Aune, David E. Revelation. 3 vols. Word Biblical Commentary 52a–c. Dallas: Word, 1997–1998. The most thorough examination of Greco-Roman parallels to images and concepts in Revelation, and, with Beale, the most up-to-date and thorough Revelation commentary.

Beale, Gregory K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. Including a massive amount of information in a single volume, this will prove the most useful Revelation commentary for many readers; with Aune, this is the most up-to-date and thorough Revelation commentary to date (though released too recently for discussion in this commentary as fully as it merits).

Beasley-Murray, G. R. The Book of Revelation. The New Century Bible. Greenwood, S.C.: Attic; London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1974. One of the most thorough and useful commentaries on Revelation, providing detailed discussion of the background and various views on each passage.

Boring, M. Eugene. Revelation. Interpretation. Louisville: John Knox, 1989. This work is thorough and nuanced in explaining interpretive methods, as well as concerned with application from a mainline Protestant perspective.

Bowman, John Wick. The First Christian Drama: The Book of Revelation. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968. This is a popular-level, readable, conservative, amillennial work, which views the Tribulation as the entire course of history from the first to the second coming.

Caird, G. B. A Commentary on the Revelation of Saint John the Divine. Harper’s New Testament Commentaries. New York: Harper & Row, 1966. Like Beasley-Murray above, one of the most thorough and useful commentaries on Revelation, providing detailed discussion of the background and various views on each passage.

Corsini, Eugenio. The Apocalypse: The Perennial Revelation of Jesus Christ. Translated and edited by Francis J. Moloney. Good News Studies 5. Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1983. Despite some good insights, this work forces Revelation’s images into a salvation-historical interpretation they cannot naturally fit.

Ellul, Jacques. Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation. Translated by George W. Schreiner. New York: Seabury, 1977.

Feuillet, André. The Apocalypse. Staten Island, N.Y.: Alba House, 1965. This book is especially helpful for its breadth of bibliographic work up to its time.

Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. The Book of Revelation: Justice and Judgment. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985. This work provides numerous exegetical insights and is concerned with some liberationist themes and applications in the book.

Ford, J. Massyngberde. Revelation. Anchor Bible 38. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1975. Despite some eccentricities (especially her view that much of the work stems from prophecies of John the Baptist), this work provides much helpful background, especially from Jewish sources.

González, Catherine Gunsalus, and Justo L. González. Revelation. Westminster Bible Companion. Louisville, K.Y.: Westminster/John Knox, 1997.

Johnson, Alan F. Revelation. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996. Evangelical, premillennial.

Lindsey, Hal. There’s a New World Coming: A Prophetic Odyssey. Santa Ana, Calif.: Vision House, 1973. A popular-level reading of Revelation’s symbols in the light of modern events, from a dispensational perspective. Lindsey has since revised some of his assessments (such as the suspicion that Christ would come within 40 years of 1948), but many progressive dispensationalists view his work as eccentric and not mainstream dispensationalism.

Metzger, Bruce M. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993. A useful, readable work by a top biblical scholar; much less documented than Talbert.

Michaels, J. Ramsey. Revelation. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1997. An popular-level, application-oriented commentary by a senior evangelical New Testament scholar.

Moffatt, James. “Revelation.” Pages 281–494 in vol. 5, The Expositor’s Greek Testament. Edited W. Robertson Nicoll. Reprint ed.: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979. Although written early in the twentieth century, this commentary remains a valuable resource because of Moffatt’s excellent command of the historical sources and critical evaluation of scholarly options available in his day.

Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977. A thoughtful, well-researched and well-documented commentary on Revelation, among the most useful.

Richard, Pablo. Apocalypse: A People’s Commentary on the Book of Revelation. The Bible & Liberation Series. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1995.

Roloff, Jürgen. The Revelation of John: A Continental Commentary. Translated John E. Alsup. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993.

Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. Revelation. Chicago: Moody, 1968. A popular-level commentary from a traditional dispensational perspective.

Talbert, Charles H. The Apocalypse: A Reading of the Revelation of John. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox, 1994. A literary reading of Revelation concerned with contemporary praxis as well as exegesis. One of the most useful works on a fairly popular level, it is written by a scholar conversant with the book’s background. In contrast to many commentaries (which often recycle earlier discussions), Talbert also offers a fresh reading of primary sources.

Tenney, Merrill C. Interpreting Revelation. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957.

Walvoord, John F. The Revelation of Jesus Christ: A Commentary. Chicago: Moody, 1966. One of the more thorough commentaries from the older dispensational perspective.

Wesley, John. Commentary on the Bible: A One-Volume Condensation of His Explanatory Notes. Edited G. Roger Schoenhals. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990.

Aune, David Edward. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Library of Early Christianity 8. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987. This work (which covers each genre in the New Testament) is important for explaining the kind of work Revelation is, hence how to interpret it.

———. Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983. This work provides insight into how ancient Mediterranean peoples understood prophecies. Aune’s (apparently forthcoming) work on Revelation will also prove invaluable.

Bauckham, Richard. The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1993. One of the most thorough and insightful resources on Revelation available for academic study. As far as providing fresh insights, it constitutes one of the most useful resources of the 1990s.

Beale, G. K. “The Use of Daniel in the Synoptic Eschatological Discourse and in the Book of Revelation.” Pages 129–53 in vol. 5, Gospel Perspectives. Edited by R. T. France, David Wenham, and Craig Blomberg. Sheffield: JSOT, 1980–1986. (Vol. 5: The Jesus Tradition Outside the Gospels. Edited by David Wenham. Sheffield: JSOT, 1984.)

Bock, Darrell L., editor. Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.

Bruce, F. F. “The Spirit in the Apocalypse.” Pages 333–44 in Christ and Spirit in the New Testament: Studies in Honour of C. F. D. Moule. Edited by Barnabas Lindars and Stephen S. Smalley. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1973.

Charlesworth, James H., editor. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. 2 vols. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983–1985. After the Old Testament itself and along with the Dead Sea Scrolls, this is probably the most important source for understanding Revelation’s images; of greatest value (roughly in order of significance) are 1 Enoch; 4 Ezra; 2 Baruch; Sibylline Oracles.

Collins, Adela Yarbro. Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984. A literary critical discussion of the function of some of the apocalyptic language of Revelation.

Fekkes, Jan. Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions in the Book of Revelation: Visionary Antecedents and Their Development. JSNTSup 93. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1994.

George, David C., ed. Revelation: Three Viewpoints. Nashville: Broadman, 1977. This work provides some different views and insights on Revelation from Southern Baptist scholars.

Graham, Billy. Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Waco, Tex.: Word, 1983. Avoiding the more controversial eschatological issues, this work focuses on the contemporary application of Revelation’s dramatic images.

Guthrie, Donald. The Relevance of John’s Apocalypse. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Hanfmann, George M. A., editor. Sardis From Prehistoric to Roman Times: Results of the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis 1958–1975. Assisted by William E. Mierse. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1983.

Hemer, Colin J. The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting. JSNTSup 11. Sheffield: University of Sheffield, 1986. Updating (though often following the same contours as) Ramsay’s work, this work includes a heavy use of inscriptions and numismatic evidence.

Hill, David. New Testament Prophecy. New Foundations Theological Library. Atlanta: John Knox, 1979.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1993. The Revelation section of this work focuses almost exclusively on cultural and historical details relevant for interpreting Revelation; written on a popular level.

Kraabel, Alf Thomas. “Judaism in Western Asia Minor Under the Roman Empire, With a Preliminary Study of the Jewish Community at Sardis, Lydia.”Th.D. diss.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Divinity School, 1968.

Kraybill, J. Nelson. Imperial Cult and Commerce in John’s Apocalypse. JSNTSup 132. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996. This is a thoroughly researched work, well-documented, up-to-date on the latest archaeological and epigraphic sources and providing a genuinely fresh perspective. This work is indispensable for Revelation scholarship.

Kyle, Richard. The Last Days Are Here Again: A History of the End Times. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998. Details the intriguing history of end-time speculation, including failed predictions from the second century through the end of the twentieth century. Both readable and accessible; of several good books related to this subject, this is the most recent and one of the broadest in its scope.

Ladd, George Eldon. The Last Things. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978. A respected evangelical scholar provides many insights about the end times and the interim state from a historic premillennial perspective.

Lewis, Daniel J. 3 Crucial Questions About the Last Days. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998. This work measures the various theological frameworks for interpreting Revelation against their Old Testament context.

Michaels, J. Ramsey. Interpreting the Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992. This work provides and concretely illustrates some basic principles for interpreting the book.

Morrice, W. G. “John the Seer: Narrative Exegesis of the Book of Revelation.” Expository Times 97 (Nov. 1985): 43–46. Written in the first-person as if by John the seer, this article communicates the major features of Revelation in a lively manner and provides an extremely useful resource for teaching the book to students or laypersons.

Moyise, Steve. The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation. JSNTSup 115. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1995.

Newton, Sir Isaac. Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John. In Two Parts. London: J. Darby and T. Browne, 1733. Helpful for providing historical perspective on an early historicist premillennial view.

Osei-Mensah, Gottfried. God’s Message to the Churches: An Exposition of Revelation 1–3. Achimota, Ghana: Africa Christian, 1985. An application-oriented exposition of Revelation 1–3 from an African perspective.

Petersen, Rodney L. Preaching in the Last Days: The Theme of “Two Witnesses” in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993.

Peterson, Eugene H. Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. Often poetic application of Revelation’s content in the author’s well-known, engaging literary style.

Ramsay, William M. The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1904; reprint: Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979.

Revelation: Its Grand Climax At Hand! New York: Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988. Circulated by Jehovah’s Witnesses; with 19.5 million copies in print in 65 languages, it has been more widely read than any other work in this bibliography. We include it in our discussion as one of several examples of serious misinterpretation of Revelation.

Rissi, Mathias. The Future of the World: An Exegetical Study of Revelation 19.11–22.15. Studies in Biblical Theology, 2d ser., 23. Naperville, Ill.: Alec R. Allenson, n.d.; from 1966 German edition.

———. Time and History: A Study on the Revelation. Translated by Gordon C. Winsor. Richmond, Va.: John Knox, 1966.

Shepherd, Massey H., Jr. The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse. Ecumenical Studies in Worship 6. Richmond, Va.: John Knox, 1960.

Sproul, R. C. The Last Days According to Jesus. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998. Defending what he terms a moderate preterist approach, Sproul allows for future events such a resurrection of the righteous, but regards much of the New Testament’s futuristic prophecy as fulfilled in A.D. 70. (He finds a pre-70 date for Revelation attractive.)

Wainwright, Arthur W. Mysterious Apocalypse: Interpreting the Book of Revelation. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993. This work provides historical perspective on the variety of interpretations of Revelation.

Walvoord, John F. The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook. Wheaton: Victor, 1990. Biblical prophecy, including from Revelation, from an older dispensational standpoint.

Yamauchi, Edwin M. The Archaeology of New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980. Includes an updating of some of Ramsay’s archaeological data on the seven churches of Asia Minor.