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Echoes of Revelation
Revelation never quotes the Old Testament outright, yet no New Testament book refers to it more. See both texts side by side, why they don’t match, and what John does with them.
Revelation 8:3-4, incense with the prayers of the saints
Incense rising with the saints' prayers recalls the psalmist's plea that his prayer be set before God like incense.
Revelation 8:3-4, in every translation this tool compares.
The smell of a kitchen tells the family dinner is on the way. In Psalm 141 David asks that his prayer rise before God like incense, and that his lifted hands count as an evening offering. John sees an angel at the golden altar offer much incense with the prayers of all the saints. The smoke goes up before God. The prayers are heard.
Prayer joined to incense (thymiama) rising before God. The Greek of Psalm 141:2 has my prayer (proseuche) as incense before you; John has incense with the prayers (proseuchais) going up before God.
In the psalm one man prays, and his prayer is likened to incense. In John an angel adds incense to the prayers of all the saints and brings them before the throne. The psalm is a simile; John shows the scene acted out in heaven.
The prayers here are, above all, the martyrs' cry from 6:10. Beale reads the rising smoke as a sign the prayers are accepted. The next verse shows the answer: fire thrown down to the earth.
Not prayers to the angel. Beale notes the saints pray to God directly in 6:10; the angel only presents what God has already received.
Beale says prayer as incense in the Old Testament connotes prayer accepted by God, citing Psalm 141:1-2, and that the fragrant smoke of incense in the temple signaled acceptance (Leviticus 16:12-13). He notes Psalm 141:2 sets prayer as incense beside the lifting of hands as the evening offering. In the vault's Septuagint, Psalm 141:2 reads kateuthyntheto he proseuche mou hos thymiama enopion sou. Revelation 8:4 has kai anebe ho kapnos ton thymiamaton tais proseuchais ton hagion. Keener says prayers are presented as incense, as in Psalm 141:2; the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible and the ESV Study Bible cite Psalm 141:2; the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible refers back to 5:8. Walton describes the incense altar before the veil and its daily incense. The grade is drawn here: the pairing of prayer and incense is traceable to the psalm, though the scene is new.
Heiser reads Beale and McDonough: prayer as incense in the Old Testament means prayer accepted by God (Psalm 141:2; Numbers 16:46), and fragrant smoke showed acceptance in the temple (Leviticus 16:12-13). The point, he says, is that God listens when his people pray as priests. Those people are the suffering believers of the book, and God answers with judgment. He ties the prayers to the martyrs' plea and sees them as the trigger for what follows.
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- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 8:3 and 8:4
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Revelation 8:3
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Revelation 8:3
- ESV Study Bible, note on Revelation 8:3-5
- NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, note on Revelation 8:4
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, on Exodus 30:1-10
- Septuagint, Psalm 141:2, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 8:3-4
- Michael S. Heiser, Revelation 8: The Seventh Seal and the First Four Trumpet Judgments, video lecture (Naked Bible Revelation series)
