English
And when he opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Interpretation
The purpose of the silence has eluded interpreters. The most promising guess is that it concerns the book’s setting of the heavenly temple.
Parallels
Psalms
46.10 ‘Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.’
Isaiah
47.5 Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter Chaldea! For you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.
Zephaniah
1.7 Be silent before the Lord Yhwh! For the day of the Lord is at hand; Yhwh has prepared a sacrifice, he has consecrated his guests.
Letter of Aristeas
92, 95 The ministering of the priests was absolutely unsurpassable in its vigor and the arrangement of its well-ordered silence: all work hard of their own accord, with much exertion, and each one looks after his appointed task. […] A general silence reigns, so that one might think that there was not a single man in the place although the number of ministers in attendance is more than seven hundred
Testament of Adam
1.12 The twelfth hour is the waiting for incense, and silence is imposed on all the ranks of fire and wind until all the priests burn incense to his divinity. And at that time all the heavenly powers are dismissed.