Revelation 5

Revelation 5:1

And as God sat on his tribunal or throne of judgment, behold there was in his right hand a book or roll (see note [a] Luke iv.) full of writing on the inside, and on the backside, a great way down, and that rolled up, and on the outside sealed, that no part of it could possibly be read; and this roll consisted of seven rolls, one within another, and every one of them had a seal to it, ch. vi. 1. (This book of rolls containing in it the sealed, that is, secret decrees and purposes of God upon the Jews, which as they were foretold only by Christ, Matt. xxiv, Luke xxi, Mark xiii, so are they by him inflicted and executed upon them, and that an effect of his regal power, to which, after his crucifixion, he was by his resurrection installed.)

[a] in the right hand] That ἐπὶ τὴν δεξιὰν signifies not upon, but in the right hand of God, may appear by ver. 7, where it is said to be taken ἐκ τῆς δεξιᾶς, out of his hand, which supposedly it formerly to be in it. And though this be not the ordinary notation of the Greek ἐπὶ, (and therefore I see it is conceived by some that the book was here brought and laid by him ἐπὶ τὴν δεξιὰν, on his right hand,) yet the promiscuous use of prepositions in these books, (answerable to the Hebrews, whose prepositions are used more loosely and largely,) will give a full answer to this. Now this is no nice consideration, but that which is of use to explain that which follows, of the Lamb’s taking the book out of the hand of God the Father. For this book containing in it the decrees of vengeance and judgment upon the enemies of God, the crucifiers of Christ and persecutors of the Christian faith and professors, and this power being by the resurrection of Christ seated and instated on Christ as a reward of his sufferings, and consequently the execution of these decrees of God put into the hand of the Son, whose coming and kingdom it is thence so often called; and this power being not again delivered up into the Father’s hands till the end of the world, all this is here fitly and fully expressed by the Lamb’s taking the book out of the right hand of God the Father, (and would not so commodiously be represented, if the book had lain by him, and had not been in his hand,) and by his loosing the seals, and opening the book, that is, bringing forth those judgments of God which lay folded up in his decrees, but were now to be remarkably executed by Christ.

[b] written within and on the backside] It may here be thought probable of this book, which is said to be γεγραμμένον ἴσωθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν, ἐσφραγισμένον, that by putting a comma after ἴσωθεν, within, it should thus be rendered written within, and sealed upon the back, and so that the seven seals were all on the outside of the book. But besides that the ordinary punctuation, putting the comma after ὄπισθεν, on the back, resists this, there be many other circumstances clear the other to be the meaning, that the book, or roll, was written within and on the backside; by within, meaning the inner concave superficies of the roll, and by the backside

Revelation 5:2

And I saw one of the angels, of special dignity among them, making proclamation with a loud voice in these words, Who is able to unloose the seals of this book, and so to open it, to reveal to us what is contained in it?

Revelation 5:3

And it seems no creature in the world was able to do it; for upon this proclamation to all, none pretended to it.

Revelation 5:4

And my desire to know caused me to be much concerned and grieved at this, and so to make my complaint thereof.

Revelation 5:5

And one of the elders, ch. iv. 4, that was in one of the thrones, one of them that sat with God in judgment, comforted me, and told me that Christ, known by those two titles, of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Gen. xlix. 9, and the root of Jesse, Isaiah xi. 1, having, by his voluntary suffering of death, received this reward from his Father, to have all power given to him at his resurrection, and so from a slaughtered lamb, being turned into a roaring, devouring lion, had this privilege, among others, bestowed on him by his Father, to reveal, yea, and to execute the decrees contained in these volumes.

Revelation 5:6

This was further exemplified to me; for I looked and saw what I had not seen before, a Lamb bloody, with wounds visible in him, as one that had been butchered, Christ crucified and risen from the dead, and so induced both with power to subdue his enemies (fitly expressed by this style of horns, see note [u] Luke i, and so used here, ch. xvii. 3.) and with all knowledge and wisdom to order it fitly, having instruments to execute his will present, and ready pressed at his service, and also officers (angels, ch. iv. 5, and Zech. iv. 10.) to visit and give him account of all that was done in Judæa and elsewhere, the persecutions which the Jews brought upon the Christians.

Revelation 5:7

And this Lamb, Christ, came and took the book out of God’s hand, that is, received power from God, as the reward of his sufferings, to reveal and make known, and then to execute on that people those heavy judgments contained in those rolls.

Revelation 5:8

And when this power was given to him, this being the instating him in that royal authority next to God himself, (that is, setting him on the throne of judgment, called sitting at God’s right hand, or reigning till he brought all his enemies under his feet,) the four living creatures, by which the four apostles were represented, ch. iv. 6, and the elders that (ch. iv. 4.) sat on the four and twenty thrones about the Judge, gave all acknowledgments of supreme power to Christ; and every one praised and magnified God in these approaching judgments of his, and presented to him, beside their own lauds, the thanksgivings of all the believers then living, who had been persecuted, and denied the liberty of their Christian profession and

³ living creatures. creatures.

⁴ sent into all the land, ἀπεσταλμίνα εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν.

⁵ living

[c] prayers of saints] Who the saints are whose prayers are here mentioned as odours, may appear, ver. 10, where of them it is said, that they shall reign on the earth, that is, that the effect of the execution of these judgments of God on the enemies of Christianity, noted by the Lamb’s opening the book, (note [a]), should be this, that the Christians should thereby have a peaceable being upon earth, to assemble and serve Christ, (see note [d] on ch. i.) By this it is evident that the saints here are the Christian people upon earth, and not the saints which reign in heaven. And this also is agreeable to the notion of odours, by which their prayers are expressed: for those refer to the incense that the priests were wont to offer in the sanctuary, whilst the people prayed without, Luke i. 10, and their prayers supposed to go up with that incense to heaven. By this it also appears that the four living creatures, and four and twenty elders, which have here the vials in their hands, as also the harps, the one to denote the prayers, the other the praises of the Christians, are the apostles and bishops of Judæa, (as in the laying of the scene appeared, notes [d] and [g] chap. iv.) whose office it was to present the prayers and praises of the Christians to God; and so by all these together the Christian persecuted church of Judæa (and by consent with them all other Christians over the world) are represented here as those that had now their prayers heard, and those by the destruction of their persecutors turned into praises.

Revelation 5:11

And I looked, and behold all the angels of heaven in infinite multitudes attending on God, joined with the apostles and bishops in giving praises unto him.

Revelation 5:12

And all said with a loud voice, All power &c. are most worthily attributed to Christ as a reward of his crucifixion. All this dignity to himself and advantages to believers are a just reward of his sufferings, by which he hath dearly bought them.

Revelation 5:13

And all other creatures in the world made the same acknowledgment (noting these judgments that should now fall on the Jews (as they were most just, so also) to be most seasonable, and infinitely advantageous to his people, who should be rescued by that means.)

Revelation 5:14

And a general adoration was paid unto Christ as unto God himself, noting this punishment of the Jews to be a just act of divine revenge on their crucifying of Christ, who being by his divine power

⁴ tribe, φυλῆτ. ⁷ living creatures. ⁸ living creatures.