Revelation 21:11-15

21:11 The city possesses ¹  the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper. ²  21:12 It has ³  a massive, high wall ⁴  with twelve gates, ⁵  with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel ⁶  are written on the gates. ⁷  21:13 There are ⁸  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. ⁹  21:14 The ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall.

[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.

[21:11]  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.”

[21:12]  ³ tn Grk “jasper, having.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

[21:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “a (city) wall great and high.”

[21:12]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “of the sons of Israel.” The translation “nation of Israel” is given in L&N 11.58.

[21:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the gates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:13]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The word “side” has been supplied four times in this verse for clarity.

[21:14]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

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