Revelation 7:8

What does Revelation 7:8 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 7:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 7:8 means

The tally closes with Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin—again, twelve thousand each. Joseph’s name gathers his line within the count, testifying that God’s reckoning accords with his covenant arrangement rather than human expectations. Benjamin, the youngest, stands with equal share. Ending the list with these names completes the picture of a fully sealed Israel: ordered, known, and secure under God’s mark. The symmetry of the repeated formula has done its work—drilling into the reader that preservation is complete and intentional, not accidental or partial. With the enumeration finished, the vision is ready to widen its horizon.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjaminweresealed twelve thousand.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjaminweresealed twelve thousand.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand: of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand: of the tribe of Benjamin were marked twelve thousand.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Of the tribe of Zabulon, twelve thousand signed: Of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand signed: Of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand signed.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

out of [the] tribe of Zabulun, twelve thousand; out of [the] tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; out of [the] tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand sealed.

Context

This final entry concludes the first vision’s enumeration of the sealed from Israel. The flow has moved from restraint of judgment, to the command to seal, to a precise list of those secured. With the sealing complete, the next verse will open a second, complementary scene: an innumerable multitude from every nation worshiping before the throne and the Lamb. The turn from counted Israel to uncountable nations highlights both continuity and expansion in God’s saving work.

v.7Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand;

v.8This passage

v.9After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and ofalltribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands;

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