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Revelation 4 · a question people ask

"On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting" (4:4). Who are the twenty-four elders?

In the text

Here is what the chapter says of them. They sit on "twenty-four thrones" around the throne, "dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads" (4:4), and they "fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne" (4:10). The book doesn't say who they are, and these notes don't either.

The verses

“Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads.”
Revelation 4:4 · World English Bible
“the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying,”
Revelation 4:10 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Revelation 4

Revelation 4: A door opened in heaven

The elders sit "with crowns of gold on their heads" (4:4), and when they worship, they "throw their crowns before the throne" (4:10): the crowns on their heads are the crowns they throw.

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Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions