426 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And before the throne [there was] a sea of glass like unto crystal,.... By which is meant, not heaven, nor the souls of the blessed there, nor the multitude of the holy angels, nor the first converts to Christianity at Jerusalem; for those that got the victory over the beast are said to stand upon this sea, Revelation 15:2, which these senses,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the first beast [was] like a lion,.... And this figure expresses the strength of the ministers of the word, the lion being the strongest among beasts, Proverbs 30:30, to do the work they are called to, to endure hardness, as good soldiers of Christ, and to bear the infirmities of the weak; and also it denotes their courage and boldness in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him],.... As the seraphim in Isaiah 6:2 with two of which they might cover their faces as they did, testifying thereby their reverence of God, when in his presence; and with the other two cover their feet, signifying their sense of their sinfulness, weakness, and imperfection, in their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when these beasts give glory,.... When they give God the glory of all his perfections, covenant, and promises, and of all the gifts and grace bestowed on them, and of the success of their ministry; and in it glorify Father, Son, and Spirit, who bear their respective parts in the business of salvation; and ascribe to each their due glory in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne,.... The ministers of the Gospel begin the worship of God, and lead in it, who are the four living creatures; when the members of churches, who are the four and twenty elders, follow, and approach the divine Being in a most humble manner: and worship him that liveth for ever...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory honour, and power,.... The Alexandrian copy, and some others, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin version, and all the Oriental ones, read, "thou art worthy, O Lord, and our God, to receive"; that is, to receive the acknowledgment and ascription of glory, honour, and power; for otherwise God...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO REVEALTION 5 This chapter contains the vision of the sealed book, and the opening of it by Christ, which occasions universal joy among all ranks and sorts of creatures. The book is described by the place where it was, in the right hand of God; by the uncommon manner in which it was written within and without; and by the seven seals...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I saw on the right hand of him that sat on the throne,.... Of this throne, and who it was that sat upon it, [See comments on Revelation 4:2]; and who had "in" his right hand, or "at", or "upon" his right hand, as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, lying by, or near his right hand; though according to Revelation 5:7, the book appears to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,.... This was not the uncreated angel, Jesus Christ; for he is after spoken of as the lion of the tribe of Judah, and as the Lamb in the midst of the throne, but a created one; though who he was, whether Gabriel, as some say, because his name signifies the strong or mighty One of God, is not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And no man in heaven,.... Or "no one in heaven", whether angels, or the souls of departed saints; neither the one nor the other know anything of what is to come, until it is revealed unto them: nor in earth: among all the men on earth, even those of the greatest sagacity and penetration, the wise, the prudent, the scribe, the disputer of this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I wept much,.... Not so much on his own account, because he feared his curiosity would not be gratified, and that strong desire answered, which were raised in him upon sight of the book, and increased by the angel's proclamation; but for the sake of the church of God, whose representative he was, and to whom the knowledge of this book, and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And one of the elders said unto me,.... The Ethiopic version reads, "one of these elders"; that is, one of the four and twenty elders that were round about the throne; not the first of the four and twenty books of the Old Testament; nor the patriarch Jacob, because of the prophecy concerning Shiloh, Judah's son, which stands in Genesis 49:10, nor...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts,.... These words, "in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts", are left out in the Syriac version: and in the midst of the elders stood a Lamb; John, upon the intimation given him by the elder, lift up his eyes, and with great earnestness looked about, and saw the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he came,.... He drew nigh to the throne of God, he engaged his heart to approach unto him, and came up even to his seat, which a mere creature, without a Mediator, cannot do: and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne; [See comments on Revelation 5:1]; it being given unto him, as in Revelation 1:1; and a commission...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he had taken the book,.... The Vulgate Latin version reads, "when he had opened the book", very wrongly; for the opening of it by unloosing the seals, one after another, is hereafter mentioned, in Revelation 6:1, but when it was observed, that the Lamb took the book, and his commission to open, unseal, and fulfil it, the four beasts, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they sung a new song,.... Upon a new occasion and subject, redemption by the blood of the Lamb, and his worthiness to open the sealed book; and in distinction from the old song of Moses and the children of Israel at the Red sea; and this was a most famous and excellent song, an unheard of one, and which none could learn, or sing, but the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests,.... [See comments on Revelation 1:6]. The Alexandrian copy, and Complutensian edition, and the Syriac, Arabic, and the Ethiopic versions, read "them", instead of "us": and we shall reign on the earth; meaning not merely in a spiritual sense, through grace reigning over sin and corruption, through...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I beheld, and heard the voice of many angels,.... Immaterial spirits, made by Christ, and worshippers of him, and ministering spirits to him and his, the holy and elect angels, who are confirmed in their state by Christ; these John beheld in a visionary way, and heard the voices and articulate sounds formed by them; and there were many of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Saying with a loud voice,.... To signify their zeal, fervour, and affection for Christ, and to make a free, open, and public acknowledgment of him, and that all might hear of his worthiness, and of the praise and glory that were due unto him: worthy is the Lamb that was slain; they address him as the Lamb, and not as the Lord of lords, and their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And every creature which is in heaven,.... Animate or inanimate, angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, sun, moon, and stars, and the fowls of the air: and on the earth; men and beasts, and every creeping thing, mountains, hills, fruitful trees, and all cedars: and under the earth: in the bowels of it, metals, minerals, and everything...