The Lamb Takes the Scroll 1 And I saw on the right hand of the one sitting upon the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 And what book does John see, which has writing on the front and back and is sealed? Which book could no one read and loose its seals, except the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David who has the key of David, and who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one will open?
Andreas of Caesarea · AD 614 sealed with seven seals. this signifies either the fulfillment of the book, which is obscure and unknown to all, or the dispensation of the one who searches the depths of the Spirit of God. 1 Cor 2:10 book written within and without. is the all-wise memory of God.
Nicholas of Lyra · AD 1349 in the right hand. The operative power of God is called metaphorically called His right hand.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?”
Victorinus of Pettau · AD 304 "And I saw an angel full of strength proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no one was found worthy, neither in the earth nor under the earth, to open the book." Now to open the book is to overcome death for man.
Apringius of Beja · AD 600 a strong angel. this should be interpreted as the chorus of holy fathers who, having lived in divine friendship, and seeing with the eyes of faith that the arrangement of the present times and the order of all things were entirely sealed by the providence of God, understand their Operator to be the Lord of majesty.
Nicholas of Lyra · AD 1349 who is worthy to open the book. That is, to reveal the mystery of God. and to loose the seals: That is, to show how each seal proceeds from the divine will.
3 And no one in heaven nor upon the earth nor under the earth was able to open the scroll nor to see it.
Caesarius of Arles · AD 542 that is, neither angel, nor anyone living on earth, nor any of the dead, to contemplate the brightness of the grace of the New Testament.
Andreas of Caesarea · AD 614 This means that neither angels nor human beings, those in the flesh, nor the saints who had departed from the flesh are able to understand the knowledge of the divine judgments, except the lamb of God, by His presence releasing the obscurity of the things prophesied about him.
Nicholas of Lyra · AD 1349 And no man was able, neither in heaven: The angels. nor on earth: Humans. nor under the earth: The demons in whom the natural things remain intact. to open the book: No one can understand the divine mysteries, unless God, who first revealed them to the human Christ and Christ to John, reveals them.
4 And I was weeping much, because no one worthy was found to open the scroll nor to see it.
Victorinus of Pettau · AD 304 "There was none found worthy to do this." Neither among the angels of heaven, nor among men in earth, nor among the souls of the saints in rest, save Christ the Son of God alone, whom he says that he saw as a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns.
Andreas of Caesarea · AD 614 wept. perhaps since the most spotless order of the angelic substances fell into ignorance.
Nicholas of Lyra · AD 1349 In this weeping John indicates the desire to know the future course of the Church.
5 And one of the elders says to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion, on account of His royalty and glory, in the same way have the Scriptures also aforetime spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God.
Oecumenius · AD 550 Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the seven seals of the little scroll." He said, He who has overcome our conqueror (the Devil), this one who opened the little scroll and the seals.
Nicholas of Lyra · AD 1349 one of the ancients. Who this elder was is not said. Some say that he was Matthew, the evangelist.
6 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 slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
The Liturgy Of The Blessed Apostles · AD 200 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 thousands of cherubim praising Thee, and ten thousands of seraphim sanctifying Thee, we draw near, adore, thank, and glorify Thee alwa…
Ticonius · AD 390 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 as slain, so often is the same Lamb seen as though sacrificed for the fault of the world, since what is unknown is made known to the uninitiated a…
Bonaventure · AD 1257 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 the truth. He calls the gifts of the Holy Spirit horns and eyes. And why?
7 And he came, and he has taken it out of the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.
Irenaeus · AD 202 Likewise does the Lord also say: "All things are delivered to Me by My Father;" manifestly by Him who made all things; for He did not deliver to Him the things of another, but His own.
Apringius of Beja · AD 600 To be sure, the Lamb is the assumed man who for our salvation willingly offered himself over to death. Worthily he received the scroll, that is, the power of all the works of God, and from the right hand of him who is seated on the throne, that is, he received all things from God the Father, as he himself said: "All which the Father has is mine." Then did he receive this scroll…
Alcuin of York · AD 804 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. The right hand of him that sits on the throne is the same as the Lamb as it were slain in the midst of the throne, because the Son of God through whom the world was created and the Son of man through whom man was redeemed are not two, but one Christ.
8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls being full of incenses, which are the prayers of the saints.
Irenaeus · AD 202 Those who have become acquainted with the secondary (i.e., under Christ) constitutions of the apostles, are aware that the Lord instituted a new oblation in the new covenant, according to [the declaration of] Malachi the prophet.
Primasius of Hadrumetum · AD 560 The bowls that are accepted by God are the pious confession in which no one is hidden with a duplicitous heart but is rather sincere with an open affection. They are also the golden vessels that are in the great house, burning with the sweetness of the pleasant odor of Christ.
Dionysius bar Salibi · AD 1171 Bowls, or jugs, represent patens.
9 And they are singing a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain and you purchased to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
Tertullian · AD 220 If I remember not that it is I who have served Him, how shall I ascribe glory to God? How sing to Him "the new song," if I am ignorant that it is I who owe Him thanks? But why is exception taken only against the change of the flesh, and not of the soul also, which in all things is superior to the flesh?
Andreas of Caesarea · AD 614 Through this passage it is revealed that the elders, both those in the Old Testament and those in the New Testament, were well-pleasing to God, and that on behalf of the whole world they bring forth a [hymn of] thanksgiving to the Lamb of God who was slain and redeemed us.
Alcuin of York · AD 804 And they sung a new canticle, saying: Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to take the book, etc. Christ sang a new canticle by preaching it in words and following it in acts.
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 And thou shalt receive the kingdom of heaven, thou who, whilst thou didst sojourn in this life, didst know the Celestial King. And thou shalt be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease.
Oecumenius · AD 550 And He made them kings and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Therefore, you are able also to understand the Scripture, for you are faithful servants of Christ, both kings and leaders of the churches; you are able to govern the passions rather than be governed by them; and as priests, you bring your own bodies "as a living, holy, and acceptable sacrifice to…
Alcuin of York · AD 804 And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. The elect are kings, when, by restraining their bodies, it is as if they were reigning over a subjected earth with the law of virtue, which is why they affirm they have received a kingdom on earth too.
The Lamb Exalted 11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
Philoxenus of Mabbug · AD 523 And this which is written concerning the angels also is a marvel of unspeakable love: "A thousand thousand stand before Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand minister unto Him"; now this concerneth the Seraphim who stand above Him, having their wings spread out to fly, and this one crieth to this, saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy." And concerning the Cherubim it is written that the…
Bede · AD 735 And their number was thousands upon thousands. Innumerable thousands of people flocking to the Church praise God.
Alcuin of York · AD 804 And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients. By saying that he heard the voice, he shows what kind of seeing this was; for he sees sounds and hears visions.
12 saying in a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
Caesarius of Arles · AD 542 This is not said of his Godhead, in which are all the treasuries of wisdom, so that he should receive [wisdom]. Rather, this is said of his assumed manhood, that is, concerning his body, which is the church. Or, it might be said of his martyrs who were slain for his name.
Andreas of Caesarea · AD 614 From all beings, whether intelligent or sensible, whether living or simply existing in some way, God, as the Creator of all things, is glorified by words proper to their natures. Also praised is his only begotten and consubstantial Son who graciously renewed humankind and the creation that was made through him.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 Apocalypse 5: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive wisdom; the Gloss: "The knowledge of all things, just as the Word united to Him"; but the united Word comprehends whatever it knows: therefore so does the soul of Christ.
13 And every creature which is in heaven and upon the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and everything in them, I heard saying, “To the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might, to the ages of the ages.”
Oecumenius · AD 550 The present text expresses the doxology universally accorded by all creation, both heavenly and earthly, to God the Father, and to the Word who became man [ἐνανθρωπήσαντι] and was made flesh [σαρκωθέντα], that is, also glorified together with the Holy Spirit.
Bede · AD 735 To whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given. For if the righteous are called the children of God, why not also the angels? Although the heavenly hosts can also sing this by rejoicing in our redemption. As the holy Pope Gregory explained, adding: "For the voice of the angels in the praise of the Creator is the very wonder of inner contemplation."
14 And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Andreas of Caesarea · AD 614 Through these, one flock and one church from angels and from men is indicated which has been formed through Christ, the God who united that which was separate and has destroyed the partition wall of separation.
Bede · AD 735 And the four living creatures said Amen, etc. As the people in the Church resound with praises to the Lord, the teachers confirm the same and, by the example of their lives, together worship the Lord.
Alcuin of York · AD 804 And the four living creatures said: Amen. And the four and twenty ancients fell down on their faces, and adored him that liveth for ever and ever.