RSV ~ Revelation 8 Notes

Rev 8:1 | ISB Notes

silence in heaven: Recalls the liturgical silence that fell over the Jerusalem Temple when the priests offered incense and the multitudes prayed quietly in the outer courts (Lk 1:810). Jewish tradition also speaks of an angelic silence in the heaven when Israel prays and when the judgments of God are about to fall (Hab 2:20; Zeph 1:7). Here an angel offers the prayers of the saints with incense (Rev 8:3-4) just before curses descend upon the earth (8:7-9:21; 11:15-19).

Rev 8:2 | ISB Notes

the seven angels: Seven archangels minister in the presence of God according to Scripture (Tob 12:15) and Jewish tradition, which names them Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, and Remiel (1 Enoch 20, 1-8; 81, 5). They are known as the angels of the Lord’s presence (Testament of Levi 3, 7; cf. Lk 1:19).

Rev 8:3 | ISB Notes

prayers of all the saints: Like priests on earth, the angels in heaven are liturgical ministers as well as covenant mediators between God and his people. They are vested like priests according to 15:6, and here they offer as incense the petitions of the faithful. The company of all the saints probably includes those in heaven, such as the martyrs (6:9-11) and the multitudes (7:13-14) who praise God for his mercy and plead for the judgment of the wicked.

• The Communion of the Saints is the basis for the intercession of the saints. Just as the faithful pray for one another on earth, so the faithful departed pray for us as they look down from heaven (CCC 954-56).

the golden altar: The heavenly counterpart to the altar of incense in the Temple (2 Chron 4:19; Lk 1:11). See note on Rev 4:1-5:14.

Rev 8:5 | ISB Notes

threw it on the earth: An act of divine judgment on the earth.

• The gesture recalls Ezek 10:2, where a heavenly messenger scatters burning coals over Jerusalem.

Rev 8:7-11 | ISB Notes

The seven trumpets blast the earth with sevenfold judgment. The second of three cycles of chastisement in Revelation, the trumpets wreak havoc more severe than the seven seals (6:1-8:5) but less severe than the following seven bowls (16:1-21). See note on Rev 6:1-8:5.

• The first four trumpets, which devastate a third of the land, sea, freshwater, and sky, are modeled on the Exodus plagues that ravaged Egypt: recall the fiery hail (8:7, seventh plague, Ex 9:23-25), the sea made blood (8:9, first plague, Ex 7:20-21), the darkened sky (8:12, ninth plague, Ex 10:21-23), and the locusts (9:3, eighth plague, Ex 10:12-15).

Rev 8:11 | ISB Notes

Wormwood: The name of a bitter plant that symbolizes the sorrow and distaste of human affliction (Jer 9:15; Lam 3:19).

made bitter: i.e., undrinkable.

• This plague recalls but reverses the story in Ex 15:22-25, where God made the bitter waters sweet.

Rev 8:13 | ISB Notes

Woe, woe, woe: A prophetic warning that judgment is about to rain down upon sinners (Is 5:8-23; Amos 5:18; Nahum 3:1). These woes correspond to the plagues unleashed by the final three trumpets (Rev 9:12; 11:14).