Revelation 22 is the twenty-second (and the last)
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 R ...
or the Apocalypse of John, and the final chapter of 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 Christ ...
and 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 ...
. The book is traditionally attributed to
John the Apostle
John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee a ...
. This chapter contains the accounts of the throne of God in the
New Jerusalem
In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the c ...
, the conversation between John and the Angel and the epilogue of the book.
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 21 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 manuscripts) ...
(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)
References to Jesus
Verse 13
:''I am
the Alpha and the Omega
Alpha (Α or α) and omega (Ω or ω) are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and a title of Christ and God in the Book of Revelation. This pair of letters is used as a Christian symbol, and is often combined with the Cross, Chi-r ...
, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.''
*Cross reference:
Revelation 21:6
*"The Beginning and the End, the First and the Last" (
KJV
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
;
NKJV
The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...
): NU and M read "''First and the Last, the Beginning and the End''".
File:Labarum.png, Labarum
The labarum ( el, λάβαρον) was a ''vexillum'' (military standard) that displayed the "Chi-Rho" symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" ( el, ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) – ''Chi'' (χ ...
: Chi-rho
The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters—chi (letter), chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek word (Christ (title), ...
with alpha and omega
File:Christ with beard.jpg, Mural painting from the catacomb of Commodilla. Bust of Christ, (one of the first bearded images of Christ) with alpha and omega. Late 4th century
File:ΑΩwindow.jpg, Alpha Α and Omega Ω stained glass window, circa 1883, near the front door of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Verse 14
:''Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.''
Verse 15
:''Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.''
Verse 16
:''"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.
:''I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."''
[ NKJV]
See also
*
John's vision of the Son of Man
*
New Jerusalem Dead Sea Scroll Discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls near Qumran, Israel, were fragments of a scroll which describes New Jerusalem in minute detail. The New Jerusalem Scroll appears to contain an apocalyptic vision, an eschatological vision of the city and the te ...
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
22
Lucifer