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 21:10-27

21:10 So ¹  he took me away in the Spirit ²  to a huge, majestic mountain ³  and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 21:11 The city possesses ⁴  the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper. ⁵  21:12 It has ⁶  a massive, high wall ⁷  with twelve gates, ⁸  with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel ⁹  are written on the gates. ¹⁰  21:13 There are ¹¹  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. ¹²  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.

Psalms 48:8

48:8 We heard about God’s mighty deeds, now we have seen them, ⁴⁹ 

in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, ⁵⁰ 

in the city of our God.

God makes it permanently secure. ⁵¹  (Selah)

Psalms 87:3

87:3 People say wonderful things about you, ⁵² 

O city of God. (Selah)

Galatians 4:26-27

4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, ⁵³  and she is our mother. 4:27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ⁵⁴ 

break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,

because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous

than those of the woman who has a husband.” ⁵⁵ 

Hebrews 12:22

12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ⁵⁶  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly

[21:10]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation.

[21:10]  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).

[21:10]  ³ tn Grk “to a mountain great and high.”

[21:11]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “jasper, having.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

[21:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “a (city) wall great and high.”

[21:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “of the sons of Israel.” The translation “nation of Israel” is given in L&N 11.58.

[21:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the gates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:13]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The word “side” has been supplied four times in this verse for clarity.

[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.

[48:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “As we have heard, so we have seen.” The community had heard about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history. Having personally witnessed his saving power with their own eyes, they could now affirm that the tradition was not exaggerated or inaccurate.

[48:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Pss 24:10; 46:7, 11).

[48:8]  ⁵¹ tn Or “God makes it secure forever.” The imperfect highlights the characteristic nature of the generalizing statement.

[87:3]  ⁵² tn Heb “glorious things are spoken about you.” The translation assumes this is a general reference to compliments paid to Zion by those who live within her walls and by those who live in the surrounding areas and lands. Another option is that this refers to a prophetic oracle about the city’s glorious future. In this case one could translate, “wonderful things are announced concerning you.”

[4:26]  ⁵³ sn The meaning of the statement the Jerusalem above is free is that the other woman represents the second covenant (cf. v. 24); she corresponds to the Jerusalem above that is free. Paul’s argument is very condensed at this point.

[4:27]  ⁵⁴ tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[4:27]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”

[12:22]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “and the city”; the conjunction is omitted in translation since it seems to be functioning epexegetically – that is, explaining further what is meant by “Mount Zion.”