Revelation 8:3

Revelation 8:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
• New International Version (NIV)Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

Context of Revelation 8:3

1The Lamb opened the seventh seal. Then it became completely quiet in heaven for about half an hour. 2Then I saw the seven angels who stand in front of God. Someone gave them seven trumpets. Then another angel came. He stood at the altar where people offered gifts to God. He had a gold bowl to put incense in. He received a lot of incense and he burned it as a gift to God. It made a nice smell and it mixed with the prayers of God's people. The angel offered the incense and the prayers on the gold altar that was in front of God's throne. 4When he did that, the smoke from the incense went up in front of God. The prayers of God's people also went up to God. 5Then the angel took the gold bowl and he filled it with fire from the altar. Then he threw it all down onto the earth. There were loud noises and the sound of thunder. There was bright lightning, like a very bad storm. The earth shook with an earthquake.

Revelation 8:3 word by word

Καὶ ἄλλος ἄγγελος ἦλθεν καὶ ἐστάθη ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ἔχων λιβανωτὸν χρυσοῦν. καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ θυμιάματα πολλὰ ἵνα δώσει ταῖς προσευχαῖς τῶν ἁγίων πάντων ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸ χρυσοῦν τὸ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• anotherἄλλοςallos · anotherG243
• angelἄγγελοςaggelos · angelG32
• cameἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• stoodἵστημιhistēmi · to standG2476
• atἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• the altarὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the altarθυσιαστήριονthusiastērion · altarG2379
• havingἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• a goldenχρύσεοςchruseos · goldenG5552
• censerλιβανωτόςlibanōtos · censerG3031
• there was givenδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
• unto himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• muchπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• incenseθυμίαμαthumiama · incenseG2368
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• with the prayersπροσευχήproseuchē · prayerG4335
• of allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• saintsἅγιοςhagios · holy: saintG40
• beforeἐνώπιονenōpion · beforeG1799
• the throneθρόνοςthronos · throneG2362

Cross-references for Revelation 8:3

• Revelation 7:2Then I saw another angel who was coming up from the east. He was carrying the seal of the God who lives for ever. He shouted loudly to the four other angels. They had received authority to destroy the land and the sea.
• Revelation 10:1Then I saw another powerful angel. He was coming down from heaven. He had a cloud all round him, like his clothes. There was a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun and his legs shone like fire.
• Genesis 48:15Then Jacob blessed Joseph. He said, ‘May God bless these two boys. He is the God that my ancestors, Abraham and Isaac, served. Like a shepherd takes care of his sheep, God has taken care of me all my life, until this day.
• Exodus 3:2The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses there. The angel looked like a fire that was burning in the middle of a bush. Moses looked at the bush. He saw that it was on fire, but the fire still did not destroy it.
• Acts 7:30Moses lived in Midian for 40 years. Then, one day, he was in the wilderness near Sinai mountain. He saw a bush there that was burning. An angel appeared to him in the fire.
• Revelation 9:13Then the sixth angel made a sound with his trumpet. I heard a voice that spoke to him from the four corners of the gold altar. This altar is near to God himself.
• Exodus 30:1Use acacia wood to make an altar so that you can burn incense on it.
• 2 Chronicles 26:16Uzziah was so powerful that he became proud. That caused him to lose his power. He began to turn away from the Lord his God. He went into the Lord's temple to burn incense on the special altar there.
• Romans 8:34So nobody can say that God should still punish us. Nobody can say that, because Christ Jesus himself died on our behalf. And God raised him so that he became alive again after his death. Now Christ is sitting at God's right side in heaven. He himself is praying to God on our behalf.
• Hebrews 7:25Jesus is always alive and he asks God to help his people. So he can completely save everyone who believes in him. He will lead them to God.
• Leviticus 16:12He must take a pot of the hot material. It is burning on the altar in front of the Lord. He must fill his two hands with incense. He must take the hot material and the incense behind the curtain.
• 1 Kings 7:50The pure gold bowls. The small tools that they used for the lamps. The bowls for water. The dishes for ashes. The baskets that carried hot coals. The gold pieces that held the doors of the Most Holy Place. The gold pieces that held the doors of the temple's big hall.
• Hebrews 9:4The gold altar for incense was in there. The Covenant Box was there too. The box had gold on all its sides. Inside the box was the gold pot that contained the special food called manna. The box also contained Aaron's stick that had grown leaves. It also contained the two flat stones on which God had written the rules of his agreement with his people.
• Leviticus 16:13He must put the incense on the burning material. It is in front of the Lord. The smoke will cover the lid of the Covenant Box. So he will not die.
• Numbers 16:46Moses said to Aaron, ‘Pick up your pot. Take coals with fire from the altar and put incense with them in the pot. Then take it quickly among all the people. Remove their sin so that God will forgive them. Be quick! The Lord is so angry with the people that he is already punishing them with a bad disease!’
• Malachi 1:11‘People in every nation of the whole world will respect my name. People everywhere will offer incense and pure sacrifices to worship me. They will all know that I am great.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.

Commentaries on Revelation 8:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Another angel - About to perform the office of priest. Having a golden censer - This was a preparation peculiar to the day of expiation. "On other days it was the custom of the priest to take fire from the great altar in a silver censer, but on the day of expiation the high priest took the fire from the great altar in a golden censer; and when he was come down from the great altar, he took incense from one of the priests, who brought it to him, and went…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3And another angel came - Who this angel was is not mentioned, nor have we any means of determining. Of course a great variety of opinion has been entertained on the subject (see Poole‘s Synopsis) - some referring it to angels in general; others to the ministry of the church; others to Constantine; others to Michael; and many others to the Lord Jesus. All that we know is, that it was an angel who thus appeared, and there is nothing inconsistent in the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4The prayers of God's people ask for God's final justice and judgment (Revelation 6:10–11; see also 5:8; Ezra 9:5–6; Psalm 141:2; Daniel 9:21). The mix of incense and prayers that reaches God's presence shows that God hears them (see Revelation 6:9–11) and is ready to act.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. another angel--not Christ, as many think; for He, in Revelation, is always designated by one of His proper titles; though, doubtless, He is the only true High Priest, the Angel of the Covenant, standing before the golden altar of incense, and there, as Mediator, offering up His people's prayers, rendered acceptable before God through the incense of His merit. Here the angel acts merely as a ministering spirit (He 1:4), just as the twenty-four elders…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 8:3

• Altar
• Angel (a Spirit)
• Censer
• Incense
• Intercession
• Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena
• Prayer

In the dictionaries

• Altar
• Censer
• Frankincense
• Incense
• Ethics
• Literature, Sub-Apostolic
• Midian; Midianites
• Revelation of John
• Tabernacle

Commentaries on Revelation 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings