Sharp sword, sharp sickle

Like many other words in Revelation, the word “sharp” ( oxus ) is used seven times. The uses divided neatly into a 3/4 pattern. Three times the word describes the sword that extends from Jesus’ mouth (1:16; 2:12; 19:15), while four times it refers to the sickle wielded by “one like the Son of Man” harvesting grapes (14:14, 17, 18 [2x]). The four refereces to the sharp sickle are embedded in the middle of the three references to the sharp sword.

The sword is a weapon of war that Jesus uses against His enemies, both in the church (2:12) and among the nations (19:15). It is also a sacrificial sword that divides joints and marrow and prepares for a sacrifice (including the sacrificial meal of the birds in chapter 19). The sickle, by contrast, is a harvest instrument, which Jesus uses to gaterh the grapes and to tread out the wrath-wine that the harlot will drink, to her own destruction.

The two are brought together in chapter 19, where Jesus not only makes war with the sharp sword from His mouth, but also treads the winepress, where the grapes harvested with the sharp sickle are turned to wine.