"This book is the first of its kind: an innovative socio-rhetorical commentary on the book of Revelation. Without sacrificing scholarly perspective or academic rigor, it is written to be accessible for a wide audience - including pastors, scholars, teachers, seminarians, and interested laypeople. A "Suggested Reading" list - a feature of all volumes in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary - will serve as a point of entry for the new serious student of Revelation and as a helpful annotated bibliography for all readers. Frequent "Closer Look" sections examine key elements of the Roman-Greco world that bear on the text's meaning, while "Bridging the Horizons" articles connect this world with the cultural, political, and religious environments of today. The entire NRSV translation is provided throughout the text as a convenience to the reader. Award-winning author Ben Witherington III brings a New Testament scholar's insight and successful clergyman's lucidity to the often opaque passages of the last book of the New Testament."--BOOK JACKET.