Revelation: (A Paragraph-by-Paragraph Exegetical Evangelical Bible Commentary - BECNT) by Thomas R. Schreiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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
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My Ratings Explained ...
- [ ***** ] Amazing Read - Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors; a favorite that I can re-read many times.
- [ **** ] Great Read - Highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Some aspect of the story was new/refreshing to me and/or intriguing. Recommended for everyone.
- [ *** ] Good Read - Solid story with a 'good' ending, or has some other redeeming feature. Limited character development and/or over reliance on tropes. Noticeable discrepancies in world building and/or dialog/behavior that were distracting. I connected enough with the characters/world to read the entire series. Most of the books I read for fun are here. Recommended for fans of the genre.
- [ ** ] Okay Read - Suitable for a brief, afternoon escape … flat or shallow characters with little to no development. Over the top character dialog and/or behavior. Poor world building with significant issues and/or mistakes indicating poor research. Excessive use of trivial detail, info dumps and/or pontification. Any issues with the story/characters are offset by some other aspect that I enjoyed. Not very memorable. May only appeal to a niche group of readers. Recommended for some (YMMV).
- [ * ] Bad Read - Awkward and/or confusing writing style. Poor world building and/or unbelievable (or unlikeable) characters. Victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. I didn't connect with the story at all; significant aspects of this story irritated me enough that I struggled to finished it. Series was abandoned. Not recommended.
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