La γυνή dell’Ap: funzione materna e sponsale della chiesa

The symbol of the woman (γυνή and νύμφη) in the Book of Revelation (Rev 12; 19:7; 21:2, 9; 22:17) is developed through her role as "mother" of believers and "bride" of the Lamb. Her status is a work in progress that alternates between attacks of evil and divine assistance (chap. 12). God's victory over Satan (12:79) and the triumph of the martyrs (12:11) represent the certainty of a successful end of the community's destiny in the eschatological stage. In the historical phase, represented by the desert (12:6, 14), the Church is not exempt from the danger of being confused with the negative imagery of the woman-Babylon, if she holds a false doctrine and an erorneous style of life, which is condensed in the symbol of the woman-Jezebel (2:20-21). In course of time the community, therefore, must prepare herself for the definitive moment of the wedding (19:7; 21:2, 9), when she will evolve into the symbol of the city-Jerusalem, an image of transcendent coexistence (chap. 21). The language of the woman-Church will not close with a flight into the future, but at the end of book the author presents the community in her present state which is the condition of a "bride" (22:17) and, with the Spirit, she invokes the coming of Christ because he would bring to completion the fullness of the celestial wedding.