Ruben Zimmermann, «Nuptial Imagery in the Revelation of John», Vol. 84 (2003) 153-183
In this article is argued that the nuptial imagery of the Book of Revelation is not limited to chapters 19 and 21 but rather runs throughout the book. While the imagery is certainly most pronounced in the final part of the book, it also appears in the letters to the churches (bridal wreath in Rev 2,10; 3,11), in the scene depicting the 144,000 as virgins (Rev 14,4-5), and is encountered again in Rev 18,23 (silencing of the voice of bridegroom and bride) and Rev 22,17 (summons of the bride) at the end of the book. Thus the wedding metaphors can be seen as one of the structural patterns of Revelation as a whole directly in contrast to the metaphors of fornication.
two situations within the Judaic marriage ritual63. On the one hand, the bride could here summon the bridegroom to come to the house of her parents in order to accompany her to his house and thereby to bring the actual wedding to its commencement. There could be a longer period of up to one year between the betrothal (Qidduschin) and the actual wedding. According to the rabbinical tradition, this waiting period was brought to an end by the request of the bridegroom to the bride that she should keep herself in readiness for the wedding64. On the other hand, the background could be a summons of the bride to the bridegroom to come to her in her bridal chamber in order to consummate the marriage sexually. According to Tob 7,18 and 8,1 as well as several rabbinical sources 65, the bride was first in the bridal chamber in order to receive the bridegroom there.
Looking at a figurative use of the scene, the intention of both aspects differ very little. Each time, the request goes from the bride to the bridegroom to come into closer association with her and thereby at the same time to bring the preceding state to an end. It could be that he takes her to his house in a bridal procession and thereby puts an end to her living with her parents or it could be that he becomes one with her through sexual intercourse in the bridal chamber and thereby ends her virginity. In either case, however, it is surprising that it is not the bridegroom who summons the bride but rather the bride who summons the bridegroom. Such an initiative on the part of the bride is unusual and suggests a metaphoric profundity that will be examined below.
2. Traditions and metaphoric interaction
The designation of the one who is required is clear because of the contextual assignment of the imperative e!rxou. Jesus announces his arrival several times (vv. 7.12.20). The answer to this promise is the confirming summons that goes out in v. 17 from the Spirit, the bride and a hearer. At that point it does not have a direct addressee but then receives one in v. 20 through the vocative: The Lord Jesus shall come (e!rxou ku/rie 'Ihsou=)! Thus Jesus is the bridegroom whose union the bride requests in v. 17.