Travesty or taboo?
The woman on the beast (Rev 17:2-6) is often assumed to drink blood, breaking a taboo of the ancient world. This paper argues that the imagery rather suggests a travesty of the eucharist. Linguistic, literary and conceptual patterns in Rev all raise the possibility that her depiction holding a cup o...
| Published in: | Neotestamentica |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
NTWSA
2004
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| In: |
Neotestamentica
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The woman on the beast (Rev 17:2-6) is often assumed to drink blood, breaking a taboo of the ancient world. This paper argues that the imagery rather suggests a travesty of the eucharist. Linguistic, literary and conceptual patterns in Rev all raise the possibility that her depiction holding a cup of blood is a travesty of eucharistic actions. The major objection to this is whether it might be acceptable to consider one eucharistic action, the cup, as "drinking blood". The study suggests that such imagery might be acceptable within Jesus' programme of cultic reform. Objections to the use of the phrase "drinking blood" in John 6 are limited in scope and, anyway, suggest that the phrase, though difficult, had become acceptable to the Johannine community. The woman's idolatry can be presented as a eucharistic travesty which would not be offensive to contemporary understandings of the rite. |
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| ISSN: | 2518-4628 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Neotestamentica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.10520/EJC83168 |