Angels and quotes
Daniel Hedrick <email@example.com> writes:
>I am currently in a dialog with a friend of mine, and I
>do not have the resources to answer the following:
> Psalms 2:9
> Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou
> shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
> Revelation 2:27
> And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the
> vessels of a potter shall they be broken to
>The LXX corrupted the text from "break" to "rule" and when
>the angel quoted it to John he did so ver batim from the
>LXX. The DSS demonstrate without question that "rule" is an
>error. As I said before, if an angel from heaven can quote
>existing erroneous readings, why can't Joseph Smith?
Isn't that imposing a criterion on Revelation that is not in keeping with
the nature of the book? One would be hard put to find any real *quote* from
the Old Testament in the Apocalyps. There are themes that echo OT themes and
once in a while one catches a phrase that seems to echo an OT phrase. But
when you look closely, as here you see that it is not really a quote. The
passage cited is a good example. To begin, Revelation uses the second person
rather than the third person of the quote from Psalms. "As vessels *of clay*
(litereally)" comes before "they shall be broken" in Revelation, whereas the
order is reversed in the quote in Psalms.
The context that immediately precedes Rev. 2:27 may give a clue as to why
"rule" was used rather than "break" in Revelation. It says, "I will give him
authority over the nations...." That he will *rule* them comes logically as
an application of the theme of power over the nations expressed also in the
OT quote from Psalms.