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Revelation 5:6

in Revelation 5

Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.

KJV

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

This verse in Revelation 5

Commentary

25 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Stood a Lamb - Christ, so called because he was a sacrificial offering; αρνιον signifies a little or delicate lamb. As it had been slain - As if now in the act of being offered. This is very remarkable; so important is the sacrificial offering of Christ in the sight of God that he is still represented as being in the very act of pouring out his blood for the offenses of man. This gives great advantage to faith: when any soul comes to the throne of grace, he finds a sacrifice there provided for him to offer to God.

This site's exposition

Then I saw a Lamb

John sees a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing, the Lion of verse 5 conquering by death. Its seven horns mark strength, as in Deuteronomy 33:17 and Psalm 89:17; its seven eyes are the seven Spirits, as in 1:4 and Isaiah 11:2.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Ticonius

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 5:6 · Written before 390.

proposed

The throne, the animals, the elders are all the church. For the church is in the midst, and he continues to describe the scene and says, "A lamb standing as though slain." For as often as Christ is preached in the midst of the church …

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

He says, And I saw, in the midst of the throne and around the throne, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. The Lord …

A commentator

Victorinus of Pettau

Victorinus On the Creation of the World · Written before 304.

proposed

Behold the seven horns of the Lamb, the seven eyes of God -the seven eyes are the seven spirits of the Lamb; seven torches burning before the throne of God seven golden candlesticks, seven young sheep, the seven women in Isaiah, the seven churches in Paul, seven deacons, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven seals to the book, seven periods of seven days with which Pentecost is completed, the seven weeks in Daniel, also the forty-three weeks in Daniel; with Noah, seven of all clean things in the ark; seven revenges of Cain, seven years for a debt to be acquitted, the lamp with seven orifices, seven pillars of wisdom in the house of Solomon.
"Lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed." We read in Genesis that this lion of the tribe of Judah hath conquered, when the patriarch Jacob says, "Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee; thou hast lain down and slept, and hast risen up again as a lion, and as a lion's whelp." For He is called a lion for the overcoming of death; but for the suffering for men He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. But because He overcame death, and anticipated the duty of the executioner, He was called as it were slain. He therefore opens and seals again the testament, which He Himself had sealed. The legislator Moses intimating this, that it behoved Him to be sealed and concealed, even to the advent of His passion, veiled his face, and so spoke to the people; showing that the words of his announcement were veiled even to the advent of His time. For he himself, when he had read to the people, having taken the wool purpled with the blood of the calf, with water sprinkled the whole people, saying, "This is the blood of His testament who hath purified you." It should therefore be observed that the Man is accurately announced, and that all things combine into one. For it is not sufficient that that law is spoken of, but it is named as a testament. For no law is called a testament, nor is any thing else called a testament, save what persons make who are about to die. And whatever is within the testament is sealed, even to the day of the testator's death. […]

A commentator

Irenaeus

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4 · Written before 202.

proposed

John also, the Lord's disciple, when beholding the sacerdotal and glorious advent of His kingdom, says in the Apocalypse: "I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
18 more voices on this verse

The Church Fathers6 voices

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.273-74 · Written before 253.

proposed

But if we examine the declaration about Jesus who is pointed out by John in the words, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," from the standpoint of the dispensation itself of the bodily sojourn of the Son of God in the life of humankind, we will assume that the lamb is none other than his humanity. For he "was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and was dumb as a lamb before its shearer," saying, "I was as an innocent lamb being led to be sacrificed." This is why in the Apocalypse, too, a little lamb is seen "standing as though slain." This lamb, indeed, which was slain in accordance with certain secret reasons, has become the expiation of the whole world. In accordance with the Father's love for humanity, he also submitted to slaughter on behalf of the world, purchasing us with his own blood from him who bought us when we had sold ourselves to sins.

A commentator

Apringius of Beja

TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 5:6 · Written before 600.

proposed

Here he showed even more clearly our Lord, Jesus Christ, whom he declares was not dead but was as though slain because of the suffering and the death which he had undergone. He says that he had seen this [Lamb] in the midst of the …

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE 5:6, HOMILY 4 · Written before 542.

proposed

The throne, the animals, the elders and the Lamb as though slain are all the church together with her head. [The church] dies for Christ that she might live with Christ. The martyrs in the church may also be understood as the Lamb slain.
Before the resplendent throne of Thy majesty, O Lord, and the exalted and sublime throne of Thy glory, and on the awful seat of the strength of Thy love and the propiatory altar which Thy will hath established, in the region of Thy pasture, with …

A commentator

Cyprian

Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews · Written before 258.

proposed

That Christ is called a sheep and a lamb who was to be slain, and concerning the sacrament (mystery) of the passion. In Isaiah: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away: who shall relate His nativity? Because His life shall be taken away from the earth. By the transgressions of my people He was led to death; and I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich themselves for His death; because He did no wickedness, nor deceits with His mouth. Wherefore He shall gain many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong; because His soul was delivered up to death, and He was counted among transgressors. And He bare the sins of many, and was delivered for their offences." Also in Jeremiah: "Lord, give me knowledge, and I shall know it: then I saw their meditations. I was led like a lamb without malice to the slaughter; against me they devised a device, saying, Come, let us cast the tree into His bread, and let us erase His life from the earth, and His name shall no more be a remembrance." Also in Exodus God said to Moses: "Let them take to themselves each man a sheep, through the houses of the tribes, a sheep without blemish, perfect, male, of a year old it shall be to you. Ye shall take it from the lambs and from the goats, and all the congregation of the synagogue of the children of Israel shall kill it in the evening; and they shall take of its blood, and shall place it upon the two posts, and upon the threshold in the houses, in the very houses in which they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh on the same night, roasted with fire; and they shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs. Ye shall not eat of them raw nor dressed in water, but roasted with fire; the head with the feet and the inward parts. […]

A commentator

Clement of Alexandria

The Stromata Book 5 · Written before 215.

proposed

The golden lamp conveys another enigma as a symbol of Christ, not in respect of form alone, but in his casting light, "at sundry times and divers manners," on those who believe on Him and hope, and who see by means of the ministry of the First-born. And they say that the seven eyes of the Lord "are the seven spirits resting on the rod that springs from the root of Jesse."

The Medieval Church5 voices

A commentator

Bonaventure

Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

John in the Apocalypse saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures a Lamb having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. John sets forth a visionary image and expresses …

A commentator

Bonaventure

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

This virtue gives nobility to the soul. But because at times a man may be indignant at another, there is need for gentleness, which is the remedy against irascibility and anger—not that man should never be angry at all, but that he should be so …

A commentator

Alcuin of York

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION · Written before 804.

proposed

And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

And I saw in the midst of the throne ... a Lamb standing as if slain. The same Lord who is the Lamb by dying innocently, also became a lion by bravely overcoming death. Tyconius says the lamb represents the Church, which in Christ has …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

Having seven horns and seven eyes. The Spirit in Christ is sevenfold, due to the eminence of power: compared to horns, due to the illumination of grace, to eyes.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

In the midst of the throne, thought I, there is the Godhead; in the midst of the elders, there is His manhood; but, oh! methought this did glister!
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The original and first draught of this book is the book of God's decrees, laid up in his own cabinet, in his eternal mind: but there is a transcript of so much as was necessary to be known in the book of the scriptures in general, in the prophetical part of the scripture especially, and in this prophecy in particular.

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

BENGEL thinks there is in Greek, "arnion," the idea of taking the lead of the flock. Another object of the form Greek, "arnion," the Lamb, is to put Him in the more marked contrast to Greek, "therion," the Beast. Elsewhere Greek, "amnos," is found, applying to Him as the paschal, sacrificial Lamb (Isa 53:7, Septuagint;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

THE Apostle John had long known the Lord Jesus as the Lamb. That was his first view of Him, when the Baptist, pointing to Jesus, said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world." He had been very familiar with this blessed Personage, having often laid his head upon His bosom, feeling that this tender goodness of the Savior proved Him to be in nature gentle as a lamb. He had beheld Him when He was brought "as a lamb to the slaughter," so that the idea was indelibly fixed upon his mind that Jesus, the Christ, was the Lamb of God. John knew that He was the appointed Sacrifice, set forth in the morning and evening lamb and in the Paschal Lamb, by whose blood Israel was redeemed from death. In his last days the beloved disciple was to see this same Christ, under the same figure of a lamb, as the great revealer of secrets, the expounder of the mind of God, the taker of the sealed book and the looser of the seals which bound up the mysterious purposes of God towards the children of men. I pray that we may have on this earth a clear and constant sight of the sin-bearing Lamb and then, in yonder world of glory, we shall behold Him in the midst of the Throne and the living creatures and the elders. The appearance of this Lamb at the particular moment described by John was exceedingly suitable. Our Lord usually appears when all other hope disappears. Concerning the winepress of wrath, it is He who says, "I have trod the winepress alone and of the people there was none with Me." In the instance before us, the strong angel had proclaimed with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?" And there was no response from Heaven, or earth, or Hell. No man was able to open the book, neither to look therein.
THE Apostle John had long known the Lord Jesus as the Lamb. That was his first view of Him, when the Baptist, pointing to Jesus, said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world." He had been very familiar with this blessed Personage, having often laid his head upon His bosom, feeling that this tender goodness of the Savior proved Him to be in nature gentle as a lamb.
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne - We are not to suppose that he was in the center of the throne itself, but he was a conspicuous object when the throne and the elders and the living beings were seen. He was so placed as to seem to be in the midst of the group made up of the throne, the living beings, and the elders. And of the four beasts - See the notes at Rev 4:6. Stood a Lamb - An appellation often given to the Messiah, for two reasons: (1) Because the lamb was an emblem of innocence and, (2) Because a lamb was offered commonly in sacrifice. Compare the notes on Joh 1:29. As it had been slain - That is, in some way having the appearance of having been slain; having some marks or indications about it that it had been slain. What those were the writer does not specify. If it were covered with blood, or there were marks of mortal wounds, it would be all that the representation demands. The great work which the Redeemer performed - that of making an atonement for sin - was thus represented to John in such a way that he at once recognized him, and saw the reason why the office of breaking the seals was entrusted to him. It should be remarked that this representation is merely symbolic, and we are not to suppose that the Redeemer really assumed this form, or that he appears in this form in heaven. We should no more suppose that the Redeemer appear: literally as a lamb in heaven with numerous eyes and horns, than that there is a literal throne and a sea of glass there; that there are “seats” there, and “elders,” and “crowns of gold.” Having seven horns - Emblems of authority and power - for the horn is a symbol of power and dominion. Compare Deu 33:17; 1Ki 22:11; Jer 48:25; Zec 1:18; Dan 7:24. […]

The words behind it

37 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.

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

    Zechariah 4:10

    For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

    it leads to

    • Job 8:7

      Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.

    • 1 Corinthians 1:28–29

      He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

  • Through

    John 1:29

    The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 53:7

      He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not…

    • 1 John 2:2

      He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

    • 1 John 3:5

      But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

    • 1 Peter 1:19

      but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

    • 2 Corinthians 5:21

      God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

  • 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!”

    it 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…

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
This page draws on 23 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; Apringius of Beja, TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 5:6; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5; Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE 5:6, HOMILY 4; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2095: “The Lamb In Glory” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 5; Cyprian, Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews; Irenaeus, Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.273-74; The Liturgy Of The Blessed Apostles, The Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles; Ticonius, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 5:6; Victorinus of Pettau, Victorinus On the Creation of the World and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.