Revelation 10:4

When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to put it in writing. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — John the visionary prepares to record the utterance of the seven thunders, but a voice from heaven interrupts him at that exact moment. This occurs immediately after the thunders sound in Revelation 10:3 and before the angel lifts his hand in Revelation 10:5.

The words — The text highlights βρονταί (brontai) for "thunders" and φωνὰς (phōnas) for "voices," noting the seven thunders have already spoken. The command to "seal up" the content follows the text's explicit statement before any interpretive conclusion about divine withholding.

The thread — The directive to seal prophetic utterances runs parallel to Daniel 12:4, Daniel 8:26, and Daniel 12:9, where spoken visions are closed until the appointed time.

Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to acknowledge that some divine communications remain intentionally unrecorded and undisclosed. It establishes a clear boundary between what is given for recording and what is reserved by heavenly authority.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

Cross-references

Daniel 12:4 But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”
Daniel 8:26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”
Daniel 12:9 “Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
Revelation 22:10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near.
Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.
Isaiah 29:11 And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”
Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
Revelation 1:11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
Isaiah 8:1 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.