ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Revelation 1.17-18

Book: Revelation · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Verse

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ASV:

"17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, 18. and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." (Revelation 1:17-18, ASV)

WEB:

"17. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, 18. and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades." (Revelation 1:17-18, WEB)

KJV:

"17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Revelation 1:17-18, KJV)

YLT:

"17. And when I saw him, I did fall at his feet as dead, and he placed his right hand upon me, saying to me, 'Be not afraid; I am the First and the Last, 18. and he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the hades and of the death." (Revelation 1:17-18, YLT)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV:

"15. and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. 16. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, 18. and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19. Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter; 20. the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches." (Revelation 1:15-20, ASV)

WEB:

"15. His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters. 16. He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. 17. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, 18. and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades. 19. Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter; 20. the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lamp stands are seven assemblies." (Revelation 1:15-20, WEB)

KJV:

"15. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." (Revelation 1:15-20, KJV)

YLT:

"15. and his feet like to fine brass, as in a furnace having been fired, and his voice as a sound of many waters, 16. and having in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword is proceeding, and his countenance [is] as the sun shining in its might. 17. And when I saw him, I did fall at his feet as dead, and he placed his right hand upon me, saying to me, 'Be not afraid; I am the First and the Last, 18. and he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the hades and of the death. 19. 'Write the things that thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to come after these things; 20. the secret of the seven stars that thou hast seen upon my right hand, and the seven golden lamp-stands: the seven stars are messengers of the seven assemblies, and the seven lamp-stands that thou hast seen are seven assemblies." (Revelation 1:15-20, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: the risen-and-glorified Christ in the apocalyptic vision, addressing John the Apostle / John of Patmos
  • Audience: immediately, John in the vision; ultimately, the seven churches of Asia Minor (1:4, 11) and the universal church
  • Location: John exiled on the island of Patmos (1:9) in the Aegean Sea; the vision is given on "the Lord's day" (1:10)
  • Time period: events of the vision c. AD 95 (Domitianic dating, most common) or c. AD 65-68 (Neronic dating, minority); composed contemporaneously
  • Narrative context: the opening Christophany of Revelation. John has just experienced a Trinitarian-greeting (1:4-5), heard a loud voice (1:10), turned to see seven golden candlesticks (1:12), and encountered one like unto the Son of Man (1:13) in glorified appearance, white hair (eternal wisdom), eyes as flame of fire (penetrating sight), feet like burnished brass (refined judgment), voice as many waters (divine speech), face as the sun in strength (transfiguration glory). John collapses at His feet as dead (v. 17a), the appropriate human response to direct apocalyptic encounter with deity. Christ's response in vv. 17-18 reassures John with the self-disclosure of His divine-eternal identity (First and Last; Living One), His resurrection-conquest of death (was dead, am alive forevermore), and His authority over the realm of the dead (keys of death and Hades). The Christological self-disclosure prepares John for the entire apocalyptic revelation that follows.

Theological reading

Revelation 1:17-18 is one of the most concentrated Christological self-disclosures in the entire NT. The risen Christ identifies Himself with five claims compressed into two verses: (a) "Fear not", the divine reassurance; (b) "I am the first and the last", YHWH's covenant self-designation appropriated; (c) "the Living one", divine self-existence; (d) "I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore", the resurrection-conquest; (e) "I have the keys of death and of Hades", authority over the realm of the dead. Each claim is independently massive; together they constitute the most direct Christological-deity self-claim in apocalyptic-vision-form.

"I am the first and the last", YHWH self-designation

The Greek egō eimi ho prōtos kai ho eschatos directly echoes the LXX rendering of Isaiah's three Yahwistic self-designations:

  • Isaiah 41:4, "I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he"
  • Isaiah 44:6, "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God"
  • Isaiah 48:12, "I am he; I am the first, I also am the last"

The Isaianic "first and last" is YHWH's covenant-name self-designation distinguishing Him from all idol-gods who are neither pre-eternal nor post-eternal. The title is exclusively YHWH's in the OT. When Christ appropriates it in Revelation 1:17, He is identifying Himself with YHWH using YHWH's own covenant-name vocabulary.

The same self-designation appears at three points in Revelation:

  • Rev 1:17, to John (this verse)
  • Rev 2:8, to the church at Smyrna
  • Rev 22:13, at the closing of the vision: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last"

The three instances frame Revelation, making the Christ-as-YHWH identification one of the book's central Christological assertions.

"The Living one"

The title ho zōn (the Living One) is another YHWH-designation from the OT (cf. Deut 5:26, "the voice of the living God"; Jer 10:10, "the living God"; Dan 6:26, "the living God"; Hos 1:10, "the sons of the living God"). The self-existent eternal life that is YHWH's defining attribute is here claimed by Christ. The Living One is not merely "currently alive" but "the source of life" (cf. John 5:26, "as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself").

"I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore"

The Christological-resurrection compression here is striking. The same one who claims YHWH-titles (first and last; living one) ALSO claims the historical resurrection: "I was dead" (egenomēn nekros, I became dead, I was made dead) and behold, I am alive for evermore (idou zōn eimi eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn, behold I am living unto the ages of the ages).

The compression is theologically loaded: the eternally-existent YHWH-figure ALSO experienced death and resurrection. This combination is unique to Christian Christology. No other religious or philosophical framework places the eternally-self-existent God within the experience of death-and-resurrection. The Christian claim is that the One who is the source of life genuinely entered death AND conquered death.

"I have the keys of death and of Hades"

The keys are symbols of authority, the keeper-of-keys controls who enters and exits the realm. Christ's possession of the keys of death and of Hades (the realm of the dead) is the explicit claim of authority over the post-mortem state. This claim has eschatological consequences: the One who holds the keys of death decides who is held and who is released.

The OT background: Isaiah 22:22, "the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open." The Davidic-royal authority of the keeper-of-keys is here cosmically extended: Christ holds not merely the keys of David's house but the keys of death itself.

John's response, fell at his feet as dead

John's collapse at Christ's feet is the canonical-appropriate response to direct apocalyptic encounter with deity. Compare:

  • Ezekiel 1:28, "when I saw it, I fell upon my face" (Ezekiel's chariot vision)
  • Daniel 8:17, "I was afraid, and fell upon my face" (Daniel's vision of Gabriel)
  • Daniel 10:8-9, "there remained no strength in me... yet heard I the voice of his words... then was I in a deep sleep on my face"
  • Acts 9:4, Saul on the Damascus road
  • Acts 26:14, Saul's account of the same

The pattern: human encounter with overwhelming divine glory produces collapse. The figure in Revelation 1 produces in John exactly this divine-encounter response, implicit confirmation that the One encountered IS divine.

Patristic and Reformed reading

Irenaeus (Against Heresies 4.20.11, c. AD 180): the Christological self-disclosure of Revelation 1 is the clearest apocalyptic confirmation that the Word who was with the Father from eternity is the same One who took on flesh and died and rose. The unity of pre-incarnate Word + incarnate Christ + post-resurrection-exalted Christ is one Person.

Tertullian (Against Praxeas): the YHWH-self-designations claimed by Christ in Revelation 1 are foundational for the orthodox Christological-deity affirmation against Modalism (the Father and Son must be distinguishable since the One claiming YHWH-titles is the same One who died and rose, while the Father did not die) and against Arianism (a created being cannot claim YHWH's exclusive covenant-titles).

John Calvin (Commentary on Revelation, actually Calvin did not write a Revelation commentary, but his teaching on the verses in Institutes 2.14-15 reflects the Reformed reading): the verses establish the eternal divinity of Christ + the historical resurrection + the Christological authority over the post-mortem realm.

Apologetic deployment

The verses are foundational for:

  1. The deity-of-Christ argument from divine-titles-appropriation. Christ uses YHWH's exclusive covenant-titles (first and last; living one) as His own self-designation. If Christ is not God, this is the most extreme blasphemy in the NT; if Christ IS God, the titles are exactly true. The titles cannot be received as "merely metaphorical", they are too precise to YHWH's OT self-designation pattern.

  2. The resurrection-of-Christ argument from prophetic self-fulfillment. Christ's claim "I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore" is the post-resurrection self-confirmation of the cross-and-resurrection event. The apocalyptic self-disclosure confirms what the historical-evidential case (Habermas, Licona, Wright) argues for from independent grounds.

  3. The eschatological-authority argument for Christian hope. Christ holds the keys of death and Hades, meaning the post-mortem state is under His authority. The Christian hope of resurrection-of-the-body is grounded in the One who has authority over death.

Oneness Pentecostal reading

The Oneness reader takes Revelation 1:17-18 as one of the strongest single-person identifications of Jesus with YHWH in the NT. The same titles (first and last; living one) used of YHWH in Isaiah are here used by Christ of Himself; therefore Christ IS YHWH in incarnation. The Oneness framework reads this as the explicit self-identification of the one God in His Son-manifestation. See Trinity vs Oneness vs Modalism vs Arianism.

The Trinitarian reader takes the same verses as the eternal Son's appropriation of titles that are equally true of the Father (because the divine nature shared among the three Persons grounds the title-claim). Both readings affirm Christ's full divinity; they differ in metaphysical analysis.

Canonical-theological connections

  • Revelation 2:8, to Smyrna: "the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive"
  • Revelation 22:13, closing self-designation: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last"
  • Isaiah 41:4 / 44:6 / 48:12, YHWH's "first and last" covenant-name self-designation
  • John 5:26, "as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself"
  • John 11:25, "I am the resurrection, and the life" (rich hub: John 11.25)
  • John 10:17-18, voluntary laying-down and taking-up of life (rich hub: John 10.17-18)
  • Romans 6:9, "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more"
  • Hebrews 7:25, Christ's continuing intercession because "he ever liveth"
  • Isaiah 22:22, Davidic key-of-house: "he shall open, and none shall shut"

Key words

See also

Quoted in