“Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.”
John, the witness who bears testimony to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ — bearing witness (martys) is his commission, and he testifies both to God's word and to Jesus's testimony about himself. The dual witness structure echoes the legal requirement of two witnesses in Deuteronomy 19:15 and prefigures the role of testimony throughout Revelation, where faithful witness often requires suffering.
Church Fathers on Revelation 1:2
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, and showed unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass, and signified it. Blessed are they who read and hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things which are written.” The beginning of the book promises blessing to him that reads and hears and keeps, that he who takes pains about the reading may thence learn to do works, and may keep the precepts.
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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