The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle,[1][2] but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate.

The 17th-century theologian John Gill refers to a suggestion that the prophesied angel was fulfilled in Constantine the Great (272–337 AD).

[15] The New International Version presents the text as: American theologian Albert Barnes notes the "considerable resemblance, in many respects, between this [wording] and the statement in Daniel 7:9": Daniel's vision continues: and so the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges argues that those seated on the thrones are these saints of the Most High.

[18] The reference to "judgment based on works" (Biblical Greek: κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν, romanized: kata ta erga auton) is repeated in verse 13.

The phrase is Biblical Greek: κατά ὁ ἔργον αὐτός, romanized: kata ho ergon autos ("according to his work") in Tischendorf's critical edition.