Genesis 11:4-8

11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ¹  so that ²  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ³  we will be scattered ⁴  across the face of the entire earth.”

11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people ⁵  had started ⁶  building. 11:6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language ⁷  they have begun to do this, then ⁸  nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. ⁹  11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse ¹⁰  their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” ¹¹ 

11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building ¹²  the city.

Revelation 21:14-27

21:14 The ¹³  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 ¹⁴  who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall. 21:16 Now ¹⁵  the city is laid out as a square, ¹⁶  its length and width the same. He ¹⁷  measured the city with the measuring rod ¹⁸  at fourteen hundred miles ¹⁹  (its length and width and height are equal). 21:17 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits ²⁰  according to human measurement, which is also the angel’s. ²¹  21:18 The city’s ²²  wall is made ²³  of jasper and the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. ²⁴  21:19 The foundations of the city’s wall are decorated ²⁵  with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, ²⁶  the fourth emerald, 21:20 the fifth onyx, ²⁷  the sixth carnelian, ²⁸  the seventh chrysolite, ²⁹  the eighth beryl, ³⁰  the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, ³¹  the eleventh jacinth, ³²  and the twelfth amethyst. 21:21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls – each one of the gates is made from just one pearl! The ³³  main street ³⁴  of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.

21:22 Now ³⁵  I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God – the All-Powerful ³⁶  – and the Lamb are its temple. 21:23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. 21:24 The nations ³⁷  will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur ³⁸  into it. 21:25 Its gates will never be closed during the day ³⁹  (and ⁴⁰  there will be no night there). ⁴¹  21:26 They will bring the grandeur and the wealth ⁴²  of the nations ⁴³  into it, 21:27 but ⁴⁴  nothing ritually unclean ⁴⁵  will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable ⁴⁶  or practices falsehood, ⁴⁷  but only those whose names ⁴⁸  are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

[11:4]  ¹ tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.

[11:4]  ² tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.

[11:4]  ³ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

[11:4]  ⁴ sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.

[11:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.

[11:5]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.

[11:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”

[11:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”

[11:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”

[11:7]  ¹⁰ tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the Lord our God said to us…. And the Lord went down and we went down with him. And we saw the city and the tower which the sons of men built.” On the chiastic structure of the story, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:235.

[11:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”

[11:8]  ¹² tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.

[21:14]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (the angel of v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the description of the city.

[21:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the city lies square.” On κεῖμαι (keimai) in this context, BDAG 537 s.v. 2 states, “lie, of things…ἡ πόλις τετράγωνος κεῖται is laid out as a square Rv 21:16.”

[21:16]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:16]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “with the rod”; the word “measuring” is supplied from the description in v. 15.

[21:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “two thousand two hundred kilometers,” Grk “12,000 stades.” A stade was a measure of length about 607 ft (185 m).

[21:17]  ²⁰ tn Here the measurement was kept in cubits in the translation because of the possible symbolic significance of the number 144 (12 times 12). This is about 216 ft (65 m).

[21:17]  ²¹ tn Here L&N 81.1 translate the phrase μέτρον ἀνθρώπου, ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου (metron anqrwpou, {o estin angelou) “‘the unit of measurement used by a person, that is, by an angel’ Re 21:17.” It is more likely that μέτρον is an accusative of respect or reference.

[21:18]  ²² tn Grk “and its wall”; the referent of the pronoun (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:18]  ²³ tn The phrase ἡ ἐνδώμησις τοῦ τείχους (Jh endwmhsi" tou teicou") is difficult to translate precisely. BDAG 334 s.v. ἐνδώμησις states, “primary mng. ‘interior structure’; in our lit. prob.=construction, hence material τοῦ τείχους Rv 21:18.” The phrase could then be translated, “the foundation of the city wall was jasper” or “the material used for the wall of the city was jasper.” The latter alternative has been used in the translation because the text goes on to discuss the foundation in 21:19 (using the term θεμέλιος [qemelios]), which is somewhat redundant if the foundation is mentioned here.

[21:18]  ²⁴ tn Or “transparent crystal.” See L&N 6.222, which notes the emphasis is on transparency here. The same Greek word, καθαρός (kaqaros), means both “pure” (referring to the gold) and “transparent” (referring to the glass).

[21:19]  ²⁵ tn The perfect participle here has been translated as an intensive (resultative) perfect.

[21:19]  ²⁶ sn Agate (also called chalcedony) is a semiprecious stone usually milky or gray in color (L&N 2.32).

[21:20]  ²⁷ sn Onyx (also called sardonyx) is a semiprecious stone that comes in various colors (L&N 2.35).

[21:20]  ²⁸ sn Carnelian is a semiprecious gemstone, usually red in color (L&N 2.36).

[21:20]  ²⁹ sn Chrysolite refers to either quartz or topaz, golden yellow in color (L&N 2.37).

[21:20]  ³⁰ sn Beryl is a semiprecious stone, usually blue-green or green in color (L&N 2.38).

[21:20]  ³¹ sn Chrysoprase is a greenish type of quartz (L&N 2.40).

[21:20]  ³² sn Jacinth is a semiprecious stone, probably blue in color (also called “hyacinth,” but that translation is not used here because of possible confusion with the flower of the same name). See L&N 2.41.

[21:21]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:21]  ³⁴ tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[21:22]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Every verse from here to the end of this chapter begins with καί in Greek, but due to differences between Greek and contemporary English style, these have not been translated.

[21:22]  ³⁶ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[21:24]  ³⁷ tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[21:24]  ³⁸ tn Or “splendor”; Grk “glory.”

[21:25]  ³⁹ tn On the translation “during the day” see BDAG 436 s.v. ἡμέρα 1.a, “But also, as in Thu. et al., of time within which someth. occurs, ἡμέρας during the day Rv 21:25.”

[21:25]  ⁴⁰ tn The Greek connective γάρ (gar) most often expresses some sort of causal connection. However, in this context there is no causal force to the second phrase; γάρ simply expresses continuation or connection. Because of this it has been translated as “and.” See BDAG 189-90 s.v. 2.

[21:25]  ⁴¹ tn The clause has virtually the force of a parenthetical comment.

[21:26]  ⁴² tn Grk “honor,” but BDAG 1005 s.v. τιμή 2.b states, “An outstanding feature of the use of τ., as already shown in several passages, is its combination w. δόξα…of earthly possessions τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν Rv 21:26 (τιμή concr.=an object of value: Ezk 22:25).”

[21:26]  ⁴³ tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[21:27]  ⁴⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[21:27]  ⁴⁵ tn Here BDAG 552 s.v. κοινός 2 states, “pert. to being of little value because of being common, common, ordinary, profane…b. specifically, of that which is ceremonially impure: Rv 21:27.”

[21:27]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”

[21:27]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “practicing abomination or falsehood.” Because of the way βδέλυγμα (bdelugma) has been translated (“does what is detestable”) it was necessary to repeat the idea from the participle ποιῶν (poiwn, “practices”) before the term “falsehood.” On this term, BDAG 1097 s.v. ψεῦδος states, “ποιεῖν ψεῦδος practice (the things that go with) falsehood Rv 21:27; 22:15.” Cf. Rev 3:9.

[21:27]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.