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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 19:12, many crowns and a name no one knows
The crowns and the hidden name may recall Isaiah 62:2-3, where Zion is promised a new name and a royal diadem.
Revelation 19:12, in every translation this tool compares.
A ring engraved with a private name means more to the couple than to anyone who reads it. In Isaiah 62 God promises Jerusalem a new name that he will give, and calls her a royal crown in his hand. The rider wears many crowns and a written name that only he knows. Beale and one study Bible hear Isaiah's promise here.
A crown (diadema) and a name. The Greek of Isaiah 62:3 has diadema basileias, a diadem of kingship, and 62:2 promises a new name (onoma kainon). Isaiah 65:15 promises God's servants a new name. John has diademata polla and onoma gegrammenon, many diadems and a written name.
Isaiah gives the new name and the crown to Jerusalem, God's people. John gives them to the rider. Isaiah's name is new; John's is unknown to all but the rider. Isaiah has one diadem, held in God's hand; the rider wears many on his head.
Beale reads Christ as standing for his people: Israel's promised name and crown are fulfilled in him first, and believers share his name (2:17; 3:12). The many crowns outrank the dragon's seven and the beast's ten. He alone is king of all.
Not a secret password the saved must learn. Beale says the hidden name is about Christ's character being fully shown in judgment, not a word kept from everyone.
Beale says that if there is an Old Testament background for the diadems and the secret name, it is Isaiah 62:2-3, supported by the allusion to Isaiah 63:1-3 in the next verse, with Isaiah 65:15 perhaps in mind. He links 19:12 with 2:17, where the wording is nearly the same. He then suggests the name may be the divine name, written as Yahweh's name was written on the high priest's forehead plate (Wisdom of Solomon 18:24). He notes a Targum on Exodus 6:3 says the name of the Word of the Lord was not known, which is close to 19:12-13. The NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible says the name recalls the new name promised to Israel (Isaiah 62:2; 65:15) and that the many crowns echo Isaiah 62:3. The grade is possible: Beale himself writes if there is a background.
Heiser says the rider is marked with the name of Yahweh, as the beast's followers are marked with the beast's name. On the name by which he is called, he says most scholars opt for I am that I am, the divine name.
Beale and the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible hear Isaiah 62. Keener reads the unknown name against ancient magic, where knowing a name gave power over its bearer. The ESV Study Bible reads it as the part of the Son's being that can never be fully known. The CSB Study Bible says it shows God has not revealed everything (Deuteronomy 29:29).
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- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 19:12
- NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, note on Revelation 19:12
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Revelation 19:12
- ESV Study Bible, note on Revelation 19:12-16
- CSB Study Bible, note on Revelation 19:11-13
- Septuagint, Isaiah 62:2-3 and 65:15, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 19:12
- Michael S. Heiser, Revelation 19: The Rider on the White Horse, video lecture (Naked Bible Revelation series)
