British New Testament Society

The study of the textual transmission of the Apocalypse and the study of its grammar are intricately linked. Here we consider some of the manuscripts of the Apocalypse and what they tell us about the social setting in which the Apocalypse was read. The grammar likewise gives us insight into the intent of this work and something of its historical background. It is found that there is a significant correlation between the setting in which the apocalypse was written and those settings in which it was appreciated.

In this paper I want to continue the line of research proposed by Albert Bell and Christian Wilson who argued that internal evidence seems to point at a dating of Revelation in 68 or 69 AD. I agree with their observation that the order of the seven kings in Rev 17 is most naturally taken as the uninterrupted sequence of the Roman emperors starting with either Julius Caesar or Augustus. The present consensus, following Irenaeus, that one has to skip several emperors so as to arrive at a date under Domitian, who is regarded as the Nero Redivivus, is severely at odds with the general practice of ancient historians to give a full, complete sequence of emperors. An ancient historical reading of Rev 17 rather suggests a date under Otho and Vitellius, the immediate successors of Galba who had revolted against Nero and briefly replaced him, after Nero had either died or was supposed to have disappeared in what would become the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 68-69).

In my paper, I interpret Revelation against the background of ancient historical descriptions of this year. This makes good sense not only of Rev 17, but also of the second, two-horned beast in Rev 13, who makes the earth worship the first beast. Ancient historians such as Tacitus, Plutarch, Suetonius, and Dio Cassius show that, differently from Galba, Otho and Vitellius displayed a pro- Neronian attitude and that during their reigns images of Nero emerged again. The author of Rev had every reason to believe that they were paving the way for Nero's return. Moreover, Tacitus shows that reports of the appearance of a false Nero circulated in Greece and Asia (Ephesus) between the Autumn of 68 and January 69. The general crisis of the Year of the Four Emperors seems to offer a relevant historical contextualization of the Book of Revelation.

It is well known that the Book of Revelation often refers to the OT and that the prophet Ezekiel plays an important role as John alludes to him on diverse levels: direct quotations; allusions on the level of sentences or verses; references to the situation of both authors and addressees; parallel theological ideas; structure. Although interest in the topic of intertextuality and in particular, the reception of Ezekiel in Revelation, has increased dramatically, there has been a lack of research with regard to a comprehensive comparison of both books using a clear terminology and methodology. In this paper, based on my Habilitation (defended at the Faculty of Theology in Innsbruck/Austria on 1st October 2003) I seek to address these issues.