Perhaps no book in the New Testament has generated more debate, and angst than the Book of Revelations.......or "The Apocalypse of John". This book is alledged to have been written by a man named John of Patmos, so called because he was exiled to the island of Patmos, late in the first century, AD. John of Patmos is presumed to be the Apostle John, however there is so far, no evidence to support this.
This is probably the most difficult book in the Bible to understand, as it is entirely apocalyptic, devoted completely to the end of times, and the "Second Coming".
Even the Council of Nicaea, who assembled and confirmed the Cannon in the third century, had great difficulty with this text. Based on the documents describing the Council's deliberations which have been released by the Vatican for study by scholars, it is clear that many, even at times a majority, of the priests and elders of the Church considered this book to be the ramblings of a harmless loony who'd gone partially mad from isolation on a sun-baked rock in the Aegean surrounded by nothing but goats. and not a true visionary, a seer, who was accurately describing visions and images sent to him by God. The Emperor Constantine, however, fancied himself as something of a "mystic", and in the end overruled the debate in the Council, and the text was included in the Canon.
The problem with this book, depending on your Christian perspective, is that many Christian denominations take what is written in this book as the absolute truth, word for word.
It is also interesting to note that many orthodox Jews are very interested in the study of this book, as it relates quite clearly that the events surrounding the final days have direct bearing on the State of Israel, and particularly the retaking of the Temple Mount, and erection of the "Third Temple" there (long a dream of the Jews) . Since the Temple Mount now contains two of the holiest sites in Islam, the "Dome of the Rock", where Mohammad ascended to Heaven, and the "Al-Aqsa Mosque". The closest that the Jews have come to fulfilling this prophesy was in 1967, when Israel captured the Temple Mount, but it was almost immediately handed back to the Muslims by Moshe Dayan, in order to avoid escalating the war to the entire Middle East..
However, I digress......this is about mistranslations and misinterpretations in Scripture.......
Therefore, I offer the word Armageddon:
The word "Armageddon" is not so much a mistranslation, as it is a completely "made up" word by the translators......in fact it is a "bastardization" or misstatement of a Hebrew term (more about that later). Armageddon is mentioned a number of times in the book of Revelations, referring to the final battle of "good versus evil", when Christ returns to earth as a warrior to vanquish evil for good, and lead believers to a thousand-year Reign of peace. Revelations specifically, in context refers to "Armageddon" as an event.......this is where the compound error stands out.
Scholars have studied many texts relating to this event, and have determined that the most logical source of the word "Armageddon" is that it is a place, and not an event......
A city that is very important in Jewish history lies about fifty miles north of Jerusalem. During the time of Christ this city was comparatively large (about fifteen acres), and was strategically located to defend trade routes to and from the Holy Land........the name of this city is "Megiddo", and its historical importance stems from the battles that have been fought there. The last of these battles was fought there in 1918 between the British, and troops of the Ottoman Empire. There have been over thirty battles fought on this site, and it is important to note that Megiddo is the site of the first recorded battle in human history. This famous battle was fought in the fifteenth century BC between Egyption forces commanded by Pharaoh Tutmose III, and a Canaanite army led by the King of Kadesh, who had joined forces with the ruler of Megiddo. We know so much about this battle because a record of what happened was carved into the walls of the Temple of Karnak in Egypt.
So where did Armageddon come from?
Well the name of the place in Hebrew is "Megiddo", and a proper noun for a place in Hebrew is always prefaced by a descriptive word describing the location.........in this case either 'tel", meaning "mound" (as in Tel Aviv), or more commonly 'har', meaning "hill".......it is therefore not a huge logical leap since Megiddo sits on a large hill overlooking a plain, to assume that the proper name of this site in Hebrew....."Har Megiddo", translated as "the hill city of Megiddo" is the origion of the word (or non word if you choose) of "Armageddon".
It would therefore follow that the use of this word in Revelations describes the location of the final battle at the end times, and not the event itself.......it should be noted that this misconception does not substantially alter the interpretation of events described in the book.......it only clarifies them for the believer.
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