Revelation 21:2

21:2 And I saw the holy city – the new Jerusalem – descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:9-14

The New Jerusalem Descends

21:9 Then ¹  one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and spoke to me, ²  saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb!” 21:10 So ³  he took me away in the Spirit ⁴  to a huge, majestic mountain ⁵  and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 21:11 The city possesses ⁶  the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper. ⁷  21:12 It has ⁸  a massive, high wall ⁹  with twelve gates, ¹⁰  with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel ¹¹  are written on the gates. ¹²  21:13 There are ¹³  three gates on the east side, three gates on the north side, three gates on the south side and three gates on the west side. ¹⁴  21:14 The ¹⁵  wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

[21:9]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[21:9]  ² tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.” See also v. 15.

[21:10]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation.

[21:10]  ⁴ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[21:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “to a mountain great and high.”

[21:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “from God, having the glory of God.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “the city” to refer back to the previous clause and translating the participle (“having”) as a finite verb.

[21:11]  ⁷ tn On the term ἰάσπιδι (iaspidi) BDAG 465 s.v. ἴασπις states, “jasper, a precious stone found in various colors, mostly reddish, somet. green…brown, blue, yellow, and white. In antiquity the name was not limited to the variety of quartz now called jasper, but could designate any opaque precious stone. Rv 21:18f. W. λίθος 4:3 (TestSol C 11:8). λίθος ἴασπις κρυσταλλίζων a stone of crystal-clear jasper 21:11 (cp. Is 54:12); perh. the opal is meant here; acc. to some, the diamond.”

[21:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “jasper, having.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

[21:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “a (city) wall great and high.”

[21:12]  ¹⁰ tn On this term BDAG 897 s.v. πυλών 1 states, “gate, esp. of the large, impressive gateways at the entrance of temples and palaces…of the entrances of the heavenly Jerusalem…οἱ πυλῶνες αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ κλεισθῶσιν its entrances shall never be shut Rv 21:25; cp. vss. 12ab, 13abcd, 15, 21ab; 22:14.”

[21:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “of the sons of Israel.” The translation “nation of Israel” is given in L&N 11.58.

[21:12]  ¹² tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the gates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:13]  ¹³ tn The words “There are” have been supplied to make a complete English sentence. This is a continuation of the previous sentence, a lengthy and complicated one in Greek.

[21:13]  ¹⁴ tn The word “side” has been supplied four times in this verse for clarity.

[21:14]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.