The majority of English renderings of Rev 3:11 include the word ‘quickly’ as a rendition of ταχύ. But does ταχύ necessarily mean ‘quickly’? It all depends, doesn’t it, on the context. It occurs 12 times in the New Testament, 3 in Matthew, 1 time in Mark, 1 time in Luke, and 1 time in John.
The other 6 times it’s found in Revelation and those passages would seem to indicate that John understands the word to mean something akin to ‘rapidly’ or ‘with haste’ or even ‘hurriedly’; not in the sense of ‘soon’ (relating to the time of the arrival) but ‘swiftly’ (relating to the manner of arrival ‘in a rush!’).
Here’s how to test the theory- in the places in Revelation where ταχύ appears translate it ‘before you know it’ or ‘before you can react’ or ‘in a rush’ (in terms of manner). That sense is eminently more sensible than ‘quickly’ (in terms of time). See for yourself- translate 2:16, 3:11, 11:14, 22:7, 22:12, and 22:20 and utilize a translation that takes seriously manner rather than chronology.
Hence, in Revelation 3:11 John isn’t at all suggesting that Jesus will appear ‘soon’ – he is suggesting instead that Jesus will appear ‘before you can blink’.
And that accords very well with Paul’s statements in 1 Cor 15.51-52 and 1 Thess 5.1-2. Nice one, Jim.
PS: the release date for the Joshua commentary is tentatively set for September. I’ll keep you posted.
Just lovely, the good bishop would be proud of you.
(cf N.T. Wright NTPG 462-64.)
PS. the brown is very soothing, perhaps leave it like this for a few days?
i quit reading that book after page 100 or so. i just couldnt take it. its nice to know, though, that he’s in agreement with me. on this.