6. _And before the throne |there was| a sea of glass._ An expanse spread out like a sea composed of glass: that is, that was pellucid and transparent like glass. It is not uncommon to compare the sea with glass. See numerous examples in Wetstein, _in loco_. The point of the comparison here seems to be its transparent appearance. It was perfectly clear――apparently stretching out in a wide expanse, as if it were a _sea_. ¶ _Like unto crystal._ The word _crystal_ means properly anything congealed and pellucid, as ice; then anything resembling that, particularly a certain species of stone distinguished for its clearness――as the transparent crystals of quartz; limpid and colourless quartz; rock or mountain quartz. The word _crystal_ now, in mineralogy, means an inorganic body which, by the operation of affinity, has assumed the form of a regular solid, by a certain number of plane and smooth faces. It is here used manifestly in its popular sense to denote anything that is perfectly clear like ice. The comparison, in the representation of the expanse spread around the throne, turns on these points: (1) It appeared like a sea――stretching afar. (2) It resembled, in its general appearance, glass; and this idea is strengthened by the addition of another image of the same character――that it was like an expanse of crystal, perfectly clear and pellucid. This would seem to be designed to represent the floor or pavement on which the throne stood. If _this_ is intended to be emblematical, it _may_ denote (a) that the empire of God is vast――as if it were spread out like the sea; or (b) it may be emblematic of the _calmness_, the _placidity_ of the divine administration――like an undisturbed and unruffled ocean of glass. Perhaps, however, we should not press such circumstances too far to find a symbolical meaning. ¶ _And in the midst of the throne._ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ θρόνου. Not occupying the throne, but so as to appear to be intermingled with the throne, or “in the midst” of it, in the sense that it was beneath the centre of it. The meaning would seem to be, that the four living creatures referred to occupied such a position collectively that they at the same time appeared to be _under_ the throne, so that it rested on them, and _around_ it, so that they could be seen from any quarter. This would occur if their bodies were under the throne, and if they stood so that they faced outward. To one approaching the throne they would seem to be _around_ it, though their bodies were _under_, or “in the midst” of it as a support. The form of their bodies is not specified, but it is not improbable that though their _heads_ were different, their _bodies_, that were under the throne, and that sustained it, were of the same form. ¶ _And round about the throne._ In the sense above explained――that, as they stood, they would be seen on every side of the throne. ¶ _|Were| four beasts._ This is a very unhappy translation, as the word _beasts_