Text -- Revelation 21:1-15 (NET)

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. 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. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more– or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” 21:5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.” 21:6 He also said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life. 21:7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem Descends

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

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Rev 21:1

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

² tn For the translation of ἀπέρχομαι (apercomai; here ἀπῆλθαν [aphlqan]) L&N 13.93 has “to go out of existence – ‘to cease to exist, to pass away, to cease.’”

NET Notes: Rev 21:3

¹ tn Or “dwelling place”; traditionally, “tabernacle”; literally “tent.”

² tn Or “people”; Grk “men” (ἀνθρώπων, anqrwpwn), a generic use of the term. In the translation “human beings” was used here because “people” occurs later in the verse and translates a different Greek word (λαοί, laoi).

³ tn Grk “men, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁴ tc ‡ Most mss (א Ï^K) do not add the words “[as] their God” (αὐτῶν θεός, autwn qeos) after “he will be with them.” The mss with these words include A 2030 2050 2329 al. The Andreas group (Ï^A) also has the words, but in a different arrangement with the preceding (ἔσται μετ᾿ αὐτῶν θεὸς αὐτῶν, estai met’ autwn qeo" autwn). Not only do the words float, but scribes may have been motivated to make a connection here more directly with Isa 7:14; 8:8; Jer 24:7; 31:33; Zech 8:8. In light of sufficient external evidence as well as the possibility that the longer reading is theologically motivated, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

NET Notes: Rev 21:4

¹ tn Grk “God, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

² tn For the translation of ἀπέρχομαι (apercomai; here ἀπῆλθαν [aphlqan]) L&N 13.93 has “to go out of existence – ‘to cease to exist, to pass away, to cease.’”

NET Notes: Rev 21:5

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

² tn The words “it down” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

³ tn Grk “faithful.”

NET Notes: Rev 21:6

¹ tn Or “It has happened.”

² tn The word “water” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

³ tn Or “as a free gift” (see L&N 57.85).

NET Notes: Rev 21:7

¹ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”

NET Notes: Rev 21:8

¹ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

² tn Grk “idolaters.”

³ tn Grk “their share.”

⁴ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

⁵ tn Grk “sulfur, which is.” The relative pronoun has been translated as “that” to indicate its connection to the previous clause. The nearest logical antecedent is “the lake [that burns with fire and sulfur],” although “lake” (λίμνη, limnh) is feminine gender, while the pronoun “which” (ὅ, Jo) is neuter gender. This means that (1) the proper antecedent could be “their place” (Grk “their share,”) agreeing with the relative pronoun in number and gender, or (2) the neuter pronoun still has as its antecedent the feminine noun “lake,” since agreement in gender between pronoun and antecedent was not always maintained, with an explanatory phrase occurring with a neuter pronoun regardless of the case of the antecedent. In favor of the latter explanation is Rev 20:14, where the phrase “the lake of fire” is in apposition to the phrase “the second death.”

NET Notes: Rev 21:9

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

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.

NET Notes: Rev 21:10

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation.

² 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).

³ tn Grk “to a mountain great and high.”

NET Notes: Rev 21:11

¹ 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.

² 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.”

NET Notes: Rev 21:12

¹ tn Grk “jasper, having.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

² tn Grk “a (city) wall great and high.”

³ 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.”

⁴ tn Grk “of the sons of Israel.” The translation “nation of Israel” is given in L&N 11.58.

⁵ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the gates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Rev 21:13

¹ 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.

² tn The word “side” has been supplied four times in this verse for clarity.

NET Notes: Rev 21:14

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

NET Notes: Rev 21:15

¹ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (the angel of v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.