The Twenty-Four Elders Worship Jesus As God

Jesus never rebuked any Angel or any of His followers for worshiping Him and yet worship of anything or anyone other than God is absolutely forbidden in the Bible.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. — Luke 4:8 KJV

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. — Matthew 4:10 KJV

Formal Equivalence (Word-For-Word)

  • Received Text (Textus Receptus)

    And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

    14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. — Revelation 5:13-14 KJV (48.83% / 66.58%)

    –

    And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

    “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and [a]ever!”

    14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the[b]twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped[c]Him who lives forever and ever. — Revelation 5:13-14 NKJV (60.32% / 65.21%)

    –

    Then I heard every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that are in them, saying:

    “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”

    14 The four living creatures said, “Amen.” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped Him who lives forever and ever. — Revelation 5:13-14 MEV (Modern English Version)

  • Majority Text

    I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!”[a]

    14 The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the[b] elders fell down and worshiped.[c] — Revelation 5:13-14 WEB (World English Bible)

  • Critical Text

    And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.”

    14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped. — Revelation 5:13-14 LSB (NASB ‘95 61.65% / 67.99%)

    –

    And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

    “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

    14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. — Revelation 5:13-14 ESV (62.36% / 68.74%)

Dynamic Equivalence (Thought-For-Thought)

  • Critical Text

    And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:

    “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”

    14 And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. — Revelation 5:13-14 NLT (70.08% / 39.90%)

    –

    Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

    “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

    14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. — Revelation 5:13-14 NIV (67.20% / 53.10%)

    –

    Then[a] I heard every creature—in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them—singing:[b]

    “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power[c] forever and ever!”

    14 And the four living creatures were saying “Amen,” and the elders threw themselves to the ground[d] and worshiped. — Revelation 5:13-14 NET (66.28% / 53.94%)

  • NET Bible Translator Notes

    a. Revelation 5:13 NET tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

    b. Revelation 5:13 tn Grk “saying.”

    c. Revelation 5:13 tn Or “dominion.”

    d. Revelation 5:14 tn Grk “fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

Messianic Bible translations

  • Critical Text

    And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and everything in them, responding,

    “To the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and power forever and ever!”

    14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped. — Revelation 5:13-14 TLV (Tree of Life Version, Formal Equivalent)

    –

    And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and on the sea — yes, everything in them — saying,

    “To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb belong praise, honor, glory and power forever and ever!”

    14 The four living beings said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped. — Revelation 5:13-14 CJB (Complete Jewish Bible, Dynamic Equivalent)

    –

    And every beriyah (creature) which is in Shomayim and on ha’aretz (the earth) and under ha’aretz and on the yam (sea) and all things in them, I heard saying, To the One sitting on the Kes (Throne) and to the SEH (Lamb, SHEMOT 12:3; YESHAYAH 53:7 Moshiach) be the bracha (blessing) and the hod (honor) and the hadar (glory) and the memshalah (dominion) ad Olemei Olamim (forever and ever). [DIVREY HAYAMIM ALEF 29:11; MALACHI 1:6; 2:2]

    14 And the Arbah Chayyot were saying, Omein. And the Zekenim (Elders, SHEMOT 12:21) fell down and worshiped. — Revelation 5:13-14 OJB (Orthodox Jewish Bible)

Highly Idiomatic Translation / Paraphrase

  • Critical Text

    11-14 I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand in full song:

    The slain Lamb is worthy! Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength! Take the honor, the glory, the blessing!

    Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing:

    To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb! The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength, For age after age after age.

    The Four Animals called out, “Oh, Yes!” The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped. — Revelation 5:11-14 MSG (The Message)

Conclusion

The Elders represent the redeemed church in heaven, they are also in their resurrection bodies, as is the Lord, for they sit down. An immaterial spirit cannot sit on a material throne Re 4:4. The redeemed church worships Jesus as God. Re 5:13 fulfills Philippians 2:9-11!

And every creature which is in heaven - The meaning of this verse is, that all created things seemed to unite in rendering honor to Him who sat on the throne, and to the Lamb. in the previous verse a certain number - a vast host - of angels are designated as rendering praise as they stood round the area occupied by the throne, the elders, and the living creatures; here it is added that all who were in heaven united in this ascription of praise. — Barnes’ Notes

Another fascinating take is to examine how many Elders in Re 4:4. Some believe they represent the twenty-four groups or orders within the levitical priesthood. This, in turn, represents all believers in Christ (see 1 Peter 2:9). Others believe the following:

John foresaw this group of men around the throne of God. It is my opinion that the 24 elders represent God’s people in both testaments — 12 tribal patriarchs and 12 apostles — the saints of both testaments. The Book of Revelation unites them often. In describing the Holy City in Revelation 21:12-14, the names of the 12 tribes of Israel are posted on the gates while the names of the 12 apostles are inscribed upon the city’s foundations. We witness the saints of all ages in Revelation 4:10,11, praising the Lamb of God for shedding His blood and casting their crowns down before Him. — Jack Van Impe, Prophecy Bible Pg. 33