1. Revelation 4:8 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

How does the reference to eyes here advance what was said in 4:6?

Revelation 4:8 (ESV)

8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

The repeated reference to eyes serves to underline the need for John’s readers to know about these eyes. Whereas in Revelation 4:6 the eyes were described as “in front and behind,” in Revelation 4:8 the eyes are “all around and within.” The phrase “all around” captures the picture of Revelation 4:6; the term “within” appears to allude to the fact that the eyes also covered their whole bodies (Ezekiel 10:12). The message we’re to gain from this allusion is that nothing escapes the attention of these guards around God’s throne. This observation is the more significant because of what these guards ceaselessly sing.