Tool Alpha
Echoes of Revelation
Revelation never quotes the Old Testament outright, yet no New Testament book refers to it more. See both texts side by side, why they don’t match, and what John does with them.
Revelation 17:14, Lord of lords and King of kings
The Lamb's title, Lord of lords and King of kings, matches the title the old Greek of Daniel 4:37 gives God after he humbles Babylon's king.
Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16, in every translation this tool compares.
A title once claimed by an emperor can be handed to the one who outranks him. Babylon's kings called themselves king of kings. In the Greek version of Daniel 4, after God humbles Nebuchadnezzar, the king praises God as the God above all gods, the Lord over all lords and the King over all kings. John gives the Lamb the same two titles, Lord of lords and also King of kings. The God who humbled old Babylon's king now appears as the Lamb who conquers the new one.
The pair Lord of lords and King of kings. Beale cites the old Greek of Daniel 4:37: because he is God of gods, Lord of lords and King of kings. Revelation 17:14 says because he is Lord of lords (kyrios kyrion) and King of kings (basileus basileon). Deuteronomy 10:17 calls the Lord God of gods and Lord of lords.
The title in this form stands in the old Greek of Daniel 4:37, not in the Aramaic, which says King of heaven; the vault's Greek version also lacks it. John drops God of gods and gives the title to the Lamb. In 19:16 he reverses the order, putting King of kings first.
In Daniel the title belongs to the God who exposed Nebuchadnezzar as an empty copy of real power. Beale says the title now passes to the Lamb, who judges the beast that carries Babylon. It also answers the emperors who claimed divine titles, Domitian among them.
Not a title borrowed from Rome. Beale and the sources trace it to the Old Testament, though it also answers the claims of kings and emperors.
Beale says the same title occurs only twice in biblical writings before the New Testament, in 1 Enoch 9:4 and the old Greek of Daniel 4:37, and judges Daniel the more likely influence. The wording is closer (because he is). In Daniel and Revelation the title grounds God's power to remove evil kings. Almost the same title is used for the Babylonian king in Daniel 2:37 and 3:2 and for God in 2:47, and the Daniel formula of universality follows the title as it follows 17:14 in 17:15. 1 Enoch 9:4 may itself allude to Daniel 4:37. The vault's interlinear has only the Greek version called Theodotion, whose 4:37 reads King of heaven, so the old Greek wording is cited here from Beale. Keener notes that king of kings was the title of Eastern rulers (Ezekiel 26:7; Daniel 2:37) and that Jews applied such titles to God from Deuteronomy 10:17. The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible cites Deuteronomy 10:17 and Psalm 136:3, and the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible adds Daniel 2:47 and 4:37. The grade is drawn here, after Beale's judgment that Daniel is the likelier source.
The sources point to different origins. Beale prefers the old Greek of Daniel 4:37, with 1 Enoch 9:4 as a second candidate. Keener and the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible lead with Deuteronomy 10:17 and Psalm 136:3. The CSB Study Bible's cross-references list Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 136:2-3 and Daniel 2:47. Keener and the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible add that king of kings was the Parthian ruler's title.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-17-7-18\/","n":"Revelation 17:7-18, seven hills and seven kings","s":"The angel explains the woman and the beast: the beast once was, now is not and will come up from the Abyss; its seven heads are seven hills and also seven kings, five fallen, one living and one still to come, and the beast is an eighth who belongs to the seven. Its ten horns are ten kings who will make war on the Lamb, and in the end the beast and the horns turn on the woman, the great city that rules the kings of the earth, and burn her.","r":"Revelation 17:7-18"}
- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 17:14
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Revelation 17:14
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Revelation 17:14
- NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, note on Revelation 17:14
- CSB Study Bible, cross-references at Revelation 17:14
- Septuagint, Daniel 4:37 and Deuteronomy 10:17, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 17:14
