Ancient commentaries on the book of Revelation : a bibliographical guide

The Book of Revelation is arguabley the most difficult book of the Bible to understand, yet the opinions of its earliest interpreters are almost entirely unavailable to English-language readers. At least thirty commentaries on the Book of Revelation were written in the first millennium of Christianity’s history, but only four are translated into English, and three of these are virtually inaccessible, leaving many scholars with only one patristic commentary upon which to draw, that of Victorinus in the Ante-Nicene Fathers series. To aid biblical and historical theologians in research on how our Christian forefathers interpreted John’s Apocalypse, this paper provides an annotated bibliography of thirty commentaries on Revelation, most of which were written in Greek and Latin. It lists printed editions, libraries that hold manuscripts in cases where there is not a printed edition, and modern language translations where applicable. In addition to being a resource for biblical scholars, “Ancient Commentaries on the Book of Revelation: A Bibliographical Guide” may assist librarians and bibliophiles in acquiring ancient Apocalypse commentaries, and serve as a guide for prospective translators