Floyd O. Parker, «‘Our Lord and God’ in Rev 4,11: Evidence for the Late Date of Revelation?», Vol. 82 (2001) 207-231

This article challenges a commonly-held belief that the title ‘our Lord and God’ (Rev 4,11) served as a Christian counter-blast to the claim of the emperor Domitian to be dominus et deus noster. Despite the claims of several scholars that the title ‘our Lord and God’ does not appear in the OT, the data collected favors the view that the title in Rev 4,11 does indeed have its origin in the divine title ‘Lord and God’ found in the LXX and other Jewish sources. Consequently, the title is of no use in helping to determine the date of the book of Revelation.

contexts (Rev 3,4; 16,6). Furthermore, God is proclaimed ‘worthy’ of praise because he is the creator (Rev 4,11), which is quite in line with Jewish thought (e.g. Dan 4,37 [LXX]; Ps 145,1.6 [LXX]; Rev 14,7). This item does not fit well as part of an imperial parody, for Roman emperors would not have taken credit for the creation of the cosmos.

        The second matter is that the wording of the hymns in Revelation resembles that of imperial hymns. These hymns employ the following terminology: ‘salvation’, ‘holy’, ‘glory’, ‘authority’, ‘worthy to receive power’, ‘righteous are your judgments’, and divine titles such as ‘our lord and god’¹⁰². Such nomenclature is quite similar to that found in Rev 4,11, where God is said to be worthy of ‘glory’, ‘honor’, and ‘power’. However, a Jewish milieu may be just as likely. In 1 Chr 29,11, God is praised for his attributes of ‘power’, ‘glory’, ‘majesty’, and ‘splendor’. In Dan 2,37, Nebuchadnezzar praised God for ‘dominion’, ‘power’, ‘might’, and ‘glory’. In 1 Enoch 84,2-3, God is praised for his ‘authority’, ‘kingdom’, and ‘dominion’. In Dan 4,34.36 (Theod.), ‘power’ and ‘honor’ are mentioned, while ‘glory’ is mentioned in Dan 4,35.36 (LXX)¹⁰³. Even in Dan 7, which serves partially as the backdrop for Rev 4–5, the Son of Man is given ‘authority’, ‘glory’, and ‘power’ by the Ancient of Days (Dan 7,14).

        Thus, a case can be made that this passage portrays God in a traditional Jewish throne-room/temple scene. He is surrounded by four living beings, angelic hosts, and thrones. His subjects deem him worthy to receive honors, just as they do in several OT passages, and he is praised for his creative power (something that would never be attributed to an emperor). He is addressed by a divine title ‘Lord and God’, which occurs six times in the LXX. Thus, the title fits into a Jewish milieu as well or better than a Roman imperial one.

        The title ‘Our Lord and God’ in Rev 4,11 could just as well derive from traditional titles for God found in the OT as from the language of the Roman imperial court and cult. Several lines of evidence converge to suggest that the title does not serve as a parody of the divine honors given Domitian or any other emperor. First, even if the nomenclature could be isolated to the Roman imperial