Revelation 8 is the eighth chapter of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...

or the Apocalypse of John in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. The book is traditionally attributed to

John the Apostle John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebede ...

, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. In verse 1, the opening of the seventh seal concludes a section beginning in chapter 6 which records the opening of the "

Seven Seals The Seven Seals of God from the Bible's Book of Revelation are the seven symbolic seals (, ''sphragida'') that secure the book or scroll that John of Patmos saw in an apocalyptic vision. The opening of the seals of the document occurs in Rev Ch ...

". Verses 2-13 and chapters 9 to 11 contain an account relating to the sounding of the "

Seven Trumpets In the Book of Revelation, seven trumpets are sounded, one at a time, to cue apocalyptic events seen by John of Patmos ( Revelation 1:9) in his vision ( Revelation 1:1). The seven trumpets are sounded by seven angels and the events that follow are ...

".Simcox, W. H.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on Revelation 8, accessed 27 October 2018 In chapter 8, the first four angels' trumpets are sounded.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 13 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others: *

Papyrus 115 Papyrus 115 (''P. Oxy.'' 4499), designated by (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts) is a fragmented manuscript of the New Testament written in Greek on papyrus. It consists of 26 fragments of a codex containing parts of t ...

(ca. AD 275; extant verses 3–8, 11–13) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330-360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) * Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (ca. 450; extant verses 1–4) BambergApocalypseFolio019v7AngelsWith7TrumpetsAnd1WithCenser

The Seventh Seal (8:1–5)

Verse 1

: ''When He (the Lamb) opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.''

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...

; "the Lamb" is added in the English Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version "The silence in heaven, lasting about a half-hour, begins at the place where the songs of praise still resound ()." Meyer, H. A. W.
Meyer's NT Commentary
on Revelation 8, accessed 26 October 2018 The Expanded Bible describes the silence as "a dramatic pause induced by awe". Silence in the presence of God is evoked by several of the

minor prophets The Minor Prophets or Twelve Prophets ( he, שנים עשר, ''Shneim Asar''; arc, תרי עשר, ''Trei Asar'', "Twelve") ( grc, δωδεκαπρόφητον, "the Twelve Prophets"), occasionally Book of the Twelve, is a collection of propheti ...

: Habakkuk 2:20, and .

Verse 2

:''And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.'' *"The seven angels who stand before God":

Heinrich Meyer Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the ''New Testament'' and published an edition of that book. Biography Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, ...

notes that these are "seven particular angels, not called '

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

s', who, with a certain precedency above all the rest, stand before God". In the

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

Book of Tobit,

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

introduces himself as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord". W. H. Simcox, in the

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologi ...

commentary, suggests that the passage in Tobit bears reference to "a popular

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

belief as to these Angels" and that "St John’s vision is expressed in terms of that belief and, it may fairly be thought, sanctions it with his prophetic authority".

Verse 3

:''And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.''

The First Four Trumpets (8:6–12)

Similar to the first four seals, 'the first four trumpet-blasts' form a quartet', each affecting a third of the four regions of God's creation: earth, sea, fresh water, and heavens (cf. ).

Verse 6

:''And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.'' Mayer points out that "this includes the grasping of the trumpets in such a way that they could bring them to their mouths".

Verse 11

:''And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made

bitter Bitter may refer to: Common uses * Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience * Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes Books * '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...

.''''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'' - Revelation 8:11
/ref>

Before the Last Three Trumpets (8:13)

This part serves as a marker (similar to the others in ; ) to indicate the sequence of the woes and to make aware the '(slow) progress' of the terrifying plagues.

Verse 13

:''And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"'' *"Angel" (Greek: , '): in

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

and New King James Version based on

Textus Receptus ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant deno ...

;Revelation 8:13 Greek Text Analysis
Biblehub.com NU and M read "eagle" (, ') based on

and

. N-A

Note

References

Bibliography

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Book of Revelation 08