Sunday, March 22, 2026

"that is"

A verse caught my eye this morning: Revelation 13:6. The part that looked interesting was "to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell(*) in heaven." (*) Or "who tabernacle" (as a verb). The "that is" isn't in the text, but is inferred from the grammar--in the Vaticanus/Sinaiticus versions. The KJV used a different Greek text that has an and there.

It's a trivial difference, and both readings make sense and neither changes anything about the thrust of the passage.

But the image of "those who dwell in heaven" is different between the two. With the "that is, those who dwell in heaven" reading, all those in heaven have the Spirit of God within them, and are also a kind of tabernacle and a kind of incarnation.

Catholic and Orthodox devotions refer to the Virgin Mary as the tabernacle--the place where God is/was staying. Some call her the first of the new tabernacles. Seems reasonable.

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