The Woman of Revelation 12:1

In Revelation 12, John describes a woman who appears as a great sign in heaven. While he does not name the woman, several possibilities regarding her identity exist. Since Revelation 12:5 identifies the woman’s son as Christ, she may be Jesus’ mother, Mary (see Matt 1:18). However, it is difficult to explain her flight to and nourishment in the wilderness (Rev 12:6), pursuit of the beast (Rev 12:13), eagle’s wings (Rev 12:14), the chasing river and delivering earth (Rev 12:15–16), and the reference to “the rest of her children” (Rev 12:17). Revelation 12 contains possible allusions to the birth narratives in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels; thus, her identity as Mary remains a possibility (see Matt 1–2; Luke 1–2).

The Pretribulation view understands the Church as being removed at some point following chapter three. Under this view, the period of wrath yields God’s judgment on the nations in order to bring about the repentance of Israel. Under this view, the woman represents Israel (which finds support by Christ’s Jewish background and the reference to her 12-star crown). Conversely, the Church may be in view here, since it occupies pride of place in John’s polemic against Rome. Such a view, though, requires adopting the view that the Church to be present through the time of tribulation.

Alternatively, the woman may be mother Zion, or the new Jerusalem. This view is based upon Old Testament passages and the apostolic tradition of Paul that describes the new Jerusalem in motherly language (see Isa 66:6–11, 13; Gal 4:26–27; Rev 21:9–10; compare Isa 26:17; 49:14; 50:1; 51:17–52:2). According to this view, the woman represents the entire community of God’s people. Since John only explicitly names Satan in Revelation 12, he may have intended the passage to be read in this way; the woman and her son are not the primary focus. Since John ultimately illustrates the defeat of the dragon, Satan, and the establishment of the kingdom in Revelation 12, the events that happen in this chapter can be aptly applied to the community of believers in general.

This view also emphasizes continuity between the Old and New Testaments. Jesus was born into Judaism and the messianic expectations of Judaism. Therefore, the woman from which He came can be described corporately as the community of the people of God, or mother Zion.

John may also be facilitating a further contrast with and critique of the imperial religion. A coin found at Pergamum pictures the emperor, who was understood to be divine, next to the mother of the gods, Roma—the patroness of Rome and the Queen of Heaven. In John’s day, her imperial son, Domitian, was hailed as the savior of the world and Apollo incarnate. John’s point then could be that Christ is the true Son, King, and Savior of the world, and that His mother (mother Zion) is the true Queen of Heaven.

Matthew M. Whitehead