Preface
This commentary on the book of Revelation results from research of over twenty years. I do not claim a lot of original ideas. I simply share what I have learned not only from my own studies, but also from Bible Institutes or through many good quality commentaries.
This is a commentary on the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts (i.e., original languages) of the Bible, instead of on a Chinese or English translation. This commentary provides with different major views, both Eastern Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic. The difficult passages have not been avoided. An attempt has been made to explain every verse in detail. I would like to make this a resource so that readers can know where Bible scholarship divides on key issues. However, I do not cite the sources on which their view will be found. The reason is that it would be unnecessarily long and tedious to cite them. It clutters up the page and intimidates the reader.
Far too many Bible commentaries fall short of bridging the gap between the insights of biblical scholars and the needs of students. Some students struggle with the commentaries written by biblical scholars for several reasons. Generally, such scholarship is cast in lengthy sentences, rarely used vocabularies, and technical language easily grasped by other scholars, but not by the general readers. With the intention of illustrating the truths of the book of Revelation in a user-friendly format, this commentary is presented in:
short sentences;
commonly used vocabularies;
point form;
photographs;
drawings;
maps;
charts; and
tables.
Unprecedentedly, both Chinese and English versions of this commentary are written by the same author. There are two major reasons for doing this:
Avoid the translation discrepancies between the two versions caused by a third-party translator.
More people can comprehend the contents of the commentary as Chinese and English are currently the two most commonly used languages in this world.
The paper format of this commentary is published for those readers who has no access to the internet, or their eyes feel uncomfortable in viewing monitor screen. Since this commentary is written for non-profit making, a free internet version is also available in the author’s personal website: https://raptureofchurch.com
For the Chinese version, Chinese Union version (1919) and Studium Biblicum O.F.M. version (1968) are the Scripture texts quoted in this commentary because they are still the most widely used versions in the Chinese-speaking world. For the English version, unless otherwise noted, are the author’s translation. Most of the transliterations of the Greek and Hebrew texts follow the guidelines of the Journal of Biblical Literature (JBL).
About the author
The author is a Royal Chartered Surveyor by profession. He studied Bible courses at the Emmaus Bible Correspondence School, the Moody Bible Institute Center for External Studies, and the Hong Kong Affiliated Institute of Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem - Hong Kong Catholic Biblical Institute.