What Does Revelation 14:7 Mean?
Saying with a loud voice, Be in awe of God, and give weight to him, for the hour of his judgment has come. And bow down to the one who made heaven and earth and sea and springs of waters.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.THE KEY
The verse’s commands converge in one movement: give the Creator weight by bowing in awe before the One who made all things.
THE MEANING
The voice summons you to hold God in awe and give weight to the One who made heaven, earth, sea, and springs. The hour of judgment places your life and the world around you before the Creator’s discernment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The created world is not its own source, and what is made does not hold the place of its Maker.
THE ROOT
προσκυνήσατε
proskynēsate
GROWS FROM
προσκυν-
proskyn-
To bow down before, to prostrate oneself.
“bow down” in this verse is proskynēsate. English “worship” can make the act sound abstract; this word retains the posture of bowing. Here the bow is directed to the Maker, so allegiance returns to the source of all creation.
ALSO GROWS
proskynēsis: Bowing down; homage.
προσκύνησις
It makes the posture within “worship” visible: the verse calls for embodied reverence before the Creator.
proskynētēs: One who bows down; a worshiper.
προσκυνητής
The word names a person by the posture of allegiance that the verse calls forth.
δόξαν
doxan
GROWS FROM
δοξ-
dox-
Recognized honor and weight; what is held in esteem.
The verse does not leave glory as a quality to admire from afar: it says to give God weight. That weight belongs to the Maker, whose work fills the world the voice names.
ALSO GROWS
doxazō: To glorify; to honor.
δοξάζω
This verb shows the action of giving recognition and weight that the verse commands.
endoxos: Held in honor; esteemed.
ἔνδοξος
It echoes the idea of recognized worth and illuminates what it means to give God glory.
φοβηθῆτε
phobēthēte
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
Fear or dread; in this address to God, awe before God.
“Be in awe” in this verse is phobēthēte. The word carries real fear, not casual respect, while its direction toward God holds awe before the source of all things. The next commands give that awe shape: give God weight and bow before the Maker.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: Fear; dread or awe.
φόβος
It preserves the force of the verse’s command to fear God.
phoberos: Fearsome; awe-inspiring.
φοβερός
It shows how fear can be the response to a presence that overwhelms ordinary regard.
THE PATTERN
Awe and honor return to the Creator because what is made bears witness to its source.
For all the gods of the nations are nothings; but the LORD made the heavens.And saying, Men, why are you doing these things? We too are humankind, of like suffering with you, and bringing you the good news that you should turn from these empty things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them.To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens recount the weight of God; and the expanse sets forth the work of his hands.THE THREAD
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the weight, and the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and through your will they were and were created.The same Greek word for glory, δόξα (doxa, weight and honor), appears here beside the claim that all things were created through God. Revelation 14:7’s call to give that weight and bow before the Maker unfolds the same logic.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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