Revelation 5:4

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
I	ἐγώ egṓ	G1473	I
wept	ἔκλαιον eklaion	G2799	to sob · verb — imperfect active indicative, 1st person singular
much	πολὺ polu	G4183	(singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many · adjective — accusative singular neuter
because	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
man	οὐδεὶς oudeis	G3762	not even one (man · adjective — nominative singular masculine
found	εὑρέθη heurethē	G2147	to find (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
worthy	ἄξιος axios	G514	deserving · adjective — nominative singular masculine
open	ἀνοῖξαι anoixai	G455	to open up (literally or figuratively · verb — aorist active infinitive
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
read	ἀναγνῶναι anagnōnai	G314	to know again · verb — second aorist active infinitive
book	βιβλίον biblion	G975	a roll · noun — accusative singular neuter
neither	οὔτε oute	G3777	not too · conjunction — negative
look	βλέπειν blepein	G991	to look at (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active infinitive
thereon	αὐτό. auto	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter

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

Daniel 12:8-9 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 5:1-5

Hitherto the apostle had seen only the great God, the governor of all things, now, I. He is favoured with a sight of the model and methods of his government, as they are all written down in a book which he holds in his hand; and this we are now to consider as shut up and sealed in the hand of God. Observe, 1. The designs and methods of divine Providence towards the church and the world are stated and fixed; they are resolved upon and agreed to, as that which is written in a book. The great design is laid, every part adjusted, all determined, and every thing passed into decree and made a matter of record. The original and first draught of this book is the book of God's decrees, laid up in his…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 5:4

and to read--inserted in English Version Greek text without good authority. One oldest manuscript, ORIGEN, CYPRIAN, and HILARY omit the clause. "To read" would be awkward standing between "to open the book" and "to look thereon." John having been promised a revelation of "things which must be hereafter," weeps now at his earnest desire being apparently frustrated. He is a pattern to us to imitate, as an eager and teachable learner of the Apocalypse.

Adam Clarke on Revelation 5:4

I wept much - Because the world and the Church were likely to be deprived of the knowledge of the contents of the book.

John Gill on Revelation 5:4

And I wept much,.... Not so much on his own account, because he feared his curiosity would not be gratified, and that strong desire answered, which were raised in him upon sight of the book, and increased by the angel's proclamation; but for the sake of the church of God, whose representative he was, and to whom the knowledge of this book, and the things contained in it, he judged must be very useful and profitable. The Ethiopic version reads, "and many wept"; many of those that were about the throne, as well as John: because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon; because there was no creature in heaven, earth, or under it, that were of dignity and a…

The Church Fathers

And the unworthiness of all became the cause of my lamentations.
— Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation

And I wept much. Recognizing the common misery of the human race, he grieved.
— Bede, Commentary on Revelation

wept. perhaps since the most spotless order of the angelic substances fell into ignorance.
— Andreas of Caesarea,

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

Zeal, Religious · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

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).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 5:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 5:4

Adam Clarke on Revelation 5:4

John Gill on Revelation 5:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 5:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 5:4

Adam Clarke on Revelation 5:4

John Gill on Revelation 5:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Revelation 5:4