The New Heaven and Earth. Chap. Revelation 21:1 1. _a new heaven and a new earth_ Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; referred to, as here, in 2 Peter 3:13. It is idle to ask, what amount of change in the physical constitution of the universe is implied: the destruction of the earth, as a seat of life, and... [ Continue Reading ]
The New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:2 2. _And I John saw_ Read simply, AND I SAW. _new Jerusalem_ For the old Jerusalem, though we saw (Revelation 20:9, and note) that it is to be again "a holy city" in the last days as of old, will have passed away with "the first earth." _coming down from God out o... [ Continue Reading ]
A Voice from Heaven of Blessing and Judgement, Revelation 21:3-8 3. _out of heaven_ Read, OUT OF THE THRONE; cf. Revelation 19:5. _the tabernacle of God_ i.e. the Shechinah, the divine Presence, see on Revelation 7:15. So in the next words, _he will dwell with them_ Lit., HAVE HIS TABERNACLE WITH... [ Continue Reading ]
_God shall wipe_ Read simply, AND SHALL WIPE, or, AND HE SHALL WIPE, according as it is thought necessary or not to begin a new sentence. The name of "God" is introduced from the parallel passage, Revelation 7:17: in Isaiah 25:8 the names used are those traditionally represented by "the Lord God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he that sat upon the throne said_ The first time that He speaks. The reference is rather to the eternal throne of Revelation 4:2 than to the judgement-throne of Revelation 20:11, so far as the two can be distinguished. _Behold, I make all things new_ Some O. T. parallels are alleged, e.g. Isai... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is done_ We should read the plural: the word therefore is not an _exact_repetition of that in Revelation 16:17. If we ask, what is the subject to this verb, "_They_are come into being," perhaps the best answer is "all things." The new universe of which the creating Word has just gone forth, has... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that overcometh_ Carries back our thoughts to the promises at the beginning of the book, Revelation 2:7, &c. There is perhaps some significance in the Father thus taking up and repeating the language of the Son. _all things_ Read, THESE THINGS; viz. the new heavens and earth, and the things in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the fearful_ THE COWARDS would express the sense more accurately, at least in modern English. Those condemned are those who are afraid to do their duty, not those who do it, though timidly and in spite of the fears of nature: still less those who do it "with fear and trembling" in St Paul's sen... [ Continue Reading ]
The Vision of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:9 to Revelation 22:5 The Measure of the City, Revelation 21:9-17 9. _And there came unto me_&c. As in Revelation 17:1. "unto me" should be omitted, so that the sentence as far as "vials" is _verbatim_the same as there. The identical form of introducti... [ Continue Reading ]
_Having the glory of God_ i.e. the visible cloud of glory (cf. Hebrews 9:5), the Shechinah of the divine Presence. See Revelation 21:23. _and her light_ Omit "and". The word for LIGHT is peculiar it would properly be used of A STAR, AS WE SAY "luminary." _a jasper stone_ See on Revelation 4:3. _c... [ Continue Reading ]
_and had_ Lit. HAVING; but there is a break in the construction, at least as marked as that given by the A. V. _a wall great and high_ Its exact height is stated in Revelation 21:17. _twelve gates … Israel_ So Ezekiel 48:31-34. Probably the order of the names on the gates would be the same as ther... [ Continue Reading ]
_east … north … south … west_ The order of enumeration in Numbers is E. S. W. N., in Ezekiel N. E. S. W. in Enoch N. W. S. E., as in each of them the surveyor goes round methodically in order: in this more ecstatic book, the whole is apprehended simultaneously, perhaps rather confusedly.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the wall … twelve foundations_ Probably each of the twelve sections into which the wall is divided by the gates rests on an enormous jewel, reaching from gate to gate. This symbolises the solidity as well as the beauty of the divine structure: and was itself symbolised by the enormous size of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_a golden reed_ So Revelation 11:1; this is more closely parallel to Ezekiel 40:3; Ezekiel 40:5. See also Zechariah 2:1. _the gates_ As it happens, we are not actually told of their measurement.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he measured the city_ It is doubtful whether this is the measurement of the _side_of the square, or of the whole circumference. The twelve-fold measure is in favour of the former view: thus from each gate to the next would be 1000 furlongs; the outmost gate on each side being 500 from the angle. _... [ Continue Reading ]
_he measured the wall_ We should naturally understand, the height of it. The walls of the historical Babylon are differently stated as having been 200, 300, or nearly 340 feet high. But we are told that they were about 80 feet in breadth (Hdt. I. 178:5: cf. Jeremiah 51:58): so if we do admit that th... [ Continue Reading ]
The building foundations and street, Revelation 21:18-21 18. _And the building_ The word is a half-technical one, as it were "the superstructure," as distinct from the foundations. _jasper_ See on Revelation 4:3. _the city was pure gold_ i.e. the houses included within the wall. like … glass] _T... [ Continue Reading ]
_garnished_ The same word that is rendered "adorned" in Revelation 21:2. From the next sentence we are to understand that they are adorned by being _constructed_of these stones, not that stones are fastened on _merely_for ornament. _precious stones_ See Isaiah 54:11-12; where however there is less d... [ Continue Reading ]
_chrysolite … topaz_ According to the best authorities, the ancient application of these names was the reverse of the modern. Chrysolite ought, according to the etymology, to be a "golden stone," while the modern chrysolite is green. Perhaps the ancient chrysolite included the modern jacinth as well... [ Continue Reading ]
_pearls_ Contrast Isaiah 54:12, where they are carbuncles. _the street_ Or "square:" see on Revelation 11:8. The City has one great space in the midst of it, like an Agora or Forum: but the word Agora would have associations, commercial or political, that would be incongruous with the repose of thi... [ Continue Reading ]
The Temple, the Light, the Riches, and the Inhabitants of the City, Revelation 21:22-27 22. _And I saw no temple_ The New Jerusalem is on earth though on the _new_earth: this does not therefore prove that the heavenly temple of Revelation 11:19 &c. has ceased to exist. But He Who dwells from all et... [ Continue Reading ]
_no need of the sun_&c. Isaiah 60:19. It is impossible to say whether it is here meant that the sun and moon do not shine, or only that the city is not dependent on them. _the light thereof_ The word is that commonly rendered CANDLE OR LAMP. This makes it unlikely that the analogy is meant to be su... [ Continue Reading ]
_of them which are saved_ Should be omitted. 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... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the gates_&c. Isaiah 60:11. But the later prophet speaks of a further glory than the earlier: Isaiah recognises the succession of day and night, while St John sees that in that perpetual day the gates _cannot_need to be closed. In an earthly city they are not closed by day except in time of war... [ Continue Reading ]
_that defileth_ Read UNCLEAN, lit. COMMON. whatsoever _worketh_ Read, HE THAT WORKETH, or rather DOETH. _the Lamb's book of life_ So Revelation 13:8.... [ Continue Reading ]