Series: The Pulpit Commentary

This is a commentary on the book of Revelation in The Pulpit Commentary series by Alfred Plummer. It presented difficulties in scanning because of the very poor quality of the paper used. My previous scanner was unequal to the challenge, but my new one has at least provided a readable result, even if it is not up the quality I would like. Plummer also wrote a commentary on the letters of John in the same series, which I will look out for.

My thank to Book Aid for providing a copy of this public domain work for digitisation.

Alfred Plummer [1841-1926], Revelation. The Pulpit Commentary. London & New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1909. Hbk. pp.585. [Click here to visit the download page for this title]

Contents

• Introduction
  1. The Title
  2. Author
  3. Date
  4. Place
  5. Manuscripts
  6. Versions
  7. Quotations
  8. History of the Printed Text
  9. Character of the Greek
  10. Authenticity
• Commentary
• Index

Introduction. 1. The Title

The Revelation. – The name given to this book in our Bibles is the English form of the Latin equivalent of the Greek title Apokaluphis. This Greek title is as old as the book itself, and forms the first word of the original text, where it constitutes an essential member of the opening sentence and paragraph. It was consistent with the Hebrew cast of the whole document that the Hebrew fashion of naming books by their initial words should be followed in this instance; but the classical and modern method of designating a. literary work by the name ‘of its principal theme happened here ‘to lead to the same resnlt: Apokaluphis is not only the initial word of the book, but also a subject-title, descriptive of the largest portion of the contents.

In the Vulgate version the Greek word is retained, both in the title and at the commencement of the text. Its proper Latin equivalent, however, is not found by merely writing it in Latin letters, apocalypsis, but by combining the Latin renderings of its two component parts, taking re to represent apo and velatio as synonymous with kaluphis. According to the etymological genius of the respective languages, just as the simple substantive velatio, or kaluphis, signified the act of covering with a veil, so the compound re-velatio, or apo-kaluphis, meant the act of removing, turning back, or taking off the veil, in such a manner as to discover what previously was hidden from view.

The Latin compound, unaltered except by the Anglicizing of its termination, has become thoroughly naturalized in our English language; and on that account it is, for biblical and ministerial use, preferable to the original title, which, even in its Anglicized form, “Apocalypse,” has never ceased to be “Greek” to ordinary English ears….

Pages i-ii