Interpreting

the Book

of Revelation

Michaels, J. Ramsey

© 1992 by Baker Book House Company

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Book House Company

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516–6287

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Table of Contents

Editor’s Preface

Author’s Preface

Introduction

Part 1 General Considerations in the Exegesis of Revelation

1 Genre and Authorship

2 Historical and Social Setting

3 Problems of Structure

Part 2 Specific Examples of Exegesis in Revelation

4 Text Criticism

5 Grammar and Style

6 Narrative Criticism: The Voices of Revelation

7 Tradition History: Images Transformed

8 Theological Interpretation: The Horizons of Patmos

Selected Bibliography for the Book of Revelation

Editor’s Preface

Four literary types (genres) comprise the New Testament: the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters, and, finally, the Apocalypse. Each genre is distinct, and, as has been made abundantly clear by contemporary scholars, each requires different sensitivities, principles, and methods of interpretation. Consequently, applying the same method to different genres will often lead to serious misunderstandings. Consequently, students need manuals that will introduce them both to the specific nature of a particular genre and to basic principles for exegeting that genre.

The Guides to New Testament Exegesis series has specifically been designed to meet this need. These guides have been written, not for specialists, but for college religion majors, seminarians, and pastors who have had at least one year of Greek. Methods and principles may change, but the language of the New Testament remains the same. God chose to speak to people in Greek; serious students of the New Testament must learn to love that language in order to better understand the Word of God.

These guides also have a practical aim. Each guide presents various views of scholars on particular issues. Yet the ultimate goal of each is to provide methods and principles for interpreting the New Testament. Abstract discussions have their proper place, but not in this series; these guides are intended for concrete application ...