Albert Barnes Commentary Revelation 5:8

"And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." — Revelation 5:8 (ASV)

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts, etc. The acts of adoration here described as rendered by the four living creatures and the elders are, according to the explanation given in Revelation 4:4-7, emblematic of the honor done to the Redeemer by the church, and by the course of providential events in the government of the world.

Fell down before the Lamb. This was the usual posture of profound worship. Usually, in such worship, there was entire prostration on the earth (See Barnes on Matthew 2:2; See Barnes on 1 Corinthians 14:25).

Having every one of them harps. That is, as the construction and the propriety of the case would seem to demand, the elders each had one of them harps. All prostrated themselves with profound reverence; the elders had harps and censers, and broke out into a song of praise for redemption. This construction is demanded because:

1. The Greek word—echontes—more properly agrees with the word elders—presbyteroi—and not with the word beasts—zoa.
2. There is an incongruity in the representation that the living creatures—in the form of a lion, a calf, an eagle—should have harps and censers.
3. The song of praise that is sung (Revelation 5:9) is one that properly applies to the elders as the representatives of the church, and not to the living creatures—Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. The harp was a well-known instrument used in the service of God. Josephus describes it as having ten strings and as struck with a key.—Antiquities, vii. 12, 3. (See Barnes on Isaiah 5:12).

And golden vials. The word vial with us, denoting a small slender bottle with a narrow neck, evidently does not express the idea here. The item here referred to was used for offering incense and must have been a vessel with a large open mouth. The word bowl or goblet would better express the idea, and it is so explained by Professor Robinson, Lexicon, and by Professor Stuart, in loco. The Greek word—phialē—occurs in the New Testament only in Revelation (Revelation 5:8; Revelation 15:7; Revelation 16:1–4, 8, 10, 12, 17; Revelation 17:1; Revelation 21:9) and is uniformly rendered vial and vials, though the idea is always that of a bowl or goblet.

Full of odours. Or rather, as in the margin, full of incense—thumiamatōn. (See Barnes on Luke 1:9).

Which are the prayers of saints. Which represent or denote the prayers of saints. Compare Psalm 141:2, Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. The meaning is that incense was a proper emblem of prayer. This seems to have been in two respects:

1. As being acceptable to God—as incense produced an agreeable fragrance; and
2. In its being wafted towards heaven—ascending towards the eternal throne. In Revelation 8:3, an angel is represented as having a golden censer: And there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. The representation there undoubtedly is that the angel is employed in presenting the prayers of the saints which were offered on earth before the throne. (See Barnes on Revelation 8:3).

It is most natural to interpret the passage before us in the same way. The allusion is clearly to the temple service, and to the fact that incense was offered by the priest in the temple itself at the time that prayer was offered by the people in the courts of the temple .

The idea here is, therefore, that the representatives of the church in heaven—the elders—spoken of as "priests" (Revelation 5:10), are described as officiating in the temple above in behalf of the church still below, and as offering incense while the church is engaged in prayer. It is not said that they offer the prayers themselves, but that they offer incense as representing the prayers of the saints.

If this is the correct interpretation, as it seems to be the obvious one, then the passage lays no foundation for the opinion expressed by Professor Stuart, as derived from this passage (in loco), that prayer is offered by the redeemed in heaven. Whatever may be the truth on that point—on which the Bible seems to be silent—it will find no support from the passage before us.

Adoration, praise, and thanksgiving are represented as the employment of the saints in heaven. The only representation respecting prayer as pertaining to that world is that there are emblems there which symbolize its ascent before the throne, and which show that it is acceptable to God. It is an interesting and beautiful representation that there are in heaven appropriate symbols of ascending prayer, and that while in the outer courts here below we offer prayer, incense, emblematic of it, ascends in the holy of holies above. The impression which this should leave on our minds should be that our prayers are wafted before the throne and are acceptable to God.

{d} "harps" (Revelation 15:2); {a} "prayers" (Psalms 141:2); {1} "odours," "incense."