Revelation 5:3

OLD TESTAMENTNEW TESTAMENT

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look thereon.

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Alcuin of York

AD 804

to look upon it. Neither were they able to look at it, that is, to contemplate the splendor of the grace of the New Testament, just as the children of Israel were not able to look at the face of the lawgiver of the Old Testament.

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Andreas of Caesarea

AD 637

This means that neither angels nor human beings, those in the flesh, nor the saints who had departed from the flesh are able to understand the knowledge of the divine judgments, except the lamb of God, by His presence releasing the obscurity of the things prophesied about him.

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Apringius of Beja

AD 600

or another sense; For a human to conquer death no one was found worthy to do this, neither among the angels of heaven, nor among humans on earth, nor among the souls of the saints in their rest, except Jesus Christ the Son of God alone.

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Caesarius of Arles

AD 542

that is, neither angel, nor anyone living on earth, nor any of the dead, to contemplate the brightness of the grace of the New Testament.

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

No man was able As to the contents, some understand the prophecies and mysteries both of the Old and New Testament; others, the events that should afterwards happen to the Church of Christ, as various persecutions against Christians. Alcazar would have the sense of these words to be, that only Christ and his Spirit could open the book to others, and make them believe and know the punishments prepared for the wicked, and the reward reserved for God's faithful servants. (Witham)

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Gregory The Dialogist

AD 604

under the earth. For there are some who think that hell is in a definite place on earth, and others who think that it is under the earth. But it occurs to me that if we call an object ‘infernal’ because it lies in a lower position, then hell ought to be ‘infernal’ to the earth just as the earth is to the sky.... Since, then, no one under the earth was found worthy to unseal the book, I see no reason why we should not believe that Hades is under the earth. (Dial. 4.44 )

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Nicholas of Lyra

AD 1349

And no man was able, neither in heaven: The angels. nor on earth: Humans. nor under the earth: The demons in whom the natural things remain intact. to open the book: No one can understand the divine mysteries, unless God, who first revealed them to the human Christ and Christ to John, reveals them.

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Oecumenius

AD 990

For who could anyone of those filled with the mist of sin look into it in the presence of the divine throne, on which the scroll was laid.

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Thomas Aquinas

AD 1274

in heaven" refer to the angels, "on earth" to men living in the body, and "under the earth" to souls in hell.

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Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation - 2 Peter 1:20