The Book with Seven Seals. Chap. 5 Revelation 5:1-8 1. _in the right hand_ Lit. ON THE RIGHT HAND lying on the open palm. _a book_ i.e. a roll: the ordinary meaning for the equivalent words in all ancient literature, though books arranged in leaves like ours were not unknown. _written within and o... [ Continue Reading ]
_no man_ Better, NO ONE the term includes others as well as men. _under the earth_ i.e. in the world of the dead. In view of Revelation 5:13, we can hardly make it mean "in the sea," on the analogy of Exodus 20:4 fin. _neither to look thereon_ Which would have enabled him to read some fragments of... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I_ The pronoun is emphatic: "no one could open it: I for my part wept for the impossibility." _Why_he wept will be variously explained, according to the view taken of the meaning of the Book. If it be the Book of Life, the reason is obvious: if it be the future purposes of God, the impossibilit... [ Continue Reading ]
_one of the elders_ It is idle to speculate which; even if it be assumed certain that the twenty-four are the Patriarchs and Apostles, they represent their federal office, not their individual character. We can hardly suppose that St John saw _himself_seated among them. _the Lion of the tribe of Ju... [ Continue Reading ]
_and lo_ Should be omitted: the construction is, "And I saw in the midst of … a Lamb standing." _in the midst of the throne_ See on Revelation 4:6. In this passage, the sense might be merely "in the centre of the (semicircular?) space surrounded by …," but Revelation 7:17 disproves this. If it be n... [ Continue Reading ]
_having every one of them_ Perhaps refers to the elders only; though it is not more difficult to _picture_the living creatures holding harps than the Lamb taking the Book and breaking the seals; nor is it more unfit that Cherubim and Seraphim should present the prayers of Saints than that a single A... [ Continue Reading ]
The New Song, Revelation 5:9-13 9. _And they sung_ Should be THEY SING. It may be only an historic present, but perhaps, though to the Seer the song of adoration appeared to begin now, and to stop in time to let other voices be heard, he means to intimate that in fact their adoration is continued t... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto our God kings and priests_ See on the last verse for the true reading: on Revelation 1:6 for the origin of the phrase. _we shall reign_ Authorities are nearly evenly divided between the readings "they reign" and "they shall reign." Perhaps the present is to be preferred, as the more difficult... [ Continue Reading ]
_I beheld_ See on Revelation 4:1. The sense is, of course, that he saw the Angels whose voice he heard. _round about_ We cannot tell if they formed a complete circle round the Throne, or a semicircle between it and the Seer, or a semicircle on the side away from him. But though we cannot answer the... [ Continue Reading ]
_power_, &c. Lit. THE POWER. Notice that the praises ascribed are either sevenfold, as here; fourfold, as in the next verse; or threefold, as in Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1 (true text).... [ Continue Reading ]
_every creature_ Cf. Philippians 2:10. _under the earth_ See on Revelation 5:3. It seems harsh to understand the words of an _unwilling_cooperation of the devils in glorifying God and His Son, besides that Judges 6 seems hardly to prove that _all_fallen spirits are yet confined "under the earth:" Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the four and twenty … for ever and ever_ We should read simply, "and the elders fell down and worshipped" in silence. The brevity of the phrase, imitating their silent adoration, is really grander than the completer sentence of the A. V.... [ Continue Reading ]