Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

3. Any number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century B.C. to the second century A.D. containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous.

4. Great or total devastation; doom: the apocalypse of nuclear war ; a prophetic disclosure; a revelation

5. Apocalyptic literature deals largely with eschatology (study of the last things) which tends to be emphasized during times of intense crisis, persecution, or upheaval.

B. Types of apocalyptic literature

1. True apocalyptic in the OT: Daniel, cf. Daniel 2; 7

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2. Great age of Jewish apocalyptic: 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD (various books) 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra (known in the English Apocrypha as 2 Esdras), 3 Baruch, The Apocalypse of Abraham, 2 Enoch, The Apocalypse of Zephaniah

3. Traits of Jewish apocalypses

a. Revelations of heavenly mysteries

b. Usually deal with a list of spiritual themes

(1) The nature of the cosmos