Apocalypse Interpreted

Comments at the end of each chapter address the topics and cite its Baha’i sources verse by verse. Naturally, earlier chapters draw more Comments than later chapters. After this section, the Discussion generally explains the interpretations and the Translation Section addresses important Greek and Hebrew meanings and codes, justifying specific translations that differ from those traditionally appearing in most Bibles.

The parallel original and interpretation texts cannot match perfectly, given that the right-column interpretive text

• is some 17% longer than the left-column translation text

• follows English word order and usage more freely than the left-column translation from Greek

• runs in real-time present-tense

• interprets certain choice terms doubly, including: death and the unseen; the grass, any plant, or any tree; four Angels; fire, smoke, and sulfur; rulers from the rising-place of the sun; and—especially—Armageddon

• uses long titles and names, like Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad to interpret the seven Spirits of God

• employs stylish exaggerative jargon for effect like from spiritual Cycle to spiritual Cycle interpreting into the eras of the eras; God’s light lights the night interpreting day and night; and a day’s pay barely buys bread interpreting a quart of wheat for a day’s pay

• imports John’s own internal interpretations, like importing peoples, populations, nations, and language-groups as the interpretation of waters from v. 17.15 into v. 17.1

• imports telling Baha’i interpretations, like kindles light and calamities and hardships

• omits interpretations of terms that interpretation has already rendered superfluous, like it was given to it to and like

• interprets some singular nouns as plural and some indefinite articles as definite articles for effect, like an Angel as the Messenger.[i]

John’s Integrity Formula: Beyond Malignant Materialism diligently honors John’s “integrity formula” in Rev. 22.18–19, while at the same time presuming that the formula permits translating the original Book of Revelation from Greek into English and using modern punctuation, capitals, and verse and chapter numberings.