Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Revelation 7:1

in Revelation 7

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree.

KJV

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.

⋯

This verse in Revelation 7

Commentary

11 notes on this verse
And after these things - After the vision of the things referred to in the opening of the sixth seal. The natural interpretation would be, that what is here said of the angels and the winds occurred after those things which are described in the previous chapter. The exact chronology may not be always observed in these symbolical representations, but doubtless there is a general order which is observed. I saw four angels - He does not describe their forms, but merely mentions their agency. This is, of course, a symbolical representation.

This site's exposition

holding back its four winds

John sees four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, the four compass points, holding back its four winds. The judgment of the sixth seal pauses, and the next two verses name what it waits for.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

From here, the events that occurred to the Jews in the war against the Romans are clearly shown to the evangelist, which became a cause for them regarding the cross and the mockery against the Lord. For the four angels who hold the four corners …

The Medieval Church4 voices

A commentator

Alcuin of York

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION · Written before 804.

proposed

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 upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor on any tree. It should be noted that …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

Holding the four winds of the earth, etc. By their own power, they, in a way, suffocate everything, allowing no one to breathe freely under their jurisdiction. The diversity of provinces on land, the islands in the sea, and the various qualities and conditions of …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. That is, the four principal kingdoms, namely, those of the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. For just as in the previous seals, after witnessing the manifold conflicts of the Church, he …

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 7:1 · Written before 614.

proposed

Although these things are thought by some to have occurred long ago to the Jews at the hands of the Romans … how much more will these things occur at the coming of the antichrist, and not only partially in the land of the Jews …
4 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

proposed

And after these things - What follows is a preparation for the seventh seal, which is the weightiest of all. It is connected with the sixth by the particle and; whereas what is added, verse 9, stands free and unconnected.

quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-9-anchored-1-1

And after these things,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

As then Revelation is the Book of the Second Advent [DE BURGH], naturally mention of God's restored favor to Israel occurs among the events that usher in Christ's advent. earth . . . sea . . . tree--The judgments to descend on these are in answer to the martyrs' prayer under the fifth seal.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And after these things - Immediately after the preceding vision. I saw four angels - Instruments which God employs in the dispensation of his providence; we know not what. On the four corners of the earth - On the extreme parts of the land of Judea, called ἡ γη, the land, or earth, by way of eminence. Holding the four winds - Preventing evil from every quarter. Earth - sea, nor on any tree; keeping the whole of the land free from evil, till the Church of Christ should wax strong, and each of his followers have time to prepare for his flight from Jerusalem, previously to its total destruction by the Romans.

The words behind it

33 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 24:31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.24 worksDaniel 7:2Daniel declared: “In my vision in the night I looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.19 worksJeremiah 49:36I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s exiles will not go.17 worksMark 13:27And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.12 worksDaniel 8:8Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.9 worksEzekiel 7:2“O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.8 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 37:9Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”8 worksIsaiah 27:8By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.7 worksRevelation 9:14saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”6 worksIsaiah 11:12He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.5 worksZechariah 6:5And the angel told me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth from their station before the Lord of all the earth.5 worksZechariah 1:18–20Then I looked up and saw four horns.4 worksRevelation 7:3“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”4 worksMatthew 8:26–27“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.4 worksRevelation 9:4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.3 worksJonah 1:4Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.3 worksZechariah 6:1And again I lifted up my eyes and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze.3 worksRevelation 4:1–6After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 24:31

    And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:16

      For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…

    • Mark 13:27

      And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

    • Isaiah 27:13

      And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on…

    • 1 Corinthians 15:52

      in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

    • Isaiah 11:12

      He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

  • Through

    Mark 13:27

    And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 2:6

      “Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD.

    • Matthew 24:31

      And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

  • Through

    Daniel 8:8

    Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of…

    it leads to

    • Daniel 7:2

      Daniel declared: “In my vision in the night I looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Transfiguration, Gustave Doré. Public domain.
The Transfiguration, Gustave Doré. Public domain.
Revelation: the study guide →Read Revelation 7 →
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alcuin of York, COMMENTARY ON REVELATION; Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 7:1; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation.

Read on in Revelation 7 →