Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)

Well, I have had this long enough now to realise that this is an excellent commentary. I like the translation at the front and then above the separate commentaries unlike some - I think it necessary and Koester's translation is excellent. (I am working my way through the Greek text of revelation now!). This is now in my top 5 best commentaries on Revelation along with Beale, Caird, Smalley and Keener.

A wonderfully detailed study enlightening my mind and Spirit. Reading this causes any fear of the Apocalypse to recede.

Great

Having read and appreciated Joseph A Fitzmyer’s commentary on “The Acts of the Apostles”, which is another volume in the “Anchor Yale Bible” series, I waited impatiently for the publication of the Anchor Yale commentary on the book of Revelation, and bought it almost as soon as it was published, late in 2015.I was disappointed by it. Why? This book by Koester needs radical editing, since it routinely makes most statements three times and some statements four or more times. The book contains the expected and necessary apparatus, such as preface, lists of abbreviations, sources consulted, indices, etc. The translation of Revelation by Koester is printed before the commentary itself (pp. 3-25). This is followed by an introduction to the text, a little over 130 pages long (pp. 29-150). This is on the whole good. Next is a comprehensive and interesting bibliography 54 pages long (pp. 153-206).Thus, the main section, entitled “Notes and Comments”, starts on page 207. It finishes on page 859. This is where things go seriously wrong. One soon hits repeats of statements made in the introduction. But it does not stop here. Each section of Revelation has its own introduction, which repeats information from the main introduction. Then Koester’s translation of the relevant passage is re-printed, so his translation of the whole of Revelation is in fact printed twice in this book. Then come Notes, which go through the section verse by verse or phrase by phrase, exactly as required for any Bible commentary. Unfortunately, the Notes generally repeat information from the main introduction and from the introduction to the section (so that makes it a third time). After the Notes comes a section entitled “COMMENT”. This mostly repeats information from the general introduction, the introduction to the section and the Notes (so that makes it a fourth time). Of course, there is detailed information in the Notes that is not in any of the introductions that precede it, but most of that, new, information is repeated in the “COMMENT” section. And some information is repeated constantly from section to section. Merely by way of example, the reporting of the stories of Nero’s supposed anticipated return from the dead is mentioned more than twenty times (the subject index lists, by my count, 21 references to this, some of them multiple pages in length).It seems to me that it would be possible to edit the book down from 859 pages to 250 pages without any loss of information.I have read the entire book from cover to cover (including careful perusal of the Bibliography) before writing this review, but I imagine that most people with less leisure time than me will give up after about 240 pages or dip in for specific passages or verses, which is a good use of a commentary but not at all the way to study the book of Revelation.The target audience envisioned by the author and publishers is not at all clear to me. A total absence of a “devotional” focus means that it is not ideally suited to the individual Christian believer. If the target audience is other scholars or church ministers, I wonder why the Greek is only presented transliterated into Roman script. In fact, the references to Greek are odd, with Greek words (transliterated) sometimes printed after a given English word, for no obvious reason. That is to say, seeing the Greek word there does not aid comprehension or reveal any sort of pattern or other information. Nor is the choice of the Greek word discussed (with only a couple of exceptions throughout the whole of the book).The historical context of interpretations through the centuries is interesting. The author generally presents the different interpretations given both in the past and at the present time, with little indication of his preference, although he does sometimes say that one interpretation is less likely or less convincing than another, for reasons that he gives.Evangelicals are unlikely to appreciate his attitude to the text. For instance, “According to Revelation, access to God’s city is not reserved for those who have never sinned, but for those who are cleansed by the blood of Christ” (p. 810), “Revelation ascribes to Christ a role at the beginning and end of all things” (p. 841), “The assumption is that the book’s message originates with God and the exalted Jesus” (p. 849). Statements made in the book of Revelation are often claimed to contradict statements elsewhere in the Bible (although Koester carefully avoids such confrontational terminology). The book also constantly quotes from Apocryphal books, although this may be justifiable because of the light that it might throw on the perceptions of either the first readers or other readers in subsequent centuries.Many readers may find Tom Wright’s “Revelation for Everyone” (which I have partially skimmed but not fully read) more helpful. The pages that I read seemed to include the same major facts but without all the repetition.Also, Richard Bauckham's "The Theology of the Book of Revelation" (which I have read in full) is an excellent, short (164-page) introduction to the main themes of Revelation, without being a verse-by-verse commentary. Recommended.In conclusion, there is some good information in this book. If all the repetition were eliminated, it could easily merit three stars and might struggle to attain four.

Un commento all'Apocalisse del noto autore Craig R. Koester. Molto ampio, con oltre ottocento pagine, è stato pubblicato nel 2014. Ciò che rende unico questo commento è che all'inizio presenta la storia dell'interpretazione dell'Apocalisse a partire dal II secolo (essendo stata composta verso la fine del I secolo) fino ai giorni nostri. Questo è un punto di forza notevole di questo commento. Inoltre, Craig Koester è uno scienziato rinomato e molto autorevole, noto per la sua produzione di articoli e libri di altissima qualità.

There is a lot to cover and frankly, I've only covered half of the book in my studies along with several other references. So far it is very well done, not too formal yet detailed enough for understanding some of the more difficult passages. I gave it a 5 star rating as I don't expect to be disappointed in remaining chapters.

A very comprehensive commentary that offers great historical, theological, and biblical insights that give you a balanced understanding of the four views. The Old Testament references and historical insights are invaluable, this book will be a permanent part of my "Revelation" library for years to come.

A comprehensive scholarly review of the Biblical text. When I saw the book, I thought it might be a little much. However, it is interesting and informative. I recommend it highly to anyone leading a study on Revelation.

I used three commentaries in my book study group. Koester' was the best. Although G.B. Caird' s commentary had some interesting insight that was not found in Koester's commentary. Koester goes into a lot of detail surrounding the text like Aune's commentary.The print is very small, however, and I had to use a magnifier. The Anchor Bible commentaries are divided into notes and comments. The comments are often just a reiteration of the notes.I would also recommend reading Satan, the Heavenly Adversary of Man by Cato Gulaker. This scholarly work takes the point of view that Satan is God's servant. I found the study quite illuminating in terms of the book of Revelation.