Commentary Recommendations & Resources: Revelation
Topical
Bruce Metzger - Breaking the Code *DEAL*This little book offers some great insights into the book of Revelation. This was my first crack and studying Revelation and I still remember all of the discoveries I experienced reading this book. I would encourage people to start here as it will introduce you to material that you can get in greater detail in some of the commentaries below. You can get this for around $2 on amazon.David deSilva - Seeing Things John's Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of RevelationdeSilva takes an approach he calls the contemporary-historical approach that tries to understand Revelation in its own day and time in order to understand it in ours. I just call that solid biblical interpretation :) So this book isn't really a commentary that goes by chapter and verse. It is almost like a theology of Revelation that mainly covers the meaning that is revealed through the rhetorical approaches used in the book and the apocalyptic genre of the book.A.P. Garrow - Revelation (New Testament Readings)Garrow tries to identify the story that he believes underlies the text. This is like when we recognize that Paul's writing is not narrative and yet there is a narrative that underlies a lot of what Paul writes about (the story of Adam or Abraham for example). This is a similar take on Revelation based on statements of what must soon take place. That leads Garrow to believe Revelation follows a narrative that helps explain the content of the book. This is an interesting approach but not one I would go to first.
Commentaries
David Aune - Revelation (Word Biblical Commentary)
I picked this up not very long ago so I haven't had the chance to use it very much. I picked it up based on its reputation in the series as being one of the better commentaries on Revelation.G.K. Beale - The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testament Commentary)I have used this on a number of occasions and have found it incredibly helpful. While the commentary section requires some knowledge of Greek the introductory material does not and it is both lengthy and very helpful.Grant Osborne - Revelation (Baker)These commentaries usually either go multivolume or else are just ginormous. This one went the ginormous route. If you want a wide variety of scholarly opinion over the years on various interpretations this is the commentary you will want to consult.Richard Oster - Seven Congregations in a Roman Crucible: A Commentary on Revelation 1-3This is the first in what will be a multivolume commentary on Revelation by Dr. Oster who teaches at Harding School of Theology. I have read it in its entirety and it is very useful. This is a must read on the first three chapters, studies on the letters to the churches, etc and especially if you want it from someone who comes from a Restoration/Church of Christ background.Mitchell Reddish - Revelation (Smyth & Helwys)This is probably my favorite commentary on Revealtion. It is a bit pricey (as Revelation commentaries tend to be) but it also comes with a CD of the entire commentary in pdf. That allows you to search the text of the commentary, which has helped me on a number of occasions. This commentary is technical enough for advance students but also easy enough to read for people just starting out.Tom Wright - Revelation for Everyone *DEAL*Great beginning study on Revelation. You can get this for less than $10 at amazon and it covers the entire book of Revelation.