„Geht hinaus aus ihr!“ (Offb 18,4). Vier Frauenfiguren und ihre Bedeutung für die Organisation des Raumes in der Johannesoffenbarung

Abstract

„Come out of her!“ (Rev 18:4): Four Female Characters and Their Part in the Organization of Space in Revelation

At first glance, Revelation seems to be based on dualistic categories like abovebelow, inside-outside, saved-condemned, male-female. Under the point of view of spatial theory, especially the dualism between inside and outside is of interest. This dualism is closely connected to gendered images within Revelation: Jezebel (Rev 2:20) is portrayed as exterior to the community of Christ believers in Thyatira. Likewise, John appeals to his addressees to come out of the whore Babylon (Rev 18:4), but to enter the New Jerusalem, which is portrayed as a bride. Flawed outsiders, however, have to stay outside (Rev 22:15). Thus, the spatial categories “inside” and “outside” bring about positive or negative connotations. In this article, networks of dualistic categories are being explored to show that they are not as dualistic as the first impression suggests. Instead, they help to describe the Christ believing community as an existence on the threshold between spaces.