Book of Revelation

Composition and setting

Title, authorship, and date

The book's most common English name is "[Book of] Revelation". It is also called "[Book of] the Apocalypse" (for example in the Roman Catholic Church), "Revelation to John", or "Apocalypse of St. John". Abbreviations of these are "Rev." (traditional), "Rv" (shorter), or "Apoc." These names are derived from the incipit to the text (Revelation 1:1):

Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεός, δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει, καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ, τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάνῃ.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.

"Revelation" and "Apocalypse" are respectively a translation and an anglicisation of the original Koinē Greek word ἀποκάλυψις, which can also mean "unveiling". In the original Greek, the word is singular, so the name "Revelations" sometimes found in English is often considered erroneous.

The author names himself as simply "John" in the text, and states in Revelation 1:9 that he is on the island of Patmos, and so he is conventionally called "John of Patmos". He was a Jewish–Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets, and was accepted by the congregations to whom he addressed his letter. The New Testament canon has four other "Johannine works" ascribed to authors named John, and a tradition dating from Irenaeus (c. 130 – c. 202 AD) identifies John the Apostle as the author of all five. The idea of a Johannine community has been increasingly challenged, and there is no consensus among scholars today. John of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation separately.

The Book of Revelation is commonly dated to about 95 AD, as suggested by clues in the visions pointing to the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian (81–96), The Beast with seven heads and the number 666 seem to allude directly to the Emperor Nero (reigned 54–68), but this does not imply that the book was written in the 60s, as there was a widespread belief in later decades that Nero would return.

Genre

The Book of Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy, with an epistolary introduction addressed to the "Seven Churches" of Asia Minor with exhortations from Christ. The seven cities where these churches were located are close together, and the island of Patmos is near the western coast of the Anatolian Peninsula. The first word of the text, apocalypse (Koine Greek: ἀποκάλυψις, translit. apokálypsis), which means "revelation" or "unveiling", refers to the revealing of divine mysteries; John is to write down what is revealed (what he sees in his vision) and send it to the seven churches. The entire book constitutes the prophecy—the letters to the seven individual churches are introductions to the rest of the book, which is addressed to all seven. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author sees himself as a Christian prophet: Revelation uses the word in various forms 21 times, more than any other New Testament book.

Sources

The predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament, although it is difficult among scholars to agree on the exact number of allusions or the allusions themselves. Revelation rarely quotes directly from the Old Testament, yet its composition alludes to or echoes ideas in older Hebrew scriptures. Over half of the references stem from Daniel, Ezekiel, Psalms, Isaiah, and Zechariah, with Daniel providing the largest number in proportion to length and Ezekiel standing out as the most influential. Because these references appear as allusions rather than as quotes, it is difficult to know whether the author used the Hebrew or the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures, but he was often influenced by the Greek.

Setting

Modern understanding has been that the Book of Revelation was written to comfort beleaguered Christians as they underwent religious persecution at the hands of a Roman Emperor. This is not the only interpretation, however; Domitian may not have been a cruel despot imposing the Roman imperial cult upon his subjects, and there may not have been any systematic empire-wide persecution of Christians in his time. Revelation may instead have been composed in the context of an existential conflict within the early Christian communities of Asia Minor over whether to engage with, or withdraw from, the far larger non-Christian world. Mark B. Stephens argues that the Book of Revelation chastised those Christians who wanted to reach an accommodation with the Roman State. This is not to say that Christians in Asia Minor were not suffering due to withdrawal from and defiance of the wider Roman society, which imposed very real penalties; Revelation offered a victory over this reality by offering an apocalyptic hope. In the words of professor Adela Yarbro Collins, "What ought to be was experienced as a present reality."

Canonical history

Revelation was among the last books accepted into the Christian biblical canon, and to the present day some churches that derive from the Church of the East reject it. Eastern Christians became skeptical of the book as doubts concerning its authorship and unusual style were reinforced by aversion to its acceptance by Montanists and other groups considered to be heretical. This distrust of the Book of Revelation persisted in the Christian East for a long time, through the 15th century.

Dionysius (c. 248), bishop of Alexandria and disciple of Origen, wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus, although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was its writer. He regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired Christian, but not of John the Apostle. Similarly, Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History (c. 330) argues that the Book of Revelation was accepted as a canonical book by some early Church Fathers and rejected as spurious by others at the same time.

The Book of Revelation is counted as both accepted and disputed, which has caused some confusion over what exactly Eusebius meant by doing so. The disputation can perhaps be attributed to Origen, who seems to have accepted it in his writings. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 348) does not name it among the canonical books (Catechesis IV.33–36). Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 367) in his Letter 39, Augustine of Hippo (c. 397) in his book On Christian Doctrine (Book II, Chapter 8), Tyrannius Rufinus (c. 400) in his Commentary on the Apostles' Creed, Pope Innocent I (c. 405) in a letter to the bishop of Toulouse, and John of Damascus (c. 730) in his work An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (Book IV:7) listed "the Revelation of John the Evangelist" as a canonical book.

Synods

The Council of Laodicea (363) omitted it as a canonical book.

The Latin text Decretum Gelasianum, written by an anonymous scholar between 519 and 553, contains a list of books of scripture presented as having been reckoned as canonical by the Council of Rome (382). This list mentions it as a part of the New Testament canon.

The Synod of Hippo (393), followed by the First Council of Carthage (397), the Second Council of Carthage (419), the Council of Florence (1442), and the Council of Trent (1546), classified it as a canonical book.

The Apostolic Canons, approved by the Eastern Orthodox Council in Trullo in 692, but rejected by Pope Sergius I, omit it.

Protestant Reformation

Biblical criticism and doubts on the biblical canon resurfaced among Renaissance scholars and Christian theologians during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Former Augustinian friar and German reformer Martin Luther called Revelation "neither apostolic nor prophetic" in the 1522 preface to his translation of the New Testament (he revised his position with a much more favorable assessment in 1530); Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli labelled it "not a book of the Bible", and it was the only New Testament book on which John Calvin did not write a commentary. As of 2026, Revelation remains the only New Testament book not read in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Roman Catholic and Protestant liturgies include it.

Texts and manuscripts

There are fewer manuscripts of the Book of Revelation than of any other text of the New Testament. As of 2020, in total, there are 310 manuscripts of Revelation. This number includes 7 papyri, 12 majuscules, and 291 minuscules. But, in fact, not all of them are available for research. Some of them have been burned, vanished, or been categorized wrongly. While it is not extant in the Codex Vaticanus (4th century), it is extant in the other great uncial codices: the Codex Sinaiticus (4th century), the Codex Alexandrinus (5th century), and the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (5th century). In addition, there are numerous papyri, especially 𝔓47 and 𝔓115 (both 3rd century); minuscules (8th to 10th century); and fragmentary quotations in the Church fathers of the 2nd to 5th centuries and the 6th-century Greek commentary on Revelation by Andreas.

Structure and content

Literary structure

Divisions in the book seem to be marked by the repetition of key phrases, by the arrangement of subject matter into blocks, and associated with its Christological passages, such as invocations of seven. Nevertheless, there is a "complete lack of consensus" among scholars about the structure of Revelation. The following is therefore an outline of the book's contents rather than of its structure.

Symbolism

Much use is made of significant numbers, especially the number seven, which represented perfection according to ancient numerology.

A significant feature of apocalyptic writing is the use of symbolic colors, metals, garments, and numbers (four signifies the world, six imperfection, seven totality or perfection, twelve Israel's tribes or the apostles, one thousand immensity). [...] One would find it difficult and repulsive to visualize a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes; yet Jesus Christ is described in precisely such words (Rev 5:6). The author used these images to suggest Christ's universal (seven) power (horns) and knowledge (eyes).

The book also links several adversarial symbols by identifying the dragon as "that ancient serpent", "the Devil", and "Satan" (Revelation 12:9; Revelation 20:2).

Outline

Outline of the book of Revelation:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

The Revelation of Jesus Christ is communicated to John through prophetic visions. (1:1–9)

John is instructed by the "one like a son of man" to write all that he hears and sees, from the prophetic visions, to the Seven Churches of Asia. (1:10–13)

The appearance of the "one like a son of man" is given, his hair is white like fine wool and snow, his feet like bronze, and he reveals what the seven stars and seven lampstands represent. (1:14–20)

Messages for seven churches of Asia. These take the literary form of Persian ruler letters: purported royal decrees inscribed at major pagan temples to establish their ancient bona fides by demonstrating royal management: this still-contemporary form typically had sentences of proclamation, knowledge, praise, admonition, and judgment.

Ephesus: From this church, he "who overcomes is granted to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." (2:1–7)

Praised for not bearing those who are evil, testing those who say they are apostles and are not, and finding them to be liars; hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans; having persevered and possessing patience.

Admonished to "do the first works" and to repent for having left their "first love."

Smyrna (modern İzmir): From this church, those who are faithful until death, will be given "the crown of life." He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. (2:8–11)

Praised for being "rich" while impoverished and in tribulation.

Interpretations

Revelation has a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from the simple historical interpretation, to a prophetic view on what will happen in the future by way of God's will and the Woman's (traditionally believed to be the Virgin Mary) victory over Satan ("symbolic interpretation"), to different end time scenarios ("futurist interpretation"), to the views of critics who deny any spiritual value to Revelation at all, ascribing it to a human-inherited archetype.

Liturgical interpretations concentrate on the vision of the divine liturgy which Christians participate in by their earthy liturgies.

Historicist interpretations see Revelation as containing a broad view of history.

Preterist interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of the Apostolic Age (1st century), or, at the latest, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.

Futurist interpretations see Revelation as describing future events with the seven churches growing into the body of believers throughout the age, and a reemergence or continuous rule of a Greco-Roman system with modern capabilities described by John in ways familiar to him.

Idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.

Early church fathers did not treat Revelation in any detail. The Western and Eastern theologians developed independent theological approaches: in the West, Jerome reworked the c. 300 first Latin commentary of Victorinus of Pettau, downplaying millennialist/chilliast interpretations, while in the East Andreas of Caesarea reworked the c.600 first Greek commentary of Oikoumenios, with the calm judgement that the end-times had not then arrived.

Liturgical

The visions of the book are "presented with a framework of liturgical activities, and toward the end of the book it is hardly possible to dissociate the acts of worship from the vision of the future," according to Protestant theologian Otto A. Piper. John was taken up in "on the Lord's day", perhaps during the primitive liturgy, presumably based on Jewish synagogue models: Piper suggests that the visions disclose "the divine purpose and heavenly realities behind them."

This interpretation draws out that John is seeing the liturgy of heaven: Lutheran historian Paul Westermeyer comments "It is a "revelation" about God's goodness, mercy, and power over evil in a cosmic view, not a secret code for our calendars. Revelation sings a new song of proclamation, praise, and rejoicing by voices of multitudes gathered around a great supper of the Lamb, punctuated by other sounds."

Revelation mentions various objects of John's vision of the angelic liturgy: an altar, robes, candles, incense, manna, chalices, the sign of the cross, references to the Lamb and to Mary, etc.

Revelation sets an exemplar of the angelic liturgy which earthly liturgies should emulate, join and anticipate, in a view associated with Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite' Celestial Hierarchy. Otto A. Piper has suggested that Revelation discloses many Primitive Church theological and liturgical emphases or impulses, such as the church's participation in angelic worship, the worthiness of the interpreter of scripture, the liturgy as a spiritual battle, and the connection between Confession of Sins and the Eucharist, some being still current: "the description of the heavenly liturgy in Revelation was patterned after the actual liturgy of the Primitive Church."

For Catholic theologian Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI):

With its vision of the cosmic liturgy, in the midst of which stands the Lamb who was sacrificed, the Apocalypse has presented the essential contents of the eucharistic sacrament in an impressive form that sets a standard for every local liturgy. From the point of view of the Apocalypse, the essential matter of all eucharistic liturgy is its participation in the heavenly liturgy; it is from thence that it necessarily derives its unity, its catholicity, and its universality.

Eschatological

The book occupies a central place in Christian eschatology. Its sometimes obscure and extravagant imagery, with many allusions and numeric symbolism derived from the Old Testament, has allowed a wide variety of Christian interpretations throughout the history of Christianity. Most Christian interpretations fall into one or more of the following categories:

Historicism, which sees in Revelation a broad view of history;

Preterism, in which Revelation mostly refers to the events of the apostolic era (1st century) or the fall of Jerusalem or the Roman Empire;

Futurism, which believes that Revelation describes future events (modern believers in this interpretation are often called "millennialists"); and

Idealism/Allegoricalism, which holds that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events, but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.

Additionally, there are significant differences in interpretation of the thousand years (the "millennium") mentioned in Revelation 20:2.

Premillennialism, which holds a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers literal interpretations of the content of the book;

Amillennialism, which rejects a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers allegorical interpretations of the content of the book; and

Postmillennialism, which includes both literal and allegorical interpretations of the "millennium" but views the Second Coming as following the conversion to Christianity of a gradually improving world.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops the Book of Revelation contains an account of visions in symbolic and allegorical language borrowed extensively from the Old Testament. Symbolic descriptions are not to be taken as literal descriptions, nor is the symbolism meant to be pictured realistically.

Aesthetic and literary

Literary writers and theorists have contributed to a wide range of theories about the origins and purpose of the Book of Revelation.

Victorian poet Christina Rossetti's The Face of the Deep is a meditation upon the Apocalypse in the form of a verse-by-verse commentary. In her view, what Revelation has to teach is patience. Patience is the closest to perfection the human condition allows. Her book, which is largely written in prose, frequently breaks into poetry or jubilation, much like Revelation itself. The relevance of John's visions belongs to Christians of all times as a continuous present meditation. Such matters are eternal and outside of normal human reckoning. "That winter which will be the death of Time has no promise of termination. Winter that returns not to spring ... – who can bear it?" She dealt deftly with the vengeful aspects of John's message. "A few are charged to do judgment; everyone without exception is charged to show mercy." Her conclusion is that Christians should see John as "representative of all his brethren" so they should "hope as he hoped, love as he loved".

Charles Cutler Torrey taught Semitic languages at Yale University. He championed the view that prophets, such as the scribe of Revelation, are much more meaningful when treated as poets first and foremost. He thought this was a point often lost sight of because most English bibles render everything in prose. Torrey insisted Revelation had originally been written in Aramaic. However, Old Testament scholar Christopher R. North said of Torrey's earlier Isaiah theory, "Few scholars of any standing have accepted his theory." Torrey proposed that the three major songs in Revelation (the new song, the song of Moses and the Lamb and the chorus at 19:6–8) each fall naturally into four regular metrical lines plus a coda. Other dramatic moments in Revelation, such as 6:16 where the terrified people cry out to be hidden, behave in a similar way.

D. H. Lawrence took an opposing (to, e.g., Rossetti), pessimistic view of Revelation in the final book he wrote, Apocalypse. He saw the language which Revelation used as being bleak and destructive; a 'death-product'. His specific aesthetic objections to Revelation were that its imagery was unnatural and that phrases like "the wrath of the Lamb" were "ridiculous". He saw Revelation as comprising two discordant halves. In the first, there was a scheme of cosmic renewal in "great Chaldean sky-spaces", which he quite liked. After that, Lawrence thought, the book became preoccupied with the birth of the baby messiah and "flamboyant hate and simple lust ... for the end of the world".

Academic

Modern biblical scholarship attempts to understand Revelation in its 1st-century historical context within the genre of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature. This approach considers the text as an address to seven historical communities in Asia Minor. Under this interpretation, assertions that "the time is near" are to be taken literally by those communities. Consequently, the work is viewed as a warning not to conform to contemporary Greco-Roman society which John "unveils" as beastly, demonic, and subject to divine judgment.

New Testament narrative criticism also places Revelation in its first century historical context but approaches the book from a literary perspective. For example, narrative critics examine characters and characterization, literary devices, settings, plot, themes, point of view, implied reader, implied author, and other constitutive features of narratives in their analysis of the book.

Although the acceptance of Revelation into the canon has, from the beginning, been controversial, it has been essentially similar to the career of other texts. The eventual exclusion of other contemporary apocalyptic literature from the canon may throw light on the unfolding historical processes of what was officially considered orthodox, what was heterodox, and what was even heretical. Considering what Revelation's historical author intended to convey with his imagery and what would have been inferred by a contemporary audience, modern biblical scholarship interprets the book as a message to Christians not to assimilate into Roman imperial culture. Thus, the letter (written in the apocalyptic genre) is pastoral in nature (its purpose is offering hope to the downtrodden), and the symbolism of Revelation is to be understood entirely within its historical, literary, and social context. Critics study the conventions of apocalyptic literature and events of the 1st century to make sense of the author's potential intent.

Old Testament origins

Much of Revelation employs ancient sources, primarily but not exclusively from the Old Testament. For example, Howard-Brook and Gwyther regard the Book of Enoch as an equally significant but contextually different source. "Enoch's journey has no close parallel in the Hebrew scriptures."

English-language academics showed little interest in this topic until recently. A Scottish commentary from 1871 prefaces Revelation 4 with the Little Apocalypse of Mark 13, places Malachi 4:5 ("Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord") within Revelation 11 and writes Revelation 12:7 side by side with the role of "the Satan" in the Book of Job. The message is that everything in Revelation will happen in its previously appointed time.

New Testament scholar Steve Moyise used the index of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament to show that "Revelation contains more Old Testament allusions than any other New Testament book, but it does not record a single quotation." Perhaps significantly, Revelation chooses different sources than other New Testament books. Revelation concentrates on Isaiah, Psalms, and Ezekiel, while neglecting, comparatively speaking, the books of the Pentateuch that are the dominant sources for other New Testament writers.

Yet, with Revelation, the problems might be judged more fundamental. The author seems to be using his sources in a completely different way to the originals. For example, the author borrows the 'new temple' imagery of Ezekiel 40–48 but uses it to describe a New Jerusalem which, quite pointedly, no longer needs a temple because it is God's dwelling. New Testament scholar Ian Boxall writes that Revelation "is no montage of biblical quotations (that is not John's way) but a wealth of allusions and evocations rewoven into something new and creative." In trying to identify this "something new", Boxall argues that Ezekiel provides the 'backbone' for Revelation. He sets out a comparative table listing the chapters of Revelation in sequence and linking most of them to the structurally corresponding chapter in Ezekiel. The interesting point is that the order is not the same. John, on this theory, rearranges Ezekiel to suit his own purposes.

Some commentators argue that it is these purposes—and not the structure—which really matter. New Testament scholar G. K. Beale believes that, however much John makes use of Ezekiel, his ultimate purpose is to present Revelation as a fulfillment of Daniel 7. New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham has argued that John presents an early view of the Trinity through his descriptions of the visions and his identifying Jesus and the Holy Spirit with YHWH. New Testament scholar Brandon Smith has expanded on both of their proposals while proposing a "trinitarian reading" of Revelation, arguing that John uses Old Testament language and allusions from various sources to describe a multiplicity of persons in YHWH without sacrificing monotheism, which would later be codified in the trinitarian doctrine of Nicene Christianity.

Olivet discourse

According to James Stuart Russell, the book is an exposition of Olivet Discourse found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Russell suggests there are parallels between the prophecy told by Jesus to the disciples and the prophecy recorded in the Book of Revelation, such as wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, false prophets, the darkening of the sun and moon, and stars falling from heaven.

Liturgical usage

The Revised Common Lectionary draws its readings for the Sundays of the Easter season in Year C from the Book of Revelation.

Figures in Revelation

In order of appearance: