Apocalypse 5:5

Louis Segond

Et l'un des vieillards me dit: Ne pleure point; voici, le lion de la tribu de Juda, le rejeton de David, a vaincu pour ouvrir le livre et ses sept sceaux.

Parallel Translations

La Bible David Martin (1744)
Et un des Anciens me dit : ne pleure point; voici, le Lion qui est de la Tribu de Juda, la racine de David, a vaincu pour ouvrir le Livre, et pour en d�lier les sept sceaux.

La Bible Ostervald (1996)
Et l'un des Anciens me dit: Ne pleure point; voici, le lion, qui est de la tribu de Juda, le rejeton de David, a vaincu pour ouvrir le livre et en d�lier les sept sceaux.

Darby's French Translation
Et l'un des anciens me dit: Ne pleure pas; voici, le lion qui est de la tribu de Juda, la racine de David, a vaincu pour ouvrir le livre et ses sept sceaux.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

one: Revelation 4:4, Revelation 4:10, Revelation 7:13

Weep: Jeremiah 31:16, Luke 7:13, Luke 8:52, Luke 23:28, John 20:13

the Lion: Genesis 49:9, Genesis 49:10, Numbers 24:9, Hebrews 7:14

the Root: Revelation 22:16, Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 11:10, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 23:6, Romans 1:3, Romans 15:12

hath: Revelation 1:1, Revelation 6:1

Reciprocal: Genesis 46:12 - Judah Genesis 49:8 - thy hand Exodus 37:23 - General Numbers 23:24 - as a great Judges 1:2 - General 1 Kings 7:29 - lions 1 Kings 10:20 - lions 1 Chronicles 5:2 - Judah 2 Chronicles 9:18 - two lions Job 41:15 - a close Isaiah 8:16 - seal Isaiah 31:4 - Like as Ezekiel 1:10 - the face of a lion Daniel 2:23 - and hast Daniel 7:16 - one Amos 3:8 - lion 2 Timothy 2:8 - Jesus Revelation 5:2 - Who Revelation 6:5 - he had Revelation 11:16 - General Revelation 14:1 - a Lamb

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And one of the elders said unto me,.... The Ethiopic version reads, "one of these elders"; that is, one of the four and twenty elders that were round about the throne; not the first of the four and twenty books of the Old Testament; nor the patriarch Jacob, because of the prophecy concerning Shiloh, Judah's son, which stands in Genesis 49:10, nor Moses, who spoke of the Messiah as the great prophet of the church; nor John the Baptist, who pointed out the Lamb of God; these are all fancies and conjectures. It was one of the members of the Christian church, who was near the throne of God, had communion with him, and knowledge of his will, who in this visionary way is represented as comforting John under his sorrow and concern, and giving him information: and sometimes persons of superior abilities may receive instruction from meaner persons, as did Apollos from Aquila and Priscilla: the same said unto John,

weep not; cease sorrowing, do not be cast down, nor despair;

behold the lion of the tribe of Judah; by whom is meant Christ, who, according to the flesh, was to come of the tribe of Judah; and certain it is, that our Lord sprang from thence: and he is said to be the lion of that tribe, in allusion to the prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:9, where he is said to be a lion, an old lion stooping down and couching, and on whose standard was the figure of a lion. Christ may be compared to one, because of his great strength, he being the mighty God, the able Saviour, and strong Redeemer, and protector of his church and people, and the avenger of their enemies; and because of his courage and intrepidity when he engaged with Satan, and his principalities and powers, when he bore the sins of his people, sustained his Father's wrath, and the terrors of death set themselves in array against him; and because of the fierceness of his wrath, and fury against the wicked, and for his generosity and lenity towards those that stoop unto him, and obey him. So the Jews say f, that

"of Messiah, the son of David, who comes forth from Judah, is it said, Genesis 49:9, "Judah is a lion's whelp";''

and a little after, Messiah, the son of David, who is אריה, "a lion", shall be on his right hand, and Messiah, the son of Joseph, who is an ox, on his left hand; so the word of the Lord frequently, in the Chaldee paraphrase, is said to be a lion g.

The root of David; in like manner is Christ called the root of Jesse in Isaiah 11:10; and the meaning either is, that he is a branch that springs out of the roots of Jesse and David, is David's son and offspring, according to his human nature; see Revelation 22:16; or that he is David's Lord, according to his divine nature: and the metaphor of a root well agrees with him as Mediator, he being hidden out of sight, and unknown to a natural man; and may denote his meanness in his state of humiliation, when he was as a root out of a dry ground; and because he is the root from whence all the elect of God spring, in whom they have their being, and by whom they are bore and supported, and from whom are derived to them all the blessings of grace, all their spiritual life, holiness, fruitfulness, and perseverance. Now this illustrious Person, so described,

hath prevailed; or overcome all difficulties, being one of worth and value, of great authority and ability:

to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof; and deliver out all the prophecies in it, and fulfil them; and this through the merits of his blood, and in consequence of his sufferings and death: hence, in the next verse, he is represented as a lamb as it had been slain; and the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, put his worthiness to take the book, and open it, upon his having been slain, and having redeemed them by his blood, Revelation 5:9. And as he, upon his resurrection from the dead, had all power in heaven and in earth given him, as Mediator, for the protection of his church, so he was deserving; and it was fit and necessary that he, as the great prophet of the church, should have and deliver out the prophecies concerning the state and condition of his redeemed ones in all ages.

f Raya Mehimna in Zohar in Exod. fol. 49. 3, 4. g Targum in Hos. v. 14. & xi. 10. & xiii. 7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And one of the elders saith unto me - See the notes on Revelation 4:4. No particular reason is assigned why this message was delivered by one of the elders rather than by an angel. If the elders were, however (see the notes on Revelation 4:4), the representatives of the church, there was a propriety that they should address John in his trouble. Though they were in heaven, they were deeply interested in all that pertained to the welfare of the church, and they had been permitted to understand what as yet was unknown to him, that the power of opening the mysterious volume which contained the revelation of the future was entrusted particularly to the Messiah. Having this knowledge, they were prepared to comfort him with the hope that what was so mysterious would be made known.

Weep not - That is, there is no occasion for tears. The object which you so much desire can be obtained. There is one who can break those seals, and who can unroll that volume and read what is recorded there.

Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah - This undoubtedly refers to the Lord Jesus; and the points needful to be explained are, why he is called a Lion, and why be is spoken of as the Lion of the tribe of Judah:

(a) As to the first: This appellation is not elsewhere given to the Messiah, but it is not difficult to see its propriety as used in this place. The lion is the king of beasts, the monarch of the forest, and thus becomes an emblem of one of kingly authority and of power (see the notes on Revelation 4:7), and as such the appellation is used in this place. It is because Christ has power to open the seals - as if he ruled over the universe, and all events were under his control, as the lion rules in the forest - that the name is here given to him.

(b) As to the other point: He is called the “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” doubtless, with reference to the prophecy in Genesis 49:9 - “Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion”; and from the fact that the Messiah was of the tribe of Judah. Compare Genesis 49:10. This use of the term would connect him in the apprehension of John with the prophecy, and would suggest to him the idea of his being a ruler, or having dominion. As such, therefore, it would be appropriate that the power of breaking these seals should be committed to him.

The Root of David - Not the Root of David in the sense that David sprung from him as a tree does from a root, but in the sense that he himself was a “root-shoot” or sprout from David, and had sprung from him as a shoot or sprout springs up from a decayed and fallen tree. See the notes on Isaiah 11:1. This expression would connect him directly with David, the great and glorious monarch of Israel, and as having a right to occupy his throne. As one thus ruling over the people of God, there was a propriety that to him should be entrusted the task of opening these seals.

Hath prevailed - That is, he has acquired this power as the result of a conflict or struggle. The word used here - ἐνίκησεν enikēsen - refers to such a conflict or struggle, properly meaning to come off victor, to overcome, to conquer, to subdue; and the idea here is, that his power to do this, or the reason why he does this, is the result of a conflict in which he was a victor. As the series of events to be disclosed, resulting in the final triumph of religion, was the effect of his conflicts with the powers of evil, there was a special propriety that the disclosure should be made by him. The truths taught in this verse are:

(1)That the power of making disclosures, in regard to the future, is entrusted to the Messiah; and,

(2)That this, so far as he is concerned, is the result of a conflict or struggle on his part.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Revelation 5:5. The Lion of the tribe of Juda — Jesus Christ, who sprang from this tribe, as his genealogy proves; see on Matthew 1:2; Matthew 1:3 and Luke 3:33. There is an allusion here to Genesis 49:9, Judah is a lion's whelp; the lion was the emblem of this tribe, and was supposed to have been embroidered on its ensigns.

The Root of David — See Isaiah 11:1. Christ was the root of David as to his Divine nature; he was a branch out of the stem of Jesse as to his human nature.

Hath prevailed — By the merit of his incarnation, passion, and death.

To open the book — To explain and execute all the purposes and decrees of God, in relation to the government of the world and the Church.