---
title: Revelation 5:5
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/revelation-5-5/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/revelation-5-5.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Revelation 5:5
testament: NT
section: Prophecy
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Revelation 5:5

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

## JW Usage

JWs identify Jesus as the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" and the Lamb but maintain he is a created being — Michael the Archangel — who received kingly authority from Jehovah. The worship directed at the Lamb in Revelation 5:13–14 is reinterpreted as honour that ultimately passes through Jesus to Jehovah.

## Protestant Usage

Revelation uses a consistent "I heard… then I saw" literary pattern where both descriptions refer to the same reality. In 5:5–6, John hears "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" and then sees "a Lamb standing as though slaughtered" — Lion and Lamb are the same person, Jesus. The same pattern in 7:4–9 means the 144,000 (heard) and the great crowd (seen) are the same group. JWs cannot accept Lion = Lamb but deny 144,000 = great crowd without special pleading. Revelation 5:13–14 directs identical worship to "the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb" — and the NWT itself uses "worshipped" in verse 14. In Revelation 22:8–9, an angel refuses worship; the Lamb never does. If the Lamb were a created angel, the greatest act of idolatry in the Bible would occur in God's throne room with no correction.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [One Flock / Great Crowd in Heaven](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/one-flock.md) — John 10:16 / Revelation 7:9 [Eschatology]
- [Jesus Receives Worship](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/worship-of-jesus.md) — Hebrews 1:6 / Revelation 5:13–14 / Daniel 7:13–14 [Deity of Christ]
- [I Heard / I Saw — Revelation's Literary Key](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/heard-saw-pattern.md) — Revelation 5:5–6 / Revelation 7:4–9 [Eschatology]
- [The Lamb Receives Identical Worship to God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/revelation5-lamb-worship.md) — Revelation 5:12-14 / Revelation 22:8-9 / Isaiah 42:8 [Deity of Christ]