Revelation 12:1

A great sign

(σημειον μεγα). The first of the visions to be so described (Revelation 13:3; Revelation 15:1), and it is introduced by ωφθη as in Revelation 11:19; Revelation 12:3, not by μετα ταυτο or by ειδον or by ειδον κα ιδου as heretofore. This "sign" is really a τερας (wonder), as it is so by association in Matthew 24:24; John 4:48; Acts 2:22; Acts 5:12. The element of wonder is not in the word σημειον as in τερας, but often in the thing itself as in Luke 21:11; John 9:16; Revelation 13:13; Revelation 15:1; Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:20.A woman

(γυνη). Nominative case in apposition with σημειον. "The first 'sign in heaven' is a Woman--the earliest appearance of a female figure in the Apocalyptic vision" (Swete).Arrayed with the sun

(περιβεβλημενη τον ηλιον). Perfect passive participle of περιβαλλω, with the accusative retained as so often (9 times) in the Apocalypse. Both Charles and Moffatt see mythological ideas and sources behind the bold imagery here that leave us all at sea. Swete understands the Woman to be "the church of the Old Testament" as "the Mother of whom Christ came after the flesh. But here, as everywhere in the Book, no sharp dividing line is drawn between the Church of the Old Testament and the Christian Society." Certainly she is not the Virgin Mary, as verse Revelation 12:17 makes clear. Beckwith takes her to be "the heavenly representative of the people of God, the ideal Zion, which, so far as it is embodied in concrete realities, is represented alike by the people of the Old and the New Covenants." John may have in mind Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31) as well as Micah 4:10; Isaiah 26:17; Isaiah 66:7 without a definite picture of Mary. The metaphor of childbirth is common enough (John 16:21; Galatians 4:19). The figure is a bold one with the moon "under her feet" (υποκατω των ποδων αυτης) and "a crown of twelve stars" (στεφανος αστερων δωδεκα), a possible allusion to the twelve tribes (James 1:1; Revelation 21:12) or to the twelve apostles (Revelation 21:14).