Leon Morris - Revelation (TNTC)

Table of Contents

Inter-Varsity Press
38 De Montfort Street, Leicester LE1 7GP, England

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
255 Jefferson S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Leon Morris 1987

First Edition 1969
Second Edition 1987

Reprinted 1999

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Unless otherwise stated, quotations from the Bible are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1978 by the International Bible Society, New York. Published in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, and used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Published and sold in the USA and Canada only by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Morris, Leon

The Book of Revelation: an introduction and commentary.
2nd ed.(Tyndale New Testament commentaries)
1. Bible. N.T. RevelationCommentaries
I. Title II. Morris, Leon. Revelation of St. John III. Bible. N.T. Revelation
English. New International. 1978
IV. Series
228.07 BS2825.3

IVP ISBN 0-85111-889-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morris, Leon, 1914
The Book of Revelation.

(Tyndale New Testament commentaries)
Rev. ed. of: The Revelation of St. John. London :
Tyndale Press, 1969.
1. Bible. N.T. RevelationCommentaries. I. Morris,
Leon, 1914- . Revelation of St. John. II. Title. III. Series.
BS2825.3.M67 1987 228.07 86-29258

ISBN 0-8028-0273-7 (Eerdmans : pbk.)

Set in Palatino
Typeset in Great Britain by Parker Typesetting Service, Leicester
Printed in USA by Eerdmans Printing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan

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GENERAL PREFACE

The original Tyndale Commentaries aimed at providing help for the general reader of the Bible. They concentrated on the meaning of the text without going into scholarly technicalities. They sought to avoid the extremes of being unduly technical or unhelpfully brief. Most who have used the books agree that there has been a fair measure of success in reaching that aim.

Times, however, change. A series that has served so well for so long is perhaps not quite as relevant as when it was first launched. New knowledge has come to light. The discussion of critical questions has moved on. Bible-reading habits have changed. When the original series was commenced it could be presumed that most readers used the Authorized Version and one could make ones comments accordingly, but this situation no longer obtains.

The decision to revise and up-date the whole series was not reached lightly, but in the end it was thought that this is what is required in the present situation. There are new needs, and they will be better served by new books or by a thorough up-dating of the old books. The aims of the original series remain. The new commentaries are neither minuscule nor unduly long. They are exegetical rather than homiletic. They do not discuss all the critical questions, but none is written without an awareness of the problems that engage the attention of New Testament scholars. Where it is felt that formal consideration should be given to such questions, they are discussed in the Introduction and sometimes in Additional Notes.

But the main thrust of these commentaries is not critical. These books are written to help the non-technical reader to understand the Bible better. They do not presume a knowledge of Greek, and all Greek words discussed are transliterated; but the authors have the Greek text before them and their comments are made on the basis of the originals. The authors are free to choose their own modern translation, but are asked to bear in mind the variety of translations in current use.

The new series of Tyndale Commentaries goes forth, as the former series did, in the hope that God will graciously use these books to help the general reader to understand as fully and clearly as possible the meaning of the New Testament.

LEON MORRIS

AUTHORS PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

The book of Revelation is, I fear, a very neglected book. Its symbolism belongs to the first century, not to our own age. Twentieth-century men accordingly find it difficult and tend to dismiss it as irrelevant. This is unfortunate because its theology of power is of the utmost importance to an age as preoccupied with the problems of power as is ours. In this Commentary I have tried to explain the significance of the symbolism and to show the bearing of the message of Revelation on the problems of the day. Some of the problems of this book are exceedingly difficult and I certainly have not the capacity to solve them. But it is my hope that I have been able to point towards the solution of enough of the more obvious difficulties for some modern readers to be able to discern the main thrust of the book.

One difficulty is that there are various schools of interpretation. Many exegetes are quite sure that only their own particular approach will yield the correct interpretation. As best I can I have carefully weighed the contentions of those who have written before me, or at least of such of them as I have had time to read. The literature on this book is enormous, and I make no claim to have mastered it all, though I can say that I have profited very much from what I have read. While I have not felt able to align myself with any one of the usual schools of interpretation, I would like it to go on record that I have not differed from accepted points of view without a careful weighing of the issues involved. In the process I have become indebted to many, to so many, indeed, that I hesitate to single out names. I must content myself with a general expression of indebtedness and with the specific acknowledgements I have made in the body of the Commentary and in the footnotes.

While this Commentary has been on the way for many years, and therefore I have had time to think a good deal about some of its problems, it has had to be written in the intervals (all too few and short) in a busy life as college principal. I ask the readers pardon accordingly for its many infelicities. I would like to express my appreciation of the patience of the publishers and General Editor. Though they commissioned this book years ago and had every right to expect it long since they have treated my failure to produce it earlier with kindness and understanding. I am grateful.

LEON MORRIS

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

It is a privilege, having written a commentary, to be able to avail oneself of the comments made by some who have used it and also of books that have been written subsequently. I have learnt much from the commentaries of Beasley-Murray, Mounce, Ladd, Sweet and others. The call for a second edition enables me to make use of this material and to go through what I wrote in the first edition with a view to amendment and clarification. I have made the New International Version the text I have quoted and this has meant a good deal of minor alteration. Sometimes when I have felt that NIV did not quite express the Greek I have made my own translation. I trust that this will not hinder the reader in any way.