See on Revelation 2:7.

Rev., literally, after these things. Not indicating a break in the ecstatic state of the seer, but only a succession of separate visions.

I looked (εἶδον)

Rev., better, I saw. Not of the directing of attention, but of the simple reception of the vision.

A door was opened (θύρα ἀνεῳγμένη)

Rev., rightly, omits was. A door set open. The A.V. implies that the seer witnessed the opening of the door.

In Heaven

Compare Ezekiel 1:1; Matthew 3:16; Acts 7:56; Acts 10:11. In all these heaven itself is opened.

Was

Omit. Render, as Rev., "a voice as of a trumpet."

A trumpet (σάλπιγγος)

See on Matthew 24:31. Properly a war-trumpet, though the word was also used of a sacred trumpet, with the epithet ἱερά sacred.

Speaking - saying (λαλούσης - λέγουσα)

See on Matthew 28:18. The former verb indicates the breaking of the silence, the latter the matter of the address.

continued...

Strictly, I:became: I found myself in. Appropriate to the sudden and unconscious transportation of the seer into the ecstatic state. Thus Dante describes his unconscious rapture into Paradise:

"And suddenly it seemed that day to day

Was added, as if He who had the power

Had with another sun the heaven adorned."

Beatrice, noticing his amazement, says:

"Thou makest thyself so dull

With false imagining, that thou seest not

What thou wouldst see if thou hadst shaken it off.

Thou art not upon earth as thou believest;

But lightning, fleeing its appropriate site,

Ne'er ran as thou, who thitherward returnest."

"Paradiso," i., 60-93.

A throne

continued...

The last of the twelve stones in the High Priest's breastplate (Exodus 28:20; Exodus 39:13), and the first of the twelve enumerated in the foundation of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19). Also the stone employed in the superstructure of the wall of the Heavenly City (Revelation 21:18). The stone itself was of different colors, the best being purple. According to Revelation 21:11, it represents a crystalline brightness.

Sardine

Rev., Sardius. The sixth foundation-stone of the Heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation 21:20. A red stone, supposed to answer to our cornelian. Pliny derives its name from Sardis where it was discovered. Others from the Persian sered, yellowish red. The exact meaning of the symbolism must remain uncertain, owing to our ignorance of the precise meaning of "jasper," a name which seems to have covered a variety of stones now known under other classifications. Some interpreters, assuming the jasper to be sparkling white, find in it a representation of the holiness of God, and in the fiery sardius a representation of His wrath.

Rainbow (ἶρις)

Only here and Revelation 10:1. The word is identical, and seems to have had some original connection with Iris, the deity known as the messenger-goddess of Olympus. In Homer the word is used in both senses.

"And if thou wishest now to ask of me,

No dream I am, but lovely and divine:

Whereof let this be unto thee a sign,

That when thou wak'st, the many-colored bow

Across the world the morning sun shall throw.

But me indeed thine eyes shall not behold.

Then he, awaking in the morning cold,

A sprinkle of fine rain felt on his face,

continued...

A seat or chair. In Homer, an armchair with high back and footstool. Cushions were laid upon the seat, and over both seat and back carpets were spread. A royal throne. Used of the oracular seat of the priestess of Apollo. Apollo, in the "Eumenides" of Aeschylus, says: "Never, when I sat in the diviner's seat (μαντικοῖσιν ἐν θρόνοις) did I speak aught else than Zeus the father of the Olympians bade me" (616-618). Plato uses it of a teacher's seat. "I saw Hippias the Elean sitting in the opposite portico in a chair (ἐν θρόνῳ). Others were seated round him on benches (ἐπὶ βάθρων)," questioning him, "and he ex cathedre (ἐν θρόνῳ καθήμενος, lit., sitting in the chair) was determining their several questions to them, and discoursing of them" ("Protagoras," 315). Also used of a judge's bench, and a bishop's seat.

Seats (θρόνοι)

Rev., rightly, thrones. The word is the same as the last.

Isaw

Omit.

Elders (πρεσβυτέρους)

See on Acts 14:23. The twenty-four elders are usually taken to represent the one Church of Christ, as at once the Church of the old and of the new Covenant, figured by the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles.

"Then saw I people, as behind their leaders,

Coming behind them, garmented in white,

And such a whiteness never was on earth

.....

Under so fair a heaven as Icontinued...

Rev., proceed. The tense is graphically changed to the present.

Lightnings and thunderings and voices

Compare Exodus 19:16. Variously interpreted of God's might, His judgment, His power over nature, and His indignation against the wicked.

Lamps (λαμπάδες)

The origin of our lamp, but, properly, a torch; the word for lamp being λύχνος, a hand-lamp filled with oil (Matthew 5:15; Luke 8:16; John 5:35). See on Matthew 25:1. Trench says: "The true Hindoo way of lighting up, is by torches, held by men who feed the flame with oil from a sort of bottle constructed for the purpose."

Seven Spirits of God

See on Revelation 1:4.

Rev., glassy, which describes the appearance not the material. The adjective, and the kindred noun ὕαλος glass occur only in Revelation. The etymology is uncertain; some maintaining an Egyptian origin, and others referring it to the Greek ὕω to rain, with the original signification of rain-drop. Originally, some kind of clear, transparent stone. Herodotus says that the Ethiopians place their dead bodies "in a crystal pillar which has been hollowed out to receive them, crystal being dug up in great abundance in their country, and of a kind very easy to work. You may see the corpse through the pillar within which it lies; and it neither gives out any unpleasant odor, nor is it in any respect unseemly: yet there is no part that is not as plainly visible as if the body were bare" (iii., 24). Glass is known to have been made in Egypt at least 3,800 years ago. The monuments show that the same glass bottles were used then as in later times; and glass blowing is represented in the paintings in the tombs. The Egyptians possessed the art of coloring it, and of introducing gold between two layers of glass. The ruins of glass-furnaces are still to be seen at the Natron Lakes. The glass of Egypt was long famous. It was much used at Rome for ornamental purposes, and a glass window has been discovered at Pompeii: Pliny speaks of glass being malleable.

Crystal

Compare Ezekiel 1:22; Job 37:18; Exodus 24:10. The word is used in classical Greek for ice. Thucydides, describing the attempt of the Plataeans to break out from their city when besieged by the Peloponnesians and Boeotians, relates their climbing over the wall and crossing the ditch, but only after a hard struggle; "for the ice (κρύσταλλος) in it was not frozen hard enough to bear" (iii., 23). Crystal, regarded as a mineral, was originally held to be only pure water congealed, by great length of time, into ice harder than common. Hence it was believed that it could be produced only in regions of perpetual ice.

In the midst of - round about

Commonly explained as one in the midst of each of the four sides of the throne. "At the extremities of two diameters passing through the center of the round throne" (Milligan).

Beasts (ζῶα)

Rev., living creatures. Alford aptly remarks that beasts is the most unfortunate word that could be imagined. Beast is θηρίον. Ζῶον emphasizes the vital element, θηρίον the bestial.

Full of eyes before and behind

The four living beings are mainly identical with the cherubim of Ezekiel 1:5-10; Ezekiel 10:5-20; Isaiah 6:2, Isaiah 6:3; though with some differences of detail. For instance, Ezekiel's cherubim have four wings, while the six described here belong to the seraphim of Isaiah. So also the Trisagion (thrice holy) is from Isaiah. In Ezekiel's vision each living being has all four faces, whereas here, each of the four has one.

"There came close after them four animals,

Incoronate each one with verdant leaf,

Plumed with six wings was every one of them,

The plumage full of eyes; the eyes of Argus

continued...

From this passage is derived the familiar symbolism of the four Evangelists; Mark seated on a lion, Luke on a steer, Matthew on a man, and John on an eagle. These are varied however. Irenaeus attributes the lion to John, and the eagle to Mark. Augustine the lion to Matthew, the man to Mark.

Lion

See on 1 Peter 5:8.

Calf (μόσχῳ)

Compare Luke 15:23. In the Septuagint for an ox or steer. Exodus 22:1; Ezekiel 1:10.

Eagle (ἀετῷ)

See on Matthew 24:28.

The best texts read ἔχων having, the participle in the singular number agreeing with each one.

Each of them (ἕν καθ' ἑαυτὸ)

Lit., one by himself. The best texts read ἕν καθ' ἕν one by one or every one. Compare Mark 14:19.

Six wings

Compare Isaiah 6:2. Dante pictures his Lucifer, who is the incarnation of demoniac animalism, with three heads and six wings.

"Underneath each came forth two mighty wrings,

Such as befitting were so great a bird;

Sails of the sea I never saw so large.

No feathers had they, but as of a bat

Their fashion was; and he was waving them,

So that three winds proceeded forth therefrom.

Thereby Cocytus wholly was congealed."

"Inferno," xxxiv., 46-52.

continued...

Whensoever, implying, with the future tense, the eternal repetition of the act of praise.

Give (δώσουσιν)

Lit., as Rev., shall give.

Read βαλοῦσιν shall cast. The casting of the crowns is an act of submission and homage. Cicero relates that when Tigranes the king of the Armenians was brought to Pompey's camp as a captive, prostrating himself abjectly, Pompey "raised him up, and replaced on his head the diadem which he had thrown down" (Oration "Pro Sestio," xxvii.). Tacitus gives an account of the public homage paid by the Parthian Tiridates to the statue of Nero. "A tribunal placed in the center, supported a chair of state on which the statue of Nero rested. Tiridates approached, and having immolated the victims in due form, he lifted the diadem from his head and laid it at the feet of the statue, while every heart throbbed with intense emotion" ("Annals," xv., 29).

Read ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν our Lord and our God. So Rev. See on Matthew 21:3.

To receive (λαβεῖν)

Or perhaps, better, to take, since the glory, honor, and power are the absolute possession of the Almighty. See on John 3:32.

Power

Instead of the thanks in the ascription of the living creatures. In the excess of gratitude, self is forgotten. Their thanksgiving is a tribute to the creative power which called them into being. Note the articles, "the glory," etc. (so Rev.), expressing the absoluteness and universality of these attributes. See on Revelation 1:6.

All things (τὰ πάντα)

With the article signifying the universe.

For thy pleasure (διὰ τὸ θέλημα σου)

Lit., because of thy will. So Rev. Alford justly remarks: "For thy pleasure of the A.V. introduces An element entirely strange to the context, and, however true in fact, most inappropriate here, where the ὅτι for renders a reason for the worthiness to take honor and glory and power."

They are (εἰσὶν)

Read ἦσαν they were. One of the great MSS., B, reads οὐκ ἦσαν they were not; i.e., they were created out of nothing. The were is not came into being, but simply they existed. See on John 1:3; see on John 7:34; see on John 8:58. Some explain, they existed in contrast with their previous non-existence; in which case it would seem that the order of the two clauses should have been reversed; besides which it is not John's habit to apply this verb to temporary and passing objects. Professor Milligan refers it to the eternal type existing in the divine mind before anything was created, and in conformity with which it was made when the moment of creation arrived. Compare Hebrews 8:5. "Was the heaven then or the world, whether called by this or any other more acceptable name - assuming the name, I am asking a question which has to be asked at the beginning of every inquiry - was the world, I say, always in existence and without beginning, or created and having a beginning? Created, I reply, being visible and tangible and having a body, and therefore sensible; and all sensible things which are apprehended by opinion and sense are in a process of creation and created. Now that which is created must of necessity be created by a cause. But how can we find out the father and maker of all this universe? And when we have found him, to speak of his nature to all men is impossible. Yet one more question has to be asked about him, which of the patterns had the artificer in view when he made the world? - the pattern which is unchangeable, or that which is created? If the world be indeed fair and the artificer good, then, as is plain, he must have looked to that which is eternal. But if what cannot be said without blasphemy is true, then he looked to the created pattern. Every one will see that he must have looked to the eternal, for the world is the fairest of creations and he is the best of causes" (Plato, "Timaeus," 28, 29).

Lit., on. The book or roll lay upon the open hand.

A Book (βιβλίον)

See on Matthew 19:7; see on Mark 10:4; see on Luke 4:17. Compare Ezekiel 2:9; Jeremiah 36:2; Zechariah 5:1, Zechariah 5:2.

Within and on the back side (ἔσωθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν)

Compare Ezekiel 2:10. Indicating the completeness of the divine counsels contained in the book. Rolls written on both sides were called opistographi. Pliny the younger says that his uncle, the elder Pliny, left him an hundred and sixty commentaries, most minutely written, and written on the back, by which this number is multiplied. Juvenal, inveighing against the poetasters who are declaiming their rubbish on all sides, says: "Shall that one then have recited to me his comedies, and this his elegies with impunity? Shall huge 'Telephus' with impunity have consumed a whole day; or - with the margin to the end of the book already filled - 'Orestes,' written on the very back, and yet not concluded?" (i., 3-6).

Sealed (κατεσφραγισμένον)

Only here in the New Testament. The preposition κατά denotes sealed down. So Rev., close sealed. The roll is wound round a staff and fastened down to it with the seven seals. The unrolling of the parchment is nowhere indicated in the vision. Commentators have puzzled themselves to explain the arrangement of the seals, so as to admit of the unrolling of a portion with the opening of each seal. Dsterdieck remarks that, With an incomparably more beautiful and powerful representation, the contents of the roll are successively symbolized by the vision which follows upon the opening of each seal. "The contents of the book leap forth in plastic symbols from the loosened seal." Milligan explains the seven seals as one seal, comparing the seven churches and the seven spirits as signifying one church and one spirit, and doubts if the number seven has here any mystical meaning. Others, as Alford, claim that the completeness of the divine purposes is indicated by the perfect number seven.

Either as being of higher rank, or with reference to the great voice.

Worthy (ἄξιος)

As in John 1:27. Morally entitled.

In Hades.

To look (βλέπειν)

See on John 1:29. To take a single look at the contents.

Audible weeping. See on Luke 6:21.

Strictly, from among the elders.

The Lion

See Genesis 49:9.

The Root of David

See on Nazarene, Matthew 2:23.

Hath prevailed (ἐνίκησεν)

Or overcame.

To loose

Omit.

Omit.

In the midst of

Not on the throne, but perhaps in the space in the center of which is the throne, and which is surrounded by the twenty-four elders.

A Lamb (ἀρνίον)

The diminutive, very frequent in Revelation, and once in the Gospel of John (John 21:15). Nowhere else in the New Testament. Compare Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29, John 1:36. Christ had just been spoken of as a lion. He now appears as a lamb. Some interpreters emphasize the idea of gentleness, others that of sacrifice.

Slain (ἐσφαγμένον)

The verb indicates violence, butchery. See on 1 John 3:12. It is also the sacrificial word. Exodus 12:6.

Stood (ἑστηκὸς)

Rev., more correctly, standing. Though slaughtered the lamb stands. Christ, though slain, is risen and living.

Seven horns and seven eyes

See remarks on the Apocalyptic imagery, Revelation 1:16. The horn is the emblem of might. See 1 Samuel 2:10; 1 Kings 22:11; Psalm 112:9; Daniel 7:7, Daniel 7:20 sqq.; Luke 1:69. Compare Matthew 28:18. The eyes represent the discerning Spirit of God in its operation upon all created things.

Sent forth (ἀπεσταλμένα)

See on Mark 3:14.

Lit., hath taken. The perfect, alternating with the aorist, is graphic.

Lit., took. The aorist is resumed.

Every one of them harps (ἕκαστος κιθάρας)

Rev., less clumsily, having each one a harp. Each one, that is, of the elders. Κιθάρα harp signifies an instrument unlike our harp as ordinarily constructed. Rather a lute or guitar, to which latter word kithara is etymologically related. Anciently of a triangular shape, with seven strings, afterwards increased to eleven. Josephus says it had ten, and was played with a plectrum or small piece of ivory.

Vials (φιάλας)

Only in Revelation. The word vial, used commonly of a small bottle, gives a wrong picture here. The φιάλη was a broad, flat vessel, used for boiling liquids, sometimes as a cinerary urn, and for drinking, or pouring libations. Also of the shallow cup, usually without a foot, in which libations were drawn out of the mixer. Herodotus says that at Plataea the Spartan Helots were bidden by Pausanias to bring together the booty of the Persian camp, and that they found "many golden mixers and bowls (φιάλας), and other ἐκπώματα (drinking-vessels)" (ix., 30). From its broad, flat shape Ἄρεος φιάλη bowl of Mars was a comic metaphor for a shield. It was also used for sunken work in a ceiling. In the Septuagint the word is frequently used for bowls or basons. See Numbers 7:13, Numbers 7:19, Numbers 7:25, Numbers 7:31, Numbers 7:37, Numbers 7:43, etc.; 1 Kings 7:50; Zechariah 9:15. Here, censers, though several different words of the Septuagint and New Testament are rendered censer; as θυΐ́σκη, 1 Kings 7:50; θυμιατήριον, 2 Chronicles 26:19; Ezekiel 8:11; Hebrews 9:4; λιβανωτὸν, Revelation 8:3. Θυΐ́σκη however is the golden incense-cup or spoon to receive the frankincense which was lighted with coals from the brazen altar, and offered on the golden altar before the veil. The imagery is from the tabernacle and temple service.

Incense (θυμιαμάτων)

The directions for the composition of the incense for the tabernacle-worship, are given Exodus 30:37, Exodus 30:38.

Prayers

For incense as the symbol of prayer, see Leviticus 16:12, Leviticus 16:13; Psalm 141:2. See on Luke 1:9. Edersheim, describing the offering of incense in the temple, says: "As the President gave the word of command which marked that 'the time of incense had come,' the whole multitude of the people without withdrew from the inner court and fell down before the Lord, spreading their hands in silent prayer. It is this most solemn period, when, throughout the vast temple-buildings, deep silence rested on the worshipping multitude, while within the sanctuary itself the priest laid the incense on the golden altar, and the cloud of odors rose up before the Lord, which serves as the image of heavenly things in Revelation (Revelation 8:1, Revelation 8:3, Revelation 8:4). The prayers offered by priests and people at this part of the service are recorded by tradition as follows: 'True it is that Thou art Jehovah, our God and the God of our fathers; our King and the King of our fathers; our Savior and the Rock of our salvation; our Help and our Deliverer. Thy name is from everlasting, and there is no God beside Thee. A new song did they that were delivered sing to Thy name by the seashore. Together did all praise and own Thee as King, and say, 'Jehovah shall reign who saveth Israel.'" Compare "the Song of Moses," Revelation 15:3, and "a new song," Revelation 5:9.