The Titles of the Apocalypse as Paratexts

Abstract

This chapter comprehensively catalogues every form of the inscription and subscription title in every one of Revelation’s Greek manuscripts. The data reveals a surprising variety texts and designs for the titles, highlighting and emphasizing different aspects of Revelation’s text. The chapter engages and builds upon Gérard Genette’s theory on paratexts in modern French print culture and examines the relevance of his work for manuscript cultures. Titles have traditionally been viewed in scholarship as ‘misinformation’ because they conflict with the conclusions of modern scholarship, but this chapter argues that they help us to understand the ways that readers in specific contexts read the book of Revelation.