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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 5:11 - 5:14
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_5:11-14
11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 14And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Rev_5:11 "many angels" This verse lists three groups of angels: (1) many angels (thousands of thousands); (2) living creatures (four); or (3) elders (twenty-four).
▣ "the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands" This seems to be an allusion to the heavenly court of Dan_7:10 (see note at Rev_5:1).
Rev_5:12 "the Lamb that was slain to receive power" This is the affirmation of the Son from the angelic beings. "Was slain" is a perfect passive participle (cf. Rev_5:6; Rev_13:8), which implies "slain in the past" with the marks and effect of the slaying remaining. When we see Jesus He will still have the marks of the crucifixion. They have become His badge of honor! The concept of the cross is implicit and central in Revelation. See note at Rev_5:9.
In this verse seven attributes are given unto the Lamb by the angelic orders:
1. power
2. riches
3. wisdom
4. might
5. honor
6. glory
7. blessing
These attributes may come from 1Ch_29:10-12, which may also be the OT source for the liturgic conclusion to the Lord's Prayer in Mat_6:13 in the Greek manuscript tradition.
The NASB Study Bible (p. 1855) adds the note that the attributes of God begin with three in Rev_4:11, then four in Rev_5:13, and finally seven in Rev_5:12; Rev_7:12. Remember apocalyptic literature is a highly structured genre which uses symbolic number often.
Rev_5:13 All conscious human creation (the largest human choir possible), humans (both alive and dead) in Rev_5:13 bless the Father and the Son with a fourfold blessing (cf. Rev_5:14; Psa_103:19-20; Php_2:8-11) and the angelic orders (the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders) surrounding the throne affirm the blessing (cf. Rev_5:14).
Rev_5:14 "Amen" This is an affirmation from the four throne angels (the four living creatures). See Special Topic at Rev_1:6.
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