Revelation 7:10

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) And cried with a loud voice . . .—Better, And they cry with a loud voice, saying, The salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. Their cry, littered with a loud voice, is the acknowledgment that their salvation—the salvation which they now taste—is due not to themselves, but to their God and to the Lamb. The salvation here must, I think, be taken in its most comprehensive sense, including every deliverance—from the curse of law, from the power of sin, and from the perils of life. The explanation in Revelation 7:14 confirms this. (Comp. Galatians 3:13; Philippians 3:9.) This is “the voice of rejoicing and salvation which is in the tabernacles of the righteous,” when the Lord, who is their strength and song, “has become their salvation” (Psalm 118:14). Note the recurrence of “the Lamb.” They are before the throne and before the Lamb; their salvation is ascribed to God and to the Lamb.

Benson Commentary

Revelation 7:10-12. And cried with a loud voice — In token of the intenseness of their devotion; saying, Salvation to our God — That is, Let the salvation which we have attained be ascribed to him; which sitteth upon the throne — And from thence has graciously regarded us, and exalted us to such dignity and happiness, mean and miserable as we once were. And unto the Lamb — Let it be also ascribed to the mediation and grace of the Lamb, who gave himself to be slain for our redemption. The salvation for which they praised God is a deliverance from sin and its consequences, and a restoration to the favour and image of God, and communion with him here, and the eternal enjoyment of him hereafter. It is described and exhibited in its blessed results and completion, Revelation 7:15-17 : that for which they praise God is described Revelation 7:15; that for which they praise the Lamb, Revelation 7:14; and both in the 16th and 17th verses. This vision, especially when compared with the former, in the fourth and fifth chapters, Lowman also thinks is to be understood of the church in heaven; because, as heaven seems to be the proper scene of the vision, so the innumerable company of saints, with whom the angels join in the following words, in the presence of God and the Lamb, is most naturally to be understood of those who, having been faithful unto death, have received the crown of immortal life in the state of heavenly happiness. And he questions whether the praises of the church on earth can answer this prophetic description, or the intention of the prophetic Spirit, in the great encouragement it designed to give to faithfulness and constancy. He thinks, to understand it of the heavenly church, is a natural sense of the expressions, and a sense proper to the design of the prophecy, as it represents the faithful martyrs and confessors, once so great sufferers on earth, now blessed saints in heaven. And all the angels stood — In waiting; round the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures — That is, the living creatures next the throne, the elders round these, and the angels round them both; and fell before the throne — Of the Divine Majesty; on their faces — So do the elders once only, Revelation 11:16; and worshipped God — Joining in the same act of worship and thanksgiving with the saints; saying, Amen — So let it be! With this word all the angels confirm the praises and thanksgivings of the great multitude, and show their hearty consent with them and approbation of them, carrying likewise the praises much higher, saying, Blessing, and glory, &c., be unto our God for ever and ever — May all creatures for ever bless and give thanks to him, as originally and essentially possessed of supreme glory, complete wisdom, of irresistible and almighty power, and therefore worthy of all honour, though exalted above all praise. Before the Lamb began to open the seven seals, a seven-fold hymn of praise was brought him by many angels, Revelation 5:12. Now he is upon opening the last seal, and the seven angels are going to receive seven trumpets, in order to make the kingdoms of the world subject to God, all the angels give seven-fold praise to God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:9-12 The first fruits of Christ having led the way, the Gentiles converted later follow, and ascribe their salvation to God and the Redeemer, with triumph. In acts of religious worship we come nigh to God, and must come by Christ; the throne of God could not be approached by sinners, were it not for a Mediator. They were clothed with the robes of justification, holiness, and victory; and they had palms in their hands, as conquerors used to appear in their triumphs. Such a glorious appearance will the faithful servants of God make at last, when they have fought the good fight of faith, and finished their course. With a loud voice they gave to God and the Lamb the praise of the great salvation. Those who enjoy eternal happiness must and will bless both the Father and the Son; they will do it publicly, and with fervour. We see what is the work of heaven, and we ought to begin it now, to have our hearts much in it, and to long for that world where our praises, as well as our happiness, will be made perfect.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And cried with a loud voice - Compare Zechariah 4:7. This is expressive of the greatness of their joy; the ardor and earnestness of their praise.

Salvation to our God - The word rendered "salvation" - σωτηρία sōtēria - means properly "safety, deliverance, preservation"; then welfare or prosperity; then victory; then, in a Christian sense, deliverance from punishment and admission to eternal life. Here the idea seems to be that their deliverance from sin, danger, persecution, and death, was to be ascribed solely to God. It cannot be meant, as the words would seem to imply, that they desired that God might have salvation; but the sense is, that their salvation was to be attributed entirely to him. This will undoubtedly be the song of the released forever, and all who reach the heavenly world will feel that they owe their deliverance from eternal death, and their admission to glory, wholly to him. Prof. Robinson (Lexicon) renders the word "victory" here. The fair meaning is, that whatever is included in the word "salvation" will be due to God alone - the deliverance from sin, danger, and death; the triumph over every foe; the resurrection from the grave; the rescue from eternal burnings; the admission to a holy heaven - victory in all that that word implies will be due to God.

Which sitteth upon the throne - notes on Revelation 4:2.

And unto the Lamb - notes on Revelation 5:6. God the Father, and He who is the Lamb of God, alike claim, the honor of salvation. It is observable here that the redeemed ascribe their salvation to the Lamb as well as to Him who is on the throne. Could they do this if he who is referred to as the "Lamb" were a mere man? Could they if he were an angel? Could they if he were not equal with the Father? Do those who are in heaven worship a creature? Will they unite a created being with the Anointed One in acts of solemn adoration and praise?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. cried—Greek, "cry," in the three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic. It is their continuing, ceaseless employment.

Salvation—literally, "THE salvation"; all the praise of our salvation be ascribed to our God. At the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, the type, similarly "salvation" is the cry of the palm-bearing multitudes. Hosanna means "save us now"; taken from Ps 118:25, in which Psalm (Ps 118:14, 15, 21, 26) the same connection occurs between salvation, the tabernacles of the righteous, and the Jews' cry to be repeated by the whole nation at Christ's coming, "Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They acknowledge their temporal, spiritual, and eternal salvation to the gift and free mercy of God, in whom they had trusted, and to the Lord Jesus Christ, by whose merits and Spirit they had got the victory.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And cried with a loud voice,.... To show the strength of their affection, and the greatness of their joy, and how sensible they were of the favour they enjoyed, and how hearty they were in the following ascription of glory to God, and the Lamb.

Saying, salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb; by "salvation" is meant, not only temporal salvation, and those many deliverances, which God had wrought for them, and particularly in bringing them out of great tribulation, Revelation 7:14; but spiritual and eternal salvation, which is the salvation of the soul, and is owing to the free grace of God, and the blood of Christ; and the sense is, that God and the Lamb are the sole authors of it, and the glory of it ought to be given to them, and to no other: God the Father, who sits upon the throne, resolved upon it in his eternal purposes and decrees, and contrived and formed the scheme of it in the council of peace, and he made sufficient provision for it in the covenant of grace; and as he from eternity appointed his Son to be his salvation to the ends of the earth, so in the fulness of time he sent him to be the Saviour of the world, and delivered him up for all his people, unto death itself, and spared him not, but awoke the sword of justice against him, and sheathed it in him; and since he had such a concern in salvation, the glory of it in right belongs to him: and the Lamb, the Son of God, he engaged to do the will and work of God, and from everlasting became the surety of the better testament; and in time he came to seek and to save lost sinners, and he is become the author of eternal salvation to them; his own arm has brought it, and it is in him, and no other, even a salvation from sin, Satan, the law, the world, hell, and death, and wrath to come; and it will be the employment of the saints, both in the new Jerusalem church state, during the thousand years' reign, and in heaven to all eternity, to ascribe the glory of all this, not to themselves, to their merits and works of righteousness, or to any creature whatever, but to God and the Lamb only.

Geneva Study Bible

{9} And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

(9) The praise of God, celebrated first by the holy men, in this verse, then by the heavenly angels, in the two verses following Re 7:11,12.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Revelation 7:10. “Salvation” (or, if ἡ be pressed, the salvation we enjoy) be ascribed “to our God and to the Lamb”. The subordinate nature of the seven spirits (Revelation 1:4, Revelation 4:5) is shown by the fact that no praise is offered to them throughout the Apocalypse, although in Iranian theology (Bund. xxx. 23): “all men become of one voice and praise aloud Aûharmazd and the archangels in the renovated universe”.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. Salvation to our God] The word “salvation” has the article, according to Hebrew usage, as, e.g. Psalm 3:8 [Hebrews 9], where the article may denote either “the promised salvation” or the salvation in all its fulness including victory. We must remember that “salvation” is in the Bible a positive conception—net only being saved from some evil, but being placed in a state of positive blessedness: and these words will thus be a confession that such blessedness not only is of God, but belongs by righet to God.

Bengel's Gnomen

Revelation 7:10. Κράζουσι) So all the MSS. A copyist of Andreas has in his haste caught up κράζοντες, from the rhythm, λέγοντες. The Augustan copy of Andreas itself has κράζουσι.[85]

[85] ABC Vulg. Memph. Syr. read κράζουσιν. Rec. Text, without good authority, κράζοντες.—E.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - And cried with a loud voice; and they cry, etc. The present tense expresses the unceasing nature of their occupation (Alford). Saying, Salvation to our God; that is, "The praise and honour due for our salvation belongs to God, since he is the Cause of our salvation." Note the similarity to the "Hosanna" of the palm-bearing multitude of the Feast of Tabernacles (see John 12:13; 2 Macc. 10:6, 7; Psalm 118:25). Which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. To the Triune God, and to the Lamb (see on Revelation 4:2; cf. Revelation 5:13; Revelation 12:10). Revelation 7:10

Vincent's Word Studies

Cried

The correct reading is κράζουσιν they cry. So Rev.

Salvation

The praise of salvation, ascribing salvation to God.