Revelation 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

of the

Christian Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. This chapter contains the accounts of "the new heaven and the new earth", followed by the appearance of the New Jerusalem the Bride.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 27 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others: *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330–360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440)

A new heaven and a new earth (21:1–8)

Verse 1

The Nonconformist minister

Alexander Maclaren Alexander Maclaren (11 February 1826 – 5 May 1910) was a Scottish Baptist minister. Biography Maclaren was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of David Maclaren, a merchant and Baptist lay preacher.Edwin Charles Dargan (1912) ''A History of ...

interprets "a new heaven and a new earth" as meaning "a renovated condition of humanity" and suggests that "and the sea is no more" is "probably ... to be taken in a symbolic sense, as shadowing forth the absence of unruly power, of mysterious and hostile forces, of estranging gulfs of separation". Referring to the island of

Patmos Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. One of the northern ...

where the writer experienced his vision, Maclaren continues, "The sad and solitary and estranging ocean that raged around his little rock sanctuary has passed away for ever".

Verse 2

The name ''John'' appears in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

and New King James Version but is generally omitted in other English translations.

Verse 6

: ''And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment."'' *"It is done": from Greek , ',Revelation 21:6 Greek text analysis
Biblehub alluding that "the things promised (plural) have come to pass". Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.) (1905)
''Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers''. Revelation 21.
London : Cassell and Company, Limited, 905–1906Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019. Whereas in Revelation 16:17 the statement "it is done" (Greek: , ') signifies 'the completion of the wrath of God', here it is 'at the making of all things new'. *"Without payment" (KJV: "freely"): from Greek , ', "a free, unmerited gift".Benson, Joseph
''Commentary on the Old and New Testaments''. Revelation 21.
Accessed 9 Juli 2019.

The new Jerusalem (21:9–27)

Verses 9–11

The beginning part of this section (verses 9–10) forms a parallel with , which is similar to the parallel between and , indicating a distinct marking of a pair of passages about Babylon and the New Jerusalem with as a transition from the destruction of Babylon to the arrival of the New Jerusalem.

Verse 14

W H Simcox, in the

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologi ...

, observes that St John the Apostle (if he was the author) "does not notice his own name being written there".Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on Revelation 21, accessed 17 December 2018

Verses 15–21

The ground plan of the New Jerusalem is shown to be a square (cf. ), '12000 stadia in each direction' (verse 16), but the general form is actually a 'perfect cube', unlike any 'city ever imagined', but 'like the holy of holies' in the Solomon's temple in Jerusalem (), although the New Jerusalem needs no temple (verse 22), because 'the whole city is the holiest place of God's presence'.

Verses 22–27

The description of the New Jerusalem in many ways is in agreement with the models in the Old Testament and apocryphal literature ( Isaiah 52:1; ; 60; ; ; ; ; Tobit 13:16–17), except for the absence of a temple in the new city. The New Jerusalem is called in the

Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during ...

as 'The Lord is There' ( Ezekiel 48:35) and in the

Book of Zechariah The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Historical context Zechariah's prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great and were contemporary ...

the whole city is declared as holy as the temple (; cf. Isaiah 52:1).

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* King James Bible – Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Book of Revelation 21