Revelation 12 is an interesting chapter and is often considered as the crucial key in interpreting many symbols in book of revelation [1]. It begins with John’s vision of a woman clothed with the sun, appearing in heaven.
The other three protagonists in the vision, the male child, the dragon, the Archangel, are generally understood as Jesus, the devil and Michael, respectively. The woman’s identity, on the other hand, has been subject to much debate. Some identify her as Mary, while others say she symbolizes a community of God’s people, which could be Israel, the Church, or both.
To Protestants, it often seems as though Catholics are forcing Mary into the narrative to over emphasize her status. Conversely, to some Catholics, it appears that Protestants are trying to dismiss her significance and remove her from the text.
When someone reads Revelation 12 for the first time, they often get the natural impression that the woman, being the mother of the Messiah, is Mary. Yet upon analyzing the imagery, they will likely conclude that she symbolizes a community of God’s people, which has been a common view for many interpreters.
This raises the question of whether the Marian interpretation is a Catholic attempt to read Mary into the passage, given the prominence of this woman’s imagery in Catholic art and theology.
Multiple Layers of Symbolism
A third perspective reconciles these interpretations. Some theologians from Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions, point out that the woman in Revelation 12 is a figure with multiple meanings. This is the position that the woman represents all the above; Mary, Israel and the Church, with additional allusions to figures such as Eve and Sarah. This view provides a compelling option that aligns with the style of the symbolism in the Book of Revelation which is often multi-layered.
Anglican scholar, Richard Bauckham writes;
“She is the mother of Jesus and of Christians – Eve and Mary, Israel, Zion and the church all combined in an image of the spiritual essence of the covenant people of God.”
Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, P. 128
Pope Benedict XVI said;
“This Woman represents Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer, but at the same time she also represents the whole Church, the People of God of all times, the Church which in all ages, with great suffering, brings forth Christ ever anew.”
General Audience on John, “the Seer of Patmos”
These associations don’t contradict each other, instead, they complement one another. How is this possible? We must keep in mind the style of the Book of Revelation; many of its symbols have multiple meanings. Loren T. Stuckenbruck, a historian of early Christianity, remarks that in Revelation, the symbols are;
“essentially multivalent in character and resist being reduced into exclusionary single meanings that result from one-to-one decoding.”
Blackwell et al., Reading Revelation in Context, p. 11
Another protestant theologian, G.K. Beale points out;
“It is true that most of Revelation’s symbols have multiple associations or meanings and that the interpreter can never be sure that all the meanings of a symbol have been discovered.”
Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, P. 68
An example of this multi-layered symbolism is found in Revelation 17:9-10, where the angel explains to John that the heads of the dragon represent kings as well as mountains. It would be a mistake to insist that the heads only represent the mountains. Similarly, we may be mistaken to think that the woman solely represents an individual or a community, if she is in fact another multilayered symbolic figure.
The Woman as a Community
One of the recurring images in scripture is the personification of Israel as a woman. She is presented as a mother (Isa. 66:8–11, Ps. 87), daughter Zion (Isa. 62:11) and a bride (Isa. 54:5; 62:4–5, Rev. 21:2). In several passages, Israel/Zion is described as being in labor, similar to the woman in Revelation 12 (Isa. 26:16-27; Mic. 4:10).
The imagery of twelve stars, the moon and the sun is similar to Joseph’s dream, where the stars represented the tribes of Israel, the moon and the sun represented his parents. And Isaiah associated the Israel-woman to the moon and the sun (Isa. 60:19–20).
Revelation 12:17 likely references the persecution of the early Church following Jesus’ ascension. As such the symbolism extends from Israel to the Church, thereby being a representation of God’s people before and after the arrival of Jesus. In the context of the Church, the twelve stars possibly refer to the twelve apostles.
N. T. Wright writes:
“She represents the entire story of God’s people, chosen to carry forward his plans for the nations and indeed for the whole creation.”
Wright, N. T. Revelation for Everyone, p. 108
The Woman as Mary
Simultaneously, there are also good reasons to think the woman represents Mary. The first obvious one is that she is mother of the male child (Jesus). Lawrence R. Farley, an Orthodox author writes;
“If the Woman clothed with the sun is the People of Israel, nevertheless she wears the face of Mary the Theotokos, for Israel gives birth to the Messiah in her person”
Lawrence R., The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, p. 131
The dragon’s attempt at devouring the woman’s child echoes Herod the Great’s effort to kill the infant Jesus (Matt. 2:16). The woman’s escape to the wilderness also reminds us of Mary’s flight to Egypt.
Tim Staples makes another important observation;
“There are four main characters in the chapter: “the woman,” the devil, Jesus, and the archangel Michael. No one denies that the other three mentioned are real persons. It fits the context to interpret “the woman” as a person (Mary) as well.”
Staples, 20 Answers: Mary, P. 17
There is also a parallel between John’s vision of the woman and Isaiah’s prophecy of a woman bearing a child called Emmanuel (Isa. 7:10-14). G.K. Beale observes that the language in Revelation 12:1-2 may be patterned partly after Isaiah’s prophecy. Notably, Isaiah 7:14 applies “both to a mother who bore a child in Isaiah’s time and to the mother of Christ (Matt 1:18–25)”
Furthermore, the Bible presents several striking parallels between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant. which Brant Pitre effectively demonstrates in his book [2]. Interestingly, the verse immediately preceding the sign of the woman in heaven (12:1) states “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple” (11:19). While one might object that the Ark and the woman are unrelated because they appear in different chapters, it’s important to remember that the original text of Revelation lacked chapter and verse divisions, suggesting a potential connection between these images.
Regarding the crown of stars on the woman’s head, in the context of Mary, it may signify her exalted status and queenship; in the Jewish culture, the queen was the mother of the king, not the wife, as seen in 1 Kings 2, and they wore crowns (Jer. 13:18). Whereas in the context of Israel, the stars represent the twelve tribes, and in the case of the Church, stars represent the twelve apostles.
The commenters of the Orthodox Study Bible view Mary “as the perfect symbol of Israel and the Church.”
Objections to the Marian Interpretation
Some have said that this woman is less likely to be Mary because John doesn’t mention Mary by name anywhere else in the book of Revelation. However, you will also note that in his Gospel, John never mentions Mary by name either. Interestingly, she is only referred to as ‘woman’ and ‘mother of Jesus’.
Another objection is that if Mary remained a virgin as the Catholic Church teaches, then she can’t be the woman of apocalypse who has other offspring apart from Jesus. However, the passage identifies these offspring as “those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus” (Revelation 1:17) which aligns with the Catholic understanding of Mary as the mother of all believers. On the cross, Jesus told John, “Behold your Mother.” (John 19:27)
“Jesus is Mary’s only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, §501
The Problem of singular Representations
The problem of interpreting the woman solely as the Church, is that it would entail that the Church gave birth to the Messiah yet Jesus came before the Church. On the other hand, if we see her only as Israel, then Revelation 12:17 would not really make full sense as it includes gentiles who follow Jesus, and not all of Israel held to the testimony of Jesus. And similarly, viewing the woman exclusively as Mary overlooks the Old Testament references to Israel woven into the imagery.
The woman’s symbolism appears to be more complex than any single interpretation allows. She does not have to be limited to one identity. Taken as a symbol with multiple meanings, it makes sense that she symbolizes both an individual and a community. Each aspect contributes to a fuller understanding of the text. As shown, this view aligns well to the tendency in the Book of Revelation to present symbols with various meanings and associations.
In this light, when Catholics speak of the woman as Mary with a queenly status, it is not an overreach or an attempt to force a Marian interpretation. Instead, it recognizes one face of the woman’s rich symbolism, which also includes the broader community of God’s people.
Notes
[1]- Craig S. Keener, Revelation: From Biblical Text to Contemporary Life, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), “Revelation 12:1–17”; G. K. Beale and David H. Campbell, “Deeper Conflict (12:1-15:4),” in Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2015), 621; Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), “Great Conflict between God and the Forces of Evil (12:1–16:21).”
[2]- Pitre, Brant James. Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah. (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2018.) Chap. 3, “The New Ark.”
Citations
Bauckham, Richard. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. (Cambridge University Press., 1993)
Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience on John, “the Seer of Patmos” (Aug. 23, 2006)
Blackwell, Ben C., John K. Goodrich, and Jason Maston. Reading Revelation in Context. (Zondervan Academic, 2019)
Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co 1999)
Wright, N. T. Revelation for Everyone (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011)
Farley, Lawrence R. The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power. (Chesterton, IN: Conciliar Press. 2011
Staples, Tim. 20 Answers: Mary. (El Cajon, CA: Catholic Answers, Inc., 2015)
Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co 1999)
The Orthodox Study Bible, commentary on Revelation 12:1 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc., 2008).
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 501
