Revelation 7 · Verse 3

Revelation 7:3

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Revelation 7:3, King James Version

Revelation 7:3 in other translations

BSB“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
WEBsaying, “Don’t harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!”
ASVsaying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.
YLT‘Do not injure the land, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we may seal the servants of our God upon their foreheads.'
DARBYsaying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we shall have sealed the bondmen of our God upon their foreheads.
BBEDo no damage to the earth, or the sea, or the trees, till we have put a mark on the servants of our God.
WebsterSaying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

What does Revelation 7:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. Hurt not--by letting loose the destructive winds. till we have sealed the servants of our God--parallel to Mt 24:31, "His angels ... shall gather together His elect from the four winds." God's love is such, that He cannot do anything in the way of judgment, till His people are secured from hurt (Ge 19:22). Israel, at the eve of the Lord's coming, shall be found re-embodied as a nation; for its tribes are distinctly specified (Joseph, however, being substituted for Dan; whether because Antichrist is to come from Dan, or because Dan is to be Antichrist's especial tool [Aretas, tenth century], compare Ge 49:17; Jr 8:16; Am 8:14; just as there was a Judas among the Twelve). Out of these tribes a believing remnant will be preserved from the judgments which shall destroy all the Antichristian confederacy (Re 6:12-17), and shall be transfigured with the elect Church of all nations, namely, 144,000 (or whatever number is meant by this symbolical number), who shall faithfully resist the seductions of Antichrist, while the rest of the nation, restored to Palestine in unbelief, are his dupes, and at last his victims. Previously to the Lord's judgments on Antichrist and his hosts, these latter shall destroy two-thirds of the nation, one-third escaping, and, by the Spirit's operation through affliction, turning to the Lord, which remnant shall form the nucleus on earth of the Israelite nation that is from this time to stand at the head of the millennial nations of the world. Israel's spiritual resurrection shall be "as life from the dead" to all the nations. As now a regeneration goes on here and there of individuals, so there shall then be a regeneration of nations universally, and this in connection with Christ's coming. Mt 24:34; "this generation (the Jewish nation) shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled," which implies that Israel can no more pass away before Christ's advent, than Christ's own words can pass away (the same Greek), Mt 24:35. So exactly Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2-4, 9-21; compare Zec 12:2-14; 13:1, 2. So also Eze 8:17, 18; 9:1-7, especially Eze 9:4. Compare also Eze 10:2 with Re 8:5, where the final judgments actually fall on the earth, with the same accompaniment, the fire of the altar cast into the earth, including the fire scattered over the city. So again, Re 14:1, the same 144,000 appear on Zion with the Father's name in their forehead, at the close of the section, the twelfth through fourteenth chapters, concerning the Church and her foes. Not that the saints are exempt from trial: Re 7:14 proves the contrary; but their trials are distinct from the destroying judgments that fall on the world; from these they are exempted, as Israel was from the plagues of Egypt, especially from the last, the Israelite doors having the protecting seal of the blood-mark. foreheads--the most conspicuous and noblest part of man's body; on which the helmet, "the hope of salvation," is worn.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, etc. Let the winds be restrained until what is here designated shall be done. These destroying angels were commanded to suspend the work of destruction Until the servants of God could be rendered secure. The division here, as in Rev 7:1, of the "earth, the sea, and the trees," seems to include everything--water, land, and the productions of the earth. Nothing was to be injured until the angel should designate the true servants of God.

Till we have sealed the servants of our God. The use of the plural "we" seems to denote that he did not expect to do it alone. Who were to be associated With him, whether angels or men, he does not intimate; but the work was evidently such that it demanded the agency of more than one.

In their foreheads. Rev 7:2; compare Eze 9:4-5. A mark thus placed on the forehead would be conspicuous, and would be something which could at once be recognised if destruction should spread over the world. The fulfilment of this is to be found in two things:

(a) in something which would be conspicuous or prominent--so that it could be seen; and

(b) in the mark being of such a nature or character that it would be a proper designation of the fact that they were the true servants of God.

(a) "Hurt not" Rev 6:6

(b) "sealed" Eze 9:4

(c) "foreheads" Rev 22:4

(d) "four thousand" Rev 14:1

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 Till we have sealed the servants of our God - There is manifestly an allusion to Eze 9:4 here. By sealing we are to understand consecrating the persons in a more especial manner to God, and showing, by this mark of God upon them, that they were under his more immediate protection, and that nothing should hurt them. It was a custom in the east, and indeed in the west too, to stamp with a hot iron the name of the owner upon the forehead or shoulder of his slave. It is worthy of remark that not one Christian perished in the siege of Jerusalem; all had left the city, and escaped to Pella. This I have often had occasion to notice.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Revelation 7:1-8

The peace, happiness, and safety of the saints, as signified by an angel's sealing 144,000. (4-8) A song of praise. (9-12) The blessedness and glory of those that suffered martyrdom for Christ. (13-17) Verses 1-8 In the figurative language of Scripture, the blowing of the four winds together, means a dreadful and general destruction. But the destruction is delayed. Seals were used to mark for each person his own…

Read the full comment on Revelation 7:1-8 →

Revelation 7:3 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

λέγων·legōnsaying;G3004
μὴmēNotG3361
ἀδικήσητεadikēsētemay harmG91
τὴνtēntheG3588
γῆνgēnearthG1093
μήτεmētenorG3383
τὴνtēntheG3588
θάλασσανthalassanseaG2281
μήτεmētenorG3383
τὰtatheG3588
δένδραdendratreesG1186
ἄχριachriuntilG891
σφραγίσωμενsphragisōmenwe may have sealedG4972
τοὺςtoustheG3588
δούλουςdoulousservantsG1401
τοῦtouof theG3588
θεοῦtheouGodG2316
ἡμῶνhēmōnof usG3165
ἐπὶepionG1909
τῶνtōntheG3588
μετώπωνmetōpōnforeheadsG3359
αὐτῶν.¶autōnof them.G846

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Revelation 7:3

  • Ezekiel 9:4

    And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

  • Revelation 22:4

    And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

  • Revelation 9:4

    And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

  • Revelation 13:16

    And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

  • Exodus 12:13

    And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

  • Revelation 14:1

    And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

  • Revelation 20:4

    And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

  • Isaiah 26:20-21

    Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

  • Isaiah 54:17

    No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

  • Revelation 6:6

    And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

  • Malachi 3:18

    Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

  • Revelation 19:2

    For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hurt not.
6:6; 9:4; Isa 6:13; 27:8; 65:8; Mt 24:22,31
till.
14:1; Ex 12:13,23; Isa 26:20,21; Ex 9:4-6; Zep 2:3
the servants.
19:2; Isa 54:17; Da 3:17,26; 6:16; Mal 3:18; Joh 12:26; Ro 6:22
in their.
13:16; 14:1; 20:4; 22:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Revelation 7:2

    And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

  • Revelation 7:3

    Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

  • Revelation 7:4

    And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Read all of Revelation 7

Revelation 7:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Diciendo: No hagáis daño á la tierra, ni al mar, ni á los árboles, hasta que señalemos á los siervos de nuestro Dios en sus frentes.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		disant: Ne nuisez pas à la terre, ni à la mer, ni aux arbres, jusqu’à ce que nous ayons scellé au front les esclaves de notre Dieu.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und sagte: Beschädiget nicht die Erde, noch das Meer, noch die Bäume, bis wir die Knechte unseres Gottes an ihren Stirnen versiegelt haben.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		dicens: Nolite nocere terræ, et mari, neque arboribus, quoadusque signemus servos Dei nostri in frontibus eorum.