Edmondo Lupieri

In the two decades before and after Lupieri published his “A Commentary on the Apocalypse of John” in Italian in 1999, and its English translation in 2006, a profusion of substantive commentaries on the last canonical book of the New Testament were written. Just in the English language one can cite those by Caird (1993), Aune (1997), Mounce (Rev. ed., 1997), Beale (1998), Osborne (2002), Smalley (2005), Koester (2014), to name but a few, each with its author’s eschatological outlook. It is therefore rather pointless to write a full review on Lupieri’s, given that it might have been written to an intended audience different from that of other commentators cited above.
Suffice it to highlight a few characteristics of Lupieri’s commentary, which make it stand out in respects of methodology and exegetical cogency.
Structure – after a 44-page introduction on the genre and interpretative strategy, the Greek text of John’s Apocalypse and a translation (first to Italian then to English) follow. Luiperi then proceeds to provide commentary on key phrases in a largely verse-by-verse manner. The selective nature of the commentaries aside, no overall structure of the text is indicated. This leaves one wonder how Luiperi understands the overall literary strategy of John and what pertinent messages are intended to be conveyed.
Angelomorphic references – While otherworldly figures are a typical feature in apocalyptic literature, Lupieri displays at times a peculiar fascination on angelology in that he sees references to thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and planetary bodies as angelomorphic. Such emphasis seems overblown especially when John uses the literal word “angel’ in the very context or vicinity (e.g. Rev. 8:5).
Anti-Judaism – One most discordant interpretation is Lupieri’s association of the whore in Rev. 17–18, i.e. Babylon the great city, with Jerusalem and as such to infer the prostitute as representing rebellious Judaism that has rejected Christ. At its background is an understanding of linear progression of the three female figures in Revelation – the protected woman in Ch. 12, the whore in Ch. 17, and the bride of the Lamb in Ch. 21. While the possible reference to Jerusalem should not be denied, the validity of such interpretation must be supported by solid exegetical evidence and trenchant Biblical theology. Referencing certain items on the prostitute’s attire and decorations to those of priestly vestment sounds forced. The overall anti-Judaism slant of such interpretation seems driven more by prior theological conviction than by sound exegesis.
Scholarly diligence – Lupiere makes ample references in the commentary to Jewish apocalypses and the Qumran texts, as it is a stated goal to situate the Apocalypse of John in its historical and cultural background. Questions must be asked, though, whether apocalyptic thoughts and those of the Essence sect were the dominant literary influence of 1st century Asia Minor in general, and was such contemporaneous environment one which John’s writing was most indebted in particular. While references to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha are made almost every other verse no matter how tangential, OT allusions in the Apocalypse identified and elaborated by Lupieri are few and far between. One should look up works by Beale (1984, 1998, 2007 w. Carson ed., 2012) for OT allusions in Revelation. On the other hand, Lupieri includes a short bibliography but actual interactions with other authors are scant.… (mehr)