Revelation 5:8 is confusing for me. Different versions of the Bible do not all agree in their translations. Who are the main players of Revelation 5:8? Who is holding the harps? What are the prayers of the saints?
Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb [Christ], each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:8-10 is part of a hymn that interprets the heavenly vision seen in Revelation 5:1-8.
The living creatures (angelic beings; compare Isa 6:1-7; Ezek 1:1-28; 10:1-22) and elders fall down before the Lamb (cf. Rev 4:9-11). The "twenty-four elders" are those whom hold the harps and bowls and sing the new song in Revelation 5:8-10. The living creatures do not hold the harps; the Greek word echontes ("having") is a masculine plural participle and has its antecedent in oi eikosi presbyteroi ("the twenty-four elders," masculine plural) and not ta tessara zoa ("the four living beings," neuter plural). Additionally, the song of praise that is sung in Revelation 5:9 more properly applies to the elders and not to the living creatures; "for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." We can also compare "the twenty-four elders" with the twenty-four orders of Levites (i.e. people, not angelic beings) in 1 Chronicles 25:6-31, who were commissioned to sing with "cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God."
The "saints" in Revelation 5:8 are possibly related to the "saints" in Daniel 7:18. The "incense" (cf. Psa 141:2; Luke 1:9-10) represents the plea of the righteous; that God will vindicate them by fully judging their enemies. "The prayers of the saints" are those observed in Revelation 6:9-11; 8:3-4. These prayers are imprecatory in nature (see below) calling for the divine vindication of the martyred saints. These prayers are linked to the judgment of the wicked.
Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).