Our modern English versions give various accounts of where the Lamb is standing in Revelation 5:6. This essay seeks to determine where the Lamb is standing in 5:6, whether he is located on the throne in 7:17, and what theological significance these exegetical decisions have for us.
Richard Bauckham understands Revelation 5 this way. 'John sees the exalted Christ on the divine throne, represented in his vision as a lamb standing as though it were slaughtered', and takes the reference in Revelation 5:13 'the One who is seated on the throne and the lamb' as an indicator of the Lamb's enthronement (God Crucified: Carlisle: Paternoster, 1998, 62)
In saying this, Bauckham is following Revelation 5:6 in the 1984 NIV, which reads as follows:
'Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.'
However, the NASB reads as follows:
'And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain […]'
And the ESV:
'And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.'
So is the Lamb in Revelation 5:6 standing in the centre of the throne (NIV 1984, Bauckham), or between the throne and the elders (NASB), or between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders (ESV)?
The Greek of Revelation 5:6 reads as follows:
Καὶ εἶδον
ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων
καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων
ἀρνίον ἑστηκὸς
ὡς ἐσφαγμένον
ἔχων κέρατα ἑπτὰ καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἑπτὰ
οἵ εἰσιν τὰ [ἑπτὰ] πνεύματα τοῦ θεοῦ
ἀπεσταλμένοι εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν.
My translation is as follows:
'And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living [creatures] and in the midst of the elders, a lamb standing, as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth'.
The ESV is the closest to my own translation. In the first prepositional phrase, the preposition governs both 'the throne' and 'the four living creatures', which suggests that the reference is that the Lamb is in the midst of two locations, 'between' those two points, viz, the throne and the four living creatures. As the second prepositional phrase indicates the lamb is only 'in the midst of the elders', then the Lamb is also in the vicinity of the elders, perhaps among them, between the throne and the four living creatures. This makes the rendering of the NIV most unlikely.
Beale's reasoning likewise makes the NIV rendering most unlikely:
'That the Lamb stands "in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and … of the elders" could suggest that he is on the throne and surrounded by the cherubim and elders. However, "in the midst of the throne" (ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου) more likely refers generally in figurative manner (by synechdoche) to the inner court area around the throne. That the Lamb stands somewhere in the area around the throne instead of on the throne itself is apparent from the fact that v 7 portrays the Lamb making an approach to throne.
John may not have intended that his syntax be analysed to determine the precise positions of the heavenly beings here and in 4:6 (see the comments there). The same is the case with the use of μέσος ("midst") in 7:17, where the most that can be said grammatically is that the Lamb is in close relation to the throne, although the broad context of 5:9 would imply that there he is sitting on the throne. Apparently, as elsewhere in the NT, Christ is portrayed at the right hand of God (who sits on the throne) as a consequence of his resurrection, although sometimes he is said to be sitting on his Father's throne (e.g. 3:21, 22:1). In 5:6 it appears that the Lamb is near the throne, preparing to make his approach to be enthroned.
That "in the midst of the throne" means "around the immediate vicinity of the throne" is evident from use of the same phrase in 4:6, as clarified by the immediately following clause there "and around the throne." The proposed Hebraism "between" is a possible translation for ἐν μέσῳ ("in the midst") but it results in an awkward rendering of the last ἐν μέσῳ clause of v 6a, which is best expressed as "in the midst"; also, when the LXX translates ben … uben ("between … and between") it typically uses ἀνὰ + μέσος rather than ἐν + μέσος (eg Gen 1:4, 7, 18, 3:15, 9:16-17).' [G K Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids/Cambridge/Carlisle: Eerdmans/Paternoster, 1999), 350]
Likewise, Alford argues 'the words seem to indicate the middle point before the throne; whether on the glassy sea […] or not, does not appear, but certainly not on the throne, from what follows in the next verse.': Alford, 4:607. That is, the Lamb is ἑστηκὸς, standing (perfect active participle of ἵστημι, Revelation 5:6, usually persons sit on thrones). Moreover, the lamb came and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one sitting on the throne (Revelation 5:7). None of this suggests that the Lamb is sitting or standing on the throne.
So too Osborne, who decides 'The lamb is near the throne in the area inhabited by the living creatures and elders […] Most likely the Lamb stood beside the throne, encircled by the celestial beings […] though we will see that in 7:17 the Lamb is "at the centre of the throne." (G R Osborne, Revelation: BECNT [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002], 255).
My conclusion is that in Revelation 5:6, the Lamb emerges from standing among the elders who are located between the throne and the four living creatures. The theological cash value of this is not the Divinity of the Lamb (though this will be made explicit in Revelation 7:17) but his mediation. Being among the elders, the Lamb stands between the four living creatures (which I take to be standing for the whole earthly creation) and the throne. Jesus Christ is the mediator between God the Father and Creation. He emerges from the elders because he identifies with his people, whether the OT or NT people of God. I take the 24 elders to be representative of the tribes and apostles, thus symbolic of the leaders of the people of God. There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the Man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all men (1 Timothy 2). He is from the tribe of Judah, so emerges from the 24 elders.
Revelation 4:6 also has figures 'in the midst of the throne'. It reads:
καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου ὡς θάλασσα ὑαλίνη ὁμοία κρυστάλλῳ.
Καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου τέσσαρα ζῷα γέμοντα ὀφθαλμῶν ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν.
'And before the throne was as a glassy sea like crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne [were] four living creatures filled with eyes before and behind.'
It is highly unlikely that the four creatures 'in the midst' of the throne are 'in the middle of the throne'. First, they are creatures, and not given the prerogative of God to sit upon his throne. Second, the prepositional phrase καὶ κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου qualifies that which precedes it, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου, clarifying what John meant when he said, 'in the midst of the throne'. That is, they are 'around the throne'. Note 'καὶ κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου', which appears to be an instance of the the adverbial use of the dative noun κύκλος, which means 'in a circle or ring', or 'round about': LSJ 'κύκλος '. Third, the elders themselves are 'all around the throne' (καὶ κυκλόθεν τοῦ θρόνου: Revelation 4:4). It is unlikely that the creatures would be given a prerogative that the elders are not, given that the elders are probably encircled around the throne in closer proximity to the throne than the living creatures. Fourth, it is possible that ἐν μέσῳ is a Hebraism meaning 'between the throne and some other position, such as between the throne and the sea' (a view cited in Osborne, [2002], 232) or 'between the throne and the elders' (a view cited in Beale [1999], 329). Fifth, the elders and living creatures worship 'before' the Lamb (ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἀρνίου) when He takes the scroll from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne (Revelation 5:7-8). This suggests that they are not on the throne. Sixth, it is possible that the living creatures support the throne, as they do in Ezekiel 1, and thus it would be possible for them to be in the space taken up by the back, arms, legs and chair of the throne' (Beale [1999] 329). All in all, it is best to take Revelation 4:6 as denoting that the living creatures are 'in the midst i.e. vicinity, of the throne, in that they are around the throne, perhaps between the throne and the sea, but certainly not in the middle of the throne in the sense of sitting on it or standing on it.
Revelation 7:17 is a key passage regarding the Lamb's enthronement. It reads:
ὅτι τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θρόνου ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς
καὶ ὁδηγήσει αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ ζωῆς πηγὰς ὑδάτων,
'Because the Lamb the one at the middle of the throne will shepherd them, and he will lead them to springs of living water.'
Note, the phrase is not ἐν μέσῳ but ἀνὰ μέσον. BAG cites Revelation 7:17 as an example of ἀνὰ μέσον meaning 'in the midst of, or between', and translates the phrase 'in the centre of the throne': BAG, 49. Beale understands that the Lamb's position denoted here is "in the centre of the throne": Beale [1999], 442. Osborne takes the phrase τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θρόνου as meaning 'at the centre of the throne' and not merely in the midst or near the throne as in Revelation 5:6: Osborne, (2002), 331. Alford regards the phrase as implying 'at least two things, between or in the midst of which any thing passes, or is situate. […] the two points required for ἀνὰ μέσον would be the two extreme ends of the throne to the right and to the left.': Alford, 4:629-30. Alford cites LXX examples, though the examples frequently involve a decision between two parties, not a centre point between two places.
These expositors are probably correct. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, does indeed overcome (Revelation 5:5) and is seen by John located with his Father in the centre of on his Father's throne. This accords with what the risen Jesus Christ said at Revelation 3:21.
Ὁ νικῶν δώσω αὐτῷ καθίσαι
μετ’ ἐμοῦ
ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ μου,
ὡς κἀγὼ ἐνίκησα καὶ ἐκάθισα
μετὰ τοῦ πατρός μου
ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ αὐτοῦ.
O one who overcomes, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, just as also I have overcome and sat with my father on his throne.
Likewise, the river of the water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb (ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀρνίου: Revelation 22:1), where the articular genitive nouns probably refer to the possession of God and the Lamb of 'the throne'.
In Revelation 4:6, the four living creatures are in the vicinity and before the throne. The four living creatures are between the glassy sea and the throne. Between the four living creatures and the throne are located the 24 elders. They are encircling the throne (Revelation 4:4). They likewise are before the throne (Revelation 4:10). And from among the 24 elders comes the Lion who has overcome (Revelation 5:5). Overcomers get to sit on thrones (Revelation 3:21, 5:5). The lamb is an overcomer,the first overcomer. The Lamb comes from the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), so he comes from among the 24 elders, who represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles. From among the elders, who are between the throne and the four living creatures, He appears, and He comes to the right hand of the Enthroned One. He thus stands between the throne of His Father and the four Living Creatures as their mediator. He stands having been slain, showing the nature of his mediation. He takes the scroll, because only He is worthy to take the scroll in the heavenly court, or indeed all creation. He comes as One slain to the Enthroned One. By 5:13 the Slain Lamb is not yet enthroned, not seated on the throne, though he was worshipped with the Enthroned one. God the Father is still referred to as the Enthroned one, perhaps in juxtaposition to the Lamb (6:16, cf 7:15). The throne and the lamb are simply collocated in Revelation 7:10. But it would seem that the Lamb in 7:17 is located in the centre of the throne. There is no explicit statement that the Lamb has been thereby seated on the throne, except in Revelation 3:21. But the best way to take 7:17 is to locate the Lamb at the centre of the throne. So it would seem that Revelation 7:17 is a reference to the enthronement of the Lamb on the throne of His Father, per Revelation 3:21. While the Lamb is worshipped with the one enthroned, it would seem that only in 3:21 is his enthronement reported, and 7:17 is his enthronement witnessed.