Revelation 8:2

And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) THE VISIONS INTRODUCED BY THE SOUNDING OF SEVEN TRUMPETS.—The series of visions which is now introduced extend to the close of the eleventh chapter. There are some features which may be noticed here. There is a marked correspondence of arrangement between these and the visions of the seals. As there, so here, there are introduced two subordinate visions towards the end of the series. The sixth seal was followed by the vision of the one hundred and forty-four thousand and the countless multitude: the sixth trumpet is followed by the vision of the little book and the seven thunders and the measurement of the temple of God (Revelation 10 and Revelation 11:1-14). The general intention of these interposed visions is similar. In both cases they seem designed to give us an insight of the life within the life of Christ’s Church. The main visions give us more external aspects; the interposed visions show the inner and more spiritual aspects. Thus the seals show the great outer features of world and Church history—the war, controversies, the famine and barren dogmatism, the death, and deathlike externalism, the persecutions and sorrows and revolutions of on-coming history; the interposed visions of Revelation 7 show us the calm and strength and the victory of the children of God. So also with these visions of the trumpets. The main visions give us the trumpet-voices of God’s manifold providences summoning the world to surrender to Him; the subsidiary visions point to the witness and work of the true children of God in this world, and the more secret growth of the Church of Christ. Another similarity between the seals and the trumpets is to be found in the separation between the first four and the last three. The first four trumpets, like the first four seals, are grouped together. The first four seals are introduced by the cry “Come”; the first four trumpets are followed by judgments on natural objects—the earth, the sea, the rivers, the lights of heaven—while the last three have been described as woe trumpets, being introduced by the thrice repeated cry of “Woe” (see Revelation 8:13). There is thus a correspondence of arrangement in the two series of visions; but their general import is very different. We reach in the seventh seal the eternal quiet of God’s presence. Through a series of visions we have been shown that the way to rest is not easy, that we must be prepared to see the great features of earth’s troubles remain till the close, and that the children of God must through tribulation and even persecution enter into the kingdom of God’s peace. The seals answer the question, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom?” But the kingdom will be restored. The Church may find her way a way of difficulty, delay, danger; but it will be a way to triumph. The kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of the Lord. Let the people of God go forward; let their prayers be set forth as incense; let them blow the trumpet, and summon men to repentance; they are not alone; the Lord still fights for His Israel. This is the assurance which we gather from the trumpets. In all l he wondrous providences which the history of the world discloses we may hear the trumpet-voice which heralds the kingdom of Christ, to which the Church is hearing constant and sufficient witness (Revelation 11:3-4). The seals close with peace; the trumpets close appropriately with victory (Revelation 11:15). The visions are not scenes of events which chronologically succeed one another. The one set shows us the way through trouble to rest; the other shows the way through conflict to triumph: the one set shows us the troubles which befall the Church because of the world; the other shows us the troubles which fall on the world because the Church advances to the conquest of the world, as Israel to the possession of the land of promise.

And I saw the seven angels . . .—Better, And I saw the seven angels which stand (not “stood”) before God; and there were given to them seven trumpets. “The seven angels:” Who are these? The usual answer is that they are seven angels (or, according to some, archangels) distinguished among the myriads round the throne. The passages referred to in support of this view are two—one from the Apocryphal Book of Tobit, “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One” (Tobit 12:15); the other, the well-known passage from St. Luke, “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19). This may be true, and the emphatic article (the seven angels) gives the view some support, but seeing that the number seven is to be taken throughout the book as symbolical, and not literal, it is perhaps better to view the seven angels as representatives of the power of God over the world. They are the seven, the complete .circle of God’s power in judgment; for as we do not take the seven-spirits to be literally seven spirits, but symbols of the complete and manifest influence of the one Holy Spirit, the third person in the glorious Trinity, so neither need we infer from the mention of the seven angels here that they are literally seven preeminent angelic personages, but rather regard them as symbols of that complete and varied messenger-force which God evermore commands.

Seven trumpets.—It will help our understanding of the symbol here employed to recall the occasions on which the trumpet was used. It was used to summon the people together, whether for worship, or festival, or war, “for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.” “When they shall blow with them (the trumpets), all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee (Moses) at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Numbers 10:4-8). For journeying an alarm was to be blown (Numbers 10:6). “And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies” (Revelation 8:9). And as for war, so also on festival days the trumpets were blown: “Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.” The reader will remember other illustrations. When the people were assembled to hear the Ten Commandments the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder (Exodus 19:19). The feast held on the first day of the seventh month was “a day of blowing the trumpets” (Numbers 29:1) among the people who would blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on their solemn feast day (Psalm 81:3). At the siege of Jericho seven priests bore before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns, and on the seventh day the priests blew with the trumpets (Joshua 6:4-5). For assembling, for journeying, for war, the sound of the trumpets was heard. The judgments which follow the blowing of the trumpets in this series of visions are the trumpet-toned calls of God, summoning mankind to assemble to the true tabernacle, bidding His people go forward, and announcing the overthrow of His adversaries. Every judgment, on earth, or sea, or river, by war, or by invasion, is a call which bids men listen to the still small voice, which they have neglected, perhaps resisted. Every judgment should rouse the true servant to greater vigilance and further advance: it is an alarm sounded on the great battle-field of life. Miracles have been called the alarm bells of the universe; no less are the strange and startling events of the world’s history the alarm notes blown by God’s angels across the world, to remind us of the war in which every citadel of evil must inevitably fall. It is mainly, then, as an alarm of war that these angel- trumpets are sounded. The land of promise is to be rescued from the tribes and peoples who corrupt it. As the Canaanites of old were swept away lest their wickedness, increasing beyond measure, should spread abroad a moral death, so are the judgments of these trumpets sent to undermine, purge away, and finally to destroy all evil powers which destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18). We may hear, then, in “each blast of the symbolical trumpet a promise and instalment of the victory” for which the groaning and travailing creation yearns, and which will be the banishment of earth’s destroyers, and the manifestation of the sons of God.

Benson Commentary

Revelation 8:2-3. And I saw the seven angels — I beheld further in my vision seven chief angels, instruments especially designed of God for a very important service, now to be declared; which stood — Or were standing; before God — To receive and execute his commands, after the manner of the great princes of the East, who used to be so attended by the chief officers of their courts. And to them were given seven trumpets — To sound an alarm, and give warning to the nations of approaching judgments. And another angel came — Representing, it seems, the great High-Priest of the church. The Lamb was emblematical of Christ, as a sacrifice for us, and this angel represented him in his priestly office as offering up to God the prayers of all the saints, recommended by his intercessions; having a golden censer — Signifying his mediatorial office. And there was given unto him much incense — An emblem of his great merits, and power with God; that he should offer it with, or add it to, the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar — The altar of incense; which was before the throne — There being in this representation of the divine presence no veil, and so no distinction between the holy and most holy place “The great angel of the covenant,” says Bishop Hall, “came and stood as the High-Priest of his church before the altar of heaven, and many holy and effectual prayers were offered unto him, that he might by his merciful mediation present them to God the Father.” “Some have thought,” says Doddridge, “that this is a plain intimation of the doctrine of the intercession of the angels, which is urged to have been an erroneous Jewish notion; and those who imagine it to be taught here, have made it an argument against the inspiration of this book. But I rather agree with those interpreters who consider this angel as an emblem of Christ. If we were indeed to consider Christ as appearing in the shape of a lamb, this would be a difficulty; but it does not appear at all absurd to me, that while the efficacy of Christ’s atonement was represented by a lamb slain, his intercession consequent upon it should be represented by an angel offering the incense; which seems only a symbolical or hieroglyphical declaration of this truth, that the prayers of the saints on earth are rendered acceptable to God by the intercession of one in heaven, who appears as a priest before God: just as the vision of the Lamb represents to us that a person of perfect innocence, and of a most gentle and amiable disposition, eminently adorned and enriched with the Spirit of God, has been offered as a sacrifice; and is, in consequence of that, highly honoured on the throne of God. But who this important victim and this intercessor is, we are to learn elsewhere; and we do learn that both these offices met in one, and that this illustrious person is Jesus the Son of God. As the golden altar made a part of the scene, there was a propriety in its appearing to be used, and the time of praying was the hour of incense. This vision may probably be designed to intimate, that considering the scenes of confusion represented by the trumpets, the saints should be exceeding earnest with God to pour out a spirit of wisdom, piety, and zeal upon the churches amidst these confusions.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:1-6 The seventh seal is opened. There was profound silence in heaven for a space; all was quiet in the church, for whenever the church on earth cries through oppression, that cry reaches up to heaven; or it is a silence of expectation. Trumpets were given to the angels, who were to sound them. The Lord Jesus is the High Priest of the church, having a golden censer, and much incense, fulness of merit in his own glorious person. Would that men studied to know the fulness that is in Christ, and endeavoured to be acquainted with his excellency. Would that they were truly persuaded that Christ has such an office as that of Intercessor, which he now performs with deep sympathy. No prayers, thus recommended, was ever denied hearing and acceptance. These prayers, thus accepted in heaven, produced great changes upon earth. The Christian worship and religion, pure and heavenly in its origin and nature, when sent down to earth and conflicting with the passions and worldly projects of sinful men, produced remarkable tumults, here set forth in prophetical language, as our Lord himself declared, Lu 12:49.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I saw the seven angels which stood before God - Prof. Stuart supposes that by these angels are meant the "presence-angels" which he understands to be referred to, in Revelation 1:4, by the "seven spirits which are before the throne." If, however, the interpretation of that passage above proposed, that it refers to the Holy Spirit, with reference to his multiplied agency and operations, be correct, then we must seek for another application of the phrase here. The only difficulty in applying it arises from the use of the article - "the seven angels" - τοὺς tous as if they were angels already referred to; and as there has been no previous mention of "seven angels," unless it be in the phrase "the seven spirits which are before the throne," in Revelation 1:4, it is argued that this must have been such a reference. But this interpretation is not absolutely necessary. John might use this language either because the angels had been spoken of before; or because it would be sufficiently understood, from the common use of language, who would be referred to - as we now might speak of "the seven members of the cabinet of the United States," or "the thirty-one governors of the states of the Union," though they had not been particularly mentioned; or he might speak of them as just then disclosed to his view, and because his meaning would be sufficiently definite by the circumstances which were to follow - their agency in blowing the trumpets.

It would be entirely in accordance with the usage of the article for one to say that he saw an army, and the commander-in-chief, and the four staff-officers, and the five bands of music, and the six companies of sappers and miners, etc. It is not absolutely necessary, therefore, to suppose that these angels had been before referred to. There is, indeed, in the use of the phrase "which stood before God," the idea that they are to be regarded as permanently standing there, or that that is their proper place - as if they were angels who were particularly designated to this high service. Compare Luke 1:19; "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God." If this idea is involved in the phrase, then there is a sufficient reason why the article is used, though they had not before been mentioned.

And to them were given seven trumpets - One to each. By whom the trumpets were given is not said. It may be supposed to have been done by Him who sat on the throne. Trumpets were used then, as now, for various purposes; to summon an assembly; to muster the hosts of battle; to inspirit and animate troops in conflict. Here they are given to announce a series of important events producing great changes in the world as if God summoned and led on his hosts to accomplish his designs.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. the seven angels—Compare the apocryphal Tobit 12:15, "I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One." Compare Lu 1:19, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God."

stood—Greek, "stand."

seven trumpets—These come in during the time while the martyrs rest until their fellow servants also, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled; for it is the inhabiters of the earth on whom the judgments fall, on whom also the martyrs prayed that they should fall (Re 6:10). All the ungodly, and not merely some one portion of them, are meant, all the opponents and obstacles in the way of the kingdom of Christ and His saints, as is proved by Re 11:15, 18, end, at the close of the seven trumpets. The Revelation becomes more special only as it advances farther (Re 13:1-18; 16:10; 17:18). By the seven trumpets the world kingdoms are overturned to make way for Christ's universal kingdom. The first four are connected together; and the last three, which alone have Woe, woe, woe (Re 8:7-13).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The seven angels which stood before God; the seven mentioned hereafter, which blew with the trumpets; for we presently read, that

seven trumpets were given to them. Trumpets were used to call the people together, to proclaim festivals, and in war. The use of these trumpets we shall hereafter read, which was to proclaim the will and counsels of God, as to things to come.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And I saw the seven angels,.... Not the seven spirits of God, Revelation 1:4; their names, as well as their office, differ; nor the ministers of the word, though these are often called angels in this book, and blow the trumpet of the Gospel, and lift up their voice like a trumpet; but the angelic spirits, and these either evil ones, since they are the executioners of wrath and vengeance, and bring judgments on the earth; and who, are sometimes said to stand before God, 1 Kings 22:21; or rather good angels, who are sometimes ministers of divine wrath; see 2 Samuel 24:16; "seven" of them are mentioned, as being a proper number for the blowing of the seven trumpets, which would complete all the woes that were to come upon the world, and in allusion to the seven princes the eastern monarchs used to have continually about them, Esther 1:14, as it follows:

which stood before God; and denotes their nearness to him, and familiarity with him, they always behold his face; and their service and ministrations, and their readiness to execute his will: the allusion is to the two priests standing at the table of fat, with two silver trumpets in their hands, with which they blew, and another struck the cymbal, and the Levites sung, which was always done at the time of the daily sacrifice (p):

and to them were given seven trumpets: everyone had one; and which were an emblem of those wars, and desolations, and calamities, which would come upon the empire, and upon the world, at the blowing of each of them; the trumpet being an alarm, preparing for, proclaiming, and introducing these things; Jeremiah 4:19; these are said to be given them; either by him that sat upon the throne, about which they were; or by the Lamb that opened the seal; and shows that they did nothing but what they had a commission and order to do. Here is manifestly an allusion to the priests and Levites blowing their trumpets at the close of the daily sacrifice, and at the offering of incense (q) as before observed.

(p) Misn. Tamid. c. 7. sect. 3.((q) Maimon. Hilch. Tamidin, c. 6. sect. 5.

Geneva Study Bible

{2} And I saw the seven angels which {a} stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

(2) Now follows the third branch of the common history, as even now I said: which is the execution of the judgments of God on the world. This is first generally prepared, down to Re 8:3-6. The administers of the execution are seven angels: their instruments, trumpets, by which they sound the alarm at the commandment of God. They are seven in number, because it did not please God to deliver all his wrath on the rebellious world at once, but at various times, in segments, and in slow order, and as if unwilling to exercise his judgments on his creatures, so long called on both by word and signs, if perhaps they should decide to repent.

(a) Who appear before him as his ministers.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Revelation 8:2. καὶ εἶδον. By the same formula, John has indicated what the seals previously opened enabled him to behold.[2410] What he describes in Revelation 8:2-6, he has therefore beheld, not after the conclusion of the silence, Revelation 8:1,[2411] but during it.[2412] The entire scene is silent, until (Revelation 8:5) by the fire cast into the earth, thunderings and voices (from beneath, from the earth) are aroused, which then, interrupting the silence in heaven, give the signal, as it were, to the angels who are to use the trumpets received already in Revelation 8:2.

ΤΟῪς ἙΠΤᾺ ἈΓΓΈΛΟΥς ΟἻ ἘΝΏΠΙΟΝ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ ἙΣΤΉΚΑΣΙΝ. Doubly incorrect, Luther: “Sieben Engel, die da traten vor Gott” [“Seven angels who appeared before God”]. The words, as they sound, are to be understood in no way otherwise than that John, just as Tob 12:15,[2413] speaks of seven particular angels, who, with a certain precedency above all the rest, stand before God. They are not called “archangels.”[2414] They can be identified[2415] with the seven spirits of God[2416] only by misunderstanding that expression. But when Hengstenb. and Ebrard assert that the number of angels who stand before God is fixed at seven only because of the seven trumpets, and do not hinder us from thinking of more than just seven to whom belongs the prerogative of “standing before God; “and when Ebrard, in order to give another application to the definite article which conflicts with this, attempts to contrast the seven. angels, Revelation 8:2, to the four angels, Revelation 7:1,—they are only useless pretexts, in order to avoid the unambiguously expressed idea of just seven angels standing before God. The older interpreters, as Luther, Vitr., reached the same conclusion more readily by regarding the article as a Heb. redundancy; yet many also[2417] have without prejudice recognized the thought required by the text.

ΚΑῚ ἘΔΌΘΗΣΑΝ ΑὐΤΟῖς ἙΠΤᾺ ΣΆΛΠΙΓΓΕς. The purpose becomes immediately manifest to John; cf. Revelation 8:6-7 sqq. To the inhabitants of heaven, who, after the opening of the seal, see how to those chief angels trumpets are given, the vast significance of this matter is clear in advance: hence their silence.

[2410] Cf. Revelation 6:1-2; Revelation 6:5; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 6:12.

[2411] Ebrard.

[2412] Arct., Herd., Rinck.

[2413] “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.”

[2414] De Wette, Stern.

[2415] Aret., Ew.

[2416] Revelation 4:5.

[2417] C. a Lap., Beng.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Revelation 8:2. “The seven angels who stand before God” are introduced as familiar figures (cf. Lueken 36 f., R.J. 319 f.); they belonged to pre-Christian Judaism (Tob 12:15, “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and go in before the glory of the Holy One”), and are associated with trumpets (1 Thessalonians 4:16). According to the Targ. on 2 Chronicles 33:13 when Manasseh prayed, all the angels who superintend the entrance of prayers went and closed every approach, to prevent his petition reaching heaven; in Chag. 13 b the prayers of the righteous are offered by Sandalphon (cf. Longfellow’s Sandalphon, and contrast Hebrews 7:25). This septet of distinguished angels belongs to the circle of ideas behind Revelation 1:4, Revelation 4:5, Revelation 5:6; but the author as usual prefers vividness and variety to homogeneity. He uses them for minatory purposes, assigning to “another angel” their characteristic function (Revelation 8:3) in Jewish tradition. The alteration of figure at this point is deliberate. The certainty of divine decrees is suggested by the figure of seals; but now that the prophet is describing the promulgation of the actual events presaged in the book of Doom, he, like the author of 4 Esdras (? cf. Lat. of Revelation 5:4), employs the figure of angels with trumpets of hostile summons and shattering alarm. The final series (ver 15–16.) in which these decrees are executed, is aptly described under the figure of bowls or vials drenching the earth with their bitter contents (cf. Bovon, Nouv. Test. Théol. ii. 503). The trumpet, as a signal for war, is naturally associated with scenes of judgment (reff.). “Power, whether spiritual or physical, is the meaning of the trumpet, and so, well used by Handel in his approaches to the Deity” (E. Fitzgerald’s Letters, i. 92). Trumpet to lip, the angels now stand ready. They are set in motion by a significant interlude (Revelation 8:3-5).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The Seven Trumpets. Chap. Revelation 8:2 to Revelation 11:192. the seven angels which stood] Should be, which stand. It is probably a designation of seven Angels (commonly, perhaps correctly, called Archangels) who permanently enjoy special nearness to God. We have in Tob 12:15 an evidence of popular Jewish belief as to these Angels; St John’s vision is expressed in terms of that belief, and, it may fairly be thought, sanctions it with his prophetic authority.

Bengel's Gnomen

Revelation 8:2. [90] Ἑπτὰ σάλπιγγες, seven trumpets) By these trumpets the kingdom of the world is shaken, until under the trumpet of the seventh angel, after the most formidable hindrances, it is reduced to the Lord and to His Christ. The trumpets of the first, the second, the third, and the fourth angel, are closely connected with one another; and so likewise the trumpets of the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh angel, which alone have woe, woe, woe.

[90] τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλους, the seven angels) These are honoured with great prerogative. One of them is Gabriel: Luke 1:19.—V. g.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 2-6 form a preface to the vision of the trumpets, and serve both to connect this vision with what has gone before, and to indicate the cause of this further revelation. The series of mysteries embraced under the seals is completed, and has so far accomplished its purpose, which is to fortify the patience of the saints by the assurance of God's providence and their ultimate victory and reward. But this is only one part of the seer's mission; there is not only a message of encouragement to the faithful, but a warning for the worldly and apostate. No doubt the same ground is covered to some extent by both announcements; since what is encouragement and hope for the righteous is judgment for the wicked. But whereas, in the vision of the seals, the punishment of the wicked holds a subsidiary place, being only introduced for the purpose of demonstrating God's protection of the just, in the vision of the trumpets the destruction of the ungodly is the main theme, being intended, like the denunciations of the prophets of old, for a warning to those in sin, if haply any may yet be saved. It may, indeed, be said to be an answer to the cry in Revelation 6:10, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" The same lout suffering delay of vengeance tempts the "foolish body" to say in his heart, "There is no God." While by the vision of the seals God is careful not to break the bruised reed, in the vision of the trumpets he vouchsafes a call to those who are less deserving of his consideration and mercy.

(1) The trumpets then form a series of visions denouncing God's judgments against the wicked.

(2) They form an independent vision, and do not grow out of the seventh seal, in the sense of portraying what is intended to be disclosed under that seal. The number seven, alike in the case of the seals and in that of the trumpets, indicates the complete nature of each series, which is moreover demonstrated by their general character.

(3) The incidents depicted are synchronous with those of the seals; that is to say, they relate to the history of mankind front the beginning to the end of time and the commencement of eternity.

(4) As in the case of the seals, they are general indications of God's judgments; and though particular events may be partial fulfilments, the complete fulfilment is in all time.

(5) In their general features there are some points of resemblance and some of difference on a comparison with the seals.

(a) They may be divided into groups of four and three. In both visions the first group of four deals more immediately with the natural world, the last group of three has more connection with the spiritual life.

(b) They terminate in a similar way, in the victory of the redeemed, who sing the praises of God.

(c) In both, greater elaboration or episode occurs after the sixth revelation.

(d) The nature of the seventh seal is undisclosed, and this is to a certain extent paralleled in the trumpets by the silence concerning the third and last woe.

(e) In consonance with the general purpose of the trumpets, there is no preliminary assurance of victory as with the first seal; this is reserved to the end.

(6) Several reasons may be suggested for the employment of the figure of trumpets, by which to announce each vision.

(a) It was the instrument in use among the Israelites for assembling people, either for warlike or peaceful purposes (cf. Numbers 10:1, 9, 10).

(b) It was thus intimately connected with solemn proclamations or the delivery of God's messages of judgment or warning, and is thus used in the New Testament in describing the judgment day (cf. Leviticus 25:9; Amos 3:6; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

(c) The use of trumpets on seven days at the destruction of Jericho, the type of all that is worldly, may have suggested the form of the vision here, in the announcement of the judgment and destruction of the world. Verse 2. - And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets; which stand (Revised Version). "And I saw" introduces the new vision, as in Revelation 5:1; Revelation 6:1, etc. Probably not during the silence (as Alford), but subsequent to it. "The seven angels" probably refers to a particular order of angels, or rather to those with a special mission; though, with our limited knowledge, it is impossible to determine exactly who they are or what their mission is. The passage in Tobit 12:15 is so similar as to be at once suggested: "I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints." But here the seven do not present the prayers of the saints, but another angel does so (ver. 3). De Wette and others think the seven are archangels (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "With the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God"). Arethas, Ewald, etc., identify them with "the seven Spirits of God" (Revelation 1:4; Revelation 4:5; Revelation 5:6). Others incline to the opinion that the seven are only distinguished from the other angels by being the seven who sound the trumpets, just as four others are alluded to in Revelation 7:1. (On the use of the number seven, see above; also on Revelation 1:4; 5:1, etc.) Revelation 8:2

Vincent's Word Studies

Stood (ἑστήκασιν)

Rev., correctly, stand.

Trumpets (σάλπιγγες)

See on Revelation 1:10.