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Books of Samuel

The Book of Samuel (ספר שמואל, Sefer Shmuel) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God's law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.

According to Jewish tradition, the book was written by Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, who together are three prophets who had appeared within 1 Chronicles during the account of David's reign. Modern scholarly thinking posits that the entire Deuteronomistic history was composed circa 630–540 BCE by combining a number of independent texts of various ages.

The book begins with Samuel's birth and Yahweh's call to him as a boy. The story of the Ark of the Covenant follows. It tells of Israel's oppression by the Philistines, which brought about Samuel's anointing of Saul as Israel's first king. But Saul proved unworthy, and God's choice turned to David, who defeated Israel's enemies, purchased the threshing floor where his son Solomon would build the First Temple, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Yahweh then promised David and his successors an everlasting dynasty.

In the Septuagint, a basis of the Christian biblical canons, the text is divided into two books, now called the First and Second Book of Samuel.

Biblical narrative

The Jerusalem Bible divides the two Books of Samuel into five sections. Further subheadings are also based on subdivisions in that version:

1 Samuel 1:1–7:17. Samuel 1 Samuel 8:1–15:35. Samuel and Saul 1 Samuel 16:1–2 Samuel 1:27. Saul and David 2 Samuel 2:1–20:26. David 2 Samuel 21:1–24:25. Supplementary Information

The childhood of Samuel (1:1–4:1a)
A man named Elkanah, an Ephraimite from the city of Ramathaim-Zophim, has two wives, Peninnah and Hannah, the latter of whom is his favourite wife, and a rivalry between the two develops based on the fact that Peninnah has children and Hannah does not. The childless Hannah vows to Yahweh lord of hosts that, if she has a son, he will be dedicated to God. Eli, the priest of Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant is located, thinks she is drunk, but when he realises she is praying, he blesses her. A child named Samuel is born, and Samuel is dedicated to the Lord as a Nazirite – the only one besides Samson to be identified in the Bible. Hannah sings a song of praise upon the fulfilment of her vow.

Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, sin against God's laws and the people, specifically by demanding raw rather than boiled meat for sacrifice and having sex with the tabernacle's serving women. But the child Samuel grows up "in the presence of the Lord": his family visits him each year, bringing a new coat for him, and Hannah has five more children. Eli tries to persuade his sons to stop their wickedness, but fails. As punishment for this, a holy man arrives, prophesying that Eli's family will be cut off and none of his descendants will see old age.

One night, God calls Samuel and, thinking Eli is calling him three times, he rushes to Eli. Eli informs him that God wishes to speak to him, and God informs Samuel that the earlier prophecy about Eli's family is correct. He is at first afraid to inform Eli of this, but Eli tells him not to be, and that God will do what is good in His sight. Over time, Samuel grows up and is recognised as a prophet.

The Ark in Philistine hands (4:1b–7:17)
The Philistines, despite their initial worries when hearing the Israelite ritual of the entrance of the Ark of the Covenant, defeat the Israelites at the Battle of Aphek, capturing the Ark and killing Hophni and Phinehas, thus fulfilling the earlier prophecy. When Eli hears of these two events, particularly the capture of the Ark, he falls off his chair and dies. His daughter-in-law, in turn, goes into labour at this, and names her son Ichabod ('without glory') in commemoration of the capture of the Ark.

Meanwhile, the Philistines take the Ark to the temple of their god Dagon, who recognizes the supremacy of Yahweh. The Philistines are afflicted with plagues, are unable to take the Ark into any city on account of the fear of the populations of those cities, and return the ark to the Israelites, but to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, to the city of Beth Shemesh, rather than to Shiloh, from where it is passed to the city of Kiriath Jearim, where a new priest, Eleazar, son of Abinadab, is appointed to guard the ark for the twenty years it is there. The Philistines attack the Israelites gathered at Mizpah in Benjamin. Samuel appeals to God, the Philistines are decisively beaten, and the Israelites reclaim their lost territory. Samuel sets up the Eben-Ezer (the stone of help) in remembrance of the battle, and takes his place as judge of Israel.

The institution of the monarchy (8:1–12:25)
In Samuel's old age, he appoints his sons Joel and Abijah as judges but, because of their corruption, the people ask for a king to rule over them. God directs Samuel to grant the people their wish despite his concerns: God gives them Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, whom Samuel anoints during an attempt by Saul to locate his father's lost donkeys. He then invites Saul to a feast, where he gives him the best piece of meat, and they talk through the night on the roof of Samuel's house. Samuel tells Saul to return home, telling him the donkeys have been found and his father is now worrying about him, as well as describing a series of signs Saul will see on the way home. Saul begins to prophesy when he meets some prophets, confusing his neighbours. Eventually, Samuel publicly announces Saul as king, although not without controversy.

Shortly after, Nahash of Ammon lays siege to Jabesh Gilead and demands that everyone in the city have their right eye gouged out as part of the peace treaty. The Jabeshites send out messengers, looking for a saviour. When Saul hears of the situation, he gathers a 330,000-strong army and launches a surprise attack at night, leading Israel to victory and saving Jabesh, thus proving those who doubted him wrong. Saul's kingship is renewed.

Samuel is aware he is the final judge and that the age of kings is about to begin, and speaks to the Israelites, demonstrating his innocence and recapping the history of Israel. He calls on the Lord to send thunder and rain, and rebukes the people for their desire for a king. Nonetheless, he tells them that as long as they refrain from idol worship, they will not perish – but if they do, calamity will befall the kingdom.

The beginning of Saul's reign (13:1–15:35)
Despite his numerous military victories, Saul disobeys Yahweh's instructions. First of all, after a battle against the Philistines, he does not wait for Samuel to arrive before he offers sacrifices. Meanwhile, it turns out that the Philistines have been killing and capturing blacksmiths in order to ensure the Israelites do not have weapons, and so the Israelites go to war essentially with sharpened farm instruments. Saul's son Jonathan launches a secret attack by climbing a pass into the Philistine camp and kills twenty people in the process. The panic this creates leads to a victory for the Israelites. Jonathan finds some honey and eats it, despite a royal decree not to eat until evening.

Jonathan begins to doubt his father, reasoning an even greater victory could have been achieved if the men had eaten. The royal decree has other unintended knock-on effects, namely that the men start killing and eating animals without draining the blood. To counteract this, Saul sets up an altar so the proper laws can be observed. When a priest suggests asking God before launching another attack, God is silent, leading Saul to set up a pseudo-legal procedure to ascertain whose fault it is that God has abandoned them. The lot falls on Jonathan, but the men refuse to let him be executed since he is the reason for their victory.

Over time, Saul fights the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Zobahites, the Philistines and the Amalekites, winning victory over them all. His kingdom is in a constant state of war, and he constantly recruits new heroes to his army. However, he disobeys God's instruction to destroy Amalek: Saul spares Agag, the Amalekite ruler, and the best portion of the Amalekite flocks to present them as sacrifices. Samuel rebukes Saul and tells him that God has now chosen another man to be king of Israel. Samuel then kills Agag himself.

David at court (16:1–19:7)
Samuel travels to Bethlehem to visit a man named Jesse, with God promising Samuel can anoint one of his sons as king. However, while inspecting Jesse's sons, God tells Samuel that none of them are to be king. God tells Samuel to anoint David, the youngest brother, as king. Saul becomes ill and David comes to play the harp to him. Saul takes a liking to David and David enters Saul's court as his armor-bearer and harpist.

A new war against the Philistines begins, and a Philistine champion named Goliath emerges, challenging any Israelite to one-on-one combat, with the loser's people becoming subject to the winner. David goes to take food to his brothers in the Israelite camp, learns of the situation and the reward Saul is willing to give to the person who kills him great wealth, his daughter's hand in marriage and exemption from taxes for the killer's family and tells Saul he will kill Goliath. Saul wants him to wear his armour, but David finds he cannot because he is not used to it. Seeing David's youth, Goliath begins to curse him. David slings a stone into Goliath's forehead, and Goliath dies. David cuts off Goliath's head with Goliath's sword.

Jonathan befriends David. Saul begins to send David on military missions and quickly promotes him given his successes, but begins to become jealous of David after the Israelites make up a song about how much more successful David is than Saul. One day, Saul decides to kill David with a spear, but David avoids him. Saul realises that God is now with David and no longer with him, making him scared of David. He therefore seeks other ways to pacify David. First, he sends him on military campaigns, but this only makes him more successful.

Next, he tries to marry him off to his daughter Merab, but David refuses, and so Merab is married off to the nobleman Adriel. However, David is in love with Michal, another of Saul's daughters. Although David is still unsure about becoming son-in-law to the king, Saul requires only 100 Philistine foreskins as dowry. Although this is a plan to have David captured by the Philistines, David kills 200 Philistines and brings their foreskins back to Saul.

Saul then plots David's death, but Jonathan talks him out of it.

The flight of David (19:8–21:16)
Once again Saul tries to kill David with his spear, and so David decides to escape, lowered out of a window by Michal, who then takes an idol, covers it in clothes and places goat's hair on its head to cover David's escape. David visits Samuel. When Saul finds this out, he sends men to capture David, but when they see Samuel they begin prophesying, as does Saul when he tries to capture David himself.

David then visits Jonathan, and they argue about whether Saul actually wants to kill David. David proposes a test: he is to dine with the king the following day for the New Moon festival. However, he will hide in a field and Jonathan will tell Saul that David has returned to Bethlehem for a sacrifice. If the king accepts this, he is not trying to kill him, but if he becomes angry, he is. Jonathan devises a code to relay this information to David: he will come to the stone Ezel, shoot three arrows at it and tell a page to find them. If he tells the page the arrows are on his side of the stone, David can come to him, but if he tells them they are beyond the stone, he must run away. When Jonathan puts the plan into action, Saul attempts to kill him with his spear. Jonathan relays this to David using his code and the two weep as they are separated.

David arrives at Nob, where he meets Ahimelech the priest, a great-grandson of Eli. Pretending he is on a mission from the king and is going to meet his men, he asks for supplies. He is given the showbread and Goliath's sword. He then flees to Gath and seeks refuge at the court of King Achish, but feigns insanity since he is afraid of what the Philistines might do to him.

David the outlaw (22:1–26:25)
David travels to the cave of Adullam near his home, where his family visit him, until he finds refuge for them at the court of the king of Moab in Mizpah.

One of Saul's servants, Doeg the Edomite, saw David at Nob, and informs Saul that he was there. Saul arrives at the town, concludes that the priests are supporting David and has Doeg kill them all. One priest gets away: Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, who goes to join David. David accepts him, since he feels somewhat responsible for the massacre. David liberates the village of Keilah from the Philistines with the help of God and Abiathar. When God tells him that Saul is coming and the citizens of Keilah will hand him over to Saul, David and his men escape to the desert of Ziph, where Jonathan comes and recognises him as the next king. Some Ziphites inform Saul that David is in the desert, but Saul's search is broken off by another Philistine invasion.

After the invasion, Saul learns David is now living in the desert of En Gedi and resumes his search for him. At one point, he enters a cave to relieve himself. David and his men are further back in the cave. They discuss the possibility of killing Saul, but David opts to merely cut a corner off his robe and use this as proof that he does not in fact wish to kill Saul. Saul repents of how he has treated David, recognises him as the next king and makes him promise not to kill off his descendants.

Samuel dies, and, after mourning him, David moves on to the Desert of Paran. Here he meets the shepherds of a Calebite named Nabal, and his men help protect them. At sheep-shearing time, he sends some of his men to ask for food. Nabal refuses, preferring to keep his food for his household. When his wife, Abigail, hears of this, she takes a large amount of supplies to David herself. This turns out to be at exactly the right moment, since David had just threatened to kill everyone in Nabal's home. Abigail begs for mercy, and David agrees, praising her wisdom. That night Nabal has a feast, so Abigail waits until morning to tell him what she has done. He has a heart attack and dies ten days later. David marries Abigail and a woman from Jezreel named Ahinoam, but in the meantime Saul has married David's first wife, Michal, off to a nobleman named Palti, son of Laish.

Saul decides to return to pursuing David, and the Ziphites alert him as to David's whereabouts. Saul returns to the desert of Ziph and sets up camp. One night, David and two companions, Achimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah (his nephew), go to Saul's camp and find him asleep on the ground. Abishai advocates killing him, but David once again resists, content with taking a spear and water jug lying by Saul's head. The next morning, David advises Abner, Saul's captain, to put the soldiers to death for not protecting Saul, citing the absence of the spear and water jug as evidence. Saul interrupts, and once again repents of his hunt. He blesses David, David returns his spear and Saul returns home.

David among the Philistines (27:1–31:13)
David joins the Philistines out of fear of Saul, taking his wives with him and brutally destroying his enemies, largely the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, but makes the Philistines believe he is attacking the Israelites, the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites instead. King Achish is pleased with him, and supposes he will continue to serve him. Eventually, the Philistines go to war with the Israelites, and David goes with them.

Meanwhile, Saul is growing increasingly anxious about the upcoming battle, but cannot get advice from God. He decides to attempt to contact Samuel from beyond the grave. While he has expelled all the witches and spiritists, he learns that one remains at Endor. After Saul assures her she will not be punished, she agrees to summon Samuel. Samuel is not happy to be disturbed, and reveals that the Philistines will win the battle, with Saul and his sons dying in the process. Saul is shocked and, although at first reluctant, eats some food and leaves.

Back in the Philistine camp, several of the rulers are not happy with the idea of fighting alongside David, suspecting he may defect during the battle. Achish therefore reluctantly sends David back instead of bringing him to Jezreel with the Philistine army. When David and his men arrive in Ziklag, they find it sacked by the Amalekites, and David's wives taken captive. After seeking God's advice, David decides to pursue the raiding Amalekites, finding the Egyptian slave of one, abandoned when he became ill, who can show them the band. When they are located and found to be feasting, David fights all day, with only 400 escaping on camels. David recovers everything and returns to the Besor Valley, where 200 men who were too exhausted to come with him have been guarding supplies. David announces all are to share in the treasure, and even sends some to the elders of Judah when he returns to Ziklag.

Meanwhile, the Battle of Mount Gilboa is raging on and, as Samuel said, the Philistines are winning. Saul's three sons have been killed, and he himself has been wounded by arrows. Saul asks his armor-bearer to run his sword through him rather than let him be captured by the Philistines, but does it himself when the armor-bearer refuses. When they see the battle going badly, the Israelites flee their towns, allowing the Philistines to occupy them. The next day, the Philistines find Saul, behead him, and take his armour to the temple of Astarte and his body to Beth Shan. When they hear what has happened, the citizens of Jabesh Gilead take his body and perform funerary rites in their city.

David among the Philistines (continued) (1:1–1:27)
Back in Ziklag, three days after Saul's death, David receives news that Saul and his sons are dead. It transpires that the messenger is an Amalekite who, at Saul's insistence, had killed Saul to speed his death along, and brought his crown to David. David orders his death for having killed God's anointed. At this point, David offers a majestic eulogy, where he praises the bravery and magnificence of both his friend Jonathan and King Saul.

David King of Judah (2:1–4:12)
David returns to Hebron at God's instruction. The elders of Judah anoint David as king, and as his first act he offers a reward to the people of Jabesh Gilead for performing Saul's funerary rites. Meanwhile, in the north, Saul's son Ish-bosheth, supported by Abner, has taken control of the northern tribes. David and Ish-bosheth's armies meet at the Pool of Gibeon, and Abner and Joab, another son of Zeruiah and David's general, agree to have soldiers fight in one-on-one combat. All this achieves is twelve men on each side killing each other, but a battle follows and David wins. During the Benjaminites' retreat, Joab's brother Asahel chases Abner and Abner kills him, shocking everyone. Joab and Abishai continue Asahel's pursuit. A truce is declared when they reach a hill to avoid further bloodshed, and Abner and his men are able to cross the Jordan.

The war continues as David builds a family. Meanwhile, the House of Saul is getting weaker. When Ish-bosheth accuses Abner of sleeping with Saul's concubine Rizpah, Abner offers to join David, which David accepts as long as he brings Michal with him. At the same time, David sends a petition to Ish-bosheth for the return of Michal, which Ish-bosheth agrees to. Patiel follows her crying until he is told to return home. Following the return of Michal, Abner agrees to get the elders of Israel to agree to make David king. Joab believes Abner was lying in his purpose of coming to David and, after recalling him to Hebron, kills him in revenge for Asahel. David curses Joab's family to always contain a leper, someone disabled or someone hungry. He then holds a funeral for Abner.

By this point, the only other surviving member of Ish-bosheth's family is Mephibosheth, Jonathan's disabled son, who was dropped by his nurse as she attempted to escape the palace after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. Ish-bosheth is murdered by Rechab and Baanah, two of his captains who hope for a reward from David, who stab him and cut off his head. They bring his head to David, but David has them killed for killing an innocent man. They are hanged by the pool of Hebron and Ish-bosheth's head is buried in Abner's tomb.

David King of Judah and of Israel (5:1–8:18)
David is anointed king of all Israel.

Against all odds, David captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites. He takes over the fortress of Zion and builds up the area around it. Hiram I, king of Tyre sends craftsmen to build David a palace. Meanwhile, David's family continues to grow. The Philistines decide to attack Israel now that David is king, but God allows David to defeat them in two battles, first in Baal Perizim and next in the Valley of Rephaim.

The Ark is currently still in Baalah (another name for Kiriath Jearim), but David wants to bring it to Jerusalem. He puts it on a cart and employs the priests Uzzah and Ahio, both sons of Abinadab and brothers of Eleazar, to accompany it. A grand procession with musical instruments is organised, but comes to a sudden halt when the oxen stumble, causing Uzzah to touch the Ark and die. David is afraid to take it any further and stores it in the house of a man named Obed-Edom. When, after three months, Obed-Edom and his family have received nothing but blessings, David takes the Ark to Jerusalem. As part of the ceremony bringing the Ark into the city, David dances in front of it wearing nothing but an ephod. Michal sees this and is annoyed, but David says it was for the Lord, and thus it was not undignified. Michal never has any children.

David wishes to build a temple, arguing that he should not be living in a palace while God lives in a tent. Nathan, a prophet, agrees. However, that night Nathan has a dream in which God informs him that David should not build him a temple for three reasons. Firstly, God has not commanded it, and has never complained about living in a tent before. Secondly, God is still working to build David and his house up and establish the Israelites in the Promised Land. Thirdly, God will establish one of David's sons as king. He will build the temple, and his house will never be out of power. When Nathan reports this to David, David prays to God, thanking him for these revelations. David defeats the enemies of Israel, slaughtering Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Syrians, and Arameans. He then appoints a cabinet.

Mephibosheth (9:1–9:13)
David asks if anyone from the House of Saul is still alive so that he can show kindness to them in memory of Jonathan. Ziba, one of Saul's servants, tells him about Mephibosheth. David informs Mephibosheth that he will live in his household and eat at his table, and Mephibosheth moves to Jerusalem.

The Ammonite war and birth of Solomon (10:1–12:31)
Nahash, king of Ammon dies and his son Hanun succeeds him. David sends condolences, but the Ammonites suspect his ambassadors are spies and humiliate them before sending them back to David. When they realise their mistake, they fear retaliation from David and amass an army from the surrounding tribes. When he hears that they are doing this, he sends Joab to lead his own army to their city gates, where the Ammonites are in battle formation. Joab decides to split the army in two: he will lead an elite force to attack the Aramean faction, while the rest of the army, led by Abisai, will focus on the Ammonites.

If either enemy force turns out to be too strong, the other Israelite force will come to help their comrades. The Arameans flee from Joab, causing the Ammonites to also flee from Abishai. The Israelite army returns to Jerusalem. The Arameans regroup and cross the Euphrates, and this time David himself wins a decisive victory at Helam. The Arameans realise they cannot win, make peace with Israel and refuse to help the Ammonites again. The following spring, Joab destroys the Ammonites.

While Joab is off at war, David remains in Jerusalem. One morning, he is standing on the roof of his palace when he sees a naked woman performing ablutions after her period. David learns her name is Bathsheba, and they have sex. She becomes pregnant. Seeking to hide his sin, David recalls her husband, Uriah the Hittite, from battle, David encourages him to go home and see his wife, but Uriah declines in case David might need him, and sleeps in the doorway to the palace that night. David, in spite of inviting Uriah to feasts, continues to be unable to persuade him to go home.

David then deliberately sends Uriah on a suicide mission. David loses some of his best warriors in this mission, so Joab tells the messenger reporting back to tell David that Uriah is dead. David instructs Joab to continue the attack of the city. After Bathsheba has finished mourning Uriah, David marries her and she gives birth.

Nathan comes to David and tells him a parable. In a town, there are a rich man and a poor man. The rich man has much livestock, but the poor man has only one lamb whom he loves like a child. One day, the rich man has a guest for dinner, and instead of slaughtering one of his own livestock, took the poor man's lamb and cooked it. David angrily insists the rich man be put to death, but Nathan tells him he is the man, saying he has committed a sin to get something he already had plenty of (wives), and prophesies that his family will be gripped by violence, and someone will have affairs with his wives publicly.

David repents, and Nathan tells him that while he is forgiven and will not die, his son with Bathsheba will. The child becomes ill, and David spends his time fasting and praying, but to no avail, because the child dies. David's attendants are scared to tell him the news, worried about what he may do. He surprises everyone by ending his fasting, saying that he was fasting and praying was an attempt to persuade God to save his child, whereas fasting now isn't going to bring the child back. After they have mourned, David and Bathsheba have another child, who they name Solomon (also called Jedediah).

Back on the front line, in the city of Rabbah, Joab has gained control of the water supply. Joab invites David to finish capturing the city so that it may be named after himself. David gathers an army and travels up himself. He wins a victory, crowns himself king of the Ammonites, takes a large amount of plunder and puts the Ammonites into forced labour before returning to Jerusalem.

Absalom (13:1–20:26)
A complicated controversy begins to develop within the palace. Amnon, David's son by Ahinoam, becomes lovesick for Tamar, David's daughter by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Amnon's advisor and cousin Jonadab suggests he pretend to be ill and ask Tamar to come and prepare bread for him so he can eat out of her hand. When she comes to his house, Amnon tells her to come to his bedroom. Here, after she refuses to have sex with him, Amnon rapes her. He then forces her to leave the house. She rips the gown which symbolises she is a virgin, puts ashes on her hand and walks around wailing. Tamar's brother, Absalom, and David learn about this and become angry.

Two years later, Absalom is shearing sheep at Baal Hazor and invites David and all his sons to come. David refuses, but blesses him and sends Amnon and the rest of his sons to him. Absalom holds a feast and gets Amnon drunk. He then instructs his servants to kill Amnon in revenge for his rape of Tamar. David's other sons are disgusted and return to Jerusalem. David hears a rumour that Absalom has killed all of David's sons, but Jonadab assures him that only Amnon is dead. Meanwhile, Absalom goes to live with his grandfather in Geshur for three years. After David has finished mourning Amnon, he considers visiting Absalom.

Joab wants to help David, so he tells a wise woman from Tekoa to travel to Jerusalem pretending to be in mourning and speak to the king. The woman tells a story about her two sons, one of whom killed the other and whose death is now being called for. After some cajoling, David agrees to issue a decree ensuring that her son is not killed. The woman turns this back on David, and asks, then, why he has not forgiven his own son.

After the woman admits that Joab put her up to this, David agrees to allow Absalom back to Jerusalem, but insists he does not come to the palace. Absalom becomes popular in Jerusalem due to his good looks. His family also grows during this time. Two years pass without Absalom being recalled to court. When Joab refuses to help him, Absalom sets his field on fire. This gets Joab's attention, and finally Absalom manages to convince him to persuade David to allow him back to court.

Absalom purchases a magnificent chariot, and begins campaigning to become a judge, principally by waiting outside the city gate, listening to the concerns of people coming to the king and pretending there is no-one to hear them, as well as embracing anyone who bows to him. Four years pass, and Absalom travels to Hebron, claiming to be fulfilling a vow, but in fact he hatches a plan to get the tribes of Israel to proclaim him king. The 200 guests who follow him do not know of his plan, and while he is at Hebron Absalom summons Ahitophel, David's counselor.

David is told of the increasing support for Absalom and decides to flee Jerusalem. He takes with him his wives and concubines, with the exception of ten, and a number of Cerethites, Pelethites and Gittites, led by a general named Ittai, who comes with David only after insisting on it. Abiathar and another priest named Zadok, together with a number of Levites who are guarding the Ark, also come, but go back when David tells them to return the Ark to Jerusalem. The procession climbs the Mount of Olives, where he meets his confidant Hushai the Arkite, who he sends back to Jerusalem to act as a spy, seeking to disrupt Ahitophel's plans.

On the other side of the mountain, David meets Ziba, who brings donkeys and fruit as supplies. He claims that Mephibosheth is hoping to be restored to the throne of Saul in the chaos, and David grants Ziba Mephibosheth's estates. As the party approaches Bahurim, a Benjaminite named Shimei begins cursing and stoning David for the bloodshed he caused in the House of Saul. Abishai suggests executing him, but David considers that God has told Shibei to curse him and lets him carry on.

Back in Jerusalem, Ahitophel and Hushai arrive at Absalom's court. Absalom is at first suspicious of Hushai's presence, but ultimately accepts him. Ahitophel suggests Absalom sleeps with David's concubines who he left to take care of the palace in order to entrench the division between David and Absalom, so Absalom pitches a tent on the palace roof and does this in the view of all the Israelites. Ahitophel then suggests launching a sneak attack on David with 12,000 men. Hushai points out that David and his men are fighters, and that they could defeat the men, reducing morale. He suggests Absalom form a much larger army and lead it into battle himself.

God has decided to frustrate Ahitophel's advice so that Absalom can be defeated, so Absalom follows Hushai's advice. Hushai then goes to Zadok and Abiathar and tells them to get word to David to cross the fords. Their sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, respectively, are staying at En Rogel, where they receive the message. Unfortunately, one of Absalom's spies sees them so they have to hide in a well in Bahurim. The well's owner's wife hides them and lies to Absalom's men that they have crossed the brook. After Absalom's men are gone, the pair make it to King David and he manages to cross the Jordan in time.

David and Absalom meet at Mahanaim, and David's allies bring his army food, given his army is tired and exhausted after its time in the wilderness. David divides his army into thirds: one led by Joab, one led by Abishai and one led by Ittai. David intends to come out with his men, but his generals veto it. He decides to stay at the city, and instructs his generals to be gentle with Absalom. The battle is fought in the Wood of Ephraim. This proves to be a victory for David, in part because of the treacherous terrain. As Absalom meets David's men, he passes under a tree. His long hair gets caught in the tree and he is hanged. Joab gets word of this, finds him and plunges three javelins into his heart, killing him. Joab declares the battle over and buries Absalom. Absalom's monument is the pillar he built during his lifetime.

Ahimaaz and a Cushite run to tell David the news of his victory and his son's death. Ahimaaz declares the victory, but is not sure yet what the situation with Absalom is. The Cushite bears the same news, but also tells David that Absalom is dead. David begins to mourn, wishing he had died instead of Absalom. This prompts his men to start mourning as well, causing Joab to enter his tent in an attempt to talk sense into him. Joab points out that the battle has saved not only David's life, but the lives of his wives and concubines, and thus it is humiliating for the men to have to mourn for the enemy. David agrees to come out and encourage the men.

Given the sudden change in situation, the elders of Israel begin to argue about what to do next. David convinces the elders of Judah to escort him back to Jerusalem. They are joined by Shimei, who apologises to David. Abishai once again calls for the death penalty, but once again David grants clemency. Mephibosheth also comes to David, and explains the earlier situation: he had wanted to come with David and had told Ziba to saddle his donkeys, but Ziba had betrayed and slandered him. David offers to allow him and Ziba to split the land, but Mephibosheth allows Ziba to take the lot in celebration of David's triumph.

David invites his host in Mahanaim, Barzillai, to return to Jerusalem with him, but Barzillai protests on the basis that he is now eighty years old and thus will gain no enjoyment from coming. He gives David his servant Kimham in his place, and David promises to look after him. A scuffle breaks out between the Judahites and the other Israelites about why they specifically got to escort the king home. Attempting to resolve the issue, a Benjaminite named Sheba son of Bichri launches a rebellion against David, which all the tribes except Judah back.

Back in Jerusalem, David begins to sort out the issues that were caused by his absence. First, he puts the ten concubines who were left behind into a guarded house and gives them pensions but does not sleep with them, allowing them to live the rest of their lives as widows. He then begins to sort out a defence against Sheba. He tells Amasa, the general whom he wishes to replace Joab, to summon the Judahite troops and have them in Jerusalem within three days, something he fails at. David therefore tells Abishai to start pursuing Sheba to effectively put down his rebellion before it has begun.

Amasa meets Abishai and Joab at Gibeon. Amasa goes to meet Joab, but Joab's dagger falls out of his tunic, stabbing Amasa in the stomach, killing him. He is covered with a cloth and placed in a field, and the army continues pursuing Sheba. They meet him at Abel Beth Maakah, a stronghold of Sheba's rebellion, and begin to lay siege to it. A wise woman asks them why they want to destroy the city, and Joab responds they don't want to destroy it, but merely end Sheba's rebellion. The wise woman cuts off Sheba's head and throws it to Joab from the city walls, thus ending the siege.

Supplementary information (21:1–24:25)
2 Samuel concludes with four chapters, chapters 21 to 24, that lie outside the chronological succession narrative of Saul and David, a narrative that will continue in The Book of Kings. Chapter 21 tells the story of a three-year long famine which takes place at the start of David's reign. God explains this is a punishment for Saul's genocide of the Gibeonites, a people group who are the remnants of the Amorites, whom Israel had promised to spare but Saul has massacred. David calls the Gibeonites and asks what he can do to make amends, hoping this will end the famine.

The Gibeonites ask for seven of Saul's descendants to kill, and David agrees. He spares Mephibosheth, but hands over Rizpah's sons Armoni and Mephibosheth and the five sons of Merab and Adriel. They are killed by the Gibeonites and their bodies are exposed at the start of the barley harvest. Rizpah protects the bodies, and David agrees to take the bones of Saul, Jonathan and those killed by the Gibeonites and bury them in the tomb of Kish in Zelah. This pleases God and the famine ends.

Another war then occurs with the Philistines. In the first battle, Abishai kills Ishbi-benob, a Philistine who had sworn to kill David, which leads to David's army refusing to let him fight alongside them again for his own protection. The second battle takes place at Gob, and this time Sibbekai the Hushathite kills a Philistine named Saph. A third battle also takes place in Gob, where Elhanan, son of Jair kills Goliath's brother. In the fourth battle, at Gath, Jonathan, son of Shimeah, kills a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

Chapter 22 is similar to Psalm 18, and is a song David sang when he was delivered from Saul.

Chapter 23 begins with David's last words, a subdued speech in which David expresses gladness at the goodness of his house. It then tells stories of a group of men identified as 'David's Mighty Warriors'. Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, son of Dodai and Shammah, son of Agee the Hararite all single-handedly win battles against the Philistines. One day, while David and his men are hiding in the cave of Adullam, David becomes homesick and, hearing the Philistines have taken over Bethlehem, cries out desiring water from Bethlehem's well.

These three men risk their lives to work their way through Philistine lines and bring water from the well back to David. David refuses to drink it and offers it to God because his warriors risked their lives for it. Abishai, we learn, achieved his high position by single-handedly killing three hundred men. Another warrior, Benaniah, son of Jehoiada, kills Moab's two mightiest warriors, a lion, and a huge Egyptian with his own spear. The chapter finishes by listing David's other mighty warriors, known as the Thirty.

Chapter 24 tells the story of more calamities on Israel. God is angry once again at Israel, so he instructs David to take a census. Joab has his reservations, but ultimately relents. When the results come in, David realises what he has done, and begs God for mercy. Gad the prophet offers David three choices of punishment: three years of famine, three months of pursuit by his enemies or three days of plague. David chooses the plague. 70,000 people die.

After three days the angel of death reaches Jerusalem, and is on the threshing floor of a man named Araunah the Jebusite, when God tells him to stop. David is horrified, arguing that it should be him and his family who are punished. Gad tells David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah offers to sell the land to David for free but David insists on paying. David pays fifty shekels of silver and builds the altar, stopping the plague.

Versions
1 and 2 Samuel were originally (and, in most Jewish bibles, still are) a single book, but the first Greek translation, called the Septuagint and produced around the second century BC, divided it into two; this was adopted by the Latin translations used in the early Christian church of the West, and finally introduced into Jewish bibles around the early 16th century.

In imitation of the Septuagint what is now commonly known as 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, are called by the Vulgate, 1 Kings and 2 Kings respectively. What are now commonly known as 1 Kings and 2 Kings would be 3 Kings and 4 Kings in Bibles dating from before 1516. It was in 1517 that use of the division we know today, used by Protestant Bibles and adopted by Catholics, began. Traditional Catholic and Orthodox Bibles still preserve the Septuagint name; for example, the Douay–Rheims Bible.

The Hebrew text that is used by Jews today, called the Masoretic Text, differs considerably from the Hebrew text that was the basis of the first Greek translation, and scholars are still working at finding the best solutions to the many problems this presents.

Historical accuracy
The Books of Samuel are considered to be based on both historical and legendary sources, primarily serving to fill the gap in Israelite history after the events described in Deuteronomy. According to Donald Redford, the Books of Samuel exhibit too many anachronisms to have been compiled in the 11th century BCE.

Authorship and date of composition
According to passages 14b and 15a of the Bava Basra tractate of the Talmud, the book was written by Samuel up until 1 Samuel 25, which notes the death of Samuel, and the remainder by the prophets Gad and Nathan. Critical scholars from the 19th century onward have rejected this idea. However, even prior to this, the medieval Jewish commentator Isaac Abarbanel noted that the presence of anachronistic expressions (such as "to this day" and "in the past") indicated that there must have been a later editor such as Jeremiah or Ezra. Martin Noth in 1943 theorized that Samuel was composed by a single author as part of a history of Israel: the Deuteronomistic history (made up of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings). Although Noth's belief that the entire history was composed by a single individual has been largely abandoned, his theory in its broad outline has been adopted by most scholars.

The Deuteronomistic view is that an early version of the history was composed in the time of king Hezekiah (8th century BC); the bulk of the first edition dates from his grandson Josiah at the end of the 7th BC, with further sections added during the Babylonian exile (6th century BC) and the work was substantially complete by about 550 BC. Further editing was apparently done even after then. For example, A. Graeme Auld, Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Edinburgh, contends that the silver quarter-shekel which Saul's servant offers to Samuel in 1 Samuel 9 "almost certainly fixes the date of this story in the Persian or Hellenistic period".

The 6th century BC authors and editors responsible for the bulk of the history drew on many earlier sources, including (but not limited to) an "ark narrative" (1 Samuel 4:1–7:1 and perhaps part of 2 Samuel 6), a "Saul cycle" (parts of 1 Samuel 9–11 and 13–14), the "history of David's rise" (1 Samuel 16:14–2 Samuel 5:10), and the "succession narrative" (2 Samuel 9–20 and 1 Kings 1–2). The oldest of these, the "ark narrative," may even predate the Davidic era.

This view of late compilation for Samuel has faced serious scholarly opposition on the basis that evidence for the Deuteronimistic history is scant, and that Deuteronimistic advocates are not in consensus as to the origin and extent of the History. Secondly, the basic theological concerns identified with the Deuteronimistic school are tenets central to Hebrew theology in texts that are widely regarded as predating Josiah. Thirdly, there are notable differences in style and thematic emphasis between Deuteronomy and Samuel. Finally, there are widely acknowledged structural parallels between the Hittite suzerain treaty of the second millennium BC and the Book of Deuteronomy itself, far before the time of Josiah. The alternative view is that it is difficult to determine when the events of Samuel were recorded: "There are no particularly persuasive reasons to date the sources used by the compiler later than the early tenth century events themselves, and good reason to believe that contemporary records were kept (cf. 2 Sam. 20:24–25)."

Manuscript sources
Four of the Dead Sea Scrolls feature parts of the books of Samuel: 1QSam, found in Qumran Cave 1, contains parts of 2 Samuel; and 4QSama, 4QSamb and 4QSamc, all found in Qumran Cave 4. Collectively they are known as The Samuel Scroll and date from the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.

The earliest complete surviving Hebrew copy of the book(s) of Samuel is in the Aleppo Codex (10th century CE). The complete Greek text of Samuel is found in older manuscripts such as the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus.

Themes
The Book of Samuel is a theological evaluation of kingship in general and of dynastic kingship and David in particular. The main themes of the book are introduced in the opening poem (the "Song of Hannah"): (1) the sovereignty of Yahweh, God of Israel; (2) the reversal of human fortunes; and (3) kingship. These themes are played out in the stories of the three main characters, Samuel, Saul and David.

Samuel
Samuel answers the description of the "prophet like Moses" predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15–22: like Moses, he has direct contact with Yahweh, acts as a judge, and is a perfect leader who never makes mistakes. Samuel's successful defense of the Israelites against their enemies demonstrates that they have no need for a king (who will, moreover, introduce inequality), yet despite this the people demand a king. But the king they are given is Yahweh's gift, and Samuel explains that kingship can be a blessing rather than a curse if they remain faithful to their God. On the other hand, total destruction of both king and people will result if they turn to wickedness.

Saul
Saul is the chosen one: tall, handsome and "goodly", a king appointed by Yahweh, and anointed by Samuel, Yahweh's prophet, and yet he is ultimately rejected. Saul has two faults which make him unfit for the office of king: carrying out a sacrifice in place of Samuel, and failing to exterminate the Amalekites, in accordance to God's commands, and trying to compensate by claiming that he reserved the surviving Amalekite livestock for sacrifice.

David
One of the main units within Samuel is the "History of David's Rise", the purpose of which is to justify David as the legitimate successor to Saul. The narrative stresses that he gained the throne lawfully, always respecting "the Lord's anointed" (i.e. Saul) and never taking any of his numerous chances to seize the throne by violence. As God's chosen king over Israel, David is also the son of God ("I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me..." – 2 Samuel 7:14). God enters into an eternal covenant (treaty) with David and his line, promising divine protection of the dynasty and of Jerusalem through all time.

2 Samuel 23 contains a prophetic statement described as the "last words of David" (verses 1–7) and details of the 37 "mighty men" who were David's chief warriors (verses 8–39). The Jerusalem Bible states that last words were attributed to David in the style of Jacob and Moses. Its editors note that "the text has suffered considerably and reconstructions are conjectural".

1 Kings 2:1-9 contains David's final words to Solomon, his son and successor as king.

title: Books of Samuel


text:
Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation or Book of the Apocalypse is the final book of the New Testament (and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible). Written in Koine Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text:, meaning 'unveiling' or 'revelation'. The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon. It occupies a central place in Christian eschatology.

The author names himself as simply "John" in the text, but his precise identity remains a point of academic debate. Second-century Christian writers such as Papias of Hierapolis, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Melito of Sardis, Clement of Alexandria, and the author of the Muratorian fragment identify John the Apostle as the John of Revelation. Modern scholarship generally takes a different view, with many considering that nothing can be known about the author except that he was a Christian prophet. Modern theological scholars characterize the Book of Revelation's author as "John of Patmos". The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (AD 81–96), which evidence tends to confirm.

The book spans three literary genres: the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, addressing letters to the "Seven Churches of Asia". He then describes a series of prophetic visions, including figures such as the Seven-Headed Dragon, the Serpent, and the Beast, which culminate in the Second Coming of Jesus.

The obscure and extravagant imagery has led to a wide variety of Christian interpretations. Historicist interpretations see Revelation as containing a broad view of history while preterist interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of the Apostolic Age (1st century), or, at the latest, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Futurists, meanwhile, believe that Revelation describes future events with the seven churches growing into the body of believers throughout the age, and a reemergence or continuous rule of a Greco-Roman system with modern capabilities described by John in ways familiar to him; and idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.

Title, authorship, and date

The book's commonest English name is "[Book of] Revelation". It is also called "[Book of] the Apocalypse" (for example in the Catholic Church ), "Revelation to John", or "Apocalypse of St. John". Abbreviations of these are "Rev." (traditional), "Rv" (shorter), or "Apoc."

These names come from the book's opening words, :
 * The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.

"Revelation" and "Apocalypse" are respectively a translation and an anglicisation of the original Koine Greek word ἀποκάλυψις, which can also mean "unveiling". In the original Greek, the word is singular, so the name "Revelations" sometimes found in English is often considered erroneous.

The author states in that he is on Patmos, and so he is conventionally called John of Patmos. He was a Jewish Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets, and was accepted by the congregations to whom he addresses his letter. The New Testament canon has four other "Johannine works" ascribed to authors named John, and a tradition dating from Irenaeus (c. 130 AD) identifies John the Apostle as the author of all five. The modern consensus is that a Johannine community produced the Gospel of John and the three Johannine epistles, while John of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation separately.

The book is commonly dated to about AD 95, as suggested by clues in the visions pointing to the reign of the emperor Domitian. The beast with seven heads and the number 666 seem to allude directly to the emperor Nero (reigned AD 54–68), but this does not require that Revelation was written in the 60s, as there was a widespread belief in later decades that Nero would return.

Genre
Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, in what is now western Turkey. The seven cities where churches were located are close together, and the Island of Patmos is near the western coast of Turkey. The term apocalypse means the revealing of divine mysteries; John is to write down what is revealed (what he sees in his vision) and send it to the seven churches. The entire book constitutes the prophecy—the letters to the seven individual churches are introductions to the rest of the book, which is addressed to all seven. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author sees himself as a Christian prophet: Revelation uses the word in various forms 21 times, more than any other New Testament book.

Setting
Conventional understanding has been that the Book of Revelation was written to comfort beleaguered Christians as they underwent persecution at the hands of an emperor. This is, however, not the only interpretation; Domitian may not have been a despot imposing an imperial cult, and there may not have been any systematic empire-wide persecution of Christians in his time. Revelation may instead have been composed in the context of a conflict within the Christian community of Asia Minor over whether to engage with, or withdraw from, the far larger non-Christian community: Author Mark B. Stephens posed that the Revelation chastised those Christians who wanted to reach an accommodation with the Roman cult of empire. This is not to say that Christians in Roman Asia were not suffering for withdrawal from, and defiance against, the wider Roman society, which imposed very real penalties; Revelation offered a victory over this reality by offering an apocalyptic hope. In the words of professor Adela Collins, "What ought to be was experienced as a present reality." There is also theological interpretation that the book mainly prophesies the end of Old Covenant order, the Jewish temple and religious economy.

Canonical history
Revelation was among the last books accepted into the Christian biblical canon, and to the present day some churches that derive from the Church of the East reject it. Eastern Christians became skeptical of the book as doubts concerning its authorship and unusual style were reinforced by aversion to its acceptance by Montanists and other groups considered to be heretical. This distrust of the Book of Revelation persisted in the East through the 15th century.

Dionysius (AD 248), bishop of Alexandria and disciple of Origen, wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was the writer. He regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired man but not of an Apostle (Eusebius, Church History VII.25).

Eusebius, in his Church History (c. AD 330), mentioned that the Apocalypse of John was accepted as a canonical book and rejected at the same time:

"1. [...] it is proper to sum up the writings of the New Testament which have been already mentioned... After them is to be placed, if it really seem proper, the Apocalypse of John, concerning which we shall give the different opinions at the proper time. These then belong among the accepted writings [Homologoumena].

4. Among the rejected [Kirsopp. Lake translation: 'not genuine'] writings must be reckoned, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if it seem proper, which some, as I said, reject, but which others class with the accepted books."

The Apocalypse of John is counted as both accepted (Kirsopp. Lake translation: "Recognized") and disputed, which has caused some confusion over what exactly Eusebius meant by doing so. The disputation can perhaps be attributed to Origen. Origen seems to have accepted it in his writings.

Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 348) does not name it among the canonical books (Catechesis IV.33–36).

Athanasius (AD 367) in his Letter 39, Augustine of Hippo (c. AD 397) in his book On Christian Doctrine (Book II, Chapter 8), Tyrannius Rufinus (c. AD 400) in his Commentary on the Apostles' Creed, Pope Innocent I (AD 405) in a letter to the bishop of Toulouse and John of Damascus (about AD 730) in his work An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (Book IV:7) listed "the Revelation of John the Evangelist" as a canonical book.

Synods
The Council of Laodicea (AD 363) omits it as a canonical book.

The Decretum Gelasianum, which is a work written by an anonymous scholar between 519 and 553, contains a list of books of scripture presented as having been reckoned as canonical by the Council of Rome (AD 382). This list mentions it as a part of the New Testament canon.

The Synod of Hippo (in AD 393), followed by the Council of Carthage (397), the Council of Carthage (419), the Council of Florence (1442) and the Council of Trent (1546) classified it as a canonical book.

The Apostolic Canons, approved by the Eastern Orthodox Council in Trullo in 692, but rejected by Pope Sergius I, omit it.

Protestant Reformation
Doubts resurfaced during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther called Revelation "neither apostolic nor prophetic" in the 1522 preface to his translation of the New Testament (he revised his position with a much more favorable assessment in 1530), Huldrych Zwingli labelled it "not a book of the Bible", and it was the only New Testament book on which John Calvin did not write a commentary. Revelation remains the only New Testament book not read in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though Catholic and Protestant liturgies include it.

Texts and manuscripts
There are fewer manuscripts of Revelation than of any other part of the New Testament. As of 2020, in total, there are 310 manuscripts of Revelation. This number includes 7 papyri, 12 majuscules, and 291 minuscules. But, in fact, not all of them are available for research. Some of them have burned down, vanished, or been categorized wrongly. While it is not extant in the Codex Vaticanus (4th century), it is extant in the other great uncial codices: the Codex Sinaiticus (4th century), the Codex Alexandrinus (5th century), and the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (5th century). In addition, there are numerous papyri, especially and  (both 3rd century); minuscules (8th to 10th century); and fragmentary quotations in the Church fathers of the 2nd to 5th centuries and the 6th-century Greek commentary on Revelation by Andreas.

Literary structure
Divisions in the book seem to be marked by the repetition of key phrases, by the arrangement of subject matter into blocks, and associated with its Christological passages, and much use is made of significant numbers, especially the number seven, which represented perfection according to ancient numerology. Nevertheless, there is a "complete lack of consensus" among scholars about the structure of Revelation. The following is therefore an outline of the book's contents rather than of its structure.

Outline
Outline of the book of Revelation:
 * 1) BambergApocalypseFolio003rAngelWith7Candlesticks.JPG of the Son of Man among the seven lampstands.]]The Revelation of Jesus Christ
 * 2) The Revelation of Jesus Christ is communicated to John through prophetic visions. (1:1–9)
 * 3) John is instructed by the "one like a son of man" to write all that he hears and sees, from the prophetic visions, to Seven Churches of Asia. (1:10–13)
 * 4) The appearance of the "one like a son of man" is given, and he reveals what the seven stars and seven lampstands represent. (1:14–20)
 * 5) Messages for seven churches of Asia
 * 6) Ephesus: From this church, he "who overcomes is granted to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." (2:1–7)
 * 7) Praised for not bearing those who are evil, testing those who say they are apostles and are not, and finding them to be liars; hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans; having persevered and possessing patience.
 * 8) Admonished to "do the first works" and to repent for having left their "first love."
 * 9) Smyrna: From this church, those who are faithful until death, will be given "the crown of life." He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. (2:8–11)
 * 10) Praised for being "rich" while impoverished and in tribulation.
 * 11) Admonished not to fear the "synagogue of Satan", nor fear a ten-day tribulation of being thrown into prison.
 * 12) Bamberg Apocalypse - To the Church in Pergamum and Thyatira.jpgmum: From this church, he who overcomes will be given the hidden manna to eat and a white stone with a secret name on it." (2:12–17)
 * 13) Praised for holding "fast to My name", not denying "My faith" even in the days of Antipas, "My faithful martyr."
 * 14) Admonished to repent for having held the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel; eating things sacrificed to idols, committing sexual immorality, and holding the "doctrine of the Nicolaitans."
 * 15) Thyatira: From this church, he who overcomes until the end, will be given power over the nations in order to dash them to pieces with a rod of iron; he will also be given the "morning star." (2:18–29)
 * 16) Praised for their works, love, service, faith, and patience.
 * 17) Admonished to repent for allowing a "prophetess" to promote sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols.
 * 18) Sardis: From this church, he who overcomes will be clothed in white garments, and his name will not be blotted out from the Book of Life; his name will also be confessed before the Father and his angels. (3:1–6)
 * 19) Admonished to be watchful and to strengthen since their works have not been perfect before God.
 * 20) Philadelphia: From this church, he who overcomes will be made a pillar in the temple of God having the name of God, the name of the city of God, "New Jerusalem", and the Son of God's new name. (3:7–13)
 * 21) Praised for having some strength, keeping "My word", and having not denied "My name."
 * 22) Reminded to hold fast what they have, that no one may take their crown.
 * 23) Laodicea: From this church, he who overcomes will be granted the opportunity to sit with the Son of God on his throne. (3:14–22)
 * 24) Admonished to be zealous and repent from being "lukewarm"; they are instructed to buy the "gold refined in the fire", that they may be rich; to buy "white garments", that they may be clothed, so that the shame of their nakedness would not be revealed; to anoint their eyes with eye salve, that they may see.
 * 25) BambergApocalypseFolio013vLambAndBookWith7Seals - crop.jpge the Throne of God
 * 26) The Throne of God appears, surrounded by twenty four thrones with twenty-four elders seated in them. (4:1–5)
 * 27) The four living creatures are introduced. (4:6–11)
 * 28) A scroll, with seven seals, is presented and it is declared that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, from the "Root of David", is the only one worthy to open this scroll. (5:1–5)
 * 29) When the "Lamb having seven horns and seven eyes" took the scroll, the creatures of heaven fell down before the Lamb to give him praise, joined by myriads of angels and the creatures of the earth. (5:6–14)
 * 30) Seven Seals are opened
 * 31) White Rider from Tolkovy Apocalyps 17th century.jpg Seal: A white horse appears, whose crowned rider has a bow with which to conquer. (6:1–2)
 * 32) Second Seal: A red horse appears, whose rider is granted a "great sword" to take peace from the earth. (6:3–4)
 * 33) Third Seal: A black horse appears, whose rider has "a pair of balances in his hand", where a voice then says, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine." (6:5–6)
 * 34) Fourth Seal: A pale horse appears, whose rider is Death, and Hades follows him. Death is granted a fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and with the beasts of the earth. (6:7–8)
 * 35) Fifth Seal: "Under the altar", appeared the souls of martyrs for the "word of God", who cry out for vengeance. They are given white robes and told to rest until the martyrdom of their brothers is completed. (6:9–11)
 * 36) Sixth Seal: (6:12–17)
 * 37) There occurs a great earthquake where "the sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon like blood" (6:12).
 * 38) The stars of heaven fall to the earth and the sky recedes like a scroll being rolled up (6:13–14).
 * 39) Every mountain and island is moved out of place (6:14).
 * 40) The people of earth retreat to caves in the mountains (6:15).
 * 41) The survivors call upon the mountains and the rocks to fall on them, so as to hide them from the "wrath of the Lamb" (6:16).
 * 42) Interlude: The 144,000 Hebrews are sealed.
 * 43) 144,000 from the Twelve Tribes of Israel are sealed as servants of God on their foreheads (7:1–8)
 * 44) A great multitude stand before the Throne of God, who come out of the Great Tribulation, clothed with robes made "white in the blood of the Lamb" and having palm branches in their hands. (7:9–17)
 * 45) Seventh Seal: Introduces the seven trumpets (8:1–5)
 * 46) "Silence in heaven for about half an hour" (8:1).
 * 47) Seven angels are each given trumpets (8:2).
 * 48) An eighth angel takes a "golden censer", filled with fire from the heavenly altar, and throws it to the earth (8:3–5). What follows are "peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake" (8:5).
 * 49) After the eighth angel has devastated the earth, the seven angels introduced in verse 2 prepare to sound their trumpets (8:6).
 * 50) BambergApocalypseFolio019v7AngelsWith7TrumpetsAnd1WithCenser.JPG trumpets are sounded (Seen in Chapters 8, 9, and 12).
 * 51) First Trumpet: Hail and fire, mingled with blood, are thrown to the earth burning up a third of the trees and green grass. (8:6–7)
 * 52) Second Trumpet: Something that resembles a great mountain, burning with fire, falls from the sky and lands in the ocean. It kills a third of the sea creatures and destroys a third of the ships at sea. (8:8–9)
 * 53) Third Trumpet: A great star, named Wormwood, falls from heaven and poisons a third of the rivers and springs of water. (8:10–11)
 * 54) Fourth Trumpet: A third of the sun, the moon, and the stars are darkened creating complete darkness for a third of the day and the night. (8:12–13)
 * 55) Fifth Trumpet: The First Woe (9:1–12)
 * 56) A "star" falls from the sky (9:1).
 * 57) This "star" is given "the key to the bottomless pit" (9:1).
 * 58) The "star" then opens the bottomless pit. When this happens, "smoke [rises] from [the Abyss] like smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky [are] darkened by the smoke from the Abyss" (9:2).
 * 59) B_Escorial_94v.jpg, c. 950]]From out of the smoke, locusts who are "given power like that of scorpions of the earth" (9:3), who are commanded not to harm anyone or anything except for people who were not given the "seal of God" on their foreheads (from chapter 7) (9:4).
 * 60) The "locusts" are described as having a human appearance (faces and hair) but with lion's teeth, and wearing "breastplates of iron"; the sound of their wings resembles "the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle" (9:7–9).
 * 61) Sixth Trumpet: The Second Woe (9:13–21)
 * 62) The four angels bound to the great river Euphrates are released to prepare two hundred million horsemen.
 * 63) These armies kill a third of mankind by plagues of fire, smoke, and brimstone.
 * 64) Interlude: The little scroll. (10:1–11)
 * 65) An angel appears, with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, having an opened little book in his hand.
 * 66) Upon the cry of the angel, seven thunders utter mysteries and secrets that are not to be written down by John.
 * 67) John is instructed to eat the little scroll that happens to be sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach, and to prophesy.
 * 68) John is given a measuring rod to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.
 * 69) Outside the temple, at the court of the holy city, it is trod by the nations for forty-two months ($3 1/2$ years).
 * 70) Two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. (11:1–14)
 * 71) Seventh Trumpet: The Third Woe that leads into the seven bowls (11:15–19)
 * 72) The temple of God opens in heaven, where the ark of his covenant can be seen. There are lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
 * 73) The Seven Spiritual Figures. (Events leading into the Third Woe)
 * 74) BambergApocalypseFolio031vDragonPursuingWomanInWilderness.JPG Woman "clothed with a white robe, with the sun at her back, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" is in pregnancy with a male child. (12:1–2)
 * 75) A great Dragon (with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads) drags a third of the stars of Heaven with his tail, and throws them to the Earth. (12:3–4). The Dragon waits for the birth of the child so he can devour it. However, sometime after the child is born, he is caught up to God's throne while the Woman flees into the wilderness into her place prepared of God that they should feed her there for 1,260 days ($3 1/2$ years). (12:5–6). War breaks out in heaven between Michael and the Dragon, identified as that old Serpent, the Devil, or Satan (12:9). After a great fight, the Dragon and his angels are cast out of Heaven for good, followed by praises of victory for God's kingdom. (12:7–12). The Dragon engages to persecute the Woman, but she is given aid to evade him. Her evasiveness enrages the Dragon, prompting him to wage war against the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (12:13–17)
 * 76) B Escorial 108v.jpg Beast (with seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns on his horns and on his heads names of blasphemy) emerges from the Sea, having one mortally wounded head that is then healed. The people of the world wonder and follow the Beast. The Dragon grants him power and authority for forty-two months. (13:1–5)
 * 77) The Beast of the Sea blasphemes God's name (along with God's tabernacle and his kingdom and all who dwell in Heaven), wages war against the Saints, and overcomes them. (13:6–10)
 * 78) Then, a Beast emerges from the Earth having two horns like a lamb, speaking like a dragon. He directs people to make an image of the Beast of the Sea who was wounded yet lives, breathing life into it, and forcing all people to bear "the mark of the Beast". The number of the beast the Bible says is "666". Events leading into the Third Woe:
 * 79) The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000 "first fruits" who are redeemed from Earth and victorious over the Beast and his mark and image. (14:1–5)
 * 80) The proclamations of three angels. (14:6–13)
 * 81) One like the Son of Man reaps the earth. (14:14–16)
 * 82) A second angel reaps "the vine of the Earth" and throws it into "the great winepress of the wrath of God... and blood came out of the winepress... up to one thousand six hundred stadia." (14:17–20)
 * 83) The temple of the tabernacle, in Heaven, is opened (15:1–5), beginning the "Seven Bowls" revelation.
 * 84) Seven angels are given a golden bowl, from the Four Living Creatures, that contains the seven last plagues bearing the wrath of God. (15:6–8)
 * 85) BambergApocalypseFolio038vAngelWith7Plagues.JPG bowls are poured onto Earth:
 * 86) First Bowl: A "foul and malignant sore" afflicts the followers of the Beast. (16:1–2)
 * 87) Second Bowl: The Sea turns to blood and everything within it dies. (16:3)
 * 88) Third Bowl: All fresh water turns to blood. (16:4–7)
 * 89) Fourth Bowl: The Sun scorches the Earth with intense heat and even burns some people with fire. (16:8–9)
 * 90) Fifth Bowl: There is total darkness and great pain in the Beast's kingdom. (16:10–11)
 * 91) Sixth Bowl: The Great River Euphrates is dried up and preparations are made for the kings of the East and the final battle at Armageddon between the forces of good and evil. (16:12–16)
 * 92) Seventh Bowl: A great earthquake and heavy hailstorm: "every island fled away and the mountains were not found." (16:17–21)
 * 93) Aftermath: Vision of John given by "an angel who had the seven bowls"
 * 94) The great Harlot who sits on a scarlet Beast (with seven heads and ten horns and names of blasphemy all over its body) and by many waters: Babylon the Great. The angel showing John the vision of the Harlot and the scarlet Beast reveals their identities and fates (17:1–18)
 * 95) New Babylon is destroyed. (18:1–8)
 * 96) The people of the Earth (the kings, merchants, sailors, etc.) mourn New Babylon's destruction. (18:9–19)
 * 97) The permanence of New Babylon's destruction. (18:20–24)
 * 98) The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
 * 99) A great multitude praises God. (19:1–6)
 * 100) The marriage Supper of the Lamb. (19:7–10)
 * 101) The Judgment of the two Beasts, the Dragon, and the Dead (19:11–20:15)
 * 102) The Beast and the False Prophet are cast into the Lake of Fire. (19:11–21)
 * 103) The Dragon is imprisoned in the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years. (20:1–3)
 * 104) The resurrected martyrs live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. (20:4–6)
 * 105) After the Thousand Years
 * 106) The Dragon is released and goes out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the Earth—Gog and Magog—and gathers them for battle at the holy city. The Dragon makes war against the people of God, but is defeated. (20:7–9)
 * 107) The Dragon is cast into the Lake of Fire with the Beast and the False Prophet. (20:10)
 * 108) The Last Judgment: the wicked, along with Death and Hades, are cast into the Lake of Fire, which is the second death. (20:11–15)
 * 109) BambergApocalypseFolio055rNew Jerusalem.JPG New Heaven and Earth, and New Jerusalem
 * 110) A "new heaven" and "new earth" replace the old heaven and old earth. There is no more suffering or death. (21:1–8)
 * 111) God comes to dwell with humanity in the New Jerusalem. (21:2–8)
 * 112) Description of the New Jerusalem. (21:9–27)
 * 113) The River of Life and the Tree of Life appear for the healing of the nations and peoples. The curse of sin is ended. (22:1–5)
 * 114) Conclusion
 * 115) Christ's reassurance that his coming is imminent. Final admonitions. (22:6–21)

Interpretations
Revelation has a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from the simple historical interpretation, to a prophetic view on what will happen in the future by way of God's will and the Woman's (traditionally believed to be the Virgin Mary) victory over Satan ("symbolic interpretation"), to different end time scenarios ("futurist interpretation"), to the views of critics who deny any spiritual value to Revelation at all, ascribing it to a human-inherited archetype.

Paschal liturgical
This interpretation, which has found expression among both Catholic and Protestant theologians, considers the liturgical worship, particularly the Easter rites, of early Christianity as background and context for understanding the Book of Revelation's structure and significance. This perspective is explained in The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse (new edition, 2004) by Massey H. Shepherd, an Episcopal scholar, and in Scott Hahn's The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth (1999), in which he states that Revelation in form is structured after creation, fall, judgment and redemption. Those who hold this view say that the Temple's destruction (AD 70) had a profound effect on the Jewish people, not only in Jerusalem but among the Greek-speaking Jews of the Mediterranean.

They believe the Book of Revelation provides insight into the early Eucharist, saying that it is the new Temple worship in the New Heaven and Earth. The idea of the Eucharist as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet is also explored by British Methodist Geoffrey Wainwright in his book Eucharist and Eschatology (Oxford University Press, 1980). According to Pope Benedict XVI some of the images of Revelation should be understood in the context of the dramatic suffering and persecution of the churches of Asia in the 1st century.

Accordingly, they argue, the Book of Revelation should not be read as an enigmatic warning, but as an encouraging vision of Christ's definitive victory over evil.

Oriental Orthodox
In the Coptic Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church the whole Book of Revelation is read during Apocalypse Night after Good Friday. Biblically Ugo Vanni and other biblical scholars have argued that the Book of Revelation was written with the intention to be read entirely in one liturgical setting with dialogue-elements between the reader (singular) and the hearers (plural) based on Rev 1:3 and Rev 1:10. Beniamin Zakhary has recently shown that the structure of the reading the Book of Revelation within the Coptic rite of Apocalypse Night (this is the only biblical reading in the Coptic church with a dialogue in it, where the reader stops many times and the people respond; additionally the entire book is read in a liturgical setting that culminates with the Eucharist) shows great support for this biblical hypothesis, albeit with some notable difference.

Additionally, the Book of Revelation permeates many liturgical prayers and iconography within the Coptic Church.

Eschatological
Most Christian interpretations fall into one or more of the following categories:
 * Historicism, which sees in Revelation a broad view of history;
 * Preterism, in which Revelation mostly refers to the events of the apostolic era (1st century) or, at the latest, the fall of Jerusalem or the Roman Empire;
 * Futurism, which believes that Revelation describes future events (modern believers in this interpretation are often called "millennialists"); and
 * Idealism/Allegoricalism, which holds that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events, but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.

Additionally, there are significant differences in interpretation of the thousand years (the "millennium") mentioned in Revelation 20:2.
 * Premillennialism, which holds a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers literal interpretations of the content of the book;
 * Amillennialism, which rejects a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers allegorical interpretations of the content of the book; and
 * Postmillennialism, which includes both literal and allegorical interpretations of the "millennium" but views the Second Coming as following the conversion to Christianity of a gradually improving world.

Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy treats the text as simultaneously describing contemporaneous events (events occurring at the same time) and as prophecy of events to come, for which the contemporaneous events were a form of foreshadow. It rejects attempts to determine, before the fact, if the events of Revelation are occurring by mapping them onto present-day events, taking to heart the Scriptural warning against those who proclaim "He is here!" prematurely. Instead, the book is seen as a warning to be spiritually and morally ready for the end times, whenever they may come ("as a thief in the night"), but they will come at the time of God's choosing, not something that can be precipitated nor trivially deduced by mortals.

Book of Revelation is the only book of the New Testament that is not read during services by the Byzantine Rite Churches, although it is read in the Western Rite Orthodox Parishes, which are under the same bishops as the Byzantine Rite.

Seventh-day Adventist
Similar to the early Protestants, Adventists maintain a historicist interpretation of the Bible's predictions of the apocalypse.

Seventh-day Adventists believe the Book of Revelation is especially relevant to believers in the days preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. "The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." As participatory agents in the work of salvation for all humankind, "This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent." The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God's messages and go forth as his agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth.

Bahá'í Faith
By reasoning analogous with Millerite historicism, Bahá'u'lláh's doctrine of progressive revelation, a modified historicist method of interpreting prophecy, is identified in the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith.

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the son and chosen successor of Bahá'u'lláh, has given some interpretations about the 11th and 12th chapters of Revelation in Some Answered Questions. The 1,260 days spoken of in the forms: one thousand two hundred and sixty days, forty-two months, refers to the 1,260 years in the Islamic Calendar (AH 1260 or AD 1844). The "two witnesses" spoken of are Muhammad and Ali. The red Dragon spoken of in Revelation 12:3 – "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads" – are interpreted as symbolic of the seven provinces dominated by the Umayyads: Damascus, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Africa, Andalusia, and Transoxania. The ten horns represent the ten names of the leaders of the Umayyad dynasty: Abu Sufyan, Muawiya, Yazid, Marwan, Abd al-Malik, Walid, Sulayman, Umar, Hisham, and Ibrahim. Some names were re-used, as in the case of Yazid II and Yazid III and the like, which were not counted for this interpretation.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Book of Mormon states that John the Apostle is the author of Revelation and that he was foreordained by God to write it.

Doctrine and Covenants, section 77, postulates answers to specific questions regarding the symbolism contained in the Book of Revelation. Topics include: the sea of glass, the four beasts and their appearance, the 24 elders, the book with seven seals, certain angels, the sealing of the 144,000, the little book eaten by John, and the two witnesses in Chapter 11.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that the warning contained in Revelation 22:18–19 does not refer to the biblical canon as a whole. Rather, an open and ongoing dialogue between God and the modern-day Prophet and Apostles of the LDS faith constitute an open canon of scripture.

Esoteric
Christian Gnostics are unlikely to be attracted to the teaching of Revelation because the doctrine of salvation through the sacrificed Lamb, which is central to Revelation, is repugnant to Gnostics. Christian Gnostics "believed in the Forgiveness of Sins, but in no vicarious sacrifice for sin ... they accepted Christ in the full realisation of the word; his life, not his death, was the keynote of their doctrine and their practice."

James Morgan Pryse was an esoteric gnostic who saw Revelation as a western version of the Hindu theory of the Chakra. He began his work, "The purpose of this book is to show that the Apocalypse is a manual of spiritual development and not, as conventionally interpreted, a cryptic history or prophecy." Such diverse theories have failed to command widespread acceptance. However, Christopher Rowland argues: "there are always going to be loose threads which refuse to be woven into the fabric as a whole. The presence of the threads which stubbornly refuse to be incorporated into the neat tapestry of our world-view does not usually totally undermine that view."

Radical discipleship
The radical discipleship interpretation asserts that the Book of Revelation is best understood as a handbook for radical discipleship; i.e. how to remain faithful to the spirit and teachings of Jesus and avoid simply assimilating to surrounding society. In this interpretation the primary agenda of the book is to expose as impostors the worldly powers that seek to oppose the ways of God and God's Kingdom. The chief temptation for Christians in the 1st century, and today, is to fail to hold fast to the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus and instead be lured into unquestioning adoption and assimilation of worldly, national or cultural values – imperialism, nationalism, and civil religion being the most dangerous and insidious.

This perspective (closely related to liberation theology) draws on the approach of Bible scholars such as Ched Myers, William Stringfellow, Richard Horsley, Daniel Berrigan, Wes Howard-Brook, and Joerg Rieger. Various Christian anarchists, such as Jacques Ellul, have identified the State and political power as the Beast and the events described, being their doings and results, the aforementioned 'wrath'.

Aesthetic and literary

Literary writers and theorists have contributed to a wide range of theories about the origins and purpose of the Book of Revelation. Some of these writers have no connection with established Christian faiths but, nevertheless, found in Revelation a source of inspiration. Revelation has been approached from Hindu philosophy and Jewish Midrash. Others have pointed to aspects of composition which have been ignored such as the similarities of prophetic inspiration to modern poetic inspiration, or the parallels with Greek drama. In recent years, theories have arisen which concentrate upon how readers and texts interact to create meaning and which are less interested in what the original author intended.

Charles Cutler Torrey taught Semitic languages at Yale University. His lasting contribution has been to show how prophets, such as the scribe of Revelation, are much more meaningful when treated as poets first and foremost. He thought this was a point often lost sight of because most English bibles render everything in prose. Poetry was also the reason John never directly quoted the older prophets. Had he done so, he would have had to use their (Hebrew) poetry whereas he wanted to write his own. Torrey insisted Revelation had originally been written in Aramaic.

According to Torrey, "The Fourth Gospel was brought to Ephesus by a Christian fugitive from Palestine soon after the middle of the first century. It was written in Aramaic." Later, the Ephesians claimed this fugitive had actually been the beloved disciple himself. Subsequently, this John was banished by Nero and died on Patmos after writing Revelation. Torrey argued that until AD 80, when Christians were expelled from the synagogues, the Christian message was always first heard in the synagogue and, for cultural reasons, the evangelist would have spoken in Aramaic, else "he would have had no hearing." Torrey showed how the three major songs in Revelation (the new song, the song of Moses and the Lamb and the chorus at 19: 6–8) each fall naturally into four regular metrical lines plus a coda. Other dramatic moments in Revelation, such as 6:16 where the terrified people cry out to be hidden, behave in a similar way. The surviving Greek translation was a literal translation that aimed to comply with the warning at Revelation 22:18 that the text must not be "corrupted" in any way.

Christina Rossetti was a Victorian poet who believed the sensual excitement of the natural world found its meaningful purpose in death and in God. Her The Face of the Deep is a meditation upon the Apocalypse. In her view, what Revelation has to teach is patience. Patience is the closest to perfection the human condition allows. Her book, which is largely written in prose, frequently breaks into poetry or jubilation, much like Revelation itself. The relevance of John's visions belongs to Christians of all times as a continuous present meditation. Such matters are eternal and outside of normal human reckoning. "That winter which will be the death of Time has no promise of termination. Winter that returns not to spring ... – who can bear it?" She dealt deftly with the vengeful aspects of John's message. "A few are charged to do judgment; everyone without exception is charged to show mercy." Her conclusion is that Christians should see John as "representative of all his brethren" so they should "hope as he hoped, love as he loved."

Recently, aesthetic and literary modes of interpretation have developed, which focus on Revelation as a work of art and imagination, viewing the imagery as symbolic depictions of timeless truths and the victory of good over evil. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza wrote Revelation: Vision of a Just World from the viewpoint of rhetoric. Accordingly, Revelation's meaning is partially determined by the way John goes about saying things, partially by the context in which readers receive the message and partially by its appeal to something beyond logic.

Professor Schüssler Fiorenza believes that Revelation has particular relevance today as a liberating message to disadvantaged groups. John's book is a vision of a just world, not a vengeful threat of world-destruction. Her view that Revelation's message is not gender-based has caused dissent. She says humanity is to look behind the symbols rather than make a fetish out of them. In contrast, Tina Pippin states that John writes "horror literature" and "the misogyny which underlies the narrative is extreme."

D. H. Lawrence took an opposing, pessimistic view of Revelation in the final book he wrote, Apocalypse. He saw the language which Revelation used as being bleak and destructive; a 'death-product'. Instead, he wanted to champion a public-spirited individualism (which he identified with the historical Jesus supplemented by an ill-defined cosmic consciousness) against its two natural enemies. One of these he called "the sovereignty of the intellect" which he saw in a technology-based totalitarian society. The other enemy he styled "vulgarity" and that was what he found in Revelation. "It is very nice if you are poor and not humble ... to bring your enemies down to utter destruction, while you yourself rise up to grandeur. And nowhere does this happen so splendiferously than in Revelation." Lawrence did not consider how these two types of Christianity (good and bad in his view) might be related other than as opposites. He noted the difference meant that the John who wrote a gospel could not be the same John who wrote Revelation.

His specific aesthetic objections to Revelation were that its imagery was unnatural and that phrases like "the wrath of the Lamb" were "ridiculous." He saw Revelation as comprising two discordant halves. In the first, there was a scheme of cosmic renewal in "great Chaldean sky-spaces", which he quite liked. After that, Lawrence thought, the book became preoccupied with the birth of the baby messiah and "flamboyant hate and simple lust ... for the end of the world." Lawrence coined the term "Patmossers" to describe those Christians who could only be happy in paradise if they knew their enemies were suffering in hell.

Academic
Modern biblical scholarship attempts to understand Revelation in its 1st-century historical context within the genre of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature. This approach considers the text as an address to seven historical communities in Asia Minor. Under this interpretation, assertions that "the time is near" are to be taken literally by those communities. Consequently, the work is viewed as a warning not to conform to contemporary Greco-Roman society which John "unveils" as beastly, demonic, and subject to divine judgment.

New Testament narrative criticism also places Revelation in its first century historical context but approaches the book from a literary perspective. For example, narrative critics examine characters and characterization, literary devices, settings, plot, themes, point of view, implied reader, implied author, and other constitutive features of narratives in their analysis of the book.

Although the acceptance of Revelation into the canon has, from the beginning, been controversial, it has been essentially similar to the career of other texts. The eventual exclusion of other contemporary apocalyptic literature from the canon may throw light on the unfolding historical processes of what was officially considered orthodox, what was heterodox, and what was even heretical. Interpretation of meanings and imagery are anchored in what the historical author intended and what his contemporary audience inferred; a message to Christians not to assimilate into the Roman imperial culture was John's central message. Thus, the letter (written in the apocalyptic genre) is pastoral in nature (its purpose is offering hope to the downtrodden), and the symbolism of Revelation is to be understood entirely within its historical, literary, and social context. Critics study the conventions of apocalyptic literature and events of the 1st century to make sense of what the author may have intended.

Scholar Barbara Whitlock pointed out a similarity between the consistent destruction of thirds depicted in the Book of Revelation (a third of mankind by plagues of fire, smoke, and brimstone, a third of the trees and green grass, a third of the sea creatures and a third of the ships at sea, etc.) and the Iranian mythology evil character Zahhak or Dahāg, depicted in the Avesta, the earliest religious texts of Zoroastrianism. Dahāg is mentioned as wreaking much evil in the world until at last chained up and imprisoned on the mythical Mt. Damāvand. The Middle Persian sources prophesy that at the end of the world, Dahāg will at last burst his bonds and ravage the world, consuming one in three humans and livestock, until the ancient hero Kirsāsp returns to life to kill Dahāg. Whitlock wrote: "Zoroastrianism, the state religion of the Roman Empire's main rival, was part of the intellectual environment in which Christianity came into being, just as were Judaism, the Greek-Roman religion, and the worship of Isis and Mithras. A Zoroastrian influence is completely plausible".

Old Testament origins
Much of Revelation employs ancient sources, primarily but not exclusively from the Old Testament. For example, Howard-Brook and Gwyther regard the Book of Enoch as an equally significant but contextually different source. "Enoch's journey has no close parallel in the Hebrew scriptures."

Academics showed little interest in this topic until recently. An anonymous Scottish commentary of 1871 prefaces Revelation 4 with the Little Apocalypse of Mark 13, places Malachi 4:5 ("Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord") within Revelation 11 and writes Revelation 12:7 side by side with the role of "the Satan" in the Book of Job. The message is that everything in Revelation will happen in its previously appointed time.

Steve Moyise uses the index of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament to show that "Revelation contains more Old Testament allusions than any other New Testament book, but it does not record a single quotation." Perhaps significantly, Revelation chooses different sources than other New Testament books. Revelation concentrates on Isaiah, Psalms, and Ezekiel, while neglecting, comparatively speaking, the books of the Pentateuch that are the dominant sources for other New Testament writers.

Yet, with Revelation, the problems might be judged more fundamental. The author seems to be using his sources in a completely different way to the originals. For example, the author borrows the 'new temple' imagery of Ezekiel 40–48 but uses it to describe a New Jerusalem which, quite pointedly, no longer needs a temple because it is God's dwelling. Ian Boxall writes that Revelation "is no montage of biblical quotations (that is not John's way) but a wealth of allusions and evocations rewoven into something new and creative." In trying to identify this "something new", Boxall argues that Ezekiel provides the 'backbone' for Revelation. He sets out a comparative table listing the chapters of Revelation in sequence and linking most of them to the structurally corresponding chapter in Ezekiel. The interesting point is that the order is not the same. John, on this theory, rearranges Ezekiel to suit his own purposes.

Some commentators argue that it is these purposes – and not the structure – that really matter. G. K. Beale believes that, however much John makes use of Ezekiel, his ultimate purpose is to present Revelation as a fulfillment of Daniel 7. Richard Bauckham has argued that John presents an early view of the Trinity through his descriptions of the visions and his identifying Jesus and the Holy Spirit with YHWH. Brandon Smith has expanded on both of their proposals while proposing a "trinitarian reading" of Revelation, arguing that John uses Old Testament language and allusions from various sources to describe a multiplicity of persons in YHWH without sacrificing monotheism, which would later be codified in the trinitarian doctrine of Nicene Christianity.

Olivet discourse
According to James Stuart Russell, the book is an exposition of Olivet Discourse found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Russell suggests there are parallels between the prophecy told by Jesus to the disciples and the prophecy recorded in the Book of Revelation, such as wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, false prophets, the darkening of the sun and moon, and stars falling from heaven.

Figures in Revelation
In order of appearance:

 * 1) The author (see John the Apostle or John of Patmos)
 * 2) One like the Son of man who gives the revelation
 * 3) Antipas, the faithful martyr
 * 4) Nicolaitans
 * 5) Jezebel
 * 6) The One who sits on the throne (God)
 * 7) The four living creatures
 * 8) The twenty four elders
 * 9) The Lamb, with seven horns and seven eyes (Lion of Judah)
 * 10) Saints under the altar
 * 11) Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
 * 12) The souls of them that were slain for the word of God
 * 13) Four angels holding the four winds of the Earth
 * 14) The seal-bearer angel (144,000 of Israel sealed)
 * 15) A great multitude from every nation
 * 16) Seven angelic trumpeters
 * 17) The star called Wormwood
 * 18) Angel of Woe
 * 19) Scorpion-tailed Locusts
 * 20) The angel of the bottomless pit (Hebrew: Abaddon, Greek: Apollyon)
 * 21) Four angels bound to the great river Euphrates
 * 22) Two hundred million man cavalry
 * 23) The mighty angel with little book open and when he cried of seven thunders uttered their voices
 * 24) The Two Witnesses
 * 25) The Woman and her child
 * 26) The Dragon, fiery red with seven heads and ten horns (Satan)
 * 27) Michael the Archangel
 * 28) The Beast, with seven heads and ten horns (Antichrist/Beast of the Sea)
 * 29) The False Prophet (Beast of the Earth)
 * 30) The three angels
 * 31) The angelic reapers and the grapes of wrath
 * 32) Voice from heaven
 * 33) Seven plague angels (Seven bowls of wrath)
 * 34) Angel of the waters
 * 35) The Whore of Babylon (Mother of harlots)
 * 36) Word of God/Rider on a white horse
 * 37) Angel binding Satan for one thousand years
 * 38) Those of the first resurrection
 * 39) Gog and Magog (after the one thousand years)
 * 40) Those of the second resurrection

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title: Book of Revelation