But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it.
Parallel translations
- WEB No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look in it.
- KJV And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
- NKJV And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
- NASB And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
- NLT But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No one anywhere in all creation is able to open the scroll or even look inside. Human and angelic powers alike are utterly insufficient for God's redemptive plan.
Overview
The sweeping search through heaven, earth, and under the earth shows that no creature possesses the worthiness required. This universal failure intensifies the sense of need and helplessness. It magnifies, by contrast, the singular sufficiency of the Lamb who is about to appear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Rev 5:13And 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 praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!”
- Isa 40:13–14Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor?
- Rom 11:34“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”
- Isa 41:28When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 5:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.