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Selected Verse: Revelation 4:1 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Re 4:1 |
King James |
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
VISION OF GOD'S THRONE IN HEAVEN; THE FOUR AND TWENTY ELDERS; THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES. (Rev 4:1-11)
After this--Greek, "After these things," marking the opening of the next vision in the succession. Here is the transition from "the things which are" (Rev 1:19), the existing state of the seven churches, as a type of the Church in general, in John's time, to "the things which shall be hereafter," namely, in relation to the time when John wrote.
I looked--rather as Greek, "I saw" in vision; not as English Version means, I directed my look that way.
was--Omit, as not being in the Greek.
opened--"standing open"; not as though John saw it in the act of being opened. Compare Eze 1:1; Mat 3:16; Act 7:56; Act 10:11. But in those visions the heavens opened, disclosing the visions to those below on earth. Whereas here, heaven, the temple of God, remains closed to those on earth, but John is transported in vision through an open door up into heaven, whence he can see things passing on earth or in heaven, according as the scenes of the several visions require.
the first voice which I heard--the voice which I heard at first, namely, in Rev 1:10; the former voice.
was as it were--Omit was, it not being in the Greek. "Behold" governs in sense both "a door," &c., and "the first voice," &c.
Come up hither--through the "open door."
be--come to pass.
hereafter--Greek, "after these things": after the present time (Rev 1:19). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
After this - Greek, "After these things"; that is, after what he had seen, and after what he had been directed to record in the preceding chapters. How long after these things this occurred, he does not say - whether on the same day, or at some subsequent time; and conjecture would be useless. The scene, however, is changed. Instead of seeing the Saviour standing before him Rev. 1, the scene is transferred to heaven, and he is permitted to look in upon the throne of God, and upon the worshippers there.
I looked - Greek, "I saw" - εἶδον eidon. Our word "look" would rather indicate purpose or intentions, as if he had designedly directed his attention to heaven, to see what could be discovered there. The meaning, however, is simply that he saw a new vision, without intimating whether there was any design on his part, and without saying how his thoughts came to be directed to heaven.
A door was opened - That is, there was apparently an opening in the sky like a door, so that he could look into heaven.
In heaven - Or, rather, in the expanse above - in the visible heavens as they appear to spread out over the earth. So Eze 1:1, "The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." The Hebrews spoke of the sky above as a solid expanse; or as a curtain stretched out; or as an extended arch above the earth - describing it as it appears to the eye. In that expanse, or arch, the stars are set as gems (compare the notes on Isa 34:4); through apertures or windows in that expanse the rain comes down, Gen 7:11; and that is opened when a heavenly messenger comes down to the earth, Mat 3:16. Compare Luk 3:21; Act 7:56; Act 10:11. Of course, all this is figurative, but it is such language as all people naturally use. The simple meaning here is, that John had a vision of what is in heaven as if there had been such an opening made through the sky, and he had been permitted to look into the world above.
And the first voice which I heard - That is, the first sound which he heard was a command to come up and see the glories of that world. He afterward heard other sounds - the sounds of praise; but the first notes that fell on his ear were a direction to come up there and receive a revelation respecting future things. This does not seem to me to mean, as Prof. Stuart, Lord, and others suppose, that he now recognized the voice which had first, or formerly spoken to him Rev 1:10, but that this was the first in contradistinction from other voices which he afterward heard. It resembled the former "voice" in this, that it was "like the sound of a trumpet," but besides that there does not seem to have been anything that would suggest to him that it came from the same source. It is certainly possible that the Greek would admit of that interpretation, but it is not the most obvious or probable.
Was as it were of a trumpet - It resembled the sound of a trumpet, Rev 1:10.
Talking with me - As of a trumpet that seemed to speak directly to me.
Which said - That is, the voice said.
Come up hither - To the place whence the voice seemed to proceed - heaven.
And I will show thee things which must be hereafter - Greek, "after these things." The reference is to future events; and the meaning is, that there would be disclosed to him events that were to occur at some future period. There is no intimation here when they would occur, or what would be embraced in the period referred to. All that the words would properly convey would be, that there would be a disclosure of things that were to occur in some future time. |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
Come up hither
This call seems clearly to indicate the fulfilment of (Th1 4:14-17). The word "church" does not again occur in the Revelation till all is fulfilled. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
After this (μετὰ ταῦτα)
Rev., literally, after these things. Not indicating a break in the ecstatic state of the seer, but only a succession of separate visions.
I looked (εἶδον)
Rev., better, I saw. Not of the directing of attention, but of the simple reception of the vision.
A door was opened (θύρα ἀνεῳγμένη)
Rev., rightly, omits was. A door set open. The A.V. implies that the seer witnessed the opening of the door.
In Heaven
Compare Eze 1:1; Mat 3:16; Act 7:56; Act 10:11. In all these heaven itself is opened.
Was
Omit. Render, as Rev., "a voice as of a trumpet."
A trumpet (σάλπιγγος)
See on Mat 24:31. Properly a war-trumpet, though the word was also used of a sacred trumpet, with the epithet ἱερά sacred.
Speaking - saying (λαλούσης - λέγουσα)
See on Mat 28:18. The former verb indicates the breaking of the silence, the latter the matter of the address.
Hereafter (μετὰ ταῦτα)
Some editors connect these words with the succeeding verse, substituting them for καὶ and at the beginning of that verse, and rendering, "I will show thee the things which must come to pass. After these things straightway I was," etc. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| After these things - As if he had said, After I had written these letters from the mouth of the Lord. By the particle and, the several parts of this prophecy are usually connected: by the expression, after these things, they are distinguished from each other, Rev 7:9; Rev 19:1. By that expression, and after these things, they are distinguished, and yet connected, Rev 7:1; Rev 15:5; Rev 18:1. St. John always saw and heard, and then immediately wrote down one part after another: and one part is constantly divided from another by some one of these expressions. I saw - Here begins the relation of the main vision, which is connected throughout; as it appears from "the throne, and him that sitteth thereon;" "the Lamb;" (who hitherto has appeared in the form of a man;) " the four living creatures;" and " the four and twenty elders," represented from this place to the end. From this place, it is absolutely necessary to keep in mind the genuine order of the texts, as it stands in the preceding table. A door opened in heaven - Several of these openings are successively mentioned. Here a door is opened; afterward, "the temple of God in heaven," Rev 11:19; Rev 15:5; and, at last, "heaven" itself, Rev 19:11. By each of these St. John gains a new and more extended prospect. And the first voice which I had heard - Namely, that of Christ: afterward, he heard the voices of many others. Said, Come up hither - Not in body, but in spirit; which was immediately done. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| A door was opened in heaven - This appears to have been a visible aperture in the sky over his head. |
19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;