Revelation »

Grant R. Osborne (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of a number of books, including The Hermeneutical Spiral.

The Book of Revelation contains some of the most difficult passages in Scripture. Grant Osborne's commentary on Revelation aims to interpret the text while also introducing readers to the perspectives of contemporary scholarship in a clear and accessible manner.

Osborne begins with a thorough introduction to Revelation and the many difficulties involved in its interpretation. He discusses authorship, date of writing, and the social and cultural setting of the work. He also examines elements that complicate the interpretation of apocalyptic literature, including the use of symbols and figures of speech, Old Testament allusions, and the role of prophetic prediction. Osborne surveys various approaches commentators have taken on whether Revelation refers primarily to the past or to events that are yet future.

Osborne avoids an overly technical interpretative approach. Rather than exegeting the text narrowly in a verse-by-verse manner, he examines larger sections in order to locate and emphasize the writer's central message and the theology found therein. Throughout, he interacts with the best recent scholarship and presents his conclusions in an accessible manner. When dealing with particularly problematic sections, he considers the full range of suggested interpretations and introduces the reader to a broad spectrum of commentators.

As with all volumes published in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Revelation seeks to reach a broad audience with scholarly research from a decidedly evangelical perspective. Each volume in the BECNT series interacts with the best contemporary scholarship, offering up-to-date, accurate, and authoritative analysis of the Greek text through rigorous exegesis and exposition. Central themes are developed throughout, and each exegetical unit is related to the overall message of the biblical book. Pastors and seminarians especially appreciate the combination of broad overview and in-depth analysis found in BECNT volumes, but the BECNT series is also popular with scholars and thoughtful lay readers.