"Revelations"

[Dave Wilton]

The plural form of "Revelation" parallels the structure of the names most of
the other books of the Bible. Those that are not named after people are
mostly plural titles. All the other books of the New Testament follow this
pattern:
Acts, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
Thessalonians, and Hebrews. In the Old Testament, we have Judges, Kings,
Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes (Is this a plural? It does end in
s.), and Lamentations.

Exceptions are the five books of the Pentateuch, Song of Solomon (although
the alternate title Song of Songs ends in s), and some of the apocryphal
books.

So the addition of the s is probably to make the title fit the "pattern."

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of Bethany K. Dumas
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 6:52 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "Revelations"


Recently on an email list, someone posted a query
about "Revelations," meaning the last book of the New Testament. I asked,
"The Revelation?" and was berated for my "snobbish" insistence on calling
the book by its correct name (actually, there are several English
translations of the Greek, but none use the plural "Revelations).

I am curious about how/why that particular shift occurred - I cannot think
of parallels, though there well may be some. Can someone help me?

Bethany