Revelation 7:1

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The visionary John records this sight immediately after a preceding revelation, addressing the readers of the Apocalypse. He describes a scene occurring right after the previous events, introducing a moment of divine pause.

The words — The Greek term ἑστῶτας (hestōtas) literally means "standing," describing the angels' fixed position at the earth's corners. The phrase μετὰ τοῦτο (meta touto) translates to "after this," marking a chronological transition in the vision.

The thread — The imagery of four winds appears in Daniel 7:2, Jeremiah 49:36, and Matthew 24:31, where it similarly symbolizes widespread divine action or judgment across the earth.

Why it lands — The text states that angels hold back the earth's winds to prevent harm, establishing God's deliberate control over creation's forces. It asks readers to recognize that subsequent events proceed only under sovereign permission.

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 after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

Cross-references

Matthew 24:31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Daniel 7:2 Daniel declared: “In my vision in the night I looked, and suddenly the four winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.
Jeremiah 49:36 I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s exiles will not go.
Mark 13:27 And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
Daniel 8:8 Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.
Ezekiel 7:2 “O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
Ezekiel 37:9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”
Isaiah 27:8 By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.
Isaiah 11:12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Revelation 9:14 saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”