Towards a new
spatio-temporal
macrostructure for Revelation - who was John?

Does it matter who was the author of Revelation? Consider the choices: the Apostle John (the son of Zebedee and one of the original twelve disciples) or the ‘Beloved Disciple’ (Jn. 13:23, Jn. 19:26-27, Jn. 20:2, Jn. 21:7, Jn. 21:20), both from (or knew)[1] Galilee and both followed Jesus during of his ministry, so memories of those times would underlie the exile to Patmos – but Tradition says the son of Zebedee was the Beloved Disciple, so it’s complicated. There is also the Elder, the author of 2 Jn. and 3 Jn., who was another influential leader in Asia (modern day Turkey at the very beginning of Christianity), or John an otherwise unknown prophet. The influence of Revelation is world-changing, and authorship is part of its context.

Does it matter when Revelation was written down or circulate – in AD 68-70 or AD 95-97? This was either just before or a long time after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, so the context of Revelation was very different on those dates.

In this section, the author and date of Revelation are considered from the view points of the text, the early Christian writers and more modern scholars; with probable dates of writing and local traditions. Finally, what the proposed macrostructure adds to these discussions and a probable authorship/ date scenario is suggested.

[1] The Beloved Disciple is not mentioned on Peter’s boat until after the Resurrection (Jn. 21:1-25).

7a) The text

We do not know very much about the author of the Book of Revelation – he gives his name as John and he was on the now-Greek island of Patmos when he experienced a ‘revelation (ἀποκάλυψις, apocalypse) of Jesus Christ’ (1:1). John writes that he was a servant of God, brother-in-persecution to his audience and he was a prophet who was exiled to Patmos for preaching the Gospel:

‘The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw (…) I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day.’ (1:1-10a)

‘I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow-servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!’ (22:9)

Revelation’s John does not write, or even imply, that he was one of the original twelve disciples – The Apostle (John, the son of Zebedee) nor ‘the Elder’ (the author of 2 Jn. and 3 Jn.). George Caird suggests his audience would have known who the author was and date of Revelation’s first circulation, therefore explanation within the text would be unnecessary (Caird, 1966: 3-5). From external sources, we know that the book was written by the end of the first century AD and the Roman Empire ruled supreme in the area at the time.

7b) Authorship and the Early Church Fathers

It is confusing (at least to me) that not only were there so many people called John in Ephesus at the time, the title ‘apostle’ is ambiguous. It appears to be used for one of Jesus’ chosen twelve disciples as well as other faithful disciples (including those who may not have been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry). Ian Paul defines the term as referring ‘to an ambassador who is commissioned to take the message of the one commissioning to another party’.[1] In early writings, only references to ‘the evangelist’, ‘the holy apostle’ or ‘the son of Zebedee’ are to one of the Twelve, and only the last one is unambiguous because ‘the evangelist’ may be identified with John the Elder, and the Elder with the Beloved Disciple. The first direct reference to the authorship of Revelation that still exists today was by Justin Martyr (a teacher and philosopher), writing in Ephesus about AD 155:

‘There was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgement of all men would likewise take place.’ Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho, LXXXI.

Justin believed John of Patmos was the Apostle John, and he (the son of Zebedee) lived in Ephesus (‘with us’, i.e. where Justin was located at the time), he had a vision and he prophesied (in Revelation) that believers would live in Jerusalem for a thousand years (‘the Millennium’) and afterwards there would be an eternal resurrection and judgement for everyone. Justin’s writings were very influential and these quotes were referred to by Eusebius (c. AD 260-339/340; Bishop of Caesarea):

‘He (Justin) writes also that even down to his time prophetic gifts shone in the Church. And he mentions the Apocalypse of John, saying distinctly that it was the apostle’s.’ Eusebius, IV.18.8.

In the early fourth century, Eusebius used an extensive library of early Christian writings to copy original texts and comment upon the history of the church (the Ecclesiastical History) from the end of the Book of Acts to the time of Emperor Constantine. He had access to books that are unknown or fragmentary today so his work is unique and valuable, despite writing at least two hundred years after Revelation was circulated.

Some modern scholars have reservations about his work, for example: Martin Hengel suggests that Eusebius may have ‘sometimes concealed information which seemed disagreeable to him or omitted it through carelessness’ and Hengel gives examples of this (Hengel, 1989b: 21). However, Eusebius copied documents by Papias (c. AD 70 – 155, Bishop of Hierapolis), for example, who Eusebius described as being of ‘very limited understanding’ and wrong at times (quoted shortly). Eusebius is a source that is worth taking seriously, despite the possibility that the original authors may be wrong in places or that Eusebius’ own assertions were incorrect at times.

When Clement of Alexandria (AD c. 150-215) listed the order of the Gospels, the Apostle John as the author of Revelation was disputed: ‘In regard to the Apocalypse, the opinions of most men are still divided. But at the proper time this question likewise shall be decided from the testimony of the ancients’ (Clement is Eusebius III.24.18). The debate was still underway when Dionysius was Bishop of Alexandria (c. AD 200-265). Dionysius spent three full days with the church in Arsinoë (Egypt), discussing books for which the local leaders wanted his opinion; one of these was Revelation (Dionysius in Eusebius VII.24.6-7, VII.25.1-27). It is perhaps note-worthy that he had not already read it.

Dionysius is quoted as saying ‘that this book is the work of one John, I do not deny. And I agree also that it is the work of a holy and inspired man. But I cannot readily admit that he was the apostle, the son of Zebedee, the brother of James, by whom the Gospel of John and the Catholic Epistle were written’ (in Eusebius VII.25.7).

Dionysius defines which John he is writing about, which is very important, but he does not accept Revelation as a work of the son of Zebedee (whom he calls ‘the Apostle’), for two main reasons: firstly, The Apostle did not use his name in the Gospel and first letter, and neither did the author of the second and third epistles (who used the title ‘the Elder’, a title which was not used by The Apostle). Only in Revelation did the author use his name:

‘But neither in the reputed second or third epistle of John, though they are very short, does the name John appear; but there is written the anonymous phrase, “the elder”. But this author (of Revelation) did not consider it sufficient to give his name once (but four times) and to proceed with his work; but he takes it up again.’ (in Eusebius VII.25.11).

Secondly, comparing John’s Gospel and Revelation, Dionysius commented:

‘And from the ideas, and from the words and their arrangement, it may be reasonably conjectured that this one (The Apostle) is different from that one’ (Revelation’s author) (in Eusebius VII.25.17).

Dionysius rejected the Apostle’s authorship of Revelation because:

‘Moreover, it can also be shown that the diction of the Gospel and Epistle differs from that of the Apocalypse. For they were written not only without error as regards the Greek language, but also with elegance in their expression, in their reasonings, and in their entire structure. (…)

I do not deny that the other writer saw a revelation and received knowledge and prophecy.

I perceive, however, that his dialect and language are not accurate Greek, but that he uses barbarous idioms, and, in some places, solecisms. It is unnecessary to point these out here, for I would not have any one think that I have said these things in a spirit of ridicule, for I have said what I have only with the purpose of showing clearly the difference between the writings.’ (in Eusebius VII.25.18-27).

Dionysius’ comments are endorsed by comparing Revelation with John’s Gospel today but, despite his criticisms, Dionysius did not deny the prophetic value of John’s vision. Were there three men called John in Christian circles at that time: The Apostle (the son of Zebedee), John the Elder and ‘the other writer’ i.e. John of Patmos, the Prophet of Revelation? There is also the Beloved Disciple to consider, who was almost certainly in Ephesus at the time (see 7c).

Revelation was part of the New Testament Canon by the time Eusebius was writing in the fourth century AD, despite negative literary observations noted by earlier leaders such as Dionysius, but John the son of Zebedee’s authorship of Revelation remains the orthodox view.

Later, I suggest that John had a waking vision and he gave a summary of what he was seeing to his scribe, while it was happening, and it was the scribe’s Greek that Dionysius criticised (see 7g).

[1] https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/the-calling-and-sending-of-the-twelve-apostles-in-matthew-9-and-10/ [Accessed 12 June 2026].

7b.1) ‘Not very accurate Greek’

Largely based on textual ambiguities like those noted by Dionysius (‘not very accurate Greek’, in Eusebius VII.25.26), the authorship of Revelation has taxed modern scholarship, especially in the last 200 years (Paul, 2018: 8). In 1913, RH Charles describes the Greek as not so much ‘abnormal’ (as some scholars in Charles’ time attested), more ‘unique’; and ‘Hebraic in style’ (as earlier scholars had always agreed).[1] Martin Hengel described it as koine Greek (i.e. ‘common speech’) which had been spoken by high status Jews in Jerusalem before the city was destroyed. It was the same type of Greek as John’s Gospel and both works have ‘a marked semitic, even Hebraic, flavour’ (Hengel, 1989b: 110, 113, 126).

David Aune suggests the use of ‘Semitizing Greek’ indicates John was a native Aramaic (‘perhaps even Hebrew’) speaker (Aune, 1997: xlix-l). He suggests Revelation has a modification of the Greek tripartite prophecy formula (Aune, 1997: 112-113) which might mean John had some Greek literary education. However, James Barr had previously commented that merely writing in Greek did not automatically mean an author was influenced by Greco-Roman thought processes and philosophy, because koine Greek was the universal language at the time (Barr, 1961: 9-10). Neither Revelation itself nor the language used tells us whether John was The Apostle/ Evangelist/ Elder or another leader who lived in Ephesus in the second half of the first century AD.

Later, I suggest that John had a waking vision and he gave a summary of what he was seeing to his scribe, while it was happening, and it was the scribe’s Greek that Dionysius criticised (see 7g).

[1] ‘The abnormal type of the Greek (…) has been recently said to be characteristic of the vernacular Greek of this period, and the existence of Hebraisms strictly so call denied. These positions are untenable. The style (…) is absolutely unique in all Greek literature, while linguistically it is more Hebraic than the Septuagint.’ (Charles, 1913: 79).

7b.2) The two tombs in Ephesus

If there were three or four men called John in leadership in Ephesus at that time, only two were later known to be buried there:

‘John, who, after he had lived some time there, died at Ephesus.’ (Eusebius, III.1.1) and ‘his burial place is indicated by an epistle of Polycrates (a late 2nd-century bishop of Ephesus) (…) He also sleeps at Ephesus.’ (Eusebius, III.31.2-3). However, Dionysius is quoted:

‘But I think that he was some other one (not the son of Zebedee) of those (named John) in Asia (present day Turkey); as they say that there are two monuments in Ephesus, each bearing the name of John.’ (Eusebius, VII.25.16).

This is endorsed by Papias, writing c. AD 125-135 (Hengel, 1989b: 126-127) or before AD 110 (Osborne 2002:3), who was probably remembering much earlier times when the four Gospels were being written (c. AD 80, Bauckham 2017: 14). According to Eusebius, Papias took great care to question the immediate followers of the original eye-witnesses, rather than relying on what others had written (Eusebius III.39.1-4), so he had good credentials:

Papias was ‘an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp (a Bishop of Smyrna), but Papias himself in the preface to his discourses by no means declares that he was himself a hearer and eye-witness of the holy apostles, but he shows by the words which he uses that he received the doctrines of the faith from those who were their friends. (Eusebius, III.39.1-2).

Papias had heard ‘the other John’ (not the son of Zebedee) speak and that one was ‘a presbyter’ or elder who was ‘a lesser disciple than Aristion’ (who was perhaps the first Bishop of Smyrna), and Papias’ books included quotes of both of them, according to Eusebius:

‘It is worth while observing here that the name John is twice enumerated by him (Papias). The first one he mentions in connection with Peter and James and Matthew and the rest of the apostles, clearly meaning the evangelist; but the other John he mentions after an interval, and places him among others outside of the number of the apostles, putting Aristion before him, and he distinctly calls him a presbyter (an elder).

This shows that the statement of those is true, who say that there were two persons in Asia that bore the same name, and that there were two tombs in Ephesus, each of which, even to the present day (i.e. early fourth century), is called John’s.

It is important to notice this. For it is probable that it was the second, if one is not willing to admit that it was the first that saw the Revelation, which is ascribed by name to John. And Papias, of whom we are now speaking, confesses that he received the words of the apostles from those that followed them, but says that he was himself a hearer of Aristion and the presbyter John. At least he mentions them frequently by name, and gives their traditions in his writings. These things we hope, have not been uselessly adduced by us.’ Eusebius, III.39.5-7

Was Eusebius’ repetition of Papias’ claim about two leaders called ‘John’ living and being buried in Ephesus warranted? The two tombs still existed in Eusebius’ day and he (Eusebius) assumed one was for ‘the evangelist’ and the second was for ‘a presbyter (elder)’. Eusebius himself classified Revelation’s Scriptural credentials as ‘disputed’ (Boring, 1989: 3) and Grant Osborne suggests Eusebius was persuaded by the reference to the two tombs that John the Elder wrote Revelation (Osborne, 2002: 3; also Mounce, 1997: 11, Bauckham, 2017: 424).

Eusebius was very dismissive of Papias’ when he (Papias) recounted unwritten traditions of Jesus’ miracles, doctrine and other matters which Eusebius thought were fanciful, but they were very influential at the time (none survive today). According to Eusebius, Papias confirmed that there were unknown apocalyptical teachings of Jesus circulating which referred to the resurrection of the dead before the one thousand year kingdom of Christ on Earth:

‘The same writer (Papias) gives also other accounts which he says came to him through unwritten tradition, certain strange parables and teachings of the Saviour, and some other more mythical things. To these belong his statement that there will be a period of some thousand years after the resurrection of the dead, and that the kingdom of Christ will be set up in material form on this very earth.

I suppose he got these ideas through a misunderstanding of the apostolic accounts, not perceiving that the things said by them were spoken mystically in figures. For he appears to have been of very limited understanding, as one can see from his discourses. But it was due to him that so many of the Church Fathers after him adopted a like opinion, urging in their own support the antiquity of the man; as for instance Irenæus (Bishop of Lyons, c. AD 139-202) and anyone else that may have proclaimed similar views.

Papias gives also in his own work other accounts of the words of the Lord on the authority of Aristion who was mentioned above, and traditions as handed down by the presbyter John; to which we refer those who are fond of learning.’ Eusebius, III.39.11-14a.

Another who ‘proclaimed similar views’ was Justin Martyr, who recognised the Apostle John (called ‘the evangelist’) as the author of Revelation (quoted earlier in 7b) but Papias (according to this record) thought the ‘the other John’, who was an elder/ presbyter or ‘the elder John’ who handed down ‘traditions’, probably wrote Revelation. The pronoun ‘the’ or ‘a’ presbyter/ elder may not be significant and there were probably several elders called John in Ephesus at any one time. It was a common name, especially in priestly circles at the time of the Second Temple in Palestine (Hengel, 1989b: 109) and, according to Dionysius (in Eusebius), this pattern continued in Asia:

‘But I am of the opinion that there were many with the same name as the apostle John, who, on account of their love for him, (…) desired to be loved by the Lord as he was, took to themselves the same surname, as many of the children of the faithful are called Paul or Peter.’ Eusebius VII.25.14.

David Aune refers to modern suggestions that Eusebius may have misunderstood Papias’ words about the Elder (Aune, 1997: liii) but E. Schwartz endorsed Papias because he ‘had a command of the art of rhetoric’ and he ‘writes too well for “mere simplicity”.[1]

Revelation’s John may have had a high status or he was particularly influential at the time because only those people were exiled – other trouble-makers were usually killed (Hengel, 1989b; 126). This suggests John was an established leader and prophet (22:9), even if he was neither The Apostle nor The Elder. John’s high status within the Christian communities in Asia may be a reason why later influential leaders like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, and the later Patmos communities (described shortly) may have assumed this John was the son of Zebedee.

Eusebius and the other writers quoted here may be unreliable at times, but intervening time between the events and the transcriptions from oral traditions to text does not automatically mean they have limited value. For example, according to Eusebius’ transcriptions, Papias took great care to question the immediate followers of ‘the elders’ (the ‘holy apostles’ and original disciples), rather than relying on what others had written (in Eusebius III.39.1-4) – and Eusebius appears not to have liked Papias very much.

The presence of the two tombs in Ephesus was very influential in the story of Revelation’s authorship. Later, I suggest they may have been for the two apostles in the area that knew Jesus from the beginning of his ministry: John, the son of Zebedee, and the Beloved Disciple rather than one of the tombs for the Elder – but who was the Elder? (see 7g.2).

[1] These statements are from two German papers quoted by Martin Hengel (Hengel, 1989a: 96, n.289).

7c) So who was John? The options

If two leaders called John were buried in Ephesus and one was The Disciple/ The Evangelist/ The Apostle John (son of Zebedee) and the other may have been The Elder (who handed down the ‘traditions’, quoted earlier, and wrote the second and third Johannine letters), was there a third John, who wrote Revelation? John may have been buried away from Ephesus if he died on a journey, but based in Ephesus because where a place is mentioned in early documents, it is Ephesus (Schnelle, 1998: 519). The order of the seven congregations mentioned in Revelation followed a path from Ephesus that a peripatetic prophet, or a well travelled Bishop, might take and John knew details of the seven congregations in Asia. For example: the temple on the side of a hill in Pergamum looks like a throne (2:13, assuming the slightly later Roman temple seen today reflects an earlier one); Sardis needed to wake up – and this reflected its past nocturnal betrayal (3:2); and the luke-warm waters of Laodicea reflected its location between hot springs and the valley (3:15-16).

John, the son of Zebedee’s authorship of the Fourth Gospel, the three letters and Revelation remain the orthodox view and Ian Paul suggests the ambiguity is a modern phenomenon (especially within the last 200 years, Paul, 2018: 8). The onus lies with those who challenge the orthodoxy to support their view but doubts began quite early. Modern scholarship tends to follow Dionysius and some scholars call John ‘John the seer’ (Charles, 1913: 79) or ‘John of Patmos’ (Caird, 1966: 3-5). In 1993, Bauckham identified Revelation’s John as an otherwise unknown Jewish Christian prophet, one of a circle of prophets in Asia (Bauckham, 1993a: 2). Later he commented that the identification of the author of Revelation was ‘an even more difficult question’ than the question of the authorship of John’s Gospel (Bauckham, 2017: 443). This is the view with some consensus among scholars noted in this study.

Other options vary from the negative to the complex. David Aune lists and discounts several possible authors for Revelation, including the son of Zebedee and the Elder, and he suggests that John may have been an unknown Palestinian Jew who emigrated to Asia in AD 66-70 and he ‘regarded himself as a Christian prophet and his composition as a prophetic book’, but one who was not part of the ‘Johannine community in any meaningful sense’ (Aune, 1997: lvi). This seems very dismissive of John and perhaps unlikely, given Revelation’s later inclusion in the New Testament Canon (albeit after a lot of debate).

Martin Hengel complicates the authorship possibilities by suggesting the author of the Johaninne corpus was a composite figure of the son of Zebedee and the Head of a School[1] in Ephesus (perhaps John the Elder) who had been exiled to Patmos in his earlier days (Hengel, 1989b: 130). The school included a mix of visionaries and those who followed the son of Zebedee’s and Elder’s apocalyptic teachings. This is a different way of suggesting the authors of John’s Gospel, the Johannine letter(s) and Revelation were two separate leaders, but knowledge of their individual contributions have been lost in time.

Eugene Boring suggests John was a Christian prophet who served as an interpreter of historical events in John’s era to local congregations around Ephesus in a post-Resurrection world (Boring, 1989: 26). However, G.K. Beale rejects an unknown prophet as the author because John was clearly a significant leader in Asia; he supports the son of Zebedee as the likely author (Beale, 2015: 2-3), as do Mark Goodacre (Goodacre, 2025: 108) and Stephen Smalley, but authorship remains open (Smalley, 2005: 3; so Mounce, 1997: 15).

The Fourth Gospel conundrum – authorship of Revelation is even more complex if the authorship of the Fourth Gospel is contested;[2] traditionally they are one and the same. Does authorship matter? If the Patmos experience underlies the writing of John’s Gospel and the Johannine letters, then it does matter because his own interpretation of his vision on Patmos underlies these other documents, and they provide one context for Revelation.

‘John’ as the author of the Fourth Gospel is an early attribution (Bauckham, 2017: 415) – but which John? The son of Zebedee? The Elder? There is another option: he was the Beloved Disciple (Jn. 13:23, Jn. 19:26-27, Jn. 20:2, Jn. 21:7, Jn. 21:20); although he, according to Tradition, was the son of Zebedee. According to Jn. 21:20-24: ‘Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; (,,,) This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.’ These verses are key to the argument that John the Beloved Disciple was the author of the Fourth Gospel. The name ‘Beloved Disciple’ is an epithet, not a real title (Bauckham, 2017: 401). To quote a phrase used earlier, I ‘refer those who are fond of learning’ to Richard Bauckham who suggests John was a more minor disciple, and a resident of Jerusalem (Bauckham, 2017: 384, 413-414); and to Mark Goodacre, who confirms Tradition that John was the son of Zebedee. The epithet is not recorded in the Synoptic Gospels or Acts but Mark Goodacre uses the former to support his argument that the Beloved Disciple was one of the Twelve. This was an iterative process for me and my own view changed during this study; my present thoughts are given in 7g.

John and his brother James (the sons of Zebedee) were fishermen who were working on the boats owned by Simon Peter and his partner Zebedee when they met Jesus (Mt. 4:18-22, Mk. 1:16-20, Lk. 5:1-11) – as was the Beloved Disciple, but perhaps he joined them on the boat only after the Resurrection (Jn. 21: 1-14). The Beloved Disciple was at the Last Supper table (Jn. 13:23, Jn. 21:20) and the crucifixion. Jesus came with the Twelve to the Last Supper (Mt. 26:20, Mk. 14:17, Lk. 22:14), but they (the eleven disciples/ apostles) were not recorded as being present at the crucifixion. Many of Jesus’ female disciples, including the mother of the sons of Zebedee, looked on from afar (Mt. 27:56). The Beloved Disciple stood close by the cross, with Mary the mother of Jesus and after Jesus’ death she went to live with him, as Jesus requested (Jn. 19:26-27). He went with Peter to the tomb, but hesitated before entering (Jn. 20:2). He was one of two ‘other disciples’ (if he was not the son of Zebedee) in the boat when Jesus appeared for the third time after his resurrection; he was the one who recognised the resurrected Jesus (Jn. 21:7).[3] He was following Peter and Jesus when Peter asked what would happen to him (the Beloved Disciple) in the future (Jn.21:20-23); this conversation led to the erroneous belief that the Beloved Disciple would not die and to the Tradition that he lived a long life.

Richard Bauckham suggests the author was John the Elder, and he wrote all three Johannine letters (Bauckham, 2017: 423). I find attribution to John the Elder difficult. As quoted earlier, according to Dionysius, the son of Zebedee wrote the Gospel and 1 John but he did not write 2 and 3 John (the Elder wrote them). Papias (in Eusebius, see 7b.2) had listen to ‘the other John’, whom he ‘places him among others outside of the number of the apostles (i.e. ‘Peter and James and Matthew and the rest of the apostles’), putting Aristion before him, and he distinctly calls him a presbyter’ or elder. Was the Beloved Disciple (if he was the Elder) so reticent that his connexion to Jesus, Peter, the sons of Zebedee and Mary was unknown? This seems unlikely to me because others would know the truth. Papias recorded that there were ‘traditions as handed down by the presbyter John’ – do ‘traditions’ correspond to John’s Gospel, Revelation and the Johannine letters? This also seems unlikely because these were significant documents, ascribed to the son of Zebedee, that were in circulation by the time Papias was writing.

Reading the Greek today, even without Dionysius’ ability to recognise nuances of fashion or period, the Gospel and Revelation are clearly so different in style (notwithstanding the differences in genre) and grammar that it is hard to accept they were by the same author, even if one was written when the author was a much younger man. I doubted a common authorship in the beginning of this study, mainly because of the difference in the Greek. I now believe this can be explained by John’s use of a scribe who recorded John’s words, while the vision was happening, as a summary of a visionary situation of overwhelming complexity (see 7g). Later, I support the proposal that Revelation’s John also wrote John’s Gospel and he may have been the Beloved Disciple – but not that he was the Elder (see 7g).

[1] The School consisted of a group of men who followed a particular teacher, equivalent of Jesus and the Disciples. Hengel suggested the Head of the School was John the Elder (Hengel, 1989b: 124). Rather than a ‘school’, Aune refers to ‘prophetic guilds’ which existed in ancient Israel and early Christianity. The author of Revelation may have been the ‘master prophet’ (Aune, 1997: liv).

[2] For example: Koester 2014: 67; but see also: https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/was-john-the-first-gospel/ [Accessed 2 April 2026].

[3] The last ‘calling’ (Jn. 21:1-14) mirrors the first ‘calling’ of the disciples (Lk. 5:1-11).

7d) When was Revelation written/ circulated?

The date of the vision and the date of its circulation do not necessarily coincide and authorship of Revelation is related to both of these. There are indications of when it was written within Revelation because John writes that his exile was part of a wider persecution:

‘I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.’ (1:9).

To what persecution was John referring? The most common dates associated with Revelation are either AD 68-70 or AD 95-97, i.e. just before or a long time after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. What were the Christian leaders doing on these dates? Acts covers about 30 years (from the Resurrection to the early 60’s AD) and there were local uprisings (Acts 5:36-37) before the main Jewish War (AD 66-70). We know that the early church in Jerusalem suffered persecution.

After Stephen’s martyrdom (c. AD 34–36), the apostles remained in the city (Acts 8:1) but believers scattered far and wide (Acts 11:19). The last reference to the Apostle John by name in Acts was when his brother, James, was killed by King Herod and Peter was arrested (Acts 12:1-4; c. AD 44). Paul and Barnabas were driven out of Antioch (Acts 13:50) and the Epistles refer to persecution of the faithful (Rom. 8:35, Gal. 5:11, Gal. 6:12, 2 Tim. 3:12). Persecution associated with Revelation John’s exile could have happened at any time before AD 70. Possible oppression under Emperor Domitian in the late 90’s AD is considered shortly.

If John was the son of Zebedee or the Beloved Disciple

What were the Apostle/ Evangelist John, son of Zebedee, and the Beloved Disciple doing on these dates (AD 68-70 or AD 95-97)? Concerning the earlier date: after staying in Galilee after the Resurrection, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and they remained in the city (Acts 8:1); other believers scattered far and wide (Acts 11:19). The ‘chosen’ apostles were present at the Ascension. The ‘chosen’ were those who witnessed the risen Jesus over the forty days (Acts 1:2-4), and both were witnesses (Jn. 21:1-22) and thus entitled to be recognised as such:

‘Then (after the Ascension, the apostles) they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said …’ (Acts 1:12-15).

If he was not the son of Zebedee, the Beloved Disciple was among the hundred and twenty believers in Jerusalem. According to Tradition at the site of ‘Mary’s last house’ in Ephesus, the Beloved Disciple (recognised as the son of Zebedee there) went to Ephesus ‘after the crucifixion’. However, it is likely they remained in Jerusalem for some years first because Paul founded the church in Ephesus. The site is not called ‘Mary and the Beloved Disciple’s last house’, so perhaps Mary outlived the disciple or he lived elsewhere. The site became a small chapel but another Tradition indicates Mary died in Jerusalem.[1]

Disciples in Ephesus were originally followers of John the Baptist (Acts 18:19-22, Acts 19:1-41) and Paul founded the church there on a brief visit in AD 52 or 54.[2] He lived in Ephesus for three years (Acts 20:31; c. AD 56-58). On his third missionary journey, Paul met the Christian leaders from Ephesus at Miletus (no mention of John or Mary) – he did not want to travel to Ephesus itself because he was keen to move onto Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 20:16-38; c. AD 59 or 60).

There is no record of when John the son of Zebedee and/or the Beloved Disciple and Mary first arrived in Ephesus, but it was after c. AD 58-60 because it was Paul who established the community there. They may have remained in Jerusalem until they saw the gathering Roman armies, i.e. heeding Jesus’ words (later recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, Mt. 24, Mk. 13, Lk. 21). This suggests they left Jerusalem, probably for Ephesus, before or during the Jewish War (AD 66-70). John’s exile to Patmos occurred from Ephesus because near contemporary sources state that John returned to Ephesus after his exile.

If John was NOT the son of Zebedee or the Beloved Disciple …

Revelation’s link with Ephesus is undisputed and many modern scholars agree John was formerly a resident of Jerusalem (see 7c). His travels may have been similar to those of the son of Zebedee and/or the Beloved Disciple or he may have left Jerusalem earlier.

Alternatively, as an elder or unknown prophet, John (originally from Jerusalem) may have became a believer in the Lord following the visit by Paul, Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:18; c. AD 52-54); perhaps he was one of the elders who met with Paul at Miletis (Acts 20:16-38; c. AD 59 or 60; see 7e).

How does this ambiguity affect the Revelation time-line? Time-constraints are ambiguous but a post-c. AD 60 date for John’s exile to Patmos is probable, regardless of which John is being referenced.

[1] Mary in Ephesus: https://ephesiantourism.com/house-of-the-virgin-mary/?_gl=1*1gysmke*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTU3ODAwODA1NS4xNzY5MzYzNDQz*_ga_34DV7FZ43C*czE3NjkzNjM0NDIkbzEkZzEkdDE3NjkzNjM1MDkkajYwJGwwJGgw [Accessed 17 March 2026].

[2] AD 52 is the commonly quoted date but ‘From Acts 18–19, we know that Paul’s first brief visit there was in 54 (dated from what we know about Gallio’s time as proconsul of Achaia)’ https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/the-spiritual-gifts-in-1-corinthians-12/ [Accessed 18 May 2026].

7d.1 The early date for Revelation (c. AD 68-70, or earlier)

If there was a common author for the Johannine writings, Caird suggests it would have had an early date, ‘for if one man wrote both Revelation and Gospel, it is certain that the Revelation came first’ (Caird, 1966: 5; so Smalley, 2005: 3; so Hengel, 1889b: 126-127). Stephen Smalley suggests John’s Gospel written in AD 80 (or c. AD 80, Bauckham, 2017:14) and the Johannine letters in AD 90 and, if so, this supports the earlier proposed date for the writing of Revelation (Smalley: 2005: 3). Using archaeological evidence from Jerusalem, George van Kooten proposes that the Gospel was written before AD 70 (van Kooten, 2025: 31),[1] i.e. supporting the ‘early date’ scenario for Revelation.

There was persecution following the Great Fire in Rome (AD 64), for which Christians were blamed, and it was brutal and short-lived – but limited to Rome. Later, according to Josephus (c. AD 37/38-110/120)[2] and quoted in Eusebius II.26.1, there were terrible persecutions and war against the Jews in the twelfth year of Emperor Nero’s reign (in AD 66; Nero committed suicide in AD 68). If Revelation was first circulated in AD 68-70, Jerusalem was still standing but under threat. John and some of the first Christians may have experienced the fear of Nero’s cruelty and persecution (AD 64) and fled from the Jewish War (AD 66-70).

‘Commanded by a revelation’, Christians heeded warnings to flee Jerusalem before the Jewish War and they escaped to Pella (Eusebius III.5.3). The Apostles’ teachings about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection (originally oral and later written down in the Gospels) give clear warnings of future danger for Jerusalem; perhaps this was the revelation. If the revelation was Revelation, then it was in circulation before AD 70.

[2] https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/flavius-josephus/antiquities-jews/book-20/chapter-11.html [Accessed 9 May 2025].

7d.2 The later date for Revelation (c. AD 95-97) – Eusebius, Irenæus …

In the alternative scenario – that the vision occurred in AD 95-97 – the first audiences will have known the temple and Jerusalem had been destroyed (AD 70) and they were recovering from possible oppression under Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96). This case accepts as truth the comment of Irenaeus (recorded in connection with the number of the abyss beast, 13:18) which was quoted by Eusebius, who reported that John’s exile was rescinded by Emperor Trajan:

‘After Domitian had reigned fifteen years (AD 96, the year of the emperor’s assassination), and Nerva (who reigned for 2 years between Domitian and Trajan) had succeeded to the empire, the Roman Senate, according to the writers that record the history of those days, voted that Domitian’s honours should be cancelled, and that those who had been unjustly banished should return to their homes and have their property restored to them. It was at this time that the apostle John returned from his banishment in the island and took up his abode at Ephesus, according to an ancient Christian tradition.’ Eusebius, III.20.10-11

‘At that time the apostle and evangelist John, the one whom Jesus loved, was still living in Asia, and governing the churches of that region, having returned after the death of Domitian (in AD 96) from his exile on the island. And that he was still alive at that time may be established by the testimony of two witnesses (…) Irenæus and Clement of Alexandria’. (…).

He (Irenæus) attests “But the church in Ephesus also, which was founded by Paul, and where John remained until the time of Trajan (after AD 98), is a faithful witness of the apostolic tradition. (…) For that (the apocalyptic vision) was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign”. [1]

(According to Clement) “Listen to a tale, which is not a mere tale, but a narrative (…) concerning John. (On his return from Patmos to Ephesus), he went away upon their invitation to the neighbouring territories of the Gentiles, to appoint bishops in some places, in other places to set in order whole churches, elsewhere to choose to the ministry someone of those that were pointed out by the Spirit.” ’ Eusebius III.23.1-6.

According to the documents Eusebius copied, both Irenæus and Clement agree that the Apostle/ Evangelist John returned from Patmos to Ephesus, and he was alive after the death of Domitian and living in Asia. Irenæus is the only proponent of the late-date hypothesis for Revelation in the early years that is still available today and Eusebius used that as the basis for his own History.

[1] See also: Revelation was written ‘near the end of Domitian’s reign’, Irenæus, Against Heresies V.30.3.

... and Clement

According to Clement, John was the Apostle/ Evangelist and he was an active, travelling bishop after Patmos, who proclaimed the Gospel orally and by the time he wrote his own Gospel, he had read and endorsed the three Synoptic Gospels:

‘Of all the disciples of the Lord, only Matthew and John have left us written memorials, and they, tradition says, were led to write only under the pressure of necessity.(…) And when Mark and Luke had already published their Gospels, they say that John, who had employed all his time in proclaiming the Gospel orally, finally proceeded to write for the following reason. The three (Synoptic) Gospels already mentioned having come into the hands of all and into his own too, they say that he accepted them and bore witness to their truthfulness; but that there was lacking in them an account of the deeds done by Christ at the beginning of his ministry.’ Clement in Eusebius III.24.5b-7.

According to Clement, ‘the pressure of necessity’ could mean the disciples’ anticipated deaths or social collapse (like in the Jewish War). The Apostle/ Evangelist John’s priority was on evangelism but ‘finally proceeded to write’ does not preclude an early date for any or all of the Gospels. If they were written in the AD 80’s (or even AD 50-70’s) this is a long time after the Ascension and John was exiled to Patmos before the Gospels were written. If John was arrested and exiled to Patmos in his old age (and then he wrote the Gospel or if he wrote Revelation after the Gospel), Clement would have known this because he was very familiar with ‘tradition’ and the Apostle/ Evangelist’s work – I suggest this precludes the late date for Revelation.

Irenæus’ dates do not seem plausible to me – that John was exiled to Patmos ‘towards the end of Domitian’s reign’ and then he died early in ‘the time of Trajan’, because this is such a short period (probably up to five years). It is more probable that John returned from Patmos to Ephesus a long time before Domitian died, and his ministry continued for decades afterwards – so his reputation was well established in Asia by the time of his death. I suggest that if the late date for Revelation has any credibility then it was associated with the re-circulation of the letter, probably a short time before or after John died.

Later, I support the proposal that there were two apostles called John living in Asia at the time: the Evangelist (the son of Zebedee) and the Beloved Disciple (see 7g). Of course, if John was neither of these apostles then Clement and Irenæus’ words are even more uncertain for dating Revelation.

7d.3 The date ambiguity in modern times

Modern authors cited in this study recognise the ambiguity about the date and most tend to prefer a later one for Revelation (for example: Caird, 1966: 6; Thompson, 1990: 15; Friesen, 2001: 151; Osborne, 2002: 9; Koester, 2014: 79; Paul, 2018: 16). Beale supports a date shortly after AD 90 because of details concerning the seven congregations, limited persecution described in the seven messages (2:3, 2:13, 3:8-9), the power of emperor worship and Babylon’s influence (Beale, 2015: 3-4). However, I suggest these do not define either an earlier or later date because:

The Ephesus congregation (founded c. AD 52-54), although diligent, could have rapidly lost its first loving zeal for Christ (2:1-5) before Jerusalem fell (AD 70);
Perhaps Laodicea, described as ‘rich’ (3:17), indicates that some people recovered their wealth very quickly after its devastating earthquake in AD 60-61 (particularly those who followed the ways of Babylon)[1] or 3:17 may be an ironic statement;
The limited persecution described in the seven messages agrees with possible limited persecution against Christians late in Emperor Domitian’s reign (Friesen, 2001: 143) but Acts describes limited persecution in earlier days;
The cult of emperor worship is important in Revelation – how important is debated (Friesen, 2001: 145) – but it began with the deification of Emperor Augustus shortly after his death (AD 14) so it is not time specific. The number/ name of the abyss beast (13:18) is more commonly considered to be a disguised reference to Emperor Nero rather than later emperors;
Equating Rome with Babylon was a post-AD 70 identification according to some scholars (for example: Michaels, 1992: 45; Beale, 2015: 3-4), but Babylon/ Rome are linked by hedonism, not conquest, in Revelation.

The genre of the text, as apocalyptic literature, does not help define the date. David Aune comments that the Apocalyptic tradition was a Jewish literary genre that did not survive long once ‘early Christianity’ moved outside Palestine (Aune, 1997: l) but Eusebius indicates that the apocalyptic tradition was very active in Asia by about AD 120; it was one of his criticisms of Papias (see 7b.1). Ben Witherington suggests that Revelation reflects a ‘shift from traditional prophecy to apocalyptic’ in John’s era, associated with expectations that the ‘end times’ were imminent (Witherington: 2003: 34).

Craig Koester comments that the textural and external evidence can apply to both the earlier and later dates (Koester, 2014: 79), so all we can be sure of is that Revelation was in circulation by the end of the first century AD. It is safe to say that modern scholarship does not dispute the fact that a Christian leader called John had a vision(s) on Patmos when he was exiled there by the Roman Empire sometime in the second half of the first century AD. Later, I suggest it is Revelation’s text that gives the best indications of John’s identity, when he was exiled to Patmos and when Revelation was circulated (see 7f).

[1] This is in agreement with Harry Maier : ‘John criticizes some of his audience because – as his message to the Laodiceans says, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing” (3:17). When in Revelation 18:9 – 19 he depicts the rulers, merchants, and seafarers who mourn over the smoking ruins of the great city because of the loss of political power, markets for luxury goods, and trade he is speaking to an audience that is implicated in the relative prosperity an exploitative economic order has brought it.’ (Maier, 2021: 50).

7e) Traditions on Patmos

According to traditions quoted today on the Monastery of St John webpage in the official guide to Patmos,[1] John the Apostle (the son of Zebedee) went to Asia (present day Turkey) and he was there for some time before he was exiled from Ephesus to Patmos by the Romans in AD 96. According to this guide, John lived with his student/ scribe (Prohorus) [2] in the port of Skala and they regularly walked about half way up a nearby valley (less than a mile) to a small cave for some quiet reflection and prayer. While they were at the cave, John had a vision (the book of Revelation) and Prohorus wrote it down, ‘by order of the Lord’. After about eighteen months they were allowed to return to Ephesus and ‘they’ wrote the Fourth Gospel.

Some ambiguity in the local traditions is illustrated by the two mosaics over the doors of the monastery that envelopes what is believed to be the site of the vision (John’s cave). Over the main visitors’ door is the mosaic of an icon which shows John reclining on his bed in the cave when he had the revelation, with Prohorus using a ledge in the cave wall as a resting place for his recording of John’s words; this is the accepted tradition. Over another door, John is standing outside the cave and Prohorus is seated inside, writing down John’s words while the vision is in progress. John turns around during his vision (1:10-12), so this other mosaic may be the better illustration of John’s experience of a waking vision (see Towards … 3d).

[1] https://www.patmos-island.com/en/MONASTERIES/APOCALYPSE.html [accessed 16 January 2026].

[2] Prohoros or Prochoros is unknown from other sources and the tradition was not written down until several centuries after Revelation was written. Spelling of names is variable and any family connection to Procorus, one of the original seven deacons, is unknown (Acts 6:5).

7f) What this study adds to these discussions

As I considered whether the Apostle/ Evangelist John (the son of Zebedee) did/ did not write Revelation, I realised that perhaps the best guide for authorship and date of writing that is recognisable today lies within the text; and an earlier date for the vision does not necessarily mean that Revelation was widely circulated at that time. I also realised that what this study can add to the discussion is limited by my own knowledge (especially of John’s Gospel), so I hope others will take my comments further. Several questions have been raised so far in this chapter: was Revelation written in a time of persecution? Was Revelation written during AD 68-70 or AD 95-97 or at another time? If John was one of The Twelve/ The Apostle, why is/ was there so much ambiguity surrounding this?

7f.1 Was Revelation written in a time of persecution?

This study proposes that the story told within Revelation begins with Creation and ends with the New Order (see the Macrostructure Model); it is a modified linear structure. Using this model, both John’s visionary experience and the life of every reader of Revelation exist somewhere on this continuum so the letter has relevance for everyone. However, Revelation and Lk. 17 and Lk. 21/ Mt. 24-25/ Mk. 13 have special relevance for two generations: the generation of John’s era and the Parousia generation (those who will see Christ’s return, or his ‘coming’, in Revelation). John’s Gospel does not duplicate these Synoptic chapters but persecutions are foretold (Jn. 16:2), the Son-of-man will come (Jn. 21:22-23) and there will be judgement (Jn. 5:22-30, Jn. 12:48).

Table 1 in Towards … 6 illustrates the relationships between the two generations in the Gospels and Revelation, and the proposed macrostructure illustrates the relationships between the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls. Although Revelation’s apocalyptic genre means that the physical-spiritual earth in the vision only symbolically reflects the material world (and the biblical earth reflects Scripture), its overall story does reflect the Gospel’s prophecies.

In the material world, John was exiled to Patmos by the Roman Empire because of his faith (1:9) and this study proposes that two periods of persecution at this time are described in Revelation. Firstly, during the first four seals (associated with the ‘Four Horsemen (of the Apocalypse’, 6:2-17) and their victims are the martyrs of the fifth seal (6:9-11). Secondly, persecution and terror during the sixth seal (6:12-17), which is recognised as the Great Tribulation (7:13-17). What happens on earth during the Silence of the seventh seal (8:1) may correspond to the ‘times of the gentiles’ in which Jerusalem is downtrodden (Lk. 21:24), i.e. post-AD 70 (see Towards … 6). Those are times of suppression and some persecutions, including any persecution by Emperor Domitian.

Did John experience the first seals or the seventh seal, i.e. before or after the fall of Jerusalem? After the Silence, there is the eschaton (‘last days’ or ‘end times’) and therefore (in this study) outside of consideration in this section. In Revelation, disasters associated with the first four seals are quite generic (and unending), but conquest, war, famine and death intensified after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ (the Cross; see Framework 2B.a). It is the fourth seal which indicates persecution:

‘I looked and there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed with him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth.’ 6:8

It is likely this includes Emperor Nero’s victims in AD 64, which particularly affected Christians in Rome and what follows is the sight of the faithful martyrs celebrating in heaven:

‘When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; they cried out with a loud voice, ‘Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?’ They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow-servants and of their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.’ 6:9-11

The martyrs of the fifth seal (6:9-11) were/ included Nero’s victims but John is very unlikely to have been in Rome. If he had been, the brutality of the event indicates that he would have been killed, and not exiled. The fifth seal provides comfort for those who face death and for their loved ones who survive, but it is also a warning of future persecutions.

When the sixth seal opens, the earthquake and cosmic disturbances are harrowing enough for everyone to think that the Day of God’s Wrath was upon them (6:12-17):

‘I looked, and there came a great earthquake; (and celestial omens …). The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth (and everyone else …) hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to (them …), ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’ 6:12-17

Jerusalem is not mentioned by name here, but the Gospels warn of dangers for the first generation after the Cross. When believers see armies surround Jerusalem (Lk. 21:20) they must flee to the hills because its inhabitants will be killed or taken captive (Lk. 21:21-24). Matthew and Mark add: flee when the desolating sacrilege is set up (in the Jerusalem Temple is implied, Mt. 24:15-22, Mk. 13:14-20).[1] This anticipates the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. There is some comfort in Revelation in the restraining of the ‘four angels’ from unleashing further judgement (so that the 144,000 representatives from the twelve tribes of Israel can be ‘sealed’ or protected, 7:1-8), but lasting comfort follows:.

‘After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation (…), standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels stood around the throne (…), and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God (…). Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘(… the ones robed in white) these are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.(…) the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them (…) for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd (…) and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” 7:9-17

With the benefit of hindsight, the ‘great ordeal’ (also known as the Great Tribulation) was the Jewish War (AD 66-70) and the fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) because there are no other historical catastrophes for Jews and Christians in the first century AD that match these events (notwithstanding Nero’s persecution).

This study proposes that John was exiled to Patmos from Ephesus during the time of the Seals. It was a time of persecution and, in John’s case, it led to a short exile, rather than life-time exile or death. John was neither a victim of Nero’s persecution nor near Jerusalem when it fell and this suggests he was a victim during the time of the fourth seal.

[1] See also the fall of Jerusalem: Mt. 23:37-39; Lk. 13:34-35, 19:41-44.

7f.2 Was Revelation written during AD 68-70, AD 95-97 or at another time?

The seals do not only represent disasters, they also contain messages of hope for those who are going through, or who have been through, terrible times for their faith. The times of the fifth seal and following the sixth seal indicate that that survivors of persecutions can be comforted knowing that the faithful martyrs are celebrating their victories in heaven. The time that this strengthening of John’s community was most needed was in the late AD 60’s and early AD 70’s.

Stephen Smalley proposes that John was the Apostle and that Revelation ‘emerged’ just before Jerusalem fell so a vision of the New Jerusalem (chapters 21 and 22), for ‘John’s circle (…) provided exactly, and at the right moment, all the spiritual encouragement they needed’ (Smalley, 2005: 3). I propose that this was in addition to the comfort described within the seals themselves, so it seems very unlikely that the encouragement in Revelation was delayed until the late 90’s. In other words, this study supports the proposal that John was exiled sometime before AD 70, i.e. before Jerusalem fell.

Jerusalem is not mentioned by name in the seals but its total material destruction in John’s era completely overshadows the collapse of (only) ten percent of Jerusalem with (only) 7,000 fatalities when the sixth trumpet sounds (11:1-13) in the age-to-come. Christ’s appearance was expected to be very soon[1] and the vision was interactive.[2] John talks with the ‘mighty angel’ (10:9) when he hears the voice from heaven speak about the ‘seven thunders’, ‘a little scroll’, ‘the temple’, the ‘two witnesses’ and the fate of Jerusalem (10:4-11:14). Therefore, it seems unlikely that John was aware of Jerusalem’s total material destruction and yet he did not inquire of the Mighty Angel how the city and Temple could be re-built in the (anticipated) short time before the coming of Christ. Questions and explanations are very limited in Revelation,[3] but the presence of the Temple in the vision (implied in 11:1-2) supports a pre-AD 70 date for Revelation. This is confirmed by van Kooten’s comment that: ‘No Jewish, Greek or Roman author would have referred to architectural features in Jerusalem in the present tense between 70 and 135 ce’.[4]

[1] Events happening ‘soon’: 1:1, 6:11, 22:6. Christ coming ‘soon’: 2:16, 3:11, 22:7, 22:12, 22:20.

[2] Interactive: for example, John has a conversation with one of the elders in heaven about the Great Tribulation (7:13-17).

[3] Only 13:18 is explained – work out who was 666, but the name (according to Irenæus) was not made common knowledge at the time: ‘We (Irenæus) will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision.’ Irenæus, Against Heresies, 5.30.3. Babylon’s condemnation was explained by one of the bowl angels in response to John’s astonishment, not his questioning (17:7-18:24).

[4] Van Kooten: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/pre70-ce-dating-of-the-gospel-of-john-there-is-in-jerusalem-a-pool-which-has-five-porticoes-52/6EB521B72901E535E1BB31A1A1473C94 [Accessed 14 April 2026].

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Towards a newspatio-temporal macrostructure for Revelation - who was John?