Synopses & Reviews
This book is the first of its kind: an innovative socio-rhetorical commentary on the Book of Revelation. Without sacrificing scholarly perspective or academic rigor, it is written to be accessible for a wide audience--including pastors, scholars, teachers, seminarians, and interested lay people. A "Suggested Reading List"--a feature of all volumes in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary--will serve as point of entry for the new serious student of Revelation and as a helpful annotated bibliography for all readers. Frequent "Closer-Look" sections examine key elements of the Roman-Greco world that bear on the text's meaning while "Bridging the Horizons" sub-chapters connect this world with the cultural, political, and religious environments of today. The entire NRSV translation is provided throughout the text as a convenience to the reader. Award-winning author Ben Witherington III brings a New Testament scholar's insight to the often opaque passages of the last book of the New Testament.
Review
"Witherington has such felicitious turns of phrase and a manner of writing that makes reading such dense material delightful. I would especially recommend this book for faculty in the humanities who wish to learn about the Book of Revelation without getting bogged down in the usual inside exchange among biblical scholars; that sort of exclusive conversation does not happen in the text for its notes. I would also recommend this book to the biblical scholar who still thinks that the historical critical method is the only real tool at our disposal; W. has convincingly demonstrated that socio-rhetorical criticism can meaningfully enhance the findings of historical criticism (and, so, yes, Witherington has alson shown that historical criticism is still the most fundamental tool in the box)." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Synopsis
This is an innovative socio-rhetorical commentary on the Book of Revelation. Without sacrificing scholarly perspective or academic rigor, it is written to be accessible for a wide audience. A 'Suggested Reading List" serves as point of entry for the new serious scholar of Revelation.
Table of Contents
Part I. Introduction: 1. Authorship, date and audience of the apocalypse; 2. The resources, rhetoric and restructuring of Revelation; 3. Revelation in its social setting in West Asia Minor; 4. The christology of Revelation; 5. The genre of Revelation; 6. A brief tour of the Book of Revelation; Part II. Suggested Reading on Revelation: 1. The genre of Revelation; 2. Commentaries; 3. Rhetorical studies; 4. Sociological and anthropological approaches; 5. Classical and archeological resources; 6. History of interpretation; 7. Theology; 8. Important monographs; 9. Articles of interest; Part III. Commentary: 1. Rev. 1.1-3: Visionary material: handle carefully; 2. Rev. 1.4'"1.20: The Heavenly Son of Man; 3. Rev. 2'"3: postcards from the edge; 4. Rev. 4'"5: the throne room vision; 5. Rev. 6.1'"8.5: The Seven Seals; 6. Rev. 8.5-11: The Seven Trumpets; 7. Rev. 12: The woman and the dragon; 8. Rev. 13.1'"14.5: 666 and his spokesman; 9. Rev. 14.6'"14.20: Three angelic messengers; 10. Rev. 15.1'"16.21: The seven eschatological plagues; 11. Rev. 17.1'"19.10: Babylon the Harlot; 12. Rev. 19.11'"21.8: The rider on the white horse, redemptive-judgment and the messianic millennium; 13. Rev. 21.9'"22.5: The tour of the New Jerusalem; 14. Rev. 22.6'"22.21: The epilogue; Part IV. Appendix: A Millennial Problem; Index.