Revelation Chapter 5 verse 8 Holy Bible
And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
read chapter 5 in ASV
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty rulers went down on their faces before the Lamb, having every one an instrument of music, and gold vessels full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints.
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And when it took the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each a harp and golden bowls full of incenses, which are the prayers of the saints.
read chapter 5 in DARBY
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
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read chapter 5 in WBT
Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
read chapter 5 in WEB
And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints,
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 8. - And when he had taken the book. "Had taken" (ἔλαβε) is here aorist, not perfect, as in ver. 7. The text should probably read, when he took the book; that is to say, the adoration offered coincides in point of time with the act of taking the book. The four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb. The four beasts as representing animated creation; the four and twenty elders as representative of the Church (see on Revelation 4:4, 6). Having every one of them harps. (On the difficulty of how each one could hold harps and bowls, see on ver. 6.) It is possible that the phrase refers only to the elders; for these seem more suitably employed in offering the prayers of the saints than the representatives of all creation. If, however, as Wordsworth considers, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders together symbolize the Church, the phrase would apply to both. The κινύρα of 1 Samuel 16:16, 23 (the κιθάρα of this passage) was played with the hand, and the instrument indicated was probably more of the nature of a guitar than the modern harp. And golden vials full of odours. The Revised Version "bowls" is better than "vials." The idea is, no doubt, taken from the shallow bowls which were placed upon the golden altar (Exodus 30:1-10), and in which incense was burned. The odours are the incense. In the same chapter of Exodus directions are given concerning the preparation and use of the incense, which was always a symbol of prayer, and always offered to God alone (cf. Psalm 141:2, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense;" also Luke 1:9, 10; Isaiah 6:3, 4). Which are the prayers of saints. The saints; that is, the members of the Church of God. Some authorities consider "vials" the antecedent of" which;" but it seems best to refer "which" to "odours," though the sense is not materially different, since the former includes the latter.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(8) And when he had taken . . .--Better, And when He took the roll, the four living beings and the twenty four elders fell before the Lamb, having each a harp, and golden vials (or, censers) full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (or, the holy ones). It is not the Church alone which is interested in the revelation which will throw light on life's mysteries and the delay of the kingdom: the whole creation groaneth, waiting for the reign of righteousness; and therefore the four living beings, who represent creation, join with the elders, who represent the Church, in the adoration of the Lamb who holds the secret of life's meaning in His hand. The vials (which seem to be censers, as they hold the incense) and the harps, it is perhaps more natural to suppose, were in the hands of the four-and-twenty elders, and not of the living creatures. Here, then, we have the praises (represented by the harps), and the prayers (represented by the censers) of the world-wide and age-long Church of Christ. The comparison of prayer with incense is in strict accordance with Old Testament language. "Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense" (Psalm 141:2). The incense held a conspicuous place in the ritual of the Temple. The greatest care was to be taken in the composition of the incense, and the same compound was not to be used anywhere but in the sanctuary. These precautions suggest its typical character. The true odours are the heart-prayers of God's children. "Of these three sweet ingredient perfumes," says Archbishop Leighton, alluding to the composition of the Temple-incense, "namely, petition, confession, thanksgiving, is the incense of prayer, and by the divine fire of love it ascends unto God, the heart and all with it; and when the hearts of the saints unite in joint prayer, the pillar of sweet smoke goes up the greater and the fuller." Every prayer which broke out in sob from an agonising heart, every sigh of the solitary and struggling Christian, every groan of those groping God- ward, mingles here with the songs of the happy and triumphant.
