Revelation 4:11 BSB

Revelation 4:11

“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.

KJV

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.

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Commentary

6 voices

Ticonius

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 4:11 (390)

We also know of another translation: "Because you have created all things, and they exist and are created on account of your will." Indeed, all things existed in the artful wisdom [of God] before they were formed in the act of creation. However, they were …

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

And through thy will they were - They began to be. It is to the free, gracious and powerfully- working will of Him who cannot possibly need anything that all things owe their first existence. And are created - That is, continue in being ever since they were created.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Two different objects of worship, either co-ordinate or sub-ordinate, would confound the worship and divide the worshippers. It is unlawful to join in divine worship with those who either mistake or multiply the object. There is but one God, and he alone, as God, is worshipped by the church on earth and in heaven.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

(2.) He is the preserver of all things, and his preservation is a continual creation; they are created still by the sustaining power of God. All beings but God are dependent upon the will and power of God, and no dependent being must be set up as an object of religious worship. It is the part of the best dependent beings to be worshippers, not to be worshipped.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

A simultaneous giving of glory on the part of the beasts, and on the part of the elders. give--"shall give" in one oldest manuscript. for ever and ever--Greek, "unto the ages of the ages."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

With God to will is to effect: to determine is to perform. So in Ge 1:3, "Let there be light, and there was light": in Hebrew an expressive tautology, the same word and tense and letters being used for "let there be," and "there was," marking the simultaneity and identity of the will and the effect.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

30 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἄξιος	axios	Worthy	G514 →
εἶ,	ei	are	G1510 →
ὁ	ho	You	G3588 →
κύριος	kurios	Lord	G2962 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ὁ	ho	the	G3588 →
θεὸς	theos	God	G2316 →
ἡμῶν,	hēmōn	of us,	G3165 →
λαβεῖν	labein	to receive	G2983 →
τὴν	tēn	<the>	G3588 →
δόξαν	doxan	glory	G1391 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τὴν	tēn	<the>	G3588 →
τιμὴν	timēn	honor	G5092 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τὴν	tēn	<the>	G3588 →
δύναμιν.	dunamin	power.	G1411 →
ὅτι	hoti	for	G3754 →
σὺ	su	You yourself	G4771 →
ἔκτισας	ektisas	created	G2936 →
τὰ	ta	<the>	G3588 →
πάντα,	panta	all things,	G3956 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
διὰ	dia	because of	G1223 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
θέλημά	thelēma	will	G2307 →
σου	sou	of You	G4771 →
ἦσαν	ēsan	they were existing	G1510 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἐκτίσθησαν.¶	ektisthēsan	were created.	G2936 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Isaiah 40:28
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
leads to
- Romans 11:33–34
  O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Psalms 147:5
  Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.
- 1 Timothy 1:17
  Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Isaiah 55:8–9
  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- Philippians 1:6
  being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Through
Revelation 5:12
In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
leads to
- Revelation 5:9
  And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
- Revelation 19:1
  After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
Through
Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
leads to
- Romans 9:22
  What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?

Featured studies on this passage

St John on Patmos (Bosch; photo Gemäldegalerie Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0)

On Revelation 4:11

Revelation: the Study Guide

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Ezekiel’s vision of the cherubim and the wheels: Ezekiel 1 & 10

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Angelology

The heavenly host — cherubim, seraphim, archangels, and armies — by class, office, and appearance.

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Revelation, the Canon's Closing Scroll, MannaFest

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Ezekiel’s vision of the throne-chariot above the firmament: Ezekiel 1 (after Matthaeus Merian, public domain).

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Heaven

A house of many storeys — the three heavens, the throne room, the true tabernacle, and the new earth where God comes down to dwell.

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Walks through Revelation 4

The Crown

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The Light of the World — William Holman Hunt

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The Door & the Gate

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About Revelation

The Transfiguration — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Revelation: the study guide →Read chapter 4 →The featured study →

Creation
The heavenly worship scene grounds God's worthiness directly in His act of creating all things
Worship
The throne room's worship of the Creator — the pattern the rest of Revelation tests everything against

Continue: Revelation 4 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Revelation

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Revelation