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Revelation 4

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

The throne in heaven

1 After these things I looked, and see, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you the things which must take place after these things." 2 And immediately I was in the Spirit; and see, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne, 3 like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like emeralds in appearance. 4 And around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones the twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and on their heads golden crowns. 5 And from the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunderings. And seven lamps of fire were burning before His throne, which are the seven spirits of Elohim. 6 And before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and they do not rest day and night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Elohim Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!" 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 "You are worthy, our Lord and our Elohim, the Holy One, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created."

Notes

  • 4:1 "The first voice" is the voice like a trumpet that John heard in 1:10, the voice of the One like a son of man, so the TRB marks its words as Yeshua's, as in 1:11. As for Ezekiel "the heavens were opened" (Ezekiel 1:1), John is now called up through an open door to see the heavenly throne room, and the vision that follows draws again and again on the throne visions of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Daniel.
  • 4:4 Who the twenty-four elders are is not said. Some see them as heavenly beings who serve before the throne; others as representing the redeemed, often linked to the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles (compare 21:12-14); and many note the twenty-four courses into which David divided the priests (1 Chronicles 24). Isaiah had foreseen that Yahweh Tsevaot would reign, "and before His elders there will be glory" (Isaiah 24:23).
  • 4:5 Lightning and thunder recall Sinai, where "there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain" (Exodus 19:16), and the fire moving among Ezekiel's living creatures (Ezekiel 1:13). The seven lamps recall the seven lamps of the menorah (Exodus 25:37; Zechariah 4:2).
  • 4:7 The living creatures (zōa) are the "four living creatures" Ezekiel saw beneath the throne (Ezekiel 1:5), where each one had four faces: "each had the face of a man; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle" (Ezekiel 1:10). In John's vision each has one of these faces, and like Isaiah's seraphim each has six wings (verse 8).
  • 4:8 The song of Isaiah's seraphim, "Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Tsevaot" (Isaiah 6:3), is sung again here; where Isaiah has "Yahweh Tsevaot," the Greek has "the Lord Elohim Almighty" (kyrios ho theos ho pantokratōr), the Greek translation's wording for that name (see the note at 1:8). The Greek has no verb in the cry; the TRB supplies "is" as in Isaiah.

Revelation 3 · Revelation 5

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