REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE - Chapter 5 - Verse 11

Verse 11. And I beheld. And I looked again.

And I heard the voice of many angels. The inhabitants of heaven uniting with the representatives of the redeemed church, in ascribing honour to the Lamb of God. The design is to show that there is universal sympathy and harmony in heaven, and that all worlds will unite in ascribing honour to the Lamb of God.

Round about the throne and the beasts and the elders. In a circle or area beyond that which was occupied by the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. They occupied the centre as it appeared to John, and this innumerable company of angels surrounded them. The angels are represented here, as they are everywhere in the Scriptures, as taking a deep interest in all that pertains to the redemption of men, and it is not surprising that they are here described as uniting with the representatives of the church in rendering honour to the Lamb of God. See Barnes "1 Pe 1:12".

And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand. One hundred millions—a general term to denote either a countless number, or an exceedingly great number. We are not to suppose that it is to be taken literally.

And thousands of thousands. Implying that the number before specified was not large enough to comprehend all. Besides the "ten thousand times ten thousand," there was a vast, uncounted host which one could not attempt to enumerate. The language here would seem to be taken from Da 7:10: "Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him." Compare Ps 68:17: "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." See also De 33:2; 1 Ki 22:19.

{a} "number" Da 7:10; Heb 12:22