The Book of Revelation: Paradoxical Symbolism
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Revelation contains a lot of symbolism. It is an allegorical work that requires much thought, knowledge of scripture and history and a spiritual state to understand. It is the most difficult book in the entire Bible to decipher. The early Church fathers debated greatly as to its status, whether canonical or apocryphal, such was its controversial nature. Paradoxical symbolism refers to a seemingly contradictory representation of an object, or a person. It is a reversal of expectations or nature. These symbols often involve two statements, where the first refers to something of a particular known nature related to or combined with another object of an opposite nature. This is a literary device meant to highlight an important prophetic point. It is not unique to Revelation. It was a common device in prophetic language of the Near East and was not limited to the Revealed Religions. ...