Tarot History Forum

[...]

The Millennium

1. The beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. (19:11-21)
2. Satan is imprisoned in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. (20:1-3) <----------
3. The resurrected martyrs "and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image" live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. (20:4-6)

After the Thousand Years

1. Satan is released and makes war against the people of God, but is defeated. (20:7-9)
2. Satan is cast into the lake of fire. (20:10)
3. The Last Judgment: the wicked, along with death and Hades, are cast into the lake of fire. (20:11-15)

The New Heaven and Earth

1. A new heaven and new earth replace the old. There is no more suffering or death. (21:1-8) <----------

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mmfilesi wrote:Hi friends,

Some time ago, Stevem recalled us the City of God of St. Augustine has 22 chapters.

... ... Yesterday I remember this structure is the result of The Book of the Revelation to John

Well, its the structure of 22 inspirated in the The Book of the Revelation to John?

what do you think, friends?

SteveM wrote: (A Greek version of revelations (which I don't recall the details of off-hand) was divided into 24 chapters, possibly in reference to the Greek alphabet).

I think somebody (Shephard?) made the most systematic attempt at correspondences between the Apocalypse and the trumps. I don't have his book so I can't say much about it.

I think you're right, some of the Book of Revelations' imagery is "too brazen to ignore". But I think it is explicable more in a general sense than as a systematic attempt to correlate chapters.

My own opinion is that the imagery of the Book of Revelation was so much a part of the late-medieval consciousness that that in itself explains why there may be textual-iconographic correspondences. The last seven (or eight if you include Death) trumps show "Apocalyptic" subjects - Hell, the Heavens, Judgement. The trump XXI as it is portrayed in the Visconti-Sforza pack brings to mind the Celestial city; but the 22 trumps don't need to systematically illustrate the Apocalypse for such an image to be the last one - it is a fitting last image that everyone would understand. If it was the highest card - which we don't know.

Symbols like the Devil, the, Star(s), Moon and the Sun are too generic to derive from a particular source. So too Death and the Devil. Devil doesn't correspond to chapter 15 of Revelation, but 16 sounds good for the Tower. (Vials being poured on the earth!)

I think calling John a "Magician" in chapter one is unjustified. A prophet is a very different thing from a magician in medieval sources - one tells the truth, the other lies and deceives. John calls himself a servant who gives a prophecy - not a magician who performs wonders or tricks.

Lastly, most importantly, we know how the Apocalypse was illustrated at the same time as the tarot, and they don't look anything alike - even when there are twenty-two illustrations! (The Flemish Apocalypse is the best example, but there are also popular books like Shepherd's Almanacs and other illustrated Apocalypses that don't necessarily have 22 subjects).

So by studying the Apocalypse, you are entering part of the late-medieval world-view; by studying the early tarots, you are entering the late-medieval (some would say "renaissance", but it's a value-judgement) world-view; the Apocalypse informs the tarot, not as a direct source, but as a background source - at least the last part of the trump series is constructed according to a world-view deeply informed by the Apocalypse, with the expectation of a last Judgement and resurrection, and (maybe, depending on how you interpret it) the descent of the New Paradise, the Celestial City.

In answer to whether the trumps, theoretically, *could* have been a systematic attempt to portray to 22 chapters of the Book of Revelation, the answer is yes - this division of the book was widespread in Latin bibles by this time.

In answer to whether Christians knew the Hebrew alphabet had twenty-two letters, the answer is yes, it was basic education (for those who were educated) and the Hebrew alphabet (the names of the letters, not the form) was present in the Latin bible.

Whether Christians studied and knew Hebrew, the answer is - very seldomly (Ramon Llull for instance knew some Hebrew, and so did Pierre Amiel (Ameilh) in the 14th century - one could find others). If I remember correctly, there is a good article in the Jewish Encyclopedia about Christian knowledge of Hebrew in the middle ages and early 15th century.

Thanks to NightWing, Stephen Langton (Langdon) was brought up. He proves to have been a bad choice for ignorance of Hebrew! He compiled a dictionary of Hebrew words from the Old Testament, with definitions. His dictionary is present in many manuscripts of the Latin bible, as an appendix, quite often immediately following the Apocalypse.

So when we consider that Andrea of Caesarea divided the Apocalypse into 24 chapters in Greek, I am inclined to think the Greek alphabet might have been on his mind (after all, he would have numbered his divisions with Greek letters in the original in the sixth century); and when we consider that Langton had an interest in Hebrew words and divided his Apocalypse into 22 chapters, it is not far-fetched to think he might have been thinking hebraically.

But who knows? ;-)

Ross

En el siglo XIII empezó la práctica de la división por capítulos.

Coloco una cita para ampliarte información:

La Biblia fue dividida en capítulos en el siglo XIII (entre los años 1234 y 1242), por el teólogo Stephen Langhton, entonces Obispo de Canterbury, en Inglaterra, y profesor de la Universidad de París.

La división del Antiguo Testamento en versículos fue establecida por estudiosos judíos de las Escrituras, llamados masoretas. Con hábitos monásticos y ascéticos, los masoretas dedicaban sus vidas a la recitación y la copia de las Escrituras, así como a la formulación de la gramática hebraica y las técnicas didácticas de la enseñanza del texto bíblico. Fueron ellos los primeros que –entre los siglos IX y X– dividieron el texto hebraico (del Antiguo Testamento) en versículos. Influenciado por el trabajo de los masoretas en el Antiguo Testamento, un impresor francés llamado Robert d’Etiénne dividió el Nuevo Testamento en versículos en el año 1551. D ‘Etiénne vivía entonces en Génova, Italia.

Hasta buena parte del siglo XVI, las Biblias eran publicadas solamente con divisiones en capítulos. Sucedió así, por ejemplo, con la Biblia que Lutero tradujo al alemán, alrededor del 1530. La primera Biblia que incluyó totalmente la división de capítulos y versículos fue la llamada Biblia de Ginebra, publicada en 1560, en Suiza. Los editores de la Biblia de Ginebra optaron por los capítulos y versículos reparando en la gran utilidad que tenían para la memorización, localización y comparación de pasajes bíblicos.
(De la página IglesiaJesús. com)

I surmise that that is a Jewish person who has converted to Christianity and can now be resurrected