The Song of Songs 2:9

2:9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. ¹ 

Look! There he stands behind our wall,

gazing through the window,

peering through the lattice.

Revelation 21:12-19

21:12 It has ²  a massive, high wall ³  with twelve gates, ⁴  with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel ⁵  are written on the gates. ⁶  21:13 There are ⁷  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. ⁸  21:14 The ⁹  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 ¹⁰  who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall. 21:16 Now ¹¹  the city is laid out as a square, ¹²  its length and width the same. He ¹³  measured the city with the measuring rod ¹⁴  at fourteen hundred miles ¹⁵  (its length and width and height are equal). 21:17 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits ¹⁶  according to human measurement, which is also the angel’s. ¹⁷  21:18 The city’s ¹⁸  wall is made ¹⁹  of jasper and the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. ²⁰  21:19 The foundations of the city’s wall are decorated ²¹  with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, ²²  the fourth emerald,

[2:9]  ¹ sn Gazelles are often associated with sensuality and masculine virility in ancient Near Eastern love literature. Gazelles were often figures in Hebrew, Akkadian, and Ugaritic literature for mighty warriors or virile young men (e.g., 2 Sam 1:19; 2:18; Isa 14:9; Zech 10:3). In ancient Near Eastern love literature gazelles often symbolize the excitement and swiftness of the lover coming to see his beloved, as in an ancient Egyptian love song: “O that you came to your sister swiftly like a bounding gazelle! Its feet reel, its limbs are weary, terror has entered its body. A hunter pursues it with his hounds, they do not see it in its dust; It sees a resting place as a trap, it takes the river as its road. May you find her hiding-place before your hand is kissed four times. Pursue your sister’s love, the Golden gives her to you, my friend!” (“Three Poems” in the Papyrus Chester Beatty 1 collection).

[21:12]  ² tn Grk “jasper, having.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

[21:12]  ³ tn Grk “a (city) wall great and high.”

[21:12]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “of the sons of Israel.” The translation “nation of Israel” is given in L&N 11.58.

[21:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the gates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:13]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn The word “side” has been supplied four times in this verse for clarity.

[21:14]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (the angel of v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the somewhat parenthetical nature of the description of the city.

[21:16]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “with the rod”; the word “measuring” is supplied from the description in v. 15.

[21:16]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn The perfect participle here has been translated as an intensive (resultative) perfect.

[21:19]  ²² sn Agate (also called chalcedony) is a semiprecious stone usually milky or gray in color (L&N 2.32).