Η αποκάλυψη

Bible #66

by John the Apostle, Οδυσσέας Ελύτης (Translator)

Αυτή είναι η Αποκάλυψη του Ιησού Χριστού· που του την έδωκε ο Θεός για να δείξει στους ανθρώπους τα όσα είναι ανάγκη να γίνουν το ταχύτερο· και τη φανέρωσε μ' ένα δικό του άγγελο στο δούλο του τον Ιωάννη ώστε να μαρτυρήσει το λόγο του Θεού καταπώς ο Ιησούς Χριστός τον εδίδαξε και να πει τα οράματα όλα που είδε. Μακάριος αυτός που θα τα διαβάσει και μακάριοι αυτοί που θ' ακούσουν τέτοια λόγια προφητικά και θα συμμορφωθούνε με όσα η γραφή τους ορίζει. Τι όπου να 'ναι η ώρα εσήμανε. (. . .)
(ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΠΑΡΟΥΣΙΑΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΚΔΟΣΗΣ)

Genres: Religion, Christian, Nonfiction, Classics, Spirituality, Christianity, Faith

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 95

About the author

John the Apostle or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee and Salome. His brother James was another of the Twelve Apostles. The Church Fathers identify him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Elder, and the Beloved Disciple, and testify that he outlived the remaining apostles and was the only one to die of natural causes, although modern scholars are divided on the veracity of these claims. John the Apostle is traditionally held to be the author of the Gospel of John, and many Christian denominations believe that he authored several other books of the New Testament (the three Johannine epistles and the Book of Revelation, together with the Gospel of John, are called the Johannine works), depending on whether he is distinguished from, or identified with, John the Evangelist, John the Elder, and John of Patmos.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book used to scare me. Now, it’s such a comfort. It’s saddening… yet it contains so much glory! We don’t think nearly enough about Heaven or God judging, I think.

It’s such a comfort to realize that our God will right the wrongs and make everything perfect eventually—something we long to do but have no power to down here. And when you consider Heaven, you realize afresh ‘that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,’ and whatever happens here, eternity is so much greater… You can choose to be happy now, as Abraham indicated to the rich man in the parable, or you can choose to be happy forever—you can choose to suffer with the Lord now (and still be happy!), or choose your own way (and still be miserable!)… and then in eternity will be your reward, either good or bad.

Heaven and Hell are so close, as L.M. Montgomery once said… You can only choose between God’s mercy and God’s judgment, and this determine your fate. You can choose to let God take your punishment, or take it yourself. As the Creator of this world, He determines what is right and just. And He can only ever accept justice. If He didn’t, He wouldn’t be just and we would complain of Him.

“Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the Bible’s grand finale! I always love it when I get to this book in my yearly reading plans.

[Katherine S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep the bible on a constant rotation, reading a chapter or two (or more) every day. I read from a single volume, but thought I might as well add the individual books to my shelf as I finish them.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Notes on Revelation

1) The English version, I mean the UK version, has an introduction by Will Self. The US version has an introduction by Kathleen Norris. Will Self probably wrote an interesting introduction, Kathleen Norris on the other hand wrote some liberal apologist dribble, telling 'the poets' to take back this loving book from the hands of fundamentalists. Sadly Kathleen Norris is going to be burning in hell for her view of Revelations,

"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (22:9).

In other words you can't just take the good and leave the bad, for that your own book of life is going to be messed with by the big G, and you'll burn in a lake of fire. It's ok though, you'll be joined by Jenkins and Lahaye, co-authors of the Left Behind series, who have also done a number of cherry picking from this book.

This is one of the little pleasures of life, finding literal bible passages that send people who make their living off of religion to burn for eternity. It makes that really slim chance that there is an afterlife, and that I will be spending it burning in hell for my views seem worth it; to see those self-righteous fucks be tortured for eternity.

2) By this book, all of those evangelical nit-wits who feel the need to burden others with their 'joy' and try to get you to share in the 'joy' with them by taking JC into your heart should just stop what they are doing. Good for you, you're saved, your name is in the book of life, mine isn't, now leave me alone nothing can possibly change:

"and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." (17:8).

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it sounds like pretty hard determinism to me, you're name is in the book at the start of the world or it's not, if it's not then you are going to be down with the beast, and thus burn forever. (This does not logically effect point number 1, my name is not in the book of life, so please stop bothering me, but just because your name is in the book of life there are still lots of things that can get your name taken out, the big ones being changing the word of G for your own purposes).

3) "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." (18:2)

Birds are evil, it says so right there, but not all of them, some of them:

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 'Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.'... And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse*, which sword proceeded out of his mouth**; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (19:17-21)

4) Heaven. This seems to involve (pre-end of the world at least), a lot of sitting around God while four beasts continuously sing praise to him. Each time the beasts get to the end of their praise everyone kneels down and praises God, and then the beasts start again. FOREVER!! This is some Beckett / Sisyphus absurdist nightmare.

The silliness of the praising continues throughout the book, God is praised after awful things he sends down on to the world, and his omnipotence is praised, I get maybe being marveled the first time he does some of his crazy Dungeon Master shit, but after awhile it's got to get old. For example, you're hanging out with some guy who can shoot a basketball from full court and make the shot every time. The first time you see it, you'll probably think that is pretty amazing, and maybe the next ten times you'll think it's still pretty awesome, but then he tells you that it's physically impossible for him to miss and he keeps showing you how he can make the shot. After awhile you just aren't impressed anymore.

It would be like being impressed because I can beat up a five year old.

Of course I can, I'm God like in my size and strength compared to a five year old. If anything you'd look at me like I was some kind of deranged lunatic, especially if while I was doing it I was expecting everyone to praise me for how great I was at kicking this kids ass.

Now, assume that for some reason this little shit of a five year old really needed to have his ass kicked by me. I don't know why, but assume it. He needs to be knocked unconscious. He's little, I'm big, I could probably hit him once and knock him out; but instead I torture him. I break his little fingers, I burn him with things, I hang him out in the sun with nothing to drink for a couple of days while making sure he stays conscious by shocking him with electricity every few seconds, and then I bring him back in, give him bad water to drink, burn him some more, until finally after doing this shit to him for awhile I fill the bathtub up with gasoline throw him in it and then light it on fire. After each added cruelty am I deserving of praise, and deserve to be told that I am just? Just asking.

5) I have no idea what to rate this book. It's not a nice book. It's a sadistic fantasy about getting back at ones enemies. It does sum up nicely the persecution fantasies of the religious right in this country though, if you can't paint yourself as a martyr then none of the totally awesome death and destruction of Revelation can be brought down upon your enemies.

I was going to give this three stars, but then I saw that everyone who rated this gave it five, so I'll give it two stars: it really only deserves one, since it's basically a crazed manual for revenge with some gnostic mysticism thrown in (see the woman giving birth to the man child before the start of the world for example); but for giving me a new textual support for Jenkins and Lahaye's eternal damnation the book deserves an extra star.

* Jesus is apparently exempt from being eaten by the birds, even though he is on a horse. I think you need higher math / logic to solve the problem of why it's ok that the birds don't eat Jesus, I think it's actually part of Godel's Inconsistency Theorem.

** I don't know what is up with the sword in Jesus' mouth, but I should admit to chuckling every time it was mentioned in the book. And every time the line from Heathers about having a sword fight in one of the Heathers' mouth ran through my head.

[Wren (fablesandwren) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sidenote: The reason for such vague and short and "eh" words on each of these books, is because I wasn't challenging the study of the Bible when I read these. I was challenging myself to read the whole Bible in a year because I knew it would be discipline to keep at it daily. I do, however, plan to pick up a book and study what it is saying. Those will be longer reads and more notes.

So here is my review from my "Read the Bible in a Year" challenge. Usually just snippets of thoughts and random things I liked about the book itself. Nothing in-depth.

So here is my review of Revelations!

This is my favorite book in the Bible. Such promise and chaos. It's like a fantasy book, but it is actually going to happen. It's kind of terrifying but it leaves you in awe and with your mind rolling. I love it.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rev 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

2:10b
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

3:11
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

4:3
And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

5:5
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof.

6:14
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

7:17
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

8:2
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

9:1
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

10:7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

11:12
And they heard a great voice from Heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld.

12:5
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

13:9
If any man have an ear, let him hear.

14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

15:3
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true Are thy ways, thou King of saints.

16:15
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

17:17
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

18:4
And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

19:16
And he had on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

20:11
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

22:20
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the first time I read Revelation ... a very long time ago ... it bothered me so much. It bothered me for days.

I have read it other times over the years since that first time and those times it didn't really bother me like it did that first time, but still the book confused me more than anything else.

I'm so thankful that my theology has changed over the last 3+ years and as a result I have a much better, fuller understanding of the Gospel and everything looks different to me now. Revelation is VERY different for me now. It's beautiful and highlights God's glory. ❤ It is a favorite!

[Talie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ساختار مکاشفه هیجان انگیز و سرگیجه آور است.
عذاب پس از عذاب فرو می‌آید و وقتی به نقطه‌ی اوج و روز بزرگ نزدیک
می‌شویم حلقه‌ی جدیدی از عذاب‌ها شروع می‌شود.
آتش بسیار است و موجودات عجیب و غریب. ملخ‌های با دم عقرب. اژدهای
هفت سر و ده شاخ و ...
روم فرو می ‌ریزد و اورشلیم آسمانی مستقر می‌شود.
و سر انجام:
"دیگر نفرین نخواهد بود. اورنگ خدا و بره در شهر بر‍‍‍پا خواهد گشت...
دیگر شب نخواهد بود و ایشان را حاجتی به چراغ یا خورشید از برای
روشنایی نخواهد بود، چرا که خداوند خدا نور خویش را بر آنان فرو
خواهد ریخت و ایشان تا ابد سلطنت خواهند کرد."

[serena482* · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great book of the Bible!!

[Ella あいみ M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

God's shown us what's going to happen in The Last Days, yet so many of us aren't aware of how important it is to study about it. We forget to keep our eyes open; I know I make the same mistake. Every time I read Revelation, I hope and pray that I and everyone else will have the strength and courage to remain faithful to Him till the end.

[Sarita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is always a challenging read. This time I listened to a plan on the Bible app which broke it up in sections which I enjoyed.

2020 update: I read it twice on the TPT version. Still a challenging read but the more I read it, more is understandable.

[Grace Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." -Revelation 3:20

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've done it! I've read the whole of the Bible from cover to cover. I didn't manage to read it within a year, as I'd initially intended to do. It's taken me almost exactly 6 years to achieve (with some very large gaps in between). Better late than never, I guess. Now I need to decide on a new challenge.

The Book of Revelation is great. One of my favourite books of the Bible, so worth the wait.

MY BIBLE CHALLENGE:
In January 2015 I set myself the challenge to read the complete Bible within a year. I discovered that was an unrealistic challenge, and decided to pick up my Bible as and when I felt ready to read more of it. Here is a link to all the reviews in my Bible challenge:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Macy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!! My favorite part was the symbolism and the metaphors. I felt so hopeful for the future after each chapter. God wrote such a beautiful story! 💜

[Kristi Lamont]

No way in the world am I going to give any kind of star rating to anything in the Bible, even if I'm an avowed spiritualist and not a Christian. You just don't judge books of faith on the merits of their writing and story construction, as far as I'm concerned.

So why did I read it, and why I am recording that I did so?

I'll answer the latter first: For my benefit/my own record.

As to the first: I remember trying to read what I thought of as "Revelations" when I was a teenager, and again in my early 20s (I'm in my mid 50s now). I could not make heads nor tails of it, and I assumed that it was just because it was written in King James English. Had no interest in reading it in any other version, because, as far as I and my original Southern Baptist Sunday School teachers were concerned, the KJV was THE Bible and anything else was modern and heretical. (Forget the original authors, right?)

Fast-forward to 2020, when the world seems to be if not coming to an end, at the very least to a major shift in being. And when the limited series Waco was streaming on Netflix. I can't really remember what all I was doing February through April of 1993, but I remember seeing enough on TV then about the standoff between the FBI and the Branch Davidians that I wanted to see how it was portrayed in this day and age.

Well.

Wound up not only watching the series, but the accompanying Paramount-produced short documentaries, and then another long documentary, 1997's "Rules of Engagement." After hours and hours of watching some really horrific and crazy stuff, I decided I'd better try the Book of Revelation again, given that David Koresh had sacrificed dozens upon dozens of lives in his attempt to share its "true" message.

So. Now to the book.

It's very interesting to me that the writer is listed here as Anonymous, because it's pretty doggoned clear, no matter what version you read, that somebody named John wrote it. Whether it was John the Apostle or John the Elder (which gets my nickel bet) is a question for the ages. But John it is, plain as day in all those verses.

Anybody can find any meaning in this book that they want, I think. I read one review that talked about how seriously heavy metal the book is. Yep, I can see that. Others talk about how trippy it is. Yep, can see that, too; I told my husband that I imagined John the Whomever had probably had some mushroom tea or the like and used whatever language he had at his command to attempt to describe what he saw/experienced.

In a year in which part of the world has been on fire (Australia), we've experienced a global pandemic (COVID-19), dust from the Sahara Desert is floating over the State of Alabama in the Southern United States, AND we think we're getting confirmed signals from outer space, it's mighty easy to find references to all of these things in the Book of Revelation. But couldn't one do that, too, back when the atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or when Hurricane Camille hit, or an earthquake happened in California, or when the accident happened at Chernobyl? When smallpox, polio, HIV/AIDS, Ebola came on the scene? Who really knows what goes on at Area 52, to this day?

Ah, well. Some view this writing as completely allegorical, a sermon on living one's life as committed to that one true faith in word and deed and heart day after day after day, because one never really knows when the end of time will come. If it does.

I can see that.

I'll probably read a plain language version of this before too long. But I'll do us all a favor and not write about that.

[Lilly]

Absolutely crackers !

[Joan Haughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book of the Bible. Well in the end we shall win! The victory is for us who believe on the name of Jesus, THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD.

Bless the name of Jesus!

[Snorre Kirkebø]

Don't smoke weed

[Klara Van Vlaenderen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Veel gekke monsters en ik hou van monsters maar -1 ster want 💫christendom💫

[Michael Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swete was a Christian professor at Cambridge at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. This voluminous work (I read the 2nd edition, 1907) is scholarly, one of the classic commentaries on the Greek text, which is printed out in full, with the translation apparatus included. There are copious notes - the Introduction is over 200 pages - ancient Church interpretations are not only cited but quoted in Greek, Latin and other languages, and, where appropriate for the student of Scripture, apocryphal and secular works are quoted to give the investigator an idea of the mentality of those living in John's day when he wrote out and distributed his visions. Unfortunately Swete's commentary came out before the treasure trove of Jewish (Old Testament) Scripture was discovered in 1947, dating back to the 3rd c. BC, because so much of Revelation (some claim up to 1/3 of Rev.) alludes to the Old Testament. In short, this is what it professes to be: a commentary. It is not intended to be a spiritual treatise on Revelation, nor perused like a book - there are many books out there that fill up that niche. This also means that eschatology - the study of the last things - is not specifically addressed. It works better, in my humble judgment, as a reference work (although I confess to having rather carefully read it through). The reader will have to exercise her own judgment as she pores through this work.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bedtime reading! Good for foreplay too. An example of incredibly imaginative fiction writing.

[Jillian B. (School Hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

7 is my lucky number for a reason!! 7️⃣

TW: ~Death~
Genre: Nonfiction, Christian
Age: 0+
🌶️: 0/5
🔫: 2/5
🤬: 0/5
⭐️: 5/5

[Cassie Rashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

how can I not give the Word of God 5/5?

[Lacy]

One year ago I began a chronological reading plan of Scripture for the first time… now at an end of a really amazing and rich reading experience. Scripture means a lot of things to a lot of people but for me this approach provided a wonderful window into the connections between texts and authors as well as the breadth of the story of God’s frustration and time bending love for the world.

Many passages I had heard before and many were brand new…the kind of new that makes you look up from the page and say “wow”…..the kind of new that drums up more questions like why and how. I loved the mix of poetry, documentation, lament, fantasy, account, song, romance, war, epic travel, epistle, and biography that makes Scripture so multilayered and vibrant. I read with questions, excitement and doubts, sometimes begrudgingly and sometimes in awe of what I held in my hands. Regardless I am grateful for the opportunity of this journey to the Near East alongside sinners and saints, the broken, the healed, the angry and those at peace. I saw myself in their stories and their accounts of coming face to face with God.

[Joseph Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bro WHAT was in the water at Patmos? John the Revelator more like John the Aura Farmer

[Jett · Rating 3 out of 5]

yeah if i was illiterate and some guy told me this scary shit was gonna happen id convert too

[Tintarella]

اعمال تو را می‌دانم که نه سردی و نه گرم و کاش یکی از این دو بودی. اما چون ولرم هستی، نه گرم و نه سرد، تو را چون تُفی از دهان بیرون خواهم انداخت

[Joan Haughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revelation Chapter 4:

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

BLESS THE NAME OF JESUS!

[Rebecca Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 52 of 2020. Counting a book of the Bible might qualify as cheating to some, but when I study through a book (as opposed to light reading) I feel no shame in recording it. 😂😂.

For those who are new to Bible, Revelation is a highly symbolic work, detailing God’s perspective on history. It’s perhaps not the place I would recommend you diving into the Bible, but it is an interesting and rewarding study nonetheless.

While so can’t rate a holy book, I can say that ultimately Revelation is about a choice. Do we live for the deeply influential and materialistic city of Babylon or for the holy city of Jerusalem? Our choice determines our perspective and ultimately what we worship.

Studying through this book during a pandemic has really revealed to me how often I worship Babylon—my material prosperity my comfort, my safety—instead of worshiping the God and creator of the universe, embracing victory through the cross and through allegiance with God’s perspective. It has made me realize how much of the world is still in me and how much further my journey into sanctification has to go.

#books #bookreview #bookstagram #biblestudy #revelation

[Andy Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read the Bible at 13, I started with the Book of Revelation, because I had heard it was so hard to understand. I immediately understood why for Revelation is laden with apocalyptic symbolism from the beginning to the end.

None the less, there is a logic, a story flow throughout the book that helps guide the reader. The book is MUCH easier to understand with a clear understanding of the book of Daniel. Revelation is like Daniel, the Sequel. It uses the same symbols as Daniel. It also echoes thoughts from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

So, for understanding, I'd recommend reading the whole Bible and then Revelation. List out everything the book says, just as statements. Then look up every Revelation symbol within the Bible. They're all explained elsewhere.

After you think you understand the book a little, read several commentaries about it. Be prepared! There are hundreds of interpretations.