The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle,[1] but the precise identity of the author is a point of academic debate.

Those two chapters of Daniel describe the "Son of man," which is used by John as a model in the framework of his writing,[7] as partially listed in the following table:[8] The prologue to this book, similar to the one of the Gospel of John, is a kind of overture, announcing the main themes while providing the readers with a vantage point to interpret the visions that follow.

[10] This part shares some features and forms an inclusio with the epilogue (Revelation 22:6–21).

nearly all scholarly authorities on the book of Revelation have interpreted the speaker in Rev 1.8 as God the Father, not Jesus Christ.

Beasley-Murray says of Jesus therein, “Older expositors sometimes thought that Jesus is the speaker here also, but clearly the view is mistaken; it is spoken by the ‘Lord God’ (RV) … the Almighty,” [29] John received the vision as the occasion of his call to receive and write the book of Revelation while he had been banished to Patmos due to his preaching of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.