Revelation: A Paragraph-by-Paragraph Exegetical Evangelical Bible Commentary - BECNT

by Thomas R. Schreiner, Robert Yarbrough (Editor), Joshua W. Jipp (Editor)

In this addition to the award-winning BECNT series, leading evangelical biblical scholar Thomas Schreiner offers a substantive commentary on Revelation.

Schreiner's BECNT volume on Romans has been highly successful, with nearly 40,000 copies sold. In this volume, Schreiner presents well-informed evangelical scholarship on the book of Revelation. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, he leads readers through the text of Revelation to help them better understand the meaning and relevance of this biblical book.

As with all BECNT volumes, this commentary features the author's detailed interaction with the Greek text and an acclaimed, user-friendly design. It admirably achieves the dual aims of the series--academic sophistication with pastoral sensitivity and accessibility--making it a useful tool for pastors, church leaders, students, and teachers.

896 pages, Hardcover

Published October 17, 2023

About the author

Thomas R. Schreiner (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including New Testament Theology; Magnifying God in Christ; Apostle of God's Glory in Christ; and Romans in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament.

Reviews

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised to see Schreiner in Revelation. I unfairly had him as a Paul guy only in my mind. It turned out those skills that he is well known for on Paul are found here.

This commentary is, without doubt, a major work on Revelation. It walks in the room and joins the big boys. But just like the other champions of the modern major academic, exegetical commentaries this one takes an “eclectic” viewpoint. That’s the rage of the hour. Doesn’t make anyone too happy, but then again not too angry either.

Like me, you may not take an eclectic approach but rather a specific viewpoint in one of the major categories. Will you still be helped by this commentary? I think you definitely will.

What are its strengths? Impeccable scholarship stands out. Sometimes that’s a pile of dry bones, but here it has life. Here the scholarly “interacting” pays off. It begins in the Introduction and continues in the commentary proper. Here the interaction necessarily involves the different perspectives and that enlightens no matter where you come from.

Another asset of this commentary is its tone. He fairly represents other viewpoints and humbly assesses and shares his own. I often don’t exactly agree, but he’s easy to follow. It’s easy for me to weigh as I’m looking at a fairly represented picture.

I wouldn’t call the structure of Revelation as a whole a strength here. Perhaps that’s the collateral damage of an eclectic position, though he gives a serviceable outline. He does give, however, some nice thoughts on structure in the smaller periscopes.

I’m convinced he sheds light in each passage no matter your overall prophetic outlook. Outside of one that lines up perfectly for you (rare), what more could you ask for?

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Colby Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was as devotional as it was informative. Even at the points of disagreement, Schreiner is extremely valuable in his focus on the what the text says and in the pastoral import of the text for the reader. A must-have for any serious study on Revelation and a tool every pastor should have on their shelves.

[John Pawlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got most of the way through but am putting a pause on studying Revelation as I have to preach on Ephesians this semester and will need to come back to Revelation later.

But this is a wonderful commentary, filled with insightful readings and pastoral commentary. It’s new, and so it accounts for modern views and offers criticism of older commentaries, one notable criticism is GK Beale where Schreiner claims he over reads many texts and under reads others.

Best commentary on the book I’ve seen, just came out! I strongly recommend it!

[Mike Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent technical commentary on Revelation. No two people will agree on every interpretive decision in Revelation, but Schreiner presents a well-reasoned background to every decision he makes. In every passage, he does well at keeping the plethora of Old Testament allusions, historical situation of the audience, and the literary context of the book in view.

While there are good glimpses of application thoughts in each chapter, I wish he had more regularly demonstrated how the visions should drive application to the original and modern audiences.

[Kristjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new addition to the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (BECNT) series and will eventually end up replacing Osborne’s 2002 contribution. It weighs in at a hefty 896 pages; although less that Osborne’s commentary of 1536 pages, it still represent approximately 30 pages or so of commentary for each page in the Book of Revelation. By design, this is supposed to be a serious exegesis for “busy” pastors and in general keeps it short enough to accomplish that. Given the extensive amount of symbolism and other literary devices within Revelations, it is not surprising that they can be a lot more that what is covered here, so as expected, there is not a lot of exploration of heterodox positions or interpretations.

There are ten (10) parts that each over a small section of Revelation, with the extensive opening Introduction providing a solid look at the history and perspective of Revelation to give a good context to what follows. Each Part represents a topical transition; although many Bibles may be organized slightly differently (generally combining some of the Parts provided here and using a more general title). At the beginning of each part is a quick recap of the contents with a pointer should where you are in Revelation, followed by a quick summary of the part. Each sub-part does the same before adding the Exegesis and Exposition that walks through each verse/pericope ending with additional notes that has more information on translations aspects. The commentaries are generally clear and fairly detailed with references to others books of the Bible as well as external academic works; a few times I would have likes a more thorough contextual discussion in addition to the more concise interpretive comments and concerns. Finally the author is a self-professed premillennialist, so you also get a couple of Excursus that goes into that idea a little. Over all this is a very solid reference book.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Introduction to Revelation

Part I - Introduction and Seven Letters (1:1 - 3:22)
A. Prologue
B. Vision of the Son of Man
C. Letters to the Seven Churches

Part II - Visions in the Throne Room (4:1 - 5:14)
A. God as the Holy Creator
B. The Lamb as the Slaughtered and Risen Redeemer

Part III - The Seven Seals (6:1 - 8:5)
A. The First Six Seals
B. Interlude
C. The Seventh Seal and the Seven Trumpets

Part IV - The Seven Trumpets (8:6 - 11:19)
A. The First Four Trumpets: Cosmic Destruction
B. Fifth Trumpet: Demonic Locust Plague
C. Sixth Trumpet: Demonic Cavalry
D. Interlude
E. The Seventh Trumpet: Kingdom Come

Part V - Signs in Heaven and Earth (12:1 - 15:4)
A. The Woman and the Dragon
B. The Beast from the Sea
C. The Beast from the Land
D. The 144,000 on Mount Zion
E. Declarations from the Three Angels
F. Two Harvests
G. Praise of the Conquerors

Part VI - The Seven Bowls from the Sanctuary (15:5 - 16:21)
A. The Seven Plagues from God’s Temple
B. The Seven Bowls

Part VII - The Judgement of Babylon and the Wedding of the Bride (17:1 - 19:10)
A. The Harlot Babylon Destroyed
Excursus: Babylon in the History f Interpretation
B. The Declaration of Two Angels
C. Lamentation over Babylon’s Fall
D. Rejoicing over Babylon’s Fall
E. Rejoicing over the Marriage of the Lamb

Part VIII - The Triumph of God in Christ (19:11 - 20:15)
A. Defeat of the Beast, the False Prophet, and Their Adherents
B. Reigning with Jesus a Thousand Years
Excursus: The Millennium
C. The Last Battle
D. The Last Judgement

Part IX - The New Heavens and New Earth (21:1 - 22:5)
A. Making All Things New
B. The Bride and the Holy City

Epilogue (22:6-21)

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#Revelation #BECNT #NetGalley

[Rory Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book of Revelation is a complicated text. Some commentators have even claimed that its writer must have been on drugs. The author of this commentary takes a very different view. He suggests that the book is deliberately subtle and designed to make readers think about their faith.

The chapters of this commentary give helpful summaries and detailed line by line explanations of the text. It also contained some very helpful historical notes, setting the text in its context and including comments from ancient exegetes, such as the Church Fathers. That was particularly welcome, as it would be the heights of hubris to think that no previous generation has had anything of value to say about this 2000 year old text.

I appreciated the way that the commentary linked comments to the original Greek text, but I was a little surprised by the policy of transliterating Greek in the body of the text but not in the footnotes. Surely a reader needing transliteration would need it in both contexts?

The book of Revelation raises some issues of sensitivity, especially as regarding Judaism. I thought those issues were generally handled well in the book. The author carefully explained the context in which Jews and Christians were falling out at the end of the First Century, occasioning some heated language about lying and the ‘synagogue of Satan.’

That language is understandable in its context, but over the centuries it has also been ripped out of its context and used Antisemitically. In an age where we are all far more aware of the risks of misusing religious texts, perhaps it would have been helpful to remind readers about the importance of avoiding demonising misreadings?

The book was generally comprehensive in its coverage of differing interpretations of the text, but there was an occasional bias towards its Evangelical readership, by omitting or downplaying Catholic and Orthodox readings of the text. For example, Chapter 12 of Revelation includes the vision of the woman giving birth and escaping from the Satanic dragon. That vision often features in Mariological explanations of the role of Mary in those faiths. But the book dismissed that reading as ‘not fitting the context’ and then just moved on to explain the woman as a symbol for the ‘people of God’ (47%). That was a lost Ecumenical opportunity to ensure that Evangelical readers understand differing perspectives in Catholic and Orthodox contexts.

Overall this was a well written and scholarly exposition of a complicated text. The author did well to condense an enormous body of literature and research into this very readable book. It is a already a ‘big’ book, at almost 900 pages, so it would be unfair to criticise it for not doing more. On the contrary, it is a detailed exposition, which will prove invaluable to pastors and teachers!

(This is a review of a free ARC copy of the text).

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are only going to get one commentary on Revelation, this is the one to get. It holds up next to Beale and is easily one of the best on the book. Schreiner is deeply technical without being boring or overly focused on minutia. The primary strength of the book is the nuance and charity with which he explains every single view. He will present opposing views in the best light and acknowledge places where they have great evidence on their side. While he will point out his own opinion and where he disagrees, it feels earned and it filled with humility. This is easily the best technical commentary on the book that can be found. Even if you will disagree with his historical premillennialism, everyone will find themselves fairly represented in the book.

Of all of the commentaries and books I read on Revelation, this was easily the best and the one I most enjoyed reading.

[Benaiah Neetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schreiner’s commentary is an excellent contribution to the already existing commentaries on Revelation. He genuinely contributes something new pushing back against Partial-Preterism, dispensational futurism, and the over use of recapitulation and the flattening out of the book’s symbols buy saying they all mean the same thing.

His discussion on the Millenium is one the best parts. I highly recommend reading his “Theology of Revelation” where he argues for an A-millennial perspective and then reading this where he has now switched to New Creation Millennialism.

[Matthew Rawlings · Rating 3 out of 5]

I greatly appreciate Dr. Schreiner. His commentaries on Romans and Galatians are must owns. However, I am not a historic premillennial fan and this commentary is really only helpful for someone who adheres to such a view.

[Richard LaLonde · Rating 2 out of 5]

Schreiner can’t make up his mind. The beginning was pretty good, and I appreciate his critique of all the different views. Sadly, new creation millennialism position is just anther man made error that diverges from the covenantal climax of the Apocalypse.

[Michael Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

In one of the most confusing books, Schreiner offers clarity and simplicity. He humbly interacts with opposing views and also provides pastoral applications throughout.