Grasping for Power from the Tree of Life: A Visual Reading of Revelation 22

(Hardback)

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Interpreting the Tree of Life from the book of Revelation as a symbolic critique of power, the image becomes a potential tool for reimagining life beyond imperial control.

This book examines the biblical Tree of Life in Revelation 22and its roots in Genesis 23as a potent symbol of kingship and power by connecting it with ancient Southwest Asian and Roman imperial iconography of sacred trees. Through a tri-part methodology of intertextuality, visual exegesis, and metonymy, Grasping for Power from the Tree of Life: A Visual Reading of Revelation 22 explores how sacred trees reflect power dynamics, particularly in the context of empire.

Amy E. Meverden analyzes the Tree of Life in Revelation 22 alongside Roman imperial vegetation symbolism in the Ara Pacis Augustae (9 BCE) and the Genesis Tree of Life alongside ancient Southwest Asian iconography in the Ashurbanipal Garden frieze (669631 BCE). These symbols underscore the emperors authority as the divines earthly representative, with vegetation serving as a visual extension of dominance and resource control.

This book argues that the Tree of Life not only critiques power abuses but also has the metonymic potential to inspire visions of life beyond oppressive systems while also risking the re-imposition of empire through interpretation. In this way, the Tree of Life stands as a complex symbol of both resistance to and reinforcement of imperial power.

Reviews

A world-healing Tree of Life opens and closes the book of Revelation, drawing on Genesis. Amy Meverden brilliantly shows how this subversive tree functions as an anti-imperial symbol, critiquing the Roman empires propaganda of eternity as imaged in the viney tendrils of Romes acanthus plant. Meverdens scholarship on comparative visual imagery and dueling trees in the ancient world convincingly argues that the biblical Tree of Life gives radical hope, justice, and life for all. I love this book! -- Barbara Rossing, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

Author Bio

Amy Meverden is visiting assistant professor of New Testament at the Union Theological Seminary, New York.