Editing Book of Revelation (section)

=== Title, authorship, and date ===
[[File:Papyrus 18 POxy1079.jpg|thumb|Revelation 1:4–7 on [[Papyrus 18]] ({{Circa|AD 300}})<ref name=":1" />]]
The book's most common English name is "[Book of] Revelation". It is also called "[Book of] the Apocalypse" (for example in the [[Catholic Church]]<ref>{{Cite CE1913 |wstitle=Apocalypse |first=Christian |last=van den Biesen }}</ref>), "Revelation to John",<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiPouAEACAAJ |title=ESV Pew Bible |publisher=Crossway |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4335-6343-0 |location=Wheaton, IL |page=1028}}</ref> or "Apocalypse of St. John".<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the Book of Revelation? |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/explanation/brevelation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123083119/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/explanation/brevelation.html |archive-date=January 23, 2023 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |website=PBS Frontline}}</ref> Abbreviations of these are "Rev." (traditional), "Rv" (shorter), or "Apoc."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hbl.gcc.libguides.com/c.php?g=339715&p=2285140|title=Common Abbreviations for Books of the Bible -- Chicago|via=Henry Buhl Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Book Abbreviations |url=https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421100743/https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Logos Bible Software}}</ref>

These names come from the book's [[incipit|opening words]], {{Bibleverse|Rev|1:1|KJV}}:
: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 (linguistics)|anglicisation]] of the original [[Koine Greek]] word {{lang|grc|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.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Last Trumpet | work=The New York Times | date=6 April 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/books/review/revelations-by-elaine-pagels.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230217221753/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/books/review/revelations-by-elaine-pagels.html#selection-495.0-495.124 |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |access-date=February 17, 2023 | last1=Martin | first1=Dale B. }}</ref>

The author states in {{Bibleverse|Rev|1:9}} 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.{{sfn|Stuckenbruck|2003|pp= 1535–1536}}{{sfn|Bauckham|1993|p=2, 24–25}} The [[New Testament canon]] has four other "[[Johannine works]]" ascribed to authors named John, and a tradition dating from [[Irenaeus]] ({{circa|130|202}} AD) identifies [[John the Apostle]] as the author of all five. [[Authorship of the Johannine works|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.{{efn|Thus, for example, whereas the 1592 [[Sixto-Clementine Vulgate]] calls the book {{lang|la|Apocalypsis Beati Joannis Apostoli}} "Apocalypse of Saint John the Apostle" the 1979 [[Nova Vulgata]] calls it {{lang|la|Apocalypsis Joannis}} "Apocalypse of John". }}{{sfn|Lindars|Edwards|Court|2000|p=41}}{{sfn|Collins|1984|pp=28–29}}

The book is commonly dated to about AD 95, as suggested by clues in the visions pointing to the reign of the [[Roman emperor|emperor]] [[Domitian]].{{sfn|Perkins|2012|p=19ff}} The beast with seven heads and the number [[Number of the beast|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 Redivivus|Nero would return]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=100}}{{sfn|Stuckenbruck|2003|pp =1535–1536}}