Book of Revelation

=== Title, authorship, and date ===
[[File:ApocalypseStSeverFol026vJohnRecievesRev.jpg|thumb|St. John receives his Revelation, [[Saint-Sever Beatus]], 11th century]]
{{Main|Authorship of the Johannine works|John of Patmos}}
The name ''Revelation'' comes from the [[Incipit|first word]] of the book in [[Koine Greek]]: {{lang|grc|ἀποκάλυψις}} ({{transliteration|grc|apokalypsis}}), which means 'unveiling' or 'revelation'. The author names himself as "John" ({{Lang-grc|Ἰωάννης|Iōannēs}}), but modern scholars consider it unlikely that the author of Revelation also wrote the [[Gospel of John]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|pp=28–29}}{{efn|The Gospel of John itself is considered to be an anonymous work, with the appellation of the name 'John' to its author and the identification of this 'John' as [[John the Apostle]] only attributable to church tradition, beginning with [[Irenaeus]] ({{circa|130|202}} AD). Most scholars have abandoned this hypothesis or hold it only tenuously{{sfn|Lindars|Edwards|Court|2000|p=41}} – there are multiple reasons for this conclusion, including, for example, the fact that the gospel is written in good Greek and displays sophisticated theology, and is therefore unlikely to have been the work of a simple fisherman.{{sfn|Kelly|2012|p=115}} See [[Gospel of John#Authorship]] for further details.}} 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 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}}