Mwanamke wa Ufunuo

Mwanamke wa Ufunuo ni mhusika mmojawapo wa kitabu hicho cha Biblia ya Kikristo. Habari zake zinapatikana katika sura ya 12.

Habari zenyewe katika Kitabu cha Ufunuo
12:1 Kisha ishara kubwa ikaonekana mbinguni. Palikuwa hapo mwanamke aliyevikwa jua, na mwezi chini ya miguu yake, na taji ya nyota kumi na mbili juu ya kichwa chake!

2 Alikuwa mja mzito, na akapaaza sauti kwa maumivu na uchungu wa kujifungua mtoto.

3 Ishara nyingine ikatokea mbinguni: joka kubwa jekundu na lenye pembe kumi na vichwa saba; na kila kichwa kilikuwa na taji.

4 Joka hilo liliburuta kwa mkia wake theluthi moja ya nyota za anga na kuzitupa duniani. Nalo lilisimama mbele ya huyo mama aliyekuwa karibu kujifungua mtoto, tayari kabisa kummeza mtoto, mara tu atakapozaliwa.

5 Kisha mama huyo akajifungua mtoto wa kiume, ambaye atayatawala mataifa yote kwa fimbo ya chuma. Lakini mtoto akanyakuliwa na kupelekwa kwa Mungu na kwenye kiti chake cha enzi.

6 Huyo mama akakimbilia jangwani, ambako Mungu alikuwa amemtayarishia mahali pa usalama ambapo angehifadhiwa kwa muda wa siku elfu moja mia mbili na sitini.

7 Kisha kukazuka vita mbinguni: Mikaeli na malaika wake walipigana na hilo joka, nalo likawashambulia pamoja na malaika wake.

8 Lakini joka hilo halikuweza kuwashinda, na hatimaye hapakuwa tena na nafasi mbinguni kwa ajili yake na malaika wake.

9 Basi, joka hilo kuu likatupwa nje. Joka hilo ndiye yule nyoka wa kale ambaye huitwa pia Ibilisi au Shetani. Ndiye anayeudanganya ulimwengu wote. Naam, alitupwa duniani, na malaika wake wote pamoja naye.

10 Kisha nikasikia sauti kubwa kutoka mbinguni ikisema: "Sasa ukombozi utokao kwa Mungu umefika! Nguvu na Utawala wa Mungu wetu umedhihirika. Na Kristo wake ameonyesha mamlaka yake! Maana yule mdhalimu wa ndugu zetu, aliyesimama mbele ya Mungu akiwashtaki usiku na mchana, sasa ametupwa nje.

11 Ndugu zetu wameshinda kwa damu ya Mwanakondoo na kwa nguvu ya ukweli walioutangaza; maana hawakuyathamini maisha yao kuwa kitu sana, wakawa tayari kufa.

12 Kwa sababu hiyo, furahini enyi mbingu na vyote vilivyomo ndani yenu. Lakini, ole wenu nchi na bahari, maana Ibilisi amewajieni akiwa na ghadhabu kuu, kwa sababu anajua kwamba siku zake zilizobakia ni chache."

13 Joka lilipotambua kwamba limetupwa chini duniani, likaanza kumwinda yule mama aliyekuwa amejifungua mtoto wa kiume.

14 Lakini mama huyo akapewa mabawa mawili ya tai apate kuruka mbali sana na hilo joka, mpaka mahali, pake jangwani ambapo angehifadhiwa salama kwa muda wa miaka mitatu na nusu.

15 Basi, joka likatapika maji mengi kama mto, yakamfuata huyo mama nyuma ili yamchukue.

16 Lakini nchi ikamsaidia huyo mama: ikajifunua kama mdomo na kuyameza maji hayo yaliyotoka kinywani mwa hilo joka.

17 Basi, joka hilo likamkasirikia huyo mama, likajiondokea, likaenda kupigana na wazawa wengine wa huyo mama, yaani wote wanaotii amri za Mungu na kuuzingatia ukweli wa Yesu.

18 Na likajisimamia ukingoni mwa bahari.

Ufafanuzi
Wataalamu Waprotestanti wa Biblia wanakubaliana kusema kuwa huyo mwanamke anawakilisha taifa la Mungu (Kanisa au Israeli). 

Wakatoliki wanakubali, lakini wengi wao, kuanzia mababu wa KanisaAncient witnesses to the Marian interpretation include Epiphanius of Salamis, Ticonius, Quodvultdeus, Cassiodorus, Andreas of Caesarea and Oikoumenios., wanaongeza kwamba Bikira Maria kuliko wanawake wote ni kielelezo cha pekee cha mwanamke kadiri ya mpango wa Mungu, hivyo ni sura ya Kanisa na anadokezwa katika habari hizoSt. Pius X, Ad diem illum. ash 36. 458–59: "No one of us does not know that that woman signifies the Virgin Mary, who brought forth our Head with her virginity intact. But the Apostle continues: 'And being with child, she cried out, laboring in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. ' Therefore John saw the Most Holy Mother of God already enjoying eternal happiness, and yet laboring from some hidden birth. With what birth? Surely ours, we who, being yet detained in exile, are still to be brought forth to the perfect love of God and eternal happiness."Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus. AAS 42. 762–63: "We frequently find theologians and preachers who, following the footsteps of the Holy Fathers, use words and events from sacred Scripture with some freedom to explain their belief in the Assumption... . And furthermore, the Scholastic doctors have considered the Assumption of the Virgin Mother of God as signified not only in the various figures of the Old Testament, but also in that woman clothed with the sun, whom the Apostle John contemplated on the island of Patmos."Paul VI, Signum Magnum, May 13, 1967 AAS 59: "The great sign which the Apostle John saw in heaven, 'a woman clothed with the sun' is interpreted by the sacred liturgy, not without foundation, as referring to the most Blessed Mary, the Mother of all men by the grace of Christ the Redeemer."John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, March 15, 1987. Vatican Translation. #24: "... she who was the one 'full of grace' was brought into the mystery of Christ in order to be his Mother and thus the Holy Mother of God, through the Church remains in that mystery as 'the woman' spoken of by the Book of Genesis (3:15) at the beginning and by the Apocalypse (12:1) at the end of the history of salvation.".

Tanbihi

Vyanzo







Viungo vya nje

 Chivalric precursors to St. George and the Dragon, 14 images under Wikimedia:Virgin and Serpent
 Immaculata as Radiation of Fatherhood  126 images under Wikimedia:Mondsickelmadonna
 Scriptural parturition imagery of Revelation chapter 12, 24 images under Wikimedia:Woman of the Apocalypse
 Eastern icon of the type Matka Boska Ostrobramska – 28 images Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn at the Eastern Gate, Vilnius, Lithuania

Jamii:Kanisa
Jamii:Bikira Maria