Revelation 7:4

4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

Revelation 7:4 in Other Translations

4 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.

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

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

4 I heard the count of those who were sealed: 144,000! They were sealed out of every Tribe of Israel:

4 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:

4 I heard how many were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of the people of Israel:

4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

4 Then I heard how many people were sealed. There were 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

Revelation 7:4 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 7:4

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)

Revelation 7:4 In-Context

2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:

3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

Cross References

• 1. Revelation 9:16
• 2. Revelation 14:1,3