The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is canonically the last book of the New Testament. Written in Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text, apocalypse (), which means "revelation" or "unveiling". The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon, and occupies a central place in Christian eschatology.
The book spans three literary genres: the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, addressing letters to the "Seven Churches of Asia" with exhortations from Christ. He then describes a series of prophetic and symbolic visions preceding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These visions include figures such as a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars, the seven-headed Dragon, and the seven-headed Beast.
The author names himself as simply "John" in the text, but his precise identity remains a point of academic debate. The sometimes obscure and extravagant imagery of Revelation, with many allusions and numeric symbolism derived from the Old Testament, has allowed a wide variety of Christian interpretations throughout the history of Christianity.
Modern biblical scholarship views Revelation as a first-century apocalyptic message warning early Christian communities not to assimilate into Roman imperial culture, interpreting its vivid symbolism through historical, literary, and cultural lenses.
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" and "Apocalypse" are respectively a translation and an anglicisation of the original Koinē Greek word , 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 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 ( 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 (, 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 (), 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 () 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 () does not name it among the canonical books (Catechesis IV.33–36). Athanasius of Alexandria () in his Letter 39, Augustine of Hippo () in his book On Christian Doctrine (Book II, Chapter 8), Tyrannius Rufinus () in his Commentary on the Apostles' Creed, Pope Innocent I () in a letter to the bishop of Toulouse, and John of Damascus () 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 , 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. 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 (4th century), it is extant in the other great uncial codices: the (4th century), the (5th century), and the (5th century). In addition, there are numerous papyri, especially and (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.
The book also links several adversarial symbols by identifying the dragon as "that ancient serpent", "the Devil", and "Satan" (; ).
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.