Revelation 5:13

From the whole creation a third doxology rises, catching up the last word (εὐλογίᾳ) of the preceding, and addressed as in the primitive and distinctive confessions of early Christianity (e.g., John 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:5) to God and Jesus alike (Revelation 7:10). In this chorus of praise (Revelation 1:6), by a sweep of the poet's imagination, even departed spirits and sea-monsters (ἐπὶ τ. θαλ., rather than seafaring men) join “even all that is in” earth and sea and heaven (cf. the title of the sun in the Rosetta inscription of 196 B.C.' μέγας βασιλεὺς τῶν τε ἄνω κ. τ. κάτω χωρῶν). Sacrifice is on the throne of the universe; by dying for men, Jesus has won the heart and confidence of the world. Thus the praise of God the creator (ch. 4) and the praise of Jesus the redeemer (ch. 5) blend in one final song, whose closing words indicate that the latter's prestige was not confined to a passing phase of history. The crime for which the messiah dethrones the rulers (in Enoch xlvi.) is just “because they do not praise and extol him, nor thankfully acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them, … because they do not extol the name of the Lord of Spirits”. In the papyrus of Ani (E. B. D. 3) Râ is worshipped by the gods “who dwell in the heights and who dwell in the depths”; whilst Isis and Osiris, as possessing supreme power, received honour “in the regions under the earth and in those above ground” (Plut. de Iside, 27). Compare the fine rabbinic saying of Rabbi Pinchas and R. Jochanan on Psalms 100:2 : “though all offerings cease in the future, the offering of praise alone shall not cease; though all prayers cease, thanksgiving alone shall not cease”.