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Revelation 7:3

in Revelation 7

“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

KJV

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

This verse in Revelation 7

Commentary

16 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Mt 24:34; "this generation (the Jewish nation) shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled," which implies that Israel can no more pass away before Christ's advent, than Christ's own words can pass away (the same Greek), Mt 24:35.

Hand restore 2026-08-25 under the only-carrier rule from the silent-verse audit.

This site's exposition

the seal of the living God

on Revelation 7:2-3

Then another angel ascending from the east, as the glory comes in Ezekiel 43:2, carries the seal of the living God. He holds back harm until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants; the seal marks ownership and protection, which the beast counterfeits at 13:16.

This site's exposition

until we have sealed the foreheads

Henry, on verse 2, sees the angels given two tasks, some holding back harm while another marks out God's faithful servants. Wesley, on verse 2, notes that the plagues begin in the east and so does the sealing. The harm waits on the seal.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

But now the seal is set, and the prophet, foreseeing in spirit, said: "The light of your face, Lord, has been marked upon us." (Ps. 4:6) It is well, then, that no one be wronged until those worthy of salvation among the Jews are sealed, …
"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God" He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution.

A commentator

Cyprian

Treatise V An Address to Demetrianus · Written before 258.

proposed

And how great, too, are those things which in the meantime are happening in that respect on our behalf! Something is given for an example, that the anger of an avenging God may be known. But the day of judgment is still future which the Holy Scripture denounces, saying, "Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and destruction from God shall come; for, lo, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel with wrath and anger, to lay the earth desolate, and to destroy the sinners out of it."

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bonaventure

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

And it is certain that one of them wanted to exterminate the Church. But an "angel ascending from the rising of the sun cried to the four angels: 'Do not harm the earth or the sea till we have sealed the servants of our God …

A commentator

Bonaventure

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

How can this be? See what is said toward the end of the Apocalypse. Toward the middle, it is said: "I saw the Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His name and the name of His Father …
8 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church5 voices

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 7:2-3 · Written before 614.

proposed

This was revealed long ago to Ezekiel concerning him who was clothed in a fine linen robe and who sealed the foreheads of those who mourned so that the righteous would not be destroyed along with the wicked, since the virtue of the saints is …

A commentator

Alcuin of York

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION · Written before 804.

proposed

And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the sign of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying: Hurt not …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees. Since the Lord has suffered, not only has the power of the adversary been crushed, but also the dominion of worldly principalities, as we both see with our eyes and read in the statue …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

Until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads? For this reason, the dominion of the nations has been broken, so that the faces of the saints could be freely marked with the sign of faith, to which they had resisted. For …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

For it was not in vain that the tetragrammaton, the name of the Lord, was written on the forehead of the high priest, because this is the sign on the forehead of the faithful, about which it is sung in the Psalm for the winepresses: …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Till we have sealed the servants of our God - There is manifestly an allusion to Eze 9:4 here. By sealing we are to understand consecrating the persons in a more especial manner to God, and showing, by this mark of God upon them, that they were under his more immediate protection, and that nothing should hurt them. It was a custom in the east, and indeed in the west too, to stamp with a hot iron the name of the owner upon the forehead or shoulder of his slave. It is worthy of remark that not one Christian perished in the siege of Jerusalem; all had left the city, and escaped to Pella. This I have often had occasion to notice.
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea ... - Let the winds be restrained until what is here designated shall be done. These destroying angels were commanded to suspend the work of destruction until the servants of God could be rendered secure. The division here, as in Rev 7:1, of the “earth, the sea, and the trees,” seems to include everything - water, land, and the productions of the earth. Nothing was to be injured until the angel should designate the true servants of God.

The words behind it

22 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

    Ezekiel 9:4

    “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

    it leads to

    • Revelation 14:1

      Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • Revelation 20:4

      Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Revelation 9:4

      They 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.

    • 2 Corinthians 1:22

      placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.

    • Revelation 7:2–3

      And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to…

  • Through

    Revelation 14:1

    Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 3:12

      The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Revelation 9:4

    They 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.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 9:4

      “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Revelation 22:4

    They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 5:8

      Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

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 15 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 7:2-3; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23; Cyprian, Treatise V An Address to Demetrianus; 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; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.