RBL 05/22/2000

Beale, G. K.
John's Use of the Old Testament in Revelation
JSNTSup 166
Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998. Pp.
443, Cloth, $85, ISBN 1850758948.

Kenneth Newport
Hope University College
UK L16 9JD

This is a well-written and important work, the contents of which are in fact rather more
wide-ranging than its title might at first suggest. For example, chapter five discusses the
influence of OT grammar on the Greek of Revelation while chapter six considers the
importance of the OT for the interpretation of the concept (and timing) of the millennium
in Rev 20:1-7. The survey of existing studies of the use of the OT in Revelation that
Beale presents in chapter one is a particularly useful and up-to-date summary of the state
of the question. Other chapters deal with the various ways that John uses the OT in
Revelation, the influence of the OT on the eschatology of the book, and the influence of
the OT on the symbolism of Revelation. There is an excellent bibliography.
This is not, of course, uncharted territory. The general issue of the use of the OT in the
book of Revelation has been the subject of other major studies including Steve Moyise's
The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation, also published in this series (vol. 115). In
this contribution to the debate, however, Beale takes issue with Moyise (and others such
as J. -P. Ruiz) by arguing that John does use the OT with sensitivity to its original
context. Thus, according to Beale, for John the OT is not just the servant of the gospel,
always ready to run to its aid (cf. B. Lindars) but rather both servant and guide (p. 127).
Indeed, if there is a unity to Beale's monograph it is this: that the author of Revelation
sees the OT as the broad context in which the Christ event is to be interpreted and that for
him reflection upon the OT will lead the way to further comprehension of this event (p.
127). Beale is by no means the first to make such a contention, though few have sought to
argue it quite so extensively or to apply the theory to the precise areas that are covered in

This review was published by RBL 2000 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
subscription to RBL, please visit http://www.bookreviews.org/subscribe.asp.

this work. While the individual topics in this book have been treated before (and the
context of Beale's study is clearly seen in the extensive and informative footnotes he
provides), in places this work does break some new ground. For example, in the chapter
on the influence of OT grammar on the Greek of Revelation, Beale presents an
interesting case. A significant number of the "solecisms" of Revelation, he argues, can be
explained in terms of the author's direct reliance upon the OT (usually LXX) text since
they occur the "in the midst of Old Testament allusions" where John "is carrying over the
exact grammatical form of the Old Testament wording" (p. 320) without making the
necessary contextual grammatical adjustment. This results in loss of grammatical
concord. In other places where John alludes to the Old Testament, argues Beale, he does
not retain the precise grammar of the OT text, but incorporates Semitisms or
Septuagintalisms in order to signal to the readers/hearers the presence of an allusion and
hence gain their specific attention to this point. As Beale acknowledges (p. 320 n. 11),
this is not an entirely new suggestion, but it is worked out here to a far greater extent than
before. This is a relatively simple suggestion and its simplicity is part of its appeal.
Whether it will be able to withstand the full critical evaluation to which it deserves to be
subjected remains to be seen, but at the very least it ought to enliven a discussion that has
stagnated somewhat in recent years.
The chapter on the millennium in Rev 20:1-7 is also informative, though Beale's rather
perfunctory introduction here fails, in my view, to do justice to the complexity of the
history of interpretation of this passage (and major elements of that which he labels as
"novel" on p. 356, n. 1, are not really so when seen in the context of, say, eighteenthcentury English interpretations of the Apocalypse). Beale's basic suggestion is that the
kai of Rev 20:1 should not be understood as leading into another section of the vision
that follows in chronological sequence from what has gone before, but should be taken as
indicating a vision synchronous with the preceding one (pp. 359-360). Thus Rev 20:1-10
recapitulates Rev 19:17-21. The OT is again, for Beale, a central consideration in this
debate, for, he argues, this section of Revelation is heavily influenced by Ezekiel, where
the battle in chapter 39 is the same as that in 38 (and he has the weight of scholarship in
his favor on this point). Thus, for Beale, Rev 20:1-15 speaks of a millennium which is
"inaugurated during the interadvent age by God's limitation of Satan's deceptive powers
(vv. 1-3) and by deceased Christians being vindicated through reigning in heaven." This
period is "concluded by a resurgence of Satan's deceptive assault against the Church (vv.
7-8) and the final judgement (vv. 9-15)" (p. 358). Beale has built his case carefully and
again his work deserves full critical evaluation. Other chapters make similar arguments as
Beale seeks to support his main hypothesis: that the author of Revelation uses the OT
with sensitivity to its original context as he seeks to understand and communicate the
significance and meaning of the Christ event.
This, then, is an important work which deals with a number of problematic areas. Not
all will be convinced by Beale's arguments, but those who wish to engage fully with them

This review was published by RBL 2000 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
subscription to RBL, please visit http://www.bookreviews.org/subscribe.asp.

will need to reflect in their rejoinders the level of textual and linguistic detail evident in
this work.

This review was published by RBL 2000 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
subscription to RBL, please visit http://www.bookreviews.org/subscribe.asp.