An Overlooked Detail of Armageddon

by cameo-d 42 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  cameo-d

  Why has it been passed down to us that the word 'Armageddon' refers to Meggido? Who came up with that and stamped and approved it as a translation? I am not sure if JWs buy into that same interpretation...so maybe you all can fill me in.

  Rev. 16:16 "And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.

  Even Wiki defers to Har Megiddo in attempting to define Armageddon.

  The word Armageddon appears only once in the Greek New Testament. [5] The word comes from Hebrewhar m?giddô ( ?? ????? ), meaning "Mountain of Megiddo".

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  These definitions imply that Armageddon is a place, not an event.

  Yet most of the religions define it as a catastrophic, end of time/ end of the world event. JW literature seems to define it as an event and not a place, as do the majority of xtian religions.

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  Now, here is the crux of the matter. A very significant phrase that has been pushed aside in Rev. 16:16. "In the Hebrew tongue". Is the association with Megiddo an accurate translation from the Hebrew tongue?

  I came across something interesting as it seems to be a different interpretation. I do not read or understand Hebrew....but what I wonder is why scholars have withheld this information of interpretering the exact words, if what is written below is true.

  quote:

  This verse states clearly that this word ARMAGEDDON, MUST be understood in the “HEBREW tongue.” This is very significant. In modern times, the Hebrew language has been revived from a dead language to a living language. It is the national language of Israel - of the Jews

  The word ‘Armageddon’ is made up of three Hebrew words presented below in an anglicised form:

  Arema – a heap of sheaves

  Gai – valley

  Dan – judgement.

  When all these elements are combined, the word is found to mean:

  ‘A heap of sheaves in a valley for judgement,’

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  answers.com has this to say about the word Armageddon:

  Unfortunately, although the writer says Armageddon is a Hebrew word, it appears nowhere in Hebrew literature and there is some doubt as to its proper spelling in Greek. So aside from the highly symbolic language of this one sentence in the Bible, there is no other frame of reference or explanation available.
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  OUTLAW

  Megiddo..

  One of the most fought over pieces of real estate in the Ancient World..

  

  Megiddo, battles of (c.1468 bc , 609 bc , and ad 1918) (see also Armageddon). Tel Megiddo, in the fertile coastal strip of Palestine, now Israel, was the site of the first battle of which we have record of battle tactics, of another of which we know little except that the Israelites did poorly, and of the culminating battle of the Palestine campaign in 1918. It stands at a vital crossroads from Egypt into Mesopotamia and from the coastal plain into Galilee. The earliest settlement was built in the early 4th millennium bc and was occupied until c.450 bc .
  
  In around 1476 bc Egyptian Pharaoh Thotmes (Thutmosis) III led perhaps 10, 000 men in a rapid march against rebel Palestinian chieftains. They had sent outposts to hold the Megiddo pass, a covering force which was easily scattered leaving the king of Kadesh to face the pharaoh on the Megiddo plain. Thotmes' army advanced in a concave formation, its southern wing enveloping the rebels while the northern wing was driven between them and the town of Megiddo itself. They used surprise, shock action (chariots) and firepower (archers), cut communications, and enveloped the enemy.
  
  Solomon built a fort on the site and in 609 bc King Josiah of Judah was killed there when opposing the march of the Egyptian King Necho II towards Assyria. Here also, between 19 and 21 September 1918, British and Commonwealth forces under Allenby defeated Turkish forces under Liman von Sanders. Following the loss of Jerusalem in December 1917 the Turkish Seventh and Eighth Armies had regrouped on a well-fortified line from Jaffa to the Jordan. Allenby deceived Liman into believing that the attack would fall inland, whereas he attacked on the left, on the coastal plain. An intense artillery bombardment opened a breach for the British XXI Corps, through which Allenby then pushed his cavalry, the Desert Mounted Corps. Local Jewish settlers helped by showing them the way through the marshes, enabling them to penetrate the Turkish positions and then exploit the breakthrough using cavalry, armoured cars, and aircraft. The RAF attacked the retreating Turkish columns, and helped force the Turks back to the Jordan. In just under a month the British and Commonwealth forces destroyed three Turkish Armies (Seventh, Eighth, and Fourth, to the east), advanced 350 miles, and took 36, 000 prisoners at a cost of only 853 dead.

  ...................... ...OUTLAW
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  tec

  ‘A heap of sheaves in a valley for judgement,’

  Since it has to do with judgment, this makes sense to me. I'm not sure the significance of the literal place.

  Tammy
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  OUTLAW

  I'm not sure the significance of the literal place.

  Tammy

  Meggido was leveled to the ground many times..

  The name became Synonymous with Destruction..

  ...................... ...OUTLAW
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  tec

  Thanks, Outlaw. It makes Cameo's post even more interesting, I think.

  Tammy
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  Leolaia

  I am going to ignore the safari into specious folk etymology and zero in on one point you make that is actually a very good one:

  These definitions imply that Armageddon is a place, not an event. Yet most of the religions define it as a catastrophic, end of time/ end of the world event. JW literature seems to define it as an event and not a place, as do the majority of xtian religions.

  That bothered me a great deal as a JW, as it was clear from context that Armageddon was the name of a place, yet infomally it continually was used to refer to an event. And the name was applied to eschatological events outside Revelation on a rather arbitrary basis, in fact, since the Society distinguished between the parousia (preceding Armageddon by 70+ years) and Armageddon.

  The Greek Harmagedón corresponds precisely to the Hebrew hr-mgdwn "mountain of Megiddon", cf. bq`t-mgdwn "valley of Megiddon" in Zechariah 12:11 and cf. Magedó/Mageddó and Magedaón as transliterations of the Hebrew name Megiddo/Megiddon in the LXX (Judges 5:10, 4 Kgdms 9:27, 23:29 B). With respect to whether "there is some doubt as to its proper spelling in Greek", the only other variant in the Greek text of Revelation 16:16 is Maged[d]ón, which is identical to the rendering of Hebrew mgdwn. There is no reason to invent a nonexistent toponym.

  One other suggestion is that the Greek Harmagedón derives from hr mw`d "mountain of assembly" from Isaiah 14:13 (with the gamma corresponding to the `ayin), but this should yield Harmóged-, which is not what is found in the text.
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  OUTLAW

  That bothered me a great deal as a JW, as it was clear from context that Armageddon was the name of a place.....Leolaia

  That really suprised me too Leo..

  I watch a lot of Learning and History Channels..

  I was blown away,when I found out it was an actual place..

  ...................... ...OUTLAW
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  ProdigalSon

  Armageddon is a battle between the forces of good and evil, and it happens inside of you. It is between the Christ energy that comes from the channel in the heart called the Atom Nous, and the inferior negative forces of Apollyon or Abaddon, which are there in the solar plexus. So, it is a personal thing, as is the entire book of Revelation.

  "Prophecy" works in an interesting way. People read it, believe it, dwell on it, and it sinks deeper and deeper into their consciousness, and then the collective subconscious mind of humanity can make it materialize in a literal way that it was never intended to do. Then, the prophecy gets credit for predicting the future. So, it MUST BE the "Word of God"...... NOT!!

  ~PS
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  designs

  For the GB defining Armageddon is equally about God destroying humanity and taking a position about the End Times different than the Churches.

  Many Evangelical and Fundamentalist groups, like Calvary Chapel, believe that a literal horse mounted army will engage in a battle at this literal place, which means the Society will take the opposite view.
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  notverylikely

  Armageddon is a battle between the forces of good and evil, and it happens inside of you. It is between the Christ energy that comes from the channel in the heart called the Atom Nous, and the inferior negative forces of Apollyon or Abaddon, which are there in the solar plexus.

  I can't tell if you are batshit crazy or a brilliant satirist.