Revelation 5

Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. It had writing on the inside and on the back, and it was closed with seven seals.

1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

NoteThe KJV's "book" is a scroll: a long sheet of papyrus or parchment rolled up. Bound books with pages were only beginning to appear in the first century, and a document of this kind would have been a roll. "Backside" in 1611 English means simply the back, the outer face of the roll, with none of its later sense. Scrolls were normally written on the inside only, so writing on both sides pictures a document that is completely full, with nothing that could be added. The seals were lumps of wax or clay pressed with a signet ring across the edge of the rolled-up scroll, so that it could not be opened without visibly breaking them. Wills, deeds and contracts were secured this way, and only a person with the legal right to do so could break the seals and act on the contents.

2And I saw a powerful angel calling out in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"

2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

3But no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even look inside it.

3And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

Note"No man" in 1611 English means "no one at all," not males as opposed to females. "In heaven, in earth, under the earth" is a standard three-part way of naming the whole of creation: the sky above, the land of the living, and the realm of the dead below. The point is that the search came up empty everywhere.

4I cried and cried, because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll, or to read it, or to look inside it.

4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5Then one of the elders said to me, "Stop crying. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

NoteThe elders are the twenty-four figures seated on thrones around God's throne, introduced in chapter 4. "Juda" is the KJV's spelling of Judah, following the Greek form of the name. "The Lion of the tribe of Judah" reaches back to Genesis 49:9, where the dying Jacob compares his son Judah to a lion; Judah was the tribe David came from, and so the royal tribe. "The Root of David" comes from Isaiah 11:1 and 11:10, where a shoot grows from the stump of Jesse, David's father. "Root" here means the growth that springs from the stock, that is, a descendant of David's line. "Hath prevailed" is stronger than modern "prevailed" suggests: the Greek verb means to conquer, to win a victory.

6Then I looked, and there in the center, by the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, stood a Lamb that looked as if it had been killed. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Note"Beasts" here translates a Greek word meaning "living creatures," and in 1611 English "beast" simply meant a living animal, with no suggestion of brutality. Revelation uses a completely different Greek word for the hostile "beast" that appears in chapter 13; the two are not the same term. "As it had been slain" means the Lamb carries the visible marks of having had its throat cut as a sacrifice, and yet is standing alive. Horns are the standard Hebrew image for strength, drawn from a bull or a ram, and eyes stand for seeing and knowing; seven of each carries the sense of complete power and complete sight, since seven runs through Revelation as the number of wholeness. The Greek phrase describing where the Lamb stands is genuinely unclear: it can mean in the middle of the throne itself, or in the middle of the space marked out by the throne, the creatures and the elders. Translators divide, and the rendering leaves it open.

7He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One sitting on the throne.

7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

8When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down in front of the Lamb. Each of them held a harp and a golden bowl full of incense, which stands for the prayers of God's people.

8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

NoteThe "harps" are not the large upright instrument of a modern orchestra but the kithara, a small handheld lyre with strings stretched over a frame, the ordinary instrument for accompanying song. "Vials" in 1611 English means wide shallow bowls, not narrow glass tubes; these are the kind of bowl used at an altar. "Odours" means incense, the fragrant smoke burned in the temple. Incense was burned while people prayed, and the smoke drifting upward was a familiar picture for prayer going up to God, as in Psalm 141:2. "Saints" is the KJV's regular word for all of God's people, everyone set apart as his, not a special category of outstanding individuals.

9And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were killed, and by your blood you bought people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Note"A new song" is a set phrase from the Psalms, called for when God has just done something fresh and rescuing, as in Psalms 96 and 98. "Redeemed" translates the ordinary Greek verb for buying something in a marketplace, the word used for purchasing a slave out of slavery; the modern rendering "bought" is closer to its everyday flavor. "Kindred" means tribe or clan, and "tongue" means language. The manuscripts differ here: some read "redeemed us," which the KJV follows, and others read "redeemed people for God" without the "us," which most modern translations follow.

10You have made us kings and priests to serve our God, and we will rule on the earth."

10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Note"Kings and priests" echoes Exodus 19:6, where God tells Israel at Sinai that they will be to him "a kingdom of priests and an holy nation." The manuscripts differ by a single word: some read "kings," as the KJV has it, and others read "a kingdom." They also divide over whether the last clause is "they reign" or "they shall reign," so both the present and the future are defensible readings of the text.

11Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels all around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. There were ten thousand times ten thousand of them, and thousands upon thousands.

11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Note"Ten thousand times ten thousand" translates a Greek word, myrias, that was the largest round number Greek had a name for. "Myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands" was an idiom for a crowd beyond counting, not an arithmetical figure to be multiplied out.

12They said in a loud voice, "The Lamb who was killed is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

NoteThe KJV's "blessing" here does not mean a benefit handed to someone. The Greek word means speech that praises, so directed at the Lamb it means praise spoken aloud. Seven things are named in the list, the same number that runs through the seals, horns and eyes of this chapter.

13And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, and everything in them, saying, "To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!"

13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Note"For ever and ever" renders a Greek phrase that reads literally "to the ages of the ages," a piled-up idiom for time without end. The four realms named, heaven, earth, under the earth and the sea, together mean every place where anything exists.

14The four living creatures said, "Amen." And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the One who lives forever and ever.

14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

Note"Amen" is a Hebrew word carried straight over into Greek and then into English without translation. It means roughly "truly" or "let it stand," and it was said by hearers to endorse a statement or a prayer someone else had just made. The manuscripts differ at the end of the verse: the earliest read simply "the elders fell down and worshipped," while later ones add "him that liveth for ever and ever," which is the reading the KJV follows.