Albert Barnes Commentary Revelation 5:3

"And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon." — Revelation 5:3 (ASV)

And no man in heaven. No one—oudeiv. There is no limitation in the original to man. The idea is that there was no one in heaven—evidently alluding to the created beings there—who could open the volume. Is it not taught here that angels cannot penetrate the future and disclose what is to come? Are not their faculties limited in this respect like those of humans?

Nor in earth. Among all classes of men—sages, divines, prophets, philosophers—who among them have ever been able to penetrate the future and disclose what is to come?

Neither under the earth. These divisions compose, in common language, the universe: what is in heaven above, what is on the earth, and whatever there is under the earth—the abodes of the dead. May there not be an allusion here to the supposed science of necromancy, and an assertion that even the dead cannot penetrate the future and disclose what is to come? (See Barnes on Isaiah 8:19).

In all these great realms, no one came forward who was qualified to undertake the task of making a disclosure of what the mysterious scroll might contain.

Was able to open the book. That is, had the ability—hdunato—to do it. It was a task beyond their power. Even if anyone had been found who had a rank and a moral character that might have seemed to justify the effort, there was no one who had the power of reading what was recorded concerning coming events.

Neither to look thereon. That is, to open the seals so as to have a view of what was written in it. That it was not beyond their power merely to see the book is apparent from the fact that John himself saw it in the hand of Him who sat on the throne; and it is evident also (Revelation 5:5) that in that sense the elders saw it. But no one could prevail to inspect the contents, or gain such access to the interior of the volume as to be able to see what was written there. It could be seen, indeed (Revelation 5:1), that it was written on both sides of the parchment, but what the writing was, no one could know.