I would like to know Dr. Ehrman’s thoughts about some of the apparently prescient content of Revelation 9. Apart from the fact that a king is mentioned by the name “Apollyon” (destroyer) in Greek (“Abaddon” in Hebrew) – eerily similar to the strange name of Napoleon (‘Napoleone’ in Corsican/Italian, of unknown etymological origins) – there are descriptions of a conflict which seems centuries ahead of its time.
There is a description of a mass army of mounted troops (horsemen), with colour of blue, red and yellow (just like Napoleonic mounted troops). Such armies of only mounted troops (and no infantry) did not exist during the Roman period. But what is more incredible – given this text dates to the 1st century (and is in the existing copies of the 4th cent. Sinaiticus and Vaticanus Codices) – is the description of gunpowder weapons, and specifically gunpowder weapons in the hands of mounted soldiers:
“Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that proceeded from their mouths. For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.” (Revelation 9:17-19)
No such troops existed in the Classical period, whether in either the Roman army or that of their adversaries, the Parthians. In fact, gunpowder weapons did not exist until the Middle Ages in the Levant, and gunpowder-armed horsemen (e.g. Dragoons, Cuirassiers, etc.) did not exist anywhere in Europe or the Middle East until the Renaissance period at the earliest. Sulphur, smoke and fire is what is produced all over on musket and cannon type battlefields, which dominated Europe from the 15th-19th centuries. As someone with experience with reenactments and black powder weapons, sulphur reeks everywhere in these battles. And during the Napoleonic Wars, the largest global conflict until WWI – there were many battles where gunpowder-armed horsemen were the predominant type of troops, in the tens of thousands. The Battle of Borodino between Napoleonic France and Orthodox Christian Imperial Russia involved over 300,000 men. Napoleon himself was widely considered the ‘antichrist’ across Europe at the time, but especially in Orthodox Russia and Catholic Spain and Portugal during those campaigns.
How could a 1st century writer, and 4th century existing texts, have predicted events or military units that would not exist for at least another 1,000 – 1,500 years??? And is it really just a ‘coincidence’ that it also correlates with the the first worldwide conflict – the Napoleonic Wars – that determined the global order of the modern industrial world and banking system, and which even included an antichrist figure (Napoleon)?
” It’s about the Roman empire that was around at the time the book was being written.”
Nope. No Roman army was composed of mostly mounted troops, let alone any that were all mounted troops and spewed fire, smoke and brimstone (sulphur) with riders who wore red, blue and yellow uniforms.
In fact, Dr Ehrman directed me to Craig Keener’s views on this passage, which I’ve read (e.g. Keener’s “Revelation: The NIV Application Commentary”, pp.270-278). Keener mainly just discusses things I’m already aware of, but fail as explanations. He mentions it as an allusion to the Parthians (who were composed of largely mounted horse archers), but combined with supposedly other mythological imagery like chimaeras and others. However, Keener does not go into detail anywhere about the specific mention of sulphur, which isn’t a feature of either the mythological creatures or Parthian troops. He does admit that neither the Parthian armies nor the mythological creatures alone closely match the mounted troops described at Revelation 9:12-21; he states that it seems to also be a vision about a future human army of some sort (p.272).
There are no mythical creatures of that time involving mounted troops who are riding armoured cavalry that spew fire, smoke and sulphur. And the Parthian cavalry did not wear red, blue and yellow uniforms, breastplates nor did they spew or hurl fire, smoke and sulphur when shooting arrows (such black powder weapons would not be developed until the Middle Ages in China at the earliest, before spreading to Europe and the Middle East). Parthian cavalry were merely horse archers, and did not have anything that fired a combination of fire, smoke and sulphur.
The closest armies and units to this description – anywhere in military history – are those of the Napoleonic era especially, but also Europe and the Ottoman Empire in the 17th-19th centuries. Dragoons and cuirassiers firing muskets, pistols and rifled muskets, dressed in red, blue and yellow with breastplates (especially in Napoleon’s armies), match this description to a tee. Tens of thousands of these were in each Napoleonic-era battle and the horses armoured and decorated to the extent they would appear as if having the “head of a lion”.
There were no military units or armies in existence in the Classical period resembling the description of these troops. And the only time there ever would be was in the 18th-19th centuries. Finally, there is the etymological similarity between “Apollyon” and “Napoleon”, which Keener fails to also address (“Napoleone”, in Italian, is still of unknown etymological origins, according to scholars).
Did he expect it only in is own lifetime? Or did he mean a sequence of events at different times? There certainly were apocalyptic-like events and fears in his own lifetime (the Siege of Jerusalem, Parthian invasions, plagues, etc.).
But all I am pointing out here is that this is a very interesting coincidence. That is all. I cannot say what this “John” really meant in his vision. All I know is that it is a massive coincidence that, whatever his influences from eschatology and contemporary threats (the Parthians) of the time, throughout all of history the only military units, armies and events which together are almost exactly as he described appeared only in the Napoleonic era. Take it as just coincidence, but it is still interesting.
Bart has not commented much on this, which is fine, and he avoided the coincidental correlation between “Apollyon” and “Napoleone” as well. Napoleon was vehemently believed by the Catholic Church in Rome, Catholics across southern Europe and the Orthodox Church in Russia at that time to literally be an antichrist figure. Those wars led to deaths of something like 10%-20% of the European population, another thing in common with this passage.
Who knows? Maybe just a glitch in this simulation we call “reality”.
Maybe it is “just” a coincidence. Maybe not. As for coincidental patterns, that is a fallacy that they can be equally created or seen everywhere. There are different levels of coincidence and patterns. Revelation, for example, did not have to describe the details in this passage as it did, nor did there have to be any real world approximation to it. Most other passages or contents in Revelation do not have anything in the real world that matches their description. Striking coincidences of all sorts stand out for that reason – that they show a highly unusual level of a correlation or pattern. Their existence is part of what drives people to investigate a potentially deeper underlying causation or explanation, whatever it may be.
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