Bible Strands
Revelation 5:1
Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The visionary records a moment immediately following the throne room vision, observing the One seated on the throne holding a scroll in His right hand. This sight precedes the announcement of a mighty angel asking who is worthy to break the seals.
The words — δεξιὰν (dexian) translates literally to right hand, denoting the position of power and execution. καθημένου (kathēmenou) means sitting, describing the fixed posture of the One on the throne.
The thread — The sealed document parallels Ezekiel 2:9, where a hand delivers a written scroll, and Isaiah 29:11, which describes a vision like words sealed in a scroll. The scene directly links to Revelation 5:7, where a figure approaches and takes the scroll from that same right hand.
Why it lands — The text establishes that the scroll’s contents are inaccessible until the One holding it permits opening. It requires the reader to recognize that divine revelation and subsequent events depend entirely on sovereign authorization, not human merit.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 2:9 Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and in it was a scroll,
- 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.”
- Revelation 5:7 And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne.
- 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.”
- Revelation 6:1 Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”
- Revelation 5:13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!”
- Revelation 10:2 He held in his hand a small scroll, which lay open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.
- Revelation 4:3 The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.
- Revelation 10:8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”
- Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.