And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
When. So A C, Vulgate; but 'Aleph ('), 'whatsoever things.'
Uttered their voices. A B C 'Aleph (') omit "their voices." 'Had spoken.'
Unto me. Omitted by A B C 'Aleph ('), Syriac.
Seal up - the opposite to Rev. 31:10 . Though at the time of the end the things sealed in Daniel's time were to be revealed, yet not so the voices of these thunders. Though heard by John, they were not to be imparted to others in this book: so terrible are they that God in mercy withholds them, since "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." The godly are kept from morbid ponderings over the evil to come, and the ungodly not driven by despair into utter recklessness. Alford adds another aim, 'godly fear.' Besides the terrors foretold, there are others unutterable and more horrifying in the background.