Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 21:24

καὶ περιπ.… αὐτῆς. 1 reads καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τῶν σωζομένων (from And. comm[847]) τῷ φωτὶ αὐτῆς περιπατήσουσι τά ἔθνη διὰ τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτῆς. Text. Rec[848] inserts ἐν and omits the last six words.

[847] comm. Andreas’ Commentary: the text of the MSS. differs.
[848] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.

φέρουσιν τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν. B2 … φέρουσιν αὐτῷ δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν.

24. τὰ ἔθνη. Notice that the new Jerusalem is not the only inhabited part of the new earth, but only its centre and capital, as the earthly Jerusalem was in chap. 20. It follows from Revelation 20:15, that all the dwellers in the new earth are those who were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life; but it does not appear who among them have the further privilege of citizenship in the Holy City. That there is such a further privilege, above the lot of all the Elect, has been already suggested by Revelation 7:4; Revelation 7:9; Revelation 14:1-5.

St Irenæus, who understood like St Justin that the new Jerusalem would be the seat of the millennial reign, quotes the presbyters who had seen John for the remarkable theory that the holy city will be the lowest stage of eternal glory: those who bear fruit thirtyfold will tarry there, those who bear sixtyfold will be in Paradise, those who bear a hundredfold in heaven.

οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς. Apparently, civic government is still needed, or at any rate still exists, among “the nations” of the regenerate earth. But probably this is only a part of the imagery: Jerusalem is conceived (as in Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 60:10-11) as an imperial city receiving the tribute of the world, simply because that was the form of world-wide sovereignty recognised and understood in the prophets’ times.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 21:24

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