Book of Revelation and Its Eastern Commentators

"In this book I examine the formation of the New Testament as a Greco-Roman 'testament." In Latin (testamentum) and in Greek (will) the term 'testament' referred to an authoritative document, or a collection of authoritative documents, like a treaty, contract, or covenant. Yet testamentum and will had also another narrower sense that described a 'will' (as in a 'will and testament'), a document or a collection of documents that, after its author's decease, was likewise vested with much authoritative status. This semantic range of meanings will be helpful for us as we consider the formation of the New Testament, for just such a range of meaning was on the mind of those ancient Christians who first (and routinely) called their sacred writings 'the New estament.'1 In this book then, I examine how Greco-Roman 'testaments'-like treaties, contracts, covenants, and especially wills-came to be created and certified. And in doing so, I illuminate the practices and processes that led to the making of the New Testament.2"--