1:1 Revelation. The last book of the Bible gets its name from this first word (Greek apokalupsis), which means literally an “unveiling” of something previously concealed. The same word is translated “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 1:7), “the appearing of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:7), and “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven” (II Thessalonians 1:7). This book is not about certain things Christ has revealed, but about the revelation—that is, the unveiling, the appearing—of Christ Himself.

1:1 shortly. “Shortly” (Greek en tachei) means literally “in speed.” It can be understood in either of two ways, or both: (1) the coming of Christ is always imminent; (2) when He does come, the events described in this book will all take place in a short period of time.

1:1 signified. Although some writers take this word to mean that the book is composed largely of “signs,” or symbols, it is always used in the New Testament in the sense of “indicated.” It is related to the Greek word for “sign,” However, “sign” means “miracle” as used in the New Testament, not merely a symbol of something else. Its use here possibly suggests that these events, which are about to come to pass, are being revealed to John in a special, miraculous way.

1:1 angel. Note that the message was mediated to John not by Christ Himself but by a certain designated angel (note also Revelation 22:6-9).

1:1 John. The writer claims a number of times to be John, obviously the same John who was the beloved disciple and who wrote the Gospel of John and the three epistles of John. The vocabulary and general perspective of the five books, as well as uniform tradition, all agree on this.

1:2 record. The Book of Revelation is John’s record of what he saw and heard taking place in the future. The same, or related, Greek word (all derived from martios), is used frequently in the book of Revelation, as well as in John’s other writings. In Revelation, it is translated “witness” four times, “testimony” or “testify” nine times, and “martyr” twice.

1:3 Blessed. This is the only book of the Bible where “blessing” is promised to all who either read it or hear it read. This fact indicates that its meaning and message are clear. A book that could not be understood could hardly be a blessing to anybody. This in turn means that it should be taken literally.