ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Revelation 7.9-17

Book: Revelation · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

7. Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand; 8. Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

9. After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; 10. and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11. And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12. saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? 14. And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat: 17. for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 7:7-17, ASV)

WEB

7. of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8. of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

9. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11. All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, 12. saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13. One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?” 14. I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. 15. Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. 16. They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; 17. for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:7-17, WEB)

KJV

7. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

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; 10. And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12. Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14. And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 7:7-17, KJV)

YLT

7. of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; 8. of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

9. After these things I saw, and lo, a great multitude, which to number no one was able, out of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands, 10. and crying with a great voice, saying, 'The salvation [is] to Him who is sitting upon the throne, to our God, and to the Lamb!' 11. And all the messengers stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their face, and bowed before God, 12. saying, 'Amen! the blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, and the honour, and the power, and the strength, [are] to our God, to the ages of the ages! Amen!' 13. And answer did one of the elders, saying to me, 'These, who have been arrayed with the white robes, who are they, and whence came they?' 14. and I have said to him, 'Sir, thou hast known;' and he said to me, 'These are those who are coming out of the great tribulation, and they did wash their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb; 15. because of this are they before the throne of God, and they do service to Him day and night in His sanctuary, and He who is sitting upon the throne shall tabernacle over them; 16. they shall not hunger any more, nor may the sun fall upon them, nor any heat, 17. because the Lamb that [is] in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and wipe away shall God every tear from their eyes.' (Revelation 7:7-17, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: John narrates what he sees; the multitude and the angels speak in worship (7:10, 12), and one of the twenty-four elders interprets the vision for John (7:13-17)
  • Audience: the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 1:4, 11), to be read aloud in their gatherings (1:3)
  • Location: the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, where John was "for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (Revelation 1:9); the book is addressed to churches on the mainland of the Roman province of Asia
  • Time period: most scholars date the book c. AD 95, late in the reign of the emperor Domitian, following Irenaeus (Against Heresies 5.30.3); a minority date it before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70
  • Literary context: an interlude between the sixth seal (6:12-17) and the seventh (8:1). It follows the sealing of the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel (7:1-8) and answers the question that closed chapter 6, "who is able to stand?" (6:17).

Theological reading

Heard and seen. In 7:4 John hears the number of the sealed, 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. In 7:9 he looks and sees "a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues." Revelation uses the same pattern in 5:5-6, where John hears of a Lion and sees a Lamb. Richard Bauckham (The Climax of Prophecy, 1993) and many others read the two groups as one people described two ways: the people of God counted as Israel's army, then revealed as a multinational throng. Dispensational interpreters read the 144,000 as ethnic Israelites and the multitude as a distinct body of believers from the nations. Both readings agree that the multitude is drawn from every nation.

Standing before the throne. Chapter 6 ended with the cry "who is able to stand?" (6:17). Here the answer is a crowd "standing before the throne and before the Lamb." They stand because "they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (7:14), an image that makes their standing a gift of the Lamb's death.

Tabernacles imagery. White robes and palm branches recall the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40), and God "shall spread his tabernacle over them" (7:15). The closing promises quote Isaiah: "They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them" (Isaiah 49:10), and God "will wipe away tears from off all faces" (Isaiah 25:8). The Lamb becomes the shepherd (7:17), joining the sacrificial and pastoral pictures of Christ in one figure.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Guides:

Passages:

Notes

Your annotations.


Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.

Hear the whole codex

Every page and every section, read aloud.

Everything VIP includes:

  • Every page and section read aloud
  • Playlists: up to 20, with 25 pages or sections each
  • The Debate prep kit: a 10 to 20 minute cram drill on any argument
  • Listening counts toward ris3n leaders
  • The gold VIP mark beside your name on ris3n leaders
  • No ads, with VIP+ (annual) or Founder (arrives at launch)

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God." 2 Timothy 2:15

See VIP plans, from $2.15 a month