Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Revelation 21:3-4

σκην. (chosen on account of its “assonance with the Hebrew to express the Shekinah,” Dr. Taylor on Pirke Aboth iii. 3) is the real tabernacle (Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:11). The whole meaning and value of the new Jerusalem lies in the presence of God (En. xlv. 6, lxii. 14, Test. Jude 1:25, etc.) with men which it guarantees. The O.T. promises are realised (see reff.); God is accessible, and men are consoled with eternal comfort (cf. Enoch 10:22, καὶ καθαρισθήσεται πᾶσα ἡ γῆ ἀπὸ παντὸς μιάμματος καὶ ἀπὸ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας καὶ ὀργῆς καὶ μάστιγος). If we were to read the passage in the light of Isaiah 61:3-10, the tears wiped away would signify that the penitents were newly espoused to the Lord; but the context here implies tears of grief and pain, not of repentance. “There shall be no more labour, nor sickness, nor sorrow, nor anxiety, nor need, nor night, nor darkness, but a great light” (Slav. En. lxv. 9).

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Revelation 21:3-4

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