Apocalypse 5:4
And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, nor to see it.
Open Apocalypse 5:4 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Et ego flebam multum, quoniam nemo dignus inventus est aperire librum, nec videre eum.
- Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
- καὶ ἐγὼ ἔκλαιον πολὺ ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἄξιος εὑρέθη ἀνοῖξαι τὸ βιβλίον οὔτε βλέπειν αὐτό·
The Fathers on this verse
St Cyprian Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, That Christ was to be born of the seed of David, according to the flesh
In the second of Kings: “And the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in; but it shall come to pass, when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee who shall come from thy loins, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build me a house in my name, and I will set up His throne for ever; and I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son; and His house shall obtain confidence, and His kingdom for ever in my sight.” Also in Isaiah: “And a rod shall go forth of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall go up from his root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill …
St Victorinus of Pettau Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John, From the fifth chapter
4. “There was none found worthy to do this.”] Neither among the angels of heaven, nor among men in earth, nor among the souls of the saints in rest, save Christ the Son of God alone, whom he says that he saw as a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns. What had not been then announced, and what the law had contemplated for Him by its various oblations and sacrifices, it behoved Himself to fulfil. And because He Himself was the testator, who had overcome death, it was just that Himself should be appointed the Lord’s heir, that He should possess the substance of the dying man, that is, the human members.
Origen Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John, Chapter IV
4. I feel myself growing dizzy with all this, and wonder whether, in obeying you, I have not been obeying God, nor walking in the footsteps of the saints, unless it be that my too great love to you, and my unwillingness to cause you any pain, has led me astray and caused me to think of all these excuses. We started from the words of the preacher, where he says: “My son, beware of making many books.” With this I compare a saying from the Proverbs of the same Solomon, “In the multitude of words thou shalt not escape sin; but in sparing thy lips thou shalt be wise.” Here I ask whether speaking many words of whatever kind is a multitude of words (in the sense of the preacher), even if the many words a man speaks are sacred and connected with salvation. …
St Ambrose Concerning Repentance, Chapter X. In order to do away with the feeling of shame which holds back the guilty from public penance, St. Ambrose points out the advantage of prayers offered by the whole Church, and sets forth the example of saints who have sorrowed. Then, after reproving those who imagine that penance may be often repeated, he points out the difficulty of repentance, and how it is to be carried out
94. John wept sore, and, as he tells us, the mysteries of Christ were revealed to him. But that woman who, when she was in sin and ought to have wept, nevertheless rejoiced, and covered herself with a robe of purple and scarlet, and adorned herself with much gold and precious stones, now mourns the misery of eternal weeping.
St Vincent of Lerins Chapter V. The Example set us by the Martyrs, whom no force could hinder from defending the Faith of their Predecessors
And again in the third book of the same work, “Let us observe the precepts of our predecessors, and not transgress with rude rashness the landmarks which we have inherited from them. That sealed Book of Prophecy no Elders, no Powers, no Angels, no Archangels, dared to open. To Christ alone was reserved the prerogative of explaining it. Who of us may dare to unseal the Sacerdotal Book sealed by Confessors, and consecrated already by the martyrdom of numbers, which they who had been compelled by force to unseal afterwards resealed, condemning the fraud which had been practised upon them; while they who had not ventured to tamper with it proved themselves Confessors and martyrs? How can we deny the faith of those whose victory we proclaim?”