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.

allegory for Rome and the Roman Empire leads to the cult of the emperor, which was classified as the worship of false gods. That which at first was displayed as exemplary in the false prophet Isebel is, nevertheless, just as valid for the "the rest of humans" that do not convert from fornication (9,21)⁷².

        However, the wedding of the Lamb is also being developed. The relationship of Christ to the churches has already been characterized in the epistles as a love relationship (2,4). The wreath of life (2,10; 3,11) can be understood as an allusion to the bridal wreath, while the knocking on the door (3,20) takes up a motif out of the meeting of the lovers in Cant 5,2-6⁷³ in order to express the longing for an early union, which then is taken up explicitly in the summons of the bride in Rev 22,17. As in the way, the polarizing contrast of the metaphors of harlot and love/bride occurs within the epistle, thus the central middle section of the visions (Rev 12,1–14,20)⁷⁴ is encompassed by gender metaphors that each look at collective quantities. The images of the celestial king and the woman giving birth in Rev 12 already express the tension between sovereignty and threat to the churches or the people of God and bring to light even more strongly the mother aspect as the man-woman relation. However, Rev 14,1-5 demonstrates, with its framing scenario and the description of the 144,000, a clear reference to Rev 19,1-10 and thus also to the sphere of bride. Instead of defilement and intoxication with fornication, the 144,000 who are saved can demonstrate "virginity" and "immaculateness" (Rev 14,4) — attributes that are demanded from a bride as prerequisites for a wedding.

        To what extent the image of the celestial city ultimately reaches into the life of the church becomes visible on the one hand in Rev 3,12 where the Christians who are proving themselves in Philadelphia, are designated with the name of the new Jerusalem descending from heaven. On the other hand in Rev 22,17, the image of the bride that up