Revelation 4:11
“The Doxology of Creation”Revelation 4:9–11
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain
Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain
Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain
- ἄξιοςaxiosWorthyG514A-NSMAdjective Nominative Singular Masculine
- εἶeiareG1510V-PAI-2SVerb Present Active Indicative 2nd Singular
- ὁhoYouG3588T-VSMDefinite article Vocative Singular Masculine
- κύριοςkuriosLordG2962N-VSM-TNoun Vocative Singular Masculine Person Gentilic
- λαβεῖνlabeinto receiveG2983V-2AANVerb 2nd Aorist Active Infinitive
- τὴνtēn[the]G3588T-ASFDefinite article Accusative Singular Feminine
- δόξανdoxangloryG1391N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
- καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
- τὴνtēn[the]G3588T-ASFDefinite article Accusative Singular Feminine
- τιμὴνtimēnhonorG5092N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
- καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
- τὴνtēn[the]G3588T-ASFDefinite article Accusative Singular Feminine
- δύναμινdunaminpowerG1411N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
- ὅτιhotiforG3754CONJConjunction
- σὺsuYou yourselfG4771P-2NSPersonal pronoun Nominative 2nd Singular
- ἔκτισαςektisascreatedG2936V-AAI-2SVerb Aorist Active Indicative 2nd Singular
- τὰta[the]G3588T-APNDefinite article Accusative Plural Neuter
- πάνταpantaall thingsG3956A-APNAdjective Accusative Plural Neuter
- καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
- διὰdiabecause ofG1223PREPPreposition
- τὸtotheG3588T-ASNDefinite article Accusative Singular Neuter
- θέλημάthelēmawillG2307N-ASNNoun Accusative Singular Neuter
- σουsouof YouG4771P-2GSPersonal pronoun Genitive 2nd Singular
- ἦσανēsanthey were existingG1510V-IAI-3PVerb Imperfect Active Indicative 3rd Plural
- καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
- ἐκτίσθησανektisthēsanwere createdG2936V-API-3PVerb Aorist Passive Indicative 3rd Plural
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?
This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.
Words in [ ] are added by the English.
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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Revelation 4:8–11. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.
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, Isaiah 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 in this one God, the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these are one infinitely holy and eternal Being, who sits upon the throne, and lives for ever and ever. In this glory the prophet saw Christ, and spoke of him.
II.He heard the adorations of the four-and-twenty elders, that is, of the Christian people represented by them; the ministers led, and the people followed, in the praises of God, Revelation 4:10, Revelation 4:11. Here observe,
1.The object of their worship, the same with that which the ministers adored: Him that sat on the throne, the eternal everliving God. The true church of God has one and the same object of worship. Two different objects of worship, either co-ordinate or sub-ordinate, would confound the worship and divide the worshippers. It is unlawful to join in divine worship with those who either mistake or multiply the object. There is but one God, and he alone, as God, is worshipped by the church on earth and in heaven.
2.The acts of adoration.
(1.)They fell down before him that sat on the throne; they discovered the most profound humility, reverence, and godly fear.
(2.)They cast their crowns before the throne; they gave God the glory of the holiness wherewith he had crowned their souls on earth and the honour and happiness with which he crowns them in heaven. They owe all their graces and all their glories to him, and acknowledge that his crown is infinitely more glorious than theirs, and that it is their glory to be glorifying God.
3.The words of adoration: they said, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power, Revelation 4:11. Observe,
(1.)They do not say, We give thee glory, and honour, and power; for what can any creature pretend to give unto God? But they say, thou art worthy to receive glory.
(2.)In this they tacitly acknowledge that God is exalted far above all blessing and praise. He was worthy to receive glory, but they were not worthy to praise, nor able to do it according to his infinite excellences.
4.We have the ground and reason of their adoration, which is threefold: - (1.) He is the Creator of all things, the first cause; and none but the Creator of all things should be adored; no made thing can be the object of religious worship. (2.) He is the preserver of all things, and his preservation is a continual creation; they are created still by the sustaining power of God. All beings but God are dependent upon the will and power of God, and no dependent being must be set up as an object of religious worship. It is the part of the best dependent beings to be worshippers, not to be worshipped. (3.) He is the final cause of all things: For thy pleasure they are and were created. It was his will and pleasure to create all things; he was not put upon it by the will of another; there is no such thing as a subordinate creator, that acts under and by the will and power of another; and, if there were, he ought not to be worshipped. As God made all things at his pleasure, so he made them for his pleasure, to deal with them as he pleases and to glorify himself by them one way or other. Though he delights not in the death of sinners, but rather that they should turn and live, yet he hath made all things for himself, Proverbs 16:4. Now if these be true and sufficient grounds for religious worship, as they are proper to God alone, Christ must needs be God, one with the Father and Spirit, and be worshipped as such; for we find the same causality ascribed to him. Colossians 1:16, Colossians 1:17, All things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Historical interpretation
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We also know of another translation: “Because you have created all things, and they exist and are created on account of your will.” Indeed, all things existed in the artful wisdom [of God] before they were formed in the act of creation. However, they were created in order that those things might exist also visibly which in their natures are according to the ideas written in the wisdom of God.
They say: "To You, Master, all glory is owed; for You brought all things from non-existence into being, and by Your will subjected what did not exist before."
Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, and honour, and power, as if they were saying, “These things principally fit thee, from whom, by whom, and in whom is the glory, honor, and power of the saints.” Yet, what is meant by what follows, because thou hast created all things; and for thy will they were, and have been created? If they have been created, how can they have been before they were created? One should know then that they were in the predestination before they came into being in deed.
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This verse
The elders sing that God is worthy of glory, honour and power, because he created all things and they exist by his will.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord,”
Spoken directly to God. He is the fitting one, whose worth matches the praise.
“to receive glory and honour and power:”
The first two gifts repeat verse 9, and power stands where thanks stood.
“for thou hast created all things,”
The reason for the worship. “All things” takes in everything visible and invisible.
“and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Because of his will. Both their present existence and their first making come from his purpose.
Passage studyRevelation 4:9–11
Thou Art Worthy, O Lord
Summary
John has been taken up into heaven, and he sees God on his throne with worship rising all around him. Whenever the four living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him, cast their crowns before the throne, and sing: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” These three verses tell us why God is worshipped. He lives for ever, he reigns from his throne, and everything that exists was made by him and is held in being by his will.
Where these verses stand in John’s vision
Revelation 4 opens with John invited up into heaven (Revelation 4:1). He sees a throne and one seated on it (Revelation 4:2–3), surrounded by a rainbow, lightning, thunder and seven lamps of fire. Around the throne sit twenty-four elders clothed in white and crowned with gold (Revelation 4:4), and four living creatures full of eyes, each with six wings (Revelation 4:6–8). Day and night these creatures declare God’s holiness: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8).
Our three verses close the chapter, and the worship in them moves in a sequence. The creatures give praise, the elders answer by falling down and casting their crowns, and the elders’ song in verse 11 gives the reason for all of it. The vision runs straight on into the next chapter, so Revelation 4 and Revelation 5 form one scene in the throne room. Its pictures come from the throne visions of the prophets, Isaiah’s sight of the Lord on his throne with the seraphim (Isaiah 6) and Ezekiel’s vision of the living creatures and the throne of God (Ezekiel 1), and John’s vision takes up those familiar pictures to show the truths of the New Covenant.
A throne above Caesar’s
John wrote to seven churches in Asia (Revelation 1:4) while he was exiled on the island of Patmos, likely during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, around AD 95. The churches faced persecution from Rome, false teaching from within, and pressure from the world around them to compromise. Christians who refused to take part in the worship of the emperor suffered for it. A court with a throne, elders and crowns would have called the emperor’s court to mind, and in John’s vision the one on the throne is God. Human rulers and empires pass away, and the LORD is the eternal and unchanging God. A church under pressure could take heart from that, and so can we.
Glory, honour and thanks to the one who lives for ever
The verse opens with hótan, a word meaning “whenever” or “when”, and it ties the two halves of this worship together. Whenever the living creatures give glory, the elders fall down and worship. The creatures lead and the elders follow, so the praise in heaven passes from one voice to the next.
The creatures bring three things. Glory, dóxa, comes from the base of dokeō, “to seem, to think”, and it speaks of God’s majesty, radiance and splendour. To give God glory is to acknowledge that majesty as his own. Honour, timḗ, is the high esteem and value that belong to him. Thanks, eucharistía, from eucharistos, “grateful”, is gratitude spoken to God as an act of worship, for his creation, his provision and his saving work. Glory and honour answer to who God is, and thanks answers to what he has done, so the three together make a full response to his being and his doing. David calls for the same: “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2).
The worship goes “to him that sat on the throne”, God the Father. The word thrónos names a seat of authority, and the New Testament uses it of others too, including these elders, who sit on thrones of their own around this one (Revelation 4:4). What makes this throne the centre of heaven is the one who sits on it. His seat there declares his rule over all creation, as the psalm says: “The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty” (Psalm 93:1).
The God who lives for ever and ever
The verse ends with the ground of all this praise: God “liveth for ever and ever”. The verb záō means “to live, to be alive”, and the phrase “for ever and ever” joins the preposition eis, “into” or “to”, with aiṓn, “age”. In full it reads eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn, “unto the ages of the ages”, a Greek idiom for endless duration. The same words return in verse 10, where the elders worship “him that liveth for ever and ever”.
God’s life is his own and endless, and every creature around the throne received its life from him. The psalm says, “even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2), and Deuteronomy, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). Paul joins God’s eternal life to the very worship of this verse: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17). Because God is eternal and unchanging, his faithfulness and his power hold firm, and he is a sure anchor in a world that is always shifting.
Who are “those beasts”?
The KJV’s “beasts” translates zōon, a living creature, and “living creatures” is the clearer rendering for readers today. These are the four beings of Revelation 4:6–8, full of eyes before and behind, with six wings each, and like a lion, an ox, a man and an eagle. They are the leading worshippers in the throne room, and they begin the praise that the elders take up.
Believers differ on what their four likenesses stand for. Some see in them the whole of living creation: wild animals, tame animals, mankind and the birds. Others see qualities such as strength, service, intelligence and swiftness. On either reading, their presence says that creation in all its variety is called to worship its Maker. They resemble the cherubim and seraphim of the prophets’ throne visions (Ezekiel 1, Isaiah 6), who guard God’s holiness and lead his worship.
Why do the elders cast down their crowns?
When the creatures give glory, “the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne”. In Israel, falling down before a king or before God was a sign of deep respect, submission and worship. The psalm calls God’s people to the same posture: “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker” (Psalm 95:6). The verb for worship, proskynéō, comes from a root meaning “to kiss towards” and describes homage, often bowing or lying prostrate before a superior. The elders’ bodies and their words say the same thing: God is supreme, and they are wholly his.
Then they “cast their crowns before the throne”. The crown here is a stéphanos, a wreath or garland. It could be a badge of royalty, a prize in the public games or a mark of civic honour, and it usually meant a victor’s crown, an honour won, where a royal diadem was a diadēma. These crowns are the rewards and honours God has given the elders. By laying them before the throne they confess that every honour they hold came from God and belongs back to him. Their victory, their authority and their reward are all gifts, and they return the gifts to the Giver.
So the scene shows the right posture of redeemed people before God’s glory: humility, the surrender of all self-glory, and wholehearted praise. Paul looks ahead to the day when every knee bows at the name of Jesus and every tongue confesses that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9–11), and to the end, when all things are brought under God (1 Corinthians 15:24–28). The verse closes with “saying”, because the elders’ bowing is joined to a song, and verse 11 gives its words.
Who are the twenty-four elders?
The word presbýteros (plural presbyteroi) means an elder, and among both the Jews and the first Christians elders held places of authority, wisdom and leadership. Believers differ on exactly who these twenty-four are. A common understanding is that they stand for the whole redeemed people of God from every age, with the number joining the twelve tribes of Israel to the twelve apostles of the church in one complete and united body. They sit on thrones and wear crowns, a royal and priestly standing that God has given them, and the highest use they make of that standing is to bow before the one on the throne. They share in the worship and the work of heaven’s court.
Why is God worthy?
The elders’ song opens, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power”. The word áxios means “worthy”, “fitting” or “of comparable worth”, and its older sense was “weighing as much”. God’s worth matches the praise given to him, and he is the fitting one to receive it. They call him “Lord”, kýrios, the one with supreme authority and mastery.
They name three things he is worthy to receive. Glory, dóxa, is his splendour and majesty. Honour, timḗ, is the esteem and value due to him. Power, dýnamis, is his might, his ability to do all things. The creatures in verse 9 gave glory, honour and thanks, and here power takes the place of thanks. Together the three cover the whole range of praise that belongs to God.
The song then gives its reason. “For”, hóti, means “because” here, and it introduces the ground of the worship: “thou hast created all things”. The verb ktízō means to make, found or form something for the first time, and “all things”, pâs, takes in the whole of creation, visible and invisible. God is the source of everything that exists and the one who keeps it in being, and so every creature owes him worship. His worthiness belongs to his own being, and creation’s praise recognises a worth that was always his. Our worship rests first on who God is, his character, his power and his majesty, and then on all he has done for us.
This truth runs through the whole Bible, from the creation of the world in Genesis 1 to the new heavens and the new earth. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1).
What does “for thy pleasure” mean?
The last line reads, “and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” “For thy pleasure” translates diá with thélēma. Here diá takes the accusative, and with that case it marks the cause, “because of” or “for the sake of”, while thélēma is a will, a desire or a purpose. So the elders say that all things exist because God willed them, and the KJV’s “pleasure” means his good pleasure, what pleased him. Creation came from a free and deliberate act of God’s will, and the universe exists because it pleased him that it should. Paul speaks of God “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11).
The line has two verbs. “They are” translates eisí, and “were created” is ktízō again. All that now exists and all that God first made come from his purpose, their present existence and their first beginning alike. So the world has a reason for being: it was made to show God’s glory and to please him. Paul writes, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36), and of Christ, “all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16). The universe is deliberate, and God, its source and sustainer, is closely involved with all he has made.
The Lamb receives the same worship
Revelation 4 centres on God the Father on the throne, and the next chapter brings the Lamb who was slain into the same scene (Revelation 5:6–14). He alone is worthy to open the scroll, and he too receives “power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing”, with every creature in heaven and on earth joining the praise (Revelation 5:12–13). The worship of the Father and the worship of the Son belong together, and heaven worships the triune God.
The New Testament also shows the Son at work in the creation that verse 11 praises. John writes that the Word was in the beginning with God and was God (John 1:1–3), and “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Paul calls Christ “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature”, by whom all things were created and in whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:15–17). So the glory and honour and power ascribed to the Creator belong to Christ as well, and through him God’s purpose in creation reaches its fulfilment.
The title “him that liveth for ever and ever” fits the Son, who is eternal and equal with the Father. He conquered death, and “he ever liveth to make intercession” for his people (Hebrews 7:25). Through him and by his blood we have access to this throne (Hebrews 10:19–22). The crowns the elders lay down, signs of victory and righteousness, were won by Christ’s triumph over sin and death, and his righteousness is credited to believers so that they can stand before God.
Laying our crowns before him
These verses show worship as the central work of heaven, and they give our worship its pattern. We give God glory and honour for who he is and thanks for what he has done. We come to him as Hebrews says, serving God “acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). Whatever honour, ability or success we have came from his hand, and the elders show us what to do with it: bring it and lay it before him. The world changes and its rulers pass, and the God we worship lives for ever and ever and reigns from his throne. Since all things exist by his will, your life was made on purpose and for his glory, and that is firm ground for worship whatever the day brings.
Revelation 4:9
“And when those beasts”
The word for “when”, hótan, means “whenever”, so the elders’ worship in verse 10 follows each time the creatures give glory. The “beasts” are the four living creatures of Revelation 4:6–8.
“give glory and honour and thanks”
Majesty acknowledged, worth esteemed and gratitude given for his works, a full answer to who God is and what he does.
“to him that sat on the throne,”
God the Father on his seat of authority, the centre of the whole vision.
“who liveth for ever and ever,”
“Unto the ages of the ages.” His endless life is the ground of the praise, and the sentence runs straight on into verse 10.
Revelation 4:10
“The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne,”
Prostration, the posture of complete humility before a king, from figures who themselves sit on thrones.
“and worship him that liveth for ever and ever,”
Homage given with the whole body. God’s eternal life is named a second time.
“and cast their crowns before the throne,”
Victors’ wreaths laid down at his feet, every honour returned to the one who gave it.
“saying,”
The bowing is joined to words, and the song follows in verse 11.
Revelation 4:11 This verse
“Thou art worthy, O Lord,”
Spoken directly to God. He is the fitting one, whose worth matches the praise.
“to receive glory and honour and power:”
The first two gifts repeat verse 9, and power stands where thanks stood.
“for thou hast created all things,”
The reason for the worship. “All things” takes in everything visible and invisible.
“and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Because of his will. Both their present existence and their first making come from his purpose.
Last revised