Commentaries on Revelation

This chapter begins with a historical survey that reveals how much influence the historical context of the interpreter has had on interpretations of the book of Revelation. This is so for the interpretation of any piece of literature, but especially for a work like Revelation that is full of symbolism and believed to be normative for readers of every era. The majority of scholarly Bible commentaries, including those on Revelation, are written for the use of the church in preaching and teaching. The scholarly consensus today is that the historical-critical method gives the most accurate interpretation of the text of Revelation. There are a number of things to consider in any Revelation commentary: commentary size; its evaluation of Revelation's genre; the date of Revelation's composition; how to interpret the symbolism; Revelation's outline; commentator's ideological stance; and the commentary's application strategy. The chapter closes with comments on seven recent commentaries. Keywords:Bible commentaries; Jesus Christ; Revelation