Revelation 8:1

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	Καὶ Kai	G2532	and · conjunction
when	ὅτε hóte	G3753	at which (thing) too
opened	ἤνοιξεν ēnoixen	G455	to open up (literally or figuratively · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
seventh	ἑβδόμην, hebdomēn	G1442	seventh · adjective — accusative singular feminine
seal	σφραγῖδα sphragida	G4973	a signet (as fencing in or protecting from misappropria… · noun — accusative singular feminine
was	ἐγένετο egeneto	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
silence	σιγὴ sigē	G4602	silence · noun — nominative singular feminine
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
heaven	οὐρανῷ ouranō	G3772	the sky · noun — dative singular masculine
about	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how · particle
hour	ἡμιώριον. hēmiōrion	G2256	a half-hour · noun — 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

Zechariah 2:13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
Habakkuk 2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Revelation 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
Psalms 62:1 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
Job 4:16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
Psalms 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wic…
Revelation 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony wh…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 8:1-6

In these verses we have the prelude to the sounding of the trumpets in several parts. I. The opening of the last seal. This was to introduce a new set of prophetical iconisms and events; there is a continued chain of providence, one part linked to another (where one ends another begins), and, though they may differ in nature and in time, they all make up one wise, well-connected, uniform design in the hand of God. II. A profound silence in heaven for the space of half an hour, which may be understood either, 1. Of the silence of peace, that for this time no complaints were sent up to the ear of the Lord God of sabaoth; all was quiet and well in the church, and therefore all silent in heaven,…

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Adam Clarke on Revelation 8:1

The seventh seal - This is ushered in and opened only by the Lamb. Silence in heaven - This must be a mere metaphor, silence being put here for the deep and solemn expectation of the stupendous things about to take place, which the opening of this seal had produced. When any thing prodigious or surprising is expected, all is silence, and even the breath is scarcely heard to be drawn. Half an hour - As heaven may signify the place in which all these representations were made to St. John, the half hour may be considered as the time during which no representation was made to him, the time in which God was preparing the august exhibition which follows. There is here, and in the following verses,…

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John Gill on Revelation 8:1

And when he had opened the seventh seal,.... That is, when the Lamb had opened the seventh and last seal of the scaled book: there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour; not in the third heaven, the seat of the divine Being, of angels and glorified saints, where are hallelujahs without intermission; but in the church, which is oftentimes signified by heaven in this book, and where now the throne of God was placed, in that form as described in Revelation 4:4, or rather in the Roman empire: nor is this silence the sum of this seal, or the only thing in it; for it includes the preparation of the seven angels to take their trumpets, though none of them were sounded during this p…

The Church Fathers

"In heaven" means in the church. The silence for half an hour shows the beginning of the eternal rest.
— Ticonius, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:1

"And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." Whereby is signified the beginning of everlasting rest; but it is described as partial, because the silence being interrupted, he repeats it in order. For if the silence had continued, here would be an end of his narrative.
— Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven, as it were for half an hour. Heaven, as we have often said, means the Church, which produces, as it were, silence for God when, through some of its members, it departs from the abundance of material things to seek the retreat of inner contemplation; but because this silence cannot be perfect in this life, it is said to have lasted as it were for half an hour. Note also that he ended the recapitulation where he said, After this I saw a great multitude, [Rev. 7:9] and now he concludes the narration with the seventh seal.
— Alcuin of York, COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

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

Incense — A fragrant composition prepared by the “art of the apothecary.” It consisted of four ingredients “beaten small” (Ex. 30:34-36). That which was not thus prepared was called “strange incense” (30:9).…
Hours · SYMBOLI — SYMBOLI

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 8:1-6

Adam Clarke on Revelation 8:1

John Gill on Revelation 8:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 8:1-6

Adam Clarke on Revelation 8:1

John Gill on Revelation 8:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Revelation 8:1