these she concludes that “it is possible that the saints of Revelation have ‘the testimony of Jesus,’ a testimony identified as the Apocalypse itself” (57). Dixon argues convincingly that the scrolls of Rev 5 and 10 are about one and the same scroll: the revelation which came from God and which Jesus gave to John. The examination of Rev 10–11 leads Dixon to the subtle but important conclusion that, “[w]hen being handed down to those within the church, the written corpus appears to be important. . . . But when the message is received by the church and becomes part of the saint’s [End Page 402] testimony the writtenness of the book is no longer explicit. Yet at the same time, the stern warning in 22:18–19 dictates that the church’s prophecy must faithfully adhere to John’s written words” (70).

Chapter Three argues against the view that the text of 1:9 should be understood in the sense that John was brought to Patmos as an exile: “Reflecting on his time on Patmos, John saw the ἀποκάλυψις as the divinely ordained reason for his being on the island, with the specific, immediate cause of him coming to the island being left unspecified” (152). In that case, “the Word of God and the witness of Jesus” (1:9) can be understood as referring to the message revealed to John there, in other words, his book. Chapter Four focuses on the meaning of “having (holding) the witness of Jesus” in 12:17. Those holding the witness of Jesus are the addressees of John’s book. The author argues that it is entirely possible to understand the meaning here as identical with that of 1:2 and that this meaning therefore “is to be preferred . . . while also taking seriously the book’s emphasis on the immediate importance of its own message” (97).

Chapter Five aims to show that in 19:10 the “understanding of ἡ μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ that is most suitable for the context is one that reads the phrase as a reference to the ἀποκάλυψις” (98). The enigmatic statement, ἡ γὰρ μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ ἐστιν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς προφητείας, should be taken to mean that John’s presentation of the witness of Jesus “is the manifestation of the spirit of prophecy,” and “of God’s Spirit as the one to inspire prophecy” (109). Dixon specifies that “it is not clear that ‘the testimony of Jesus’ refers to the book in any physical, written sense” (104). What is meant exactly can be seen in the re-statement of 22:9, as “those who keep the words of this book.” What matters is not having a physical copy of the book, but having one’s whole life shaped by it. Chapter Six explores the meaning of ἡ μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ in 20:4. Dixon...