A Clearer Examination of Revelation 5:13–14 and the Question of Worship

Some readers interpret these passages as evidence for the Trinity, assuming that the elders are worshipping two persons of a supposed triune God. This interpretation, however, depends on assumptions that are not explicitly stated in the text.

Who Are the Elders Worshipping?

There is ongoing debate about the identity of the One being worshipped. Many argue that the elders direct their worship toward both the One seated on the throne and the Lamb. Others go further, suggesting that the Lamb is actually the same figure as the One seated on the throne.

Yet the text allows for another possibility: the elders may be worshipping only the God of Jesus, as seen in Revelation 7:11. In this reading, their act of falling down is directed toward “Him who sits on the throne”—the one true God, the God of Jesus, as discussed in the study God, Who Was, Is and Is to Come.

Does Worship of the Lamb Mean Jesus Is God Almighty?

Even if the elders do offer worship to Jesus, this does not require the conclusion that they are identifying the Lamb as God Almighty. The Greek term proskuneō (Strong’s 4352), often translated “worship,” can also refer to deep reverence or homage given to a king or superior. This usage appears in passages such as Genesis 23:7 and 1 Samuel 24:8, where the corresponding Hebrew term describes bowing before human authorities, not worshipping them as the Creator.

Is Worship Given Equally to God and the Lamb?

Some Trinitarian interpreters claim that equal worship is given to both God and the Lamb, implying that the Lamb must therefore be a divine person within God. Yet the text does not explicitly make this claim. Even if the Lamb receives honor, this does not automatically equate Jesus with God Almighty—any more than the shared homage given to Jehovah and the king in 1 Chronicles 29:20 makes the king equal to Jehovah. In that account, the people bow before both, but no one suggests the king is the Supreme Being.

Likewise, Revelation 5 does not portray Jesus as the “one God from whom are all things” (1 Corinthians 8:6). The Lamb receives honor appropriate to his exalted role, not the homage due exclusively to the Most High.

The Danger of Reading Assumptions Into the Text

If someone treats Jesus as the “only true God” (John 17:1,3), that would amount to a form of idolatry, since Scripture consistently distinguishes Jesus from Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nowhere does the Bible present Jesus as the Most High God.

Any claim that Revelation 5:13–14 teaches a triune God requires adding assumptions that are not present in the text. The book of Revelation contains no explicit reference to a Trinity, and the broader Bible likewise offers no such formulation. Introducing a triune interpretation requires imagining additional ideas beyond what is written and reading them back into the passages.

Links to some of our studies related to the Worship of Jesus

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