Revelation 22:18–19: Edit history

Context

Revelation 22:6–21 is the epilogue that concludes the entire book. Christ repeatedly declares, "I come quickly" (22:7, 12, 20), and pronounces a blessing on "he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book" (22:7). Verses 18–19 are a warning addressed to everyone who hears the book, resembling the ancient custom of appending to the end of a document an injunction against altering its contents. The warning recalls Moses' admonitions not to add to or take away from the law in Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32.

Interpretation

• As a warning concerning Revelation: In context, "this book" is the Book of Revelation. Because the New Testament canon had not yet been gathered into a single volume when Revelation was written, the prevailing scholarly view is that the passage is unlikely to refer to the entire sixty-six-book Bible. It guards against tampering with or disregarding the prophecy.
• As a principle applied to the whole Bible: Others extend the passage as grounds for the sufficiency and completeness of the entire Bible, noting that Revelation stands at the end of the canon and that, together with the parallel warnings in Deuteronomy, it expresses the principle that no one may add to or subtract from the word of God. This approach is common in conservative Protestant traditions.

Debates and Issues

Major Protestant denominations cite this passage as grounds for criticizing claims to new scripture outside the Bible, such as the Book of Mormon of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as claims by certain groups and by the New Apostolic Reformation to have received new revelation of equal authority with Scripture. In response, Pentecostal and charismatic Christians, who affirm the illumination and gifts of the Holy Spirit, distinguish between prophecy given under the authority of Scripture and revelation that would add to the canon. In textual criticism, the passage is often discussed alongside the account that the manuscripts Erasmus consulted when publishing his Greek New Testament lacked the last few verses of Revelation, so that he back-translated them from Latin into Greek.

Related Passages

• Deuteronomy 4:2
• Proverbs 30:5–6
• Galatians 1:8–9
• 2 Timothy 3:16–17