Revelation 4:8

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
four	τέσσαρα tessara	G5064	four · adjective — nominative plural neuter
beasts	ζῷα, zōa	G2226	a live thing · noun — nominative plural neuter
had	ἔχων echōn	G2192	to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
each	ἀνὰ ana	G303	properly · preposition
them	ἑαυτοῦ heautoû	G1438	him- (her-
six	ἕξ hex	G1803	six · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
wings	πτέρυγας pterugas	G4420	a wing · noun — accusative plural feminine
about	κυκλόθεν kuklothen	G2943	from the circle · preposition
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
full	γέμουσιν gemousin	G1073	to swell out · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person plural
eyes	ὀφθαλμῶν ophthalmōn	G3788	the eye (literally or figuratively) · noun — genitive plural masculine
within	ἔσωθεν esōthen	G2081	from inside · adverb
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
rest	ἀνάπαυσιν anapausin	G372	intermission · noun — accusative singular feminine
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
day	ἡμέρας hēmeras	G2250	day · noun — genitive singular feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
night	νυκτὸς nuktos	G3571	"night" (literally or figuratively) · noun — genitive singular feminine
saying	λέγοντες· legontes	G3004	properly · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
Holy	ἅγιος hagios	G40	sacred (physically · adjective — nominative singular masculine
holy	ἅγιος hagios	G40	sacred (physically · adjective — nominative singular masculine
holy	ἅγιος hagios	G40	sacred (physically · adjective — nominative singular masculine
Lord	κύριος kurios	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
God	θεὸς theos	G2316	figuratively · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
Almighty	παντοκράτωρ, pantokratōr	G3841	the all-ruling · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
which	τὰ ta	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative plural neuter
was	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
is	ὤν ṓn	G5607	being
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
come	ἐρχόμενος. erchomenos	G2064	to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 6:2-13 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he…
Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Revelation 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beas…
Ezekiel 10:21-22 Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
Revelation 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty;…
Revelation 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 4:8–end

We have considered the sights that the apostle saw in heaven: now let us observe the songs that he heard, for there is in heaven not only that to be seen which will highly please a sanctified eye, but there is that to be heard which will greatly delight a sanctified ear. This is true concerning the church of Christ here, which is a heaven upon earth, and it will be eminently so in the church made perfect in the heaven of heavens. I. He heard the song of the four living creatures, of the ministers of the church, which refers to the prophet Isaiah's vision, Isa 6:1-13. And here, 1. They adore one God, and one only, the Lord God Almighty, unchangeable and everlasting. 2. They adore three holies…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 4:8

about him--Greek, "round about him." ALFORD connects this with the following sentence: "All round and within (their wings) they are (so two oldest manuscripts, A, B, and Vulgate read) full of eyes." John's object is to show that the six wings in each did not interfere with that which he had before declared, namely, that they were "full of eyes before and behind." The eyes were round the outside of each wing, and up the inside of each when half expanded, and of the part of body in that inward recess. rest not--literally, "have no rest." How awfully different the reason why the worshippers of the beast "have no rest day nor night," namely, "their torment for ever and ever." Holy, holy, hol…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on Revelation 4:8

The four beasts had each of them six wings - I have already observed, in the preface to this book, that the phraseology is rabbinical; I might have added, and the imagery also. We have almost a counterpart of this description in Pirkey Elieser. chap. 4. I shall give the substance of this from Schoettgen. "Four troops of ministering angels praise the holy blessed God: the first is Michael, at the right hand; the next is Gabriel, at the left; the third is Uriel, before; and the fourth is Raphael, behind him. The shechinah of the holy, blessed God is in the midst, and he himself sits upon a throne high and elevated, hanging in the air; and his magnificence is as amber חשמל, (chashmal), in the m…

The Church Fathers

Moreover, that for the announcement of the New Testament those bring creatures had eyes within and without, shows the spiritual providence which both looks into the secrets of the heart, and beholds the things which are coming after that are within and without.
— Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

And they had no rest day and night, etc. The holy creatures, throughout the time of the age, affirm the single dominion of the Deity, the omnipotence and eternity of the Holy Trinity, with the perpetual praise of the intellectual creature remaining in the heavens.
— Bede, Commentary on Revelation

Otherwise, when is the name of God not "holy," and "hallowed" through Himself, seeing that of Himself He sanctifies all others-He to whom that surrounding circle of angels cease not to say, "Holy, holy, holy? " In like wise, therefore, we too, candidates for angelhood, if we succeed in deserving it, begin even here on earth to learn by heart that strain hereafter to be raised unto God, and the function of future glory.
— Tertullian, On Prayer

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Living creatures — As represented by Ezekiel (1-10) and John (Rev. 4, etc.), are the cherubim. They are distinguished from angels (Rev. 15:7); they join the elders in the “new song” (5:8, 9); they warn of danger from…
Sabaoth — The transliteration of the Hebrew word tsebha’oth, meaning “hosts,” “armies” (Rom. 9:29; James 5:4). In the LXX. the Hebrew word is rendered by “Almighty.” (See Rev. 4:8; comp. Isa. 6:3.) It may…
God · Is declared to be: Eternal — Is declared to be: Eternal
Holiness Of God, The · Heavenly hosts adore — Heavenly hosts adore
Praise · Should be offered: Day and night — Should be offered: Day and night
Throne · .Of Christ — .Of Christ
Trinity · 3:16; — 3:16;

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Revelation 4:8

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 4:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 4:8

Adam Clarke on Revelation 4:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Revelation 4:8

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 4:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 4:8

Adam Clarke on Revelation 4:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Revelation 4:8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Revelation 4:8