John's Use of the Old Testament in Revelation
in Library of New Testament Studies
Pages
443
Publisher
T&T Clark
Published
10/23/2014
ISBN-13
9780567657527
This book explores the variety of ways John contextually uses the Old Testament in the Apocalypse. The introduction surveys and evaluates recent studies, which have been divided over the issue of whether or not John uses the Old Testament with sensitivity to its original literary context (Beale, Fekkes and Bauckham argue in the affirmative, while Ruiz and Moyise contend that this was not John's focus and see implications for 'reader-response criticism'). The remainder of the book looks at various ways in which John uses the Old Testament and argues that there is a reciprocal interpretative relationship between the Old Testament and the Apocalypse. Studies of special interest concern the bearing of the Old Testament on Revelation's eschatology, on the issue of the millennium, and on the thorny problem of the grammatical solecisms.
Reviews
DavidH
August 12, 2026
August 12, 2026
Beale’s John’s Use of the Old Testament in Revelation is one of the most important specialist studies available for understanding how Revelation actually works. Rather than simply cataloguing verbal parallels, Beale investigates how John’s use of Scripture shapes his symbolism, eschatology, theology, grammar and understanding of salvation history. Particularly original is his proposal that some of Revelation’s notorious grammatical irregularities deliberately reproduce Semitic or Septuagintal forms, creating a kind of syntactical dissonance that alerts the hearer to an Old Testament allusion. Beale can occasionally identify intentional allusions with greater confidence than the evidence seems to justify, but the larger thesis—that John is a profoundly contextual and creative interpreter of Israel’s Scriptures—is compelling. The book provides much of the methodological foundation underlying his NIGTC commentary and is an excellent companion for anyone undertaking serious research on Revelation.