Revelation commentary reviews.

G. K. Beale The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.).)

A must have tome for the scholar.

At 1309 pages this is not an easy read. This is a massive and detailed work suitable for the scholar and student already intimately familiar with Revelation. The interpretative approach is eclecticism or a Redemptive-Historical form of modified idealism that fits most within the overall interpretative framework of such past commentators as Caird, Johnson, Sweet, and above all Hendriksenand Wilcock, he found Mounce and Bauckham useful. He rightly uses the Old Testament allusions to try to interpret Revelation, but I think he relies too much on Daniel, resulting in him getting the wrong interpretation of the angel in chapter 10. He uncovers most stones, and frequently has a page or two to discuss detailed questions.

For the busy pastor you will probably be better spending your money on Osborne who is highly readable and still reasonably detailed.

Grant R. Osborne Revelation (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament). Hardcover: 869 pages, published in Dec 2002.

Excellent for students and teachers

More accessible for the student than Beale, he is very readable and lucid and the layout is clear. He compares the views of different commentators (useful because he includes Beale and Aune). He deals with most options on difficult passages before coming to his own conclusion. Despite its size he is not over detailed. His interpretation is eclectic, i.e. he combines preterist, idealist and futurist, with the futurist being primary rather than idealist. Premill on chap 20. Uses his own translation of the Greek, which is better than the NIV. He is very useful on the Greek and Greek text is transliterated. Footnotes are kept to a minimum and textual variants are left to the end of each section. There is a good bibliography and four indexes. The introduction is short (49 p) but adequate for the student. Comments on a paragraph at a time, individual verses are not indicated, which is a pity. He is a little weak on numerology and sometimes fails to see or mention contrasts such as the new Jerusalem the Bride and Babylon the whore. Overall however, a very useful commentary, which I highly recommend for students, teachers and preachers. I found him hard to put down, he reads so well. He bodes well to replace Mounce as the standard evangelical commentary for students, which is too short and now out of date.

Stephen S Smalley published Sep 2005, InterVarsity Press, 633pp

A good scholarly commentary

Excellent scholarly commentary based on the Greek text by a recognised Johannine scholar, less verbose than Beale, (a must buy for the scholar and advanced students). He follows Beale in being a modified idealist following Hendriksen, Caird, Sweet and Wilcock. He regards the author as being John the apostle and assumes an early date, but this is not noticable in his comments. His introduction is short, but he has already published "Thunder and Love" which covers much introductory material. He covers a section at a time under the headings: translation, textual variants, literary setting, comment, and theology. There are a number of useful excursuses. The commentary is based on the Greek, but the Greek is transliterated. At 633pp he is not as verbose as Beale and is far more readable. Students now have to choose between Mounce, Osborne and Smalley. He regards the first seal as "lust for power"; Ch 7 deals with the church on earth and in heaven; the two witnesses are the witnessing church; the woman of Ch 12 is the covenant community of God from both the OT and NT; Babylon is worldly, idolatrous, oppressive powers; on Ch 20 he is amillennial.

More Than Conquerors : An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation by William Hendriksen

A classic interpretation, recommended for the layman

This is a classic interpretation of Revelation and one that I recommend for the layman. The first edition came out in 1939. It is of the idealist and Amillennial School, which makes Revelation meaningful today and not just to the future. He recognises that the purpose of Revelation is to 'comfort the militant Church in its struggle against the forces of evil'. It is not a verse by verse commentary, he discusses one passage at a time, which means that the book is readable. He is, as you would expect, thoroughly biblical and avoids the speculative nonsense that surrounds Revelation today. If you want a scriptural interpretation of Revelation then I warmly commend this book to you.

Revelation by Craig S. Keener

Excellent for pastors and teachers

There are plenty of commentaries on Revelation. The scholar has Beale and Aune, the student has got the less detailed but scholarly Mounce, and the layman has the rightly popular Hendriksen. There are a lot of other good commentaries out there, but it is hard to find one that stands out from the crowd. This one by Professor Craig S Keener fills a need in that it is designed to apply the lessons of Revelation to contemporary life. Keener is no academic lightweight, he has already written a 1061 page commentary on Matthew, but he is no stodgy academic either, he is also actively involved in contemporary church life.

In the commentary he covers short sections of Revelation by first discussing the original meaning of the text, which he does reasonably well. Although I think more care is needed to bring out the meaning of the symbolism of Revelation. The layout could also be improved to make clearer which verse he is talking about. After the section on the original meaning there is a section which builds a bridge between the world of the bible and the world of today. Finally there is a longer section which applies the passage to contemporary western life. The pastor or teacher who has to teach Revelation will find this commentary very useful and it will help to answer the question. "Well what has all that Roman persecution got to do with us?" Craig Keener knows the Western church well enough to be suitably challenging in his application. He will also help to enlarge the horizon of an inward looking church. Because he applies Revelation to contemporary life a new edition will be required five to ten years hence.

The 576 page commentary is sufficiently detailed to answer the main questions posed by the text but it is not over detailed. The busy pastor will still need to supply some more analysis. The book has quite extensive footnotes, which can usually be ignored, and four indexes. Pastors and teachers will benefit from this book as well as students who want more than just an academic interest in Revelation. Good job Craig, look forward to the next edition.

Revelation (Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament) by Gerhard A. Krodel

Excellent for the pastor

This is an excellent commentary on Revelation for pastors, preachers and students looking to the pulpit. It is scholarly without being over academic and it is readable. He has the knack of getting to the spiritual meaning of the passage, which makes it especially valuable for pastors wanting to feed their flock. He rightly highlights the twin themes of worship and idolatry, rather than emphasising persecution thus making it more useful to the church in the West. He served as a pastor for four years and I have a strong suspicion that he still regularly preaches; the preacher could easily preach whole paragraphs from this volume.

The introduction is excellent for its history of the misinterpretation of Revelation. It has no footnotes, the Greek is kept to a minimum necessary to bring out the meaning of the text but it is sufficiently detailed to keep the preacher and student happy. The scholar may find that the lack of references to sources and a lack of an index frustrating. I might quibble with the author calling the four living creatures "God's pets", but this is a typical preachers prerogative. I certainly think that the publishers should have made the book from a larger paper size. However this is still one of the best commentaries available on Revelation today, especially for the preacher. Preachers looking for further application may find Keener useful, which does emphasise current day persecution.

Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New Testament Theology) (Paperback) 1993, 185 pages.

Highly regarded by scholars

This is not a commentary but deals with themes within Revelation. He is frequently cited by scholarly commentaries.

The Book of Revelation (New International Commentary on the New Testament) by Robert H. Mounce Revised edition (November 1997)

A classic

I regard the first edition of 1977 as a classic commentary on Revelation. If you already own the first edition it is not really worth upgrading to the revised edition. For the scholar Mounce has been overtaken by the much larger Beale. However for the student Mounce is still one of the best commentaries available, I used Mounce more than any other commentary on Revelation I owned and I would recommend it.

Standard evangelical tome today, but now I would buy Grant R. Osborne instead (see review above).

Revelation (IVP New Testament Commentary Series) by J. Ramsey Michaels

Useful for the pastor

Retired seminary professor Michaels has written a sound commentary, as you would expect coming from IVP. He has the advantage of having taught Revelation over many years in seminary, college, and church; the result is a mature reflective commentary. The commentary is not over technical, or large, there are useful footnotes as required and he comments on a passage rather than verse by verse. His writing style is a bit like D M Lloyd Jones so he is not a quick skim. It is meant to be read as a book and not dipped into. The text of Revelation is in italics and appears in small sections or individual words as he discusses a passage. The commentary could do with more detail, but as he says "writing a book, like making fine sculpture, is about knowing what to leave out" and this is a commentary that needs to be savored not gulped. The commentary would be useful to the pastor having the time to study and digest the passages, especially for those who have not preached beyond Rev 3. At the time Revelation was written the greatest danger to the church was complacency just as it is today.

I found his transformation of the seven trumpets to the two witnesses to be interesting; the first being unsuccessful while the second successful in achieving repentance among some of the earth's inhabitants. Worth getting for the pastor and the scholar, but not my first choice for the student, try Mounce, Krodel or Ladd.

A little too short for the student

The Revelation of Saint John (Black's New Testament Commentary, Vol 19) by George B. Caird

Readable and scholarly

The first edition came out 1966 and the second in 1984, the year he died. G B Caird is a well-respected NT scholar and was Dean Ireland's professor of exegesis of Holy Scripture, Oxford. At the time he wrote the first edition he thought he was swimming against the tide, but in fact he is pretty main stream. He was influenced by A M Farrer, but that is no bad thing. While scholarly, it is very readable, not much Greek and very few footnotes. He did his own translation from Greek to English, my only quibble is that he uses 'lamps' instead of 'lampstands' in 1:20, this difference is important because Jesus is the lamp (21:23). He tends to deal with a section at a time but verses are indicated and key words are in bold. It is not exhaustive or over-detailed and occasionally he has little to say, but when he has something to say he is worthwhile listening to. For the student this would not be my first choice, but if you already have a good working knowledge of Revelation you will enjoy Caird's thoughtful commentary, get it while it is still in print.

Revelationby Alan F. Johnson, Frank E. Gaebelein (Preface)

One of the better commentaries on Revelation

I have a large library of commentaries on Revelation as I have written one myself. There are many commentaries available on Revelation in the English speaking world and Alan Johnson's is one of the better ones. Not as large as Mounce or Beale but it has enough information to make it useful for the student, pastor or well read layman. It is very readable. It was originally part of vol 12 of the Expositor's Bible Commentary series. Now it is available as a single volume. For its price I would say it is a bargain.

Life Application Bible Commentary : Revelation (Life Application Bible Commentary) by Bruce B. Barton, et al

A readable commentary for the young Christian

This commentary is aimed for the young Christian and the group study leader. It is well designed and easy to navigate. It is also reasonably detailed and readable. Generally it gives the various alternative interpretations for difficult texts, including the rapture and millennium. The text of Revelation is in bold, and the comments are on one or two verses at a time, with the fragment of text being commented on highlighted in italics. It alternates between different modern bible versions, which I found annoying. It does a reasonable job of interpreting the meaning of the symbols. It includes additional tables and maps, an index, application notes and classic quotes from noted Christian thinkers.

There are instances of sloppy interpretation or editing, such as saying that the church at Ephesus was filled with pride, which is not what the text says, pride applies more to Laodicea. The mighty angel of 10:1 becomes an archangel by 10:2. On page 173 it misquotes Tertullian by saying, "The blood of the martyrs is seed" it should be "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" (or seedbed of the church). However these are minor criticisms on what is basically a sound commentary.

Its strength is that it avoids the crass sensationalism and fiction of some modern interpretations and in general it follows the interpretation given by the more scholarly commentaries, which is to be welcomed. It is readable and not over technical and will help make Revelation meaningful to the young Christian. It is not so brief as to be useless but it packs quite a lot of information in its 284 pages making it worth buying.

The study leader will find Keener useful for application and Johnson or Krodel useful for further detail, with Mounce as a more scholarly reference. Other useful commentaries for the layman are Hendriksen and Ladd.

Revelation, 1-11 (Geneva Series of Commentaries) by James B. Ramsey

Spiritual but difficult for the modern reader

A pious study and difficult for the modern reader, but it gives the most spiritual interpretation of any commentary, a pity he did not write on the second half of Revelation. Not a light read but worth a serious study.

A Commentary on the Revelation of John by George Eldon Ladd

A readable commentary on Revelation

This is one of the better verse by verse commentaries on Revelation. It is very readable making it suitable for the layman and there is sufficient information to make it a good introduction for the student. He assumes the traditional late date and uses a mixture of the preterist and futurist interpretation in which the beast is both Rome and the eschatological Antichrist. He sees Revelation as a prophecy about the destiny of the church, the 144,000 being the church, although he sees the two witnesses as two eschatological prophets rather than the church. There is little or no Greek and footnotes are kept to a minimum.

The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation by David Chilton

Superb preterist interpretation of Revelation

The author assumes an early date for the book of Revelation, as does Gentry (pre AD 70 rather than AD 95). He is post mill and assumes that Revelation is talking about the fall of Jerusalem in AD 66-70 (3.5 years). While I reject his position, because he is not entirely convincing as is postmillennialism, in my opinion, this is a superb commentary, it is not an easy read, but this guy knows his scripture. It is a must for scholars and those familiar with Revelation and scholarly commentaries.

The Lion and the Lamb : A Commentary on the Book of Revelation for Today by John P. Newport

One of the best laymans guides to Revelation available

Extensive coverage of the methods of interpreting Revelation. The author started out as dispensational and gradually changed to historical-premil. Quotes other good authors on Revelation such as Mounce, Johnson as well as Hal Lindsey. Includes short essays on important topics. As one who has read the more academic commentaries on Revelation I recommend this for the layman. Excellent value for money.

Revelation and the End of All Things by Craig R. Koester

Readable and lucid for the layman

Craig has written a very readable guide on Revelation that is aimed for the layman and group study leader. He has a useful introduction followed by six chapters that deal with 3-4 chapters of Revelation at a time. He is good at explaining how its first century readers would have understood Revelation to apply in their situation. There are times when he penetrates to the heart of the message of Revelation, and at some other times he is less lucid. Happily he avoids the hype and nonsense that is given by some popular interpretations today. He has clearly thought about the issues raised by Revelation and he is gifted in being able to explain his understanding in lucid and readable non-technical language. While the book is not over detailed for the layman, for the student a more detailed version would be preferred. Never the less because of the clear prose and useful insight the book could serve as an introduction for the student.

Louis A. Brighton, Revelation (Concordia Commentary) (Hardcover) 1999, 673 pages

Amillennial.

This commentary gets excellent reviews on Amazon. I think that he gets a couple of things wrong, but I love his summary of Chapter 7. Refering to the 144,000 and the great multitude, he says that they are "the church militant on earth and the church triumphant in heaven". He is quite correct and sums it up beautifully and for this alone I would recommend him. Needless to say you won't find any dispensationalism here.

One of the better dispensational commentaries.

The first edition came out in 1966 when there were not that many good commentaries available, and I think he has done a good job, even though I do not agree with his dispensational theology, in which the church is no where to be found after chapter 3. He has a tendency to quote other commentators a lot. He is good on the Greek and mentions textual variations. Futurist approach, widely read in America, it gives a good summary of the dispensational futurist school, much is based on Alford (350 pp), he is readable. Certainly a better commentary than LaHaye.

Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary by Robert L. Thomas 524p. 1992

A dispensational commentary for the scholar.

This is a two volume set, the second volume (chapters 8-22) is 690 pages. Although dispensational it is useful for the scholar because it goes into the Greek and he discusses various alternative interpretations.

The Book of Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, 20) by Canon Leon, Rev. Morris, Leon Morris 256p.

Uninspiring, but OK, starter for the layman

First issued in 1969 and revised in 1987, good scholarly summary, mainly preterist approach (Roman). Would suite the layman or student approaching Revelation for the first time, not really enough detail, but but you get what you pay for. One of the smaller and cheaper commentaries, good value, not over detailed. It is an OK introduction but not very inspiring. On the plus side he is amillennial and coming from IVP/Eerdmans theologically sound, which won't get you left behind:-).

Revelation (New International Biblical Commentary) by Robert W. Wall

Simple starter for the student

This is a well designed commentary on Revelation, but with insufficient content. It deals with a few verses at a time with key words in bold. There are end notes at the end of each chapter. It is based on the NIV translation. He interacts with some of the other commentaries. It has a bibliography, subject index and scripture index. You will find this useful if you are looking for something simple to get you started in your study of Revelation. It is not very detailed, if you want something more detailed in the same price range I would suggest Johnson. However for something simple and at a good price this is a good start, but you will find that it must be supplemented with a more detailed commentary later.

too short to be useful

Revelation 1 - 11 (MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series) by John, Jr. MacArthur

Shows his dispensational bias

While in general MacArthur's commentaries are good, in the case of Revelation his dispensational bias emasculates Revelation after chap 3. He does, as you would expect, do justice to the letters to the seven churches, especially Smyrna where he relates the martyrdom of Polycarp. His mention of the Greek is useful.

His dispensational and pre-tribulation bias appears in his comments about Philadelphia (3:10). When discussing Rev 4:1 he falls into the familiar trap of saying that the church is nowhere mentioned in chaps 4-19 (p 145) and things go downhill from there. We get the usual litany of dispensational interpretations of Revelation; the 144,000 are a select group of Jewish believer (p 219); 11:1-2 refers to a rebuilt Jewish temple and a restored sacrificial system (p 294); the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah (p 300). One wonders why MacArthur writes a commentary on Revelation in the first place if the church is nowhere to be seen after chap 3. I have to ask how the 144,000 get converted if there is no one to evangelize them. While I agree that the word church does not occur in chap 4-19 what about the word 'saints' which occurs 12 times, not to mention 'servants' 6 times and 'prophets' 6 times. The more mainstream commentaries clearly do find the church after chap 3. Revelation has been a source of comfort to persecuted believers ever since it was written; shortly after which the church went through over two hundred years of persecution until the time of Constantine.

I would rather not recommend MacArthur's commentary on Revelation; you would get a more balanced and relevant approach from the likes of Mounce, Krodel, Ladd, Johnson and Newport (who is useful because he came out from the dispensational system).

MacArthur ought to know better

Revelation (Tpi New Testament Commentaries) by John Philip McMurdo Sweet

One of many medium length commentaries out there

There are many medium length commentaries on Revelation, most of them are OK as far as it goes and this is one of them. He comments on a word or a phrase at a time and it appears to be a set of notes for his class on Revelation or a set of notes for a full length commentary he did not complete. He also introduces each passage he is about to discuss. The commentary is not really a starter for the student, his introduction is patchy, and the commentary is not full enough to be a main commentary for the student. However, he has clearly thought through Revelation and his comments are usually appropriate and frequently helpful. He writes from his own perspective and the commentaries he had available in 1979. He includes liturgical aspects of Revelation which can be helpful at times. His comments on the Greek are useful, for example, when the dragon `pursued' the woman in ch12, it can also mean `persecuted'. The commentary is worth getting if you have the main commentaries on Revelation and already have a good working knowledge of the book. J. P. M. Sweet is Chaplain and Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge.

Revelation Unveiled by Tim F. Lahaye

Sincere, but sincerely wrong

Revelation Unveiled is the revised and updated edition of Revelation - illustrated and made plain (1973). The plot is simple, by Rev 4:2 the church has been raptured and those left behind go through the tribulation. Thus Revelation chapters 4 -19 are made totally irrelevant to the church who will be in heaven. LaHaye's interpretation is a distinctly dispensational view and is at odds with the other modern mainstream commentaries on Revelation. His commentary is also one of the few that indulges in Catholic bashing.

His interpretation relies on a very shaky interpretation of the letter to the church in Philadelphia especially in Rev 3:10 (p 81). And an even more shaky interpretation of Rev 4:1-2 in which John is summoned in the spirit to heaven (p 99). John is in heaven in the spirit, it is not a bodily rapture because his body remained firmly in Patmos and we cannot therefore take this event to symbolise the bodily rapture of the church. LaHaye notes that the absence of the word 'church' in the rest of Revelation indicates that it is not on earth during the tribulation (p 100). This is a poor argument because 'Israel' is not mentioned after Rev 7:4 until Rev 21:12, are we to assume that Israel is raptured after Rev 7:4? While the word 'church' is not found after Rev 3:22 until Rev 22:16 we do find 'saints' mentioned 12 times after Rev 3:22, 'servants' 11 times, 'prophets' eight times and 'brothers' four times. Not all of these references are to those on the earth but some are, see Rev 13:7 and 10 for example. He also states that the extensive use of OT language in Ch 4-18 indicates Israel not the church, however the whole of Revelation from Ch 1 - 22 has allusions to the OT.

He holds that the seven churches represent the seven ages of church history, which was popular when I was a young Christian at college. However the problem is that the seventh and last church (Laodicea see Rev 3:14) is the lukewarm church that Christ is about to spew out of his mouth. Now we all like to think that we live in the last days, but according to the church age view we are lukewarm. This is no problem to LaHaye, he says that the first three church ages are consecutive but the last four are parallel, all ending with the rapture (Philadelphia) or tribulation, the Laodiceans get left behind (p 24 and 84).

He claims that this book represents the theology used for the 'Left Behind' fiction series, but he gets his theology wrong. By all means buy his "Left Behind" books and 'Revelation Unveiled' and enjoy them as fiction. Don't just take my word for it, read a few other commentaries on Revelation and judge for yourself. For a more balanced interpretation of Revelation get Hendriksen, for the layman try Ladd, students try Krodel and for the young Christian try Barton (all available from Amazon).

The dispensationalists always emasculate the book of Revelation