Revelation 7:4

Amplified Bible

And I heard how many were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand; [twelve thousand] sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
And I heard the number of the sealed:

King James Version (1611)
And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundreth and fourty and foure thousand, of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

King James Version
And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

New American Standard Bible
And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

New Century Version
Then I heard how many people were marked with the sign. There were one hundred forty-four thousand from every tribe of the people of Israel.

THE MESSAGE
I heard the count of those who were sealed: 144,000! They were sealed out of every Tribe of Israel: 12,000 sealed from Judah, 12,000 from Reuben, 12,000 from Gad, 12,000 from Asher, 12,000 from Naphtali, 12,000 from Manasseh, 12,000 from Simeon, 12,000 from Levi, 12,000 from Issachar, 12,000 from Zebulun, 12,000 from Joseph, 12,000 sealed from Benjamin.

English Standard Version
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Berean Standard Bible
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:

Contemporary English Version
Then I heard how many people had been marked on the forehead. There were one hundred forty-four thousand, and they came from every tribe of Israel:

Complete Jewish Bible
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Darby Translation
And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred [and] forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of [the] sons of Israel:

Easy-to-Read Version
Then I heard how many people had God's mark on their foreheads. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel:

Geneva Bible (1587)
And I heard the number of them, which were sealed, and there were sealed an hundreth and foure and fourtie thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

George Lamsa Translation
And I heard the number of those who were sealed: and it was a hundred and forty and four thousand, of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Good News Translation
And I was told that the number of those who were marked with God's seal on their foreheads was 144,000. They were from the twelve tribes of Israel,

Lexham English Bible
And I heard the number of the ones who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Literal Translation
And I heard the number of those having been sealed: one hundred forty four thousands, having been sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:

American Standard Version
And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:

Bible in Basic English
And there came to my ears the number of those who had the mark on their brows, a hundred and forty-four thousand, who were marked out of every tribe of the people of Israel.

Hebrew Names Version
I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Yisra'el:

International Standard Version
I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of Israel:Revelation 9:16; 14:1;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And I heard the number of them who were sealed, an hundred and forty and four thousands, sealed of every tribe of Israel:

Murdock Translation
And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed from every tribe of Israelites.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And I hearde the number of them which were sealed: And there were sealed an C. and xliiii. thousande, of all the tribes of the chyldren of Israel.

English Revised Version
And I heard the number of them which were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel.

World English Bible
I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And I heard the number of them that were sealed; an hundred forty four thousand were sealed out of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Weymouth's New Testament
When the sealing was finished, I heard how many were sealed out of the tribes of the descendants of Israel. They were 144,000.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And I herde the noumbre of men that weren markid, an hundrid thousynde and foure and fourti thousynde markid, of euery lynage of the sones of Israel;

Update Bible Version
And I heard the number of those that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Webster's Bible Translation
And I heard the number of them who were sealed: [and there were] sealed a hundred [and] forty four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

New English Translation
Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:

New King James Version
And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

New Living Translation
And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:

New Life Bible
I heard how many there were who received the mark of God. There were 144,000 people of the twelve family groups of Israel.

New Revised Standard
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And I heard the number of the sealed, - a hundred and forty-four thousand, - sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: -

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I heard the number of them that were signed. An hundred forty-four thousand were signed, of every tribe of the children of Israel.

Revised Standard Version
And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And I herde the nombre of them which were sealed and there were sealed an C. and xliiii. M. of all the trybes of the chyldren of Israhell.

Young's Literal Translation
And I heard the number of those sealed, (144 thousands were sealed out of all the tribes of the sons of Israel):

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And I herde the nombre of them which were sealed, and there were sealed an c. and xliiij. M. of all the trybes of the children of Israell.

Mace New Testament (1729)
And I heard the number of those who were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred forty and four thousand, of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Simplified Cowboy Version
And I heard the tally of those given the brand. There were 144,000 marked with the brand of God from the twelve tribes of Israel. The tallies were:

Contextual Overview

¹After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel coming up from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the living God; and with a loud voice he called out to the four angels to whom it was granted [to have authority and power] to harm the earth and the sea, ³saying, "Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we seal (mark) the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads." ⁴And I heard how many were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand; [twelve thousand] sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:⁵Twelve thousand were sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad, ⁶twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh, ⁷twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar, ⁸twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed (marked, redeemed, protected). ⁹After these things I looked, and this is what I saw: a vast multitude which no one could count, [gathered] from every nation and from all the tribes and peoples and languages [of the earth], standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Christ), dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands; ¹⁰and in a loud voice they cried out, saying, "Salvation [belongs] to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [our salvation is the Trinity's to give, and to God the Trinity we owe our deliverance]."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I heard: Revelation 9:16

an: Revelation 14:1, Revelation 14:3, Genesis 15:5, Romans 9:27, Romans 11:5, Romans 11:6

all: Ezekiel 47:13, Ezekiel 48:19, Ezekiel 48:31, Zechariah 9:1, Matthew 19:28, Luke 22:30, Acts 26:7, James 1:1

Reciprocal: Genesis 28:14 - thy seed Genesis 35:22 - Now the sons Genesis 49:28 - every one Exodus 1:1 - General Exodus 28:21 - according to the twelve Numbers 1:5 - Elizur Numbers 1:17 - General Numbers 1:46 - General Numbers 26:55 - by lot 1 Kings 18:31 - twelve stones 2 Chronicles 11:3 - to all Israel Ezra 6:17 - according to Psalms 115:14 - Lord Ezekiel 36:38 - the waste Luke 14:22 - and yet Acts 3:26 - first Ephesians 1:10 - he Ephesians 3:15 - the whole Revelation 9:4 - which Revelation 21:12 - and names Revelation 21:17 - an

Cross-References

Genesis 2:5
no shrub or plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground,

Genesis 6:3
Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive and remain with man forever, because he is indeed flesh [sinful, corrupt—given over to sensual appetites]; nevertheless his days shall yet be a hundred and twenty years."

Genesis 6:7
So the LORD said, "I will destroy (annihilate) mankind whom I have created from the surface of the earth—not only man, but the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air—because it [deeply] grieves Me [to see mankind's sin] and I regret that I have made them."

Genesis 6:13
God said to Noah, "I intend to make an end of all that lives, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I am about to destroy them together with the land.

Genesis 6:17
"For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all life under the heavens in which there is the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die.

Genesis 7:10
And after the seven days [God released the rain and] the floodwaters came on the earth.

Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that same day all the fountains of the great deep [subterranean waters] burst open, and the windows and floodgates of the heavens were opened.

Genesis 7:12
It rained on the earth for forty days and forty nights.

Genesis 7:17
The flood [the great downpour of rain] was forty days and nights on the earth; and the waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it floated [high] above the land.

Genesis 7:21
All living beings that moved on the earth perished—birds and cattle (domestic animals), [wild] animals, all things that swarm and crawl on the earth, and all mankind.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I heard the number of them which were sealed,.... And therefore could be sure of the exact number, which did not depend upon his sight, and telling them, in which some mistake might have been made, but he heard the number expressed:

[and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty, [and] four thousand: which is a square number arising from twelve, the square root of it, being just twelve times twelve thousand; and may denote their being the true and genuine offspring of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, holding their doctrine, and being built on their foundation; see

Revelation 21:14; and these were

of all the tribes of the children of Israel; not that these were all Jews in a literal sense, for the time of their conversion in great numbers is not yet come. Dr. Goodwin thinks these sealed ones design the believers of the Greek and Armenian churches, and his reasons are not despicable; but this is to limit and restrain them to a particular part of the church of Christ; whereas they take in all the saints within this long tract of time, even all that are the true Israel of God, who are Jews inwardly, of what nation, kindred, tongue, and people soever; and is a certain and determinate number for an uncertain and indeterminate one; and only intends a large number of persons known to God and Christ; see the Apocrypha:

"Arise up and stand, behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord;'' (2 Esdras 2:38)

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I heard the number of them which were sealed - He does not say where he heard that, or by whom it was communicated to him, or when it was done. The material point is, that he heard it; he did not see it done. Either by the angel, or by some direct communication from God, he was told of the number that would be sealed, and of the distribution of the whole number into twelve equal parts, represented by the tribes of the children of Israel.

And there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel - In regard to this number, the first and the main question is, whether it is meant that this was to be the literal number, or whether it was symbolical; and, if the latter, of what it is a symbol:

I. As to the first of these inquiries, there does not appear to be any good reason for doubt. The fair interpretation seems to require that it should be understood as symbolical, or as designed not to be literally taken; for:

(a)The whole scene is symbolical - the winds, the angels, the sealing.

1. It cannot be supposed that this number will include all who will be sealed and saved. In whatever way this is interpreted, and whatever we may suppose it to refer to, we cannot but suppose that more than this number will be saved.
1. The number is too exact and artificial to suppose that it is literal. It is inconceivable that exactly the same number - precisely twelve thousand - should be selected from each tribe of the children of Israel.
2. If literal, it is necessary to suppose that this refers to the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. But on every supposition this is absurd. Ten of their tribes had been long before carried away, and the distinction of the tribes was lost, no more to be recovered, and the Hebrew people never have been, since the time of John, in circumstances to which the description here could be applicable. These considerations make it clear that the description here is symbolical. But,

II. Of what is it symbolical? Is it of a large number, or of a small number? Is it of those who would be saved from among the Jews, or of all who would be saved in the Christian church - represented as the “tribes of the children of Israel?” To these inquiries we may answer:

(1) That the representation seems to be rather that of a comparatively small number than a large one, for these reasons:

(a) The number of itself is not large.

(b) The number is not large as compared with those who must have constituted the tribes here referred to - the number twelve thousand, for example, as compared with the whole number of the tribe of Judah, of the tribe of Reuben, etc.

(c) It would seem from the language that there would be some selection from a much greater number. Thus, not all in the tribes were scaled, but those who were sealed were “of all the tribes” - ἐκ πάσης φυλῆς ek pasēs phulēs; that is, out of these tribes. So in the specification in each tribe - ἐκ φυλῆς Ἰούδα, Ρουβὴν ek phulēs Iouda, Roubēn, etc. Some out of the tribe, to wit, twelve thousand, were sealed, It is not said of the twelve thousand of the tribes of Judah, Reuben, etc., that they constituted the tribe, but that they were sealed out of the tribe, as a part of it preserved and saved. “When the preposition ἐκ ek, or “out of,” stands after any such verb as sealed, between a definite numeral and a noun of multitude in the genitive, sound criticism requires, doubtless, that the numeral should be thus construed as signifying, not the whole, but a part taken out” (Elliott, i. 237). Compare Exodus 32:28; Num 1:21; 1 Samuel 4:10. The phrase, then, would properly denote those taken out of some other and greater number - as a portion of a tribe, and not the whole tribe. If the reference here is to the church, it would seem to denote that a portion only of that church would be sealed.

(d) For the same reason the idea would seem to be, that comparatively a small portion is referred to - as twelve thousand would be comparatively a small part of one of the tribes of Israel; and if this refers to the church, we should expect to find its fulfillment in a state of things in which the largest proportion would not be scaled; that is, in a corrupt state of the church in which there would be many professors of religion, but comparatively few who had real piety.

(2) To the other inquiry - whether this refers to those who would be sealed and saved among the Jews, or to those in the Christian church - we may answer:

(a) that there are strong reasons for supposing the latter to be the correct opinion. Long before the time of John all these distinctions of tribe were abolished. The ten tribes had been carried away and scattered in distant lands, never more to be restored; and it cannot be supposed that there was any such literal selection from the twelve tribes as is here spoken of, or any such designation of twelve thousand from each. There was no occasion - either when Jerusalem was destroyed, or at any ether time - on which there were such transactions as are here referred to occurring in reference to the children of Israel.

(b) The language is such as a Christian, who had been by birth and education a Hebrew, would naturally use if he wished to designate the church. Compare the notes on James 1:1. Accustomed to speak of the people of God as “the twelve tribes of Israel,” nothing was more natural than to transfer this language to the church of the Redeemer, and to speak of it in that figurative manner. Accordingly, from the necessity of the case, the language is universally understood to have reference to the Christian church. Even Prof. Stuart, who supposes that the reference is to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, interprets it of the preservation of Christians, and their flight to Pella, beyond Jordan. Thus interpreted, moreover, it accords with the entire symbolical character of the representation.

(c) The reference to the particular tribes may be a designed allusion to the Christian church as it would be divided into denominations, or known by different names; and the fact that a certain portion would be sealed from every tribe would not be an unfit representation of the fact that a portion of all the various churches or denominations would be sealed and saved. That is, salvation would be confined to no one church or denomination, but among them all there would be found true servants of God. It would be improper to suppose that the division into tribes among the children of Israel was designed to be a type of the sects and denominations in the Christian church, and yet the fact of such a division may not improperly be employed as an illustration of that; for the whole church is made up not of any one denomination alone, but of all who hold the truth combined, as the people of God in ancient times consisted not solely of any one tribe, however large and powerful, but of all combined. Thus understood, the symbol would point to a time when there would be various denominations in the church, and yet with the idea that true friends of God would be found among them all.

(d) Perhaps nothing can be argued from the fact that exactly twelve thousand were selected from each of the tribes. In language so figurative and symbolical as this, it could not be maintained that this proves that the santo definite number would be taken from each denomination of Christians. Perhaps all that can be fairly inferred is, that there would be no partiality or preference for one more than another; that there would be no favoritism on account of the tribe or denomination to which anyone belonged; but that the seal would be impressed on all, of any denomination, who had the true spirit of religion. No one would receive the token of the divine favor because he was of the tribe of Judah or Reuben; no one because he belonged to any particular denomination of Christians. Large numbers from every branch of the church would be sealed; none would be sealed because he belonged to one form of external organization rather than to another; none would be excluded because he belonged to any one tribe, if he had the spirit and held the sentiments which made it proper to recognize him as a servant of God. These views seem to me to express the true sense of this passage. No one can seriously maintain that the writer meant to refer literally to the Jewish people; and if he referred to the Christian church, it seems to be to some selection that would be made out of the whole church, in which there would be no favoritism or partiality, and to the fact that, in regard to them, there would be some something which, in the midst of abounding corruption or impending danger, would designate them as the chosen people of God, and would furnish evidence that they would be safe.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Revelation 7:4. I heard the number of them which were sealed — In the number of 144,000 are included all the Jews converted to Christianity; 12,000 out of each of the twelve tribes: but this must be only a certain for an uncertain number; for it is not to be supposed that just 12,000 were converted out of each of the twelve tribes.