KJV: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
YLT: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth did pass away, and the sea is not any more;
Darby: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea exists no more.
ASV: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
| εἶδον | I saw |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular Root: εἶδον Sense: to see with the eyes. |
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| οὐρανὸν | a heaven |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: οὐρανός Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it. |
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| καινὸν | new |
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Parse: Adjective, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: καινός Sense: new. |
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| γῆν | an earth |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: γῆ Sense: arable land. |
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| καινήν | new |
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Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: καινός Sense: new. |
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| ὁ | - |
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Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| πρῶτος | the first |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: πρῶτος Sense: first in time or place. |
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| οὐρανὸς | heaven |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: οὐρανός Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it. |
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| πρώτη | first |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: πρῶτος Sense: first in time or place. |
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| γῆ | earth |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: γῆ Sense: arable land. |
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| ἀπῆλθαν | had passed away |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural Root: ἀπέρχομαι Sense: to go away, depart. |
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| θάλασσα | sea |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: θάλασσα Sense: the sea. |
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| ἔτι | any longer |
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Parse: Adverb Root: ἔτι Sense: yet, still. |
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Greek Commentary for Revelation 21:1
This new vision (ειδον eidon) is the picture of the bliss of the saints. [source]
“Fled away” The sea had given up its dead (Revelation 20:13). There were great risks on the sea (Revelation 18:17.). The old physical world is gone in this vision. It is not a picture of renovation of this earth, but of the disappearance of this earth and sky (not heaven where God dwells). It is a glorious picture here in Revelation 21:1-8 in sharp contrast to the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15. The symbolism in neither case is to be pressed too literally, but a stern and a glorious reality exists behind it all. [source]
“Fled away” The sea had given up its dead (Revelation 20:13). There were great risks on the sea (Revelation 18:17.). The old physical world is gone in this vision. It is not a picture of renovation of this earth, but of the disappearance of this earth and sky (not heaven where God dwells). It is a glorious picture here in Revelation 21:1-8 in sharp contrast to the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15. The symbolism in neither case is to be pressed too literally, but a stern and a glorious reality exists behind it all. [source]
The sea had given up its dead (Revelation 20:13). There were great risks on the sea (Revelation 18:17.). The old physical world is gone in this vision. It is not a picture of renovation of this earth, but of the disappearance of this earth and sky (not heaven where God dwells). It is a glorious picture here in Revelation 21:1-8 in sharp contrast to the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15. The symbolism in neither case is to be pressed too literally, but a stern and a glorious reality exists behind it all. [source]
See on Matthew 26:29. Compare Isaiah 65:17. [source]
Lit., as Rev., the sea is no more. Here as in Revelation 20:13. Some explain the sea as the ungodly world. I cannot help thinking this interpretation forced. According to this explanation, the passage is in the highest degree tautological. The first earth was passed away, and the ungodly world was no more. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Revelation 21:1
Christ responds to Peter's emphatic thou with another, equally emphatic. Peter says, “Thou art the Christ.” Christ replies, “Thou art Peter.” Πέτρος (Peter ) is used as a proper name, but without losing its meaning as a common noun. The name was bestowed on Simon at his first interview with Jesus (John 1:42) under the form of its Aramaic equivalent, CephasIn this passage attention is called, not to the giving of the name, but to its meaning. In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock, as in Homer, of Ajax throwing a stone at Hector (“Iliadvii., 270), or of Patroclus grasping and hiding in his hand a jagged stone (“Iliadxvi., 784).On this rock ( ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέρᾳ )The word is feminine, and means a rock, as distinguished from a stone or a fragment of rock ( πέτρος , above). Used of a ledge of rocks or a rocky peak. In Homer (“Odyssey,” ix., 243), the rock ( πέτρην ) which Polyphemus places at the door of his cavern, is a mass which two-and-twenty wagons could not remove; and the rock which he hurled at the retreating ships of Ulysses, created by its fall a wave in the sea which drove the ships back toward the land (“Odyssey,” ix., 484). The word refers neither to Christ as a rock, distinguished from Simon, a stone, nor to Peter's confession, but to Peter himself, in a sense defined by his previous confession, and as enlightened by the “Father in Heaven.” The reference of πέτρα to Christ is forced and unnatural. The obvious reference of the word is to Peter. The emphatic this naturally refers to the nearest antecedent; and besides, the metaphor is thus weakened, since Christ appears here, not as the foundation, but as the architect: “On this rock will I build.” Again, Christ is the great foundation, the “chief corner-stone,” but the New Testament writers recognize no impropriety in applying to the members of Christ's church certain terms which are applied to him. For instance, Peter himself (1 Peter 2:4), calls Christ a living stone, and, in 1 Peter 2:5, addresses the church as living stones. In Revelation 21:14, the names of the twelve apostles appear in the twelve foundation-stones of the heavenly city; and in Ephesians 2:20, it is said, “Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (i.e., laid by the apostles and prophets), Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.” Equally untenable is the explanation which refers πέτρα to Simon's confession. Both the play upon the words and the natural reading of the passage are against it, and besides, it does not conform to the fact, since the church is built, not on confessions, but on confessors - living men. “The word πέτρα ,” says Edersheim, “was used in the same sense in Rabbinic language. According to the Rabbins, when God was about to build his world, he could not rear it on the generation of Enos, nor on that of the flood, who brought destruction upon the world; but when he beheld that Abraham would arise in the future, he said' 'Behold, I have found a rock to build on it, and to found the world,' whence, also, Abraham is called a rock, as it is said' 'Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn.' The parallel between Abraham and Peter might be carried even further. If, from a misunderstanding of the Lord's promise to Peter, later Christian legend represented the apostle as sitting at the gate of heaven, Jewish legend represents Abraham as sitting at the gate of Gehenna, so as to prevent all who had the seal of circumcision from falling into its abyss” (“Life and Times of Jesus”). The reference to Simon himself is confirmed by the actual relation of Peter to the early church, to the Jewish portion of which he was a foundation-stone. See Acts, Acts 1:15; Acts 2:14, Acts 2:37; Acts 3:12; Acts 4:8; Acts 5:15, Acts 5:29; Acts 9:34, Acts 9:40; Acts 10:25, Acts 10:26; Job 3:17-19.Church ( ἐκκλησίαν ) ἐκ out, καλέω , to call or summon. This is the first occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Originally an assembly of citizens, regularly summoned. So in New Testament, Acts 19:39. The Septuagint uses the word for the congregation of Israel, either as summoned for a definite purpose (Acts 7:38); but for this there is more commonly employed συναγωγή , of which synagogue is a transcription; σύν , together, ἄγω , to bring (Acts 13:43). In Christ's words to Peter the word ἐκκλησία acquires special emphasis from the opposition implied in it to the synagogue. The Christian community in the midst of Israel would be designated as ἐκκλησία , without being confounded with the συναγωγή , the Jewish community. See Acts 5:11; Acts 8:1; Acts 12:1; Acts 14:23, Acts 14:27, etc. Nevertheless συναγωγή is applied to a Christian assembly in James 2:2, while ἐπισυναγωγή (gathering or assembling together ) is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1; Hebrews 10:25. Both in Hebrew and in New Testament usage ἐκκλησία implies more than a collective or national unity; rather a community based on a special religious idea and established in a special way. In the New Testament the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. So of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:5); the church at Corinth, the churches in Judea, the church at Jerusalem, etc.Gates of hell ( πύλαι ᾅδου )Rev., Hades. Hades was originally the name of the god who presided over the realm of the dead - Pluto or Dis. Hence the phrase, house of Hades. It is derived from ἀ , not, and; ἰδεῖν , to see; and signifies, therefore, the invisible land, the realm of shadow. It is the place to which all who depart this life descend, without reference to their moral character. By this word the Septuagint translated the Hebrew Sheol, which has a similar general meaning. The classical Hades embraced both good and bad men, though divided into Elysium, the abode of the virtuous, and Tartarus, the abode of the wicked. In these particulars it corresponds substantially with Sheol; both the godly and the wicked being represented as gathered into the latter. See Genesis 42:38; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 139:8; Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 57:2; Ezekiel 32:27; Hosea 13:14. Hades and Sheol were alike conceived as a definite place, lower than the world. The passage of both good and bad into it was regarded as a descent. The Hebrew conception is that of a place of darkness; a cheerless home of a dull, joyless, shadowy life. See Psalm 6:5; Psalm 94:17; Psalm 115:17; Psalm 88:5, Psalm 88:6, Psalm 88:10; Job 10:21; Galatians 1:15; Job 14:10, Job 14:11; Ecclesiastes 9:5. Vagueness is its characteristic. In this the Hebrew's faith appears bare in contrast with that of the Greek and Roman. The pagan poets gave the popular mind definite pictures of Tartarus and Elysium; of Styx and Acheron; of happy plains where dead heroes held high discourse, and of black abysses where offenders underwent strange and ingenious tortures. There was, indeed, this difference between the Hebrew and the Pagan conceptions; that to the Pagan, Hades was the final home of its tenants, while Sheol was a temporary condition. Hence the patriarchs are described (Hebrews 11:16) as looking for a better, heavenly country; and the martyrs as enduring in hope of “a better resurrection.” Prophecy declared that the dead should arise and sing, when Sheol itself should be destroyed and its inmates brought forth, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and contempt (Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 13:14; Daniel 12:2). Paul represents this promise as made to the fathers by God, and as the hope of his countrymen (Acts 26:7). God was the God of the dead as well as of the living; present in the dark chambers of Sheol as well as in heaven (Psalm 139:8; Psalm 16:10). This is the underlying thought of that most touching and pathetic utterance of Job (Job 14:13-15), in which he breathes the wish that God would hide him with loving care in Hades, as a place of temporary concealment, where he will wait patiently, standing like a sentinel at his post, awaiting the divine voice calling him to a new and happier life. This, too, is the thought of the familiar and much-disputed passage, Job 19:23-27. His Redeemer, vindicator, avenger, shall arise after he shall have passed through the shadowy realm of Sheol. “A judgment in Hades, in which the judge will show himself his friend, in which all the tangled skein of his life will be unravelled by wise and kindly hands, and the insoluble problem of his strange and self-contradicting experience will at last be solved - this is what Job still looks for on that happy day when he shall see God for himself, and find his Goel (vindicator) in that Almighty Deliverer” (Cox, “Commentary on the Book of Job”). In the New Testament, Hades is the realm of the dead. It cannot be successfully maintained that it is, in particular, the place for sinners (so Cremer, “Biblico-Theological Lexicon”). The words about Capernaum (Matthew 11:23), which it is surprising to find Cremer citing in support of this position, are merely a rhetorical expression of a fall from the height of earthly glory to the deepest degradation, and have no more bearing upon the moral character of Hades than the words of Zophar (Job 11:7, Job 11:8) about the perfection of the Almighty. “It is high as heaven - deeper than Sheol. ” Hades is indeed coupled with Death (Revelation 1:18; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14), but the association is natural, and indeed inevitable, apart from all moral distinctions. Death would naturally be followed by Hades in any case. In Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14, the general judgment is predicted, and not only Death and Hades, but the sea give tip their dead, and only those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). The rich man was in Hades (Luke 16:23), and in torments, but Lazarus was also in Hades, “in Abraham's bosom.” The details of this story “evidently represent the views current at the time among the Jews. According to them, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life were the abode of the blessed. We read that the righteous in Eden see the wicked in Gehenna and rejoice; and similarly, that the wicked in Gehenna see the righteous sitting beatified in Eden, and their souls are troubled (Edersheim, “Life and Times of Jesus”). Christ also was in Hades (Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31). Moreover, the word γέεννα , hell (see on Matthew 5:22), is specially used to denote the place of future punishment. Hades, then, in the New Testament, is a broad and general conception, with an idea of locality bound up with it. It is the condition following death, which is blessed or the contrary, according to the moral character of the dead, and is therefore divided into different realms, represented by Paradise or Abraham's bosom, and Gehenna. The expression Gates of Hades is an orientalism for the court, throne, power, and dignity of the infernal kingdom. Hades is contemplated as a mighty city, with formidable, frowning portals. Some expositors introduce also the idea of the councils of the Satanic powers, with reference to the Eastern custom of holding such deliberations in the gates of cities. Compare the expression Sublime Porte, applied to the Ottoman court. The idea of a building is maintained in both members of the comparison. The kingdom or city of Hades confronts and assaults the church which Christ will build upon the rock. See Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; Psalm 107:18; Isaiah 38:10. [source]
This was a second selection out of those invited to the hills and after the night of prayer and after day came (Luke 6:13). Why he chose twelve we are not told, probably because there were twelve tribes in Israel. It was a good round number at any rate. They were to be princes in the new Israel (cf. Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30; Revelation 21:14, Revelation 21:15). Luke (Luke 6:13-16) also gives the list of the twelve at this point while Matthew (Matthew 10:1-4) postpones giving the names till they are sent out in Galilee. There is a fourth list in Acts 1:13. See discussion of the names of the apostles on Matthew 10:1-4 and pp. 271-3 of my Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ. The three groups of four begin alike (Simon, Philip, James). There are some difficulties. [source]
This is a true superlative (not elative) and one of the three (also αγιωτατος hagiōtatos Judges 1:20, τιμιωτατος timiōtatos Revelation 18:12; Revelation 21:11) superlatives in τατος ̇tatos in the N.T. (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 279f., 670), though common enough in the lxx and the papyri. αιρεσιν Hairesin (choosing) is properly used here with Pharisees (Josephus, Life, 38). [source]
Condition of third class A neat turning of the tables on the distinguished audience about Paul‘s Jerusalem reputation before his conversion. After the straitest sect (την ακριβεστατην αιρεσιν tēn akribestatēn hairesin). This is a true superlative (not elative) and one of the three (also αγιωτατος hagiōtatos Judges 1:20, τιμιωτατος timiōtatos Revelation 18:12; Revelation 21:11) superlatives in τατος ̇tatos in the N.T. (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 279f., 670), though common enough in the lxx and the papyri. αιρεσιν Hairesin (choosing) is properly used here with Pharisees (Josephus, Life, 38). Religion From τρησκευω thrēskeuō and this from τρησκος thrēskos (James 1:26), old word for religious worship or discipline, common in the papyri and inscriptions (Moulton and Milligan‘s Vocabulary) for reverent worship, not mere external ritual. In N.T. only here, James 1:26.; Colossians 2:18. I lived a Pharisee (εζησα Παρισαιος ezēsa Pharisaios). Emphatic position. Paul knew the rules of the Pharisees and played the game to the full (Galatians 1:14; Philemon 3:5.). The Talmud makes it plain what the life of a Pharisee was. Paul had become one of the leaders and stars of hope for his sect. [source]
Double compound (απο κατα ιστημι apoαποκατιστημι kataπαλινγενεσια histēmi), here only in the N.T., though common in late writers. In papyri and inscriptions for repairs to temples and this phrase occurs in Jewish apocalyptic writings, something like the new heaven and the new earth of Revelation 21:1. Paul has a mystical allusion also to the agony of nature in Romans 8:20-22. The verb apokathistēmi is used by Jesus of the spiritual and moral restoration wrought by the Baptist as Elijah (Matthew 17:11; Mark 9:12) and by the disciples to Jesus in Acts 1:6. Josephus uses the word of the return from captivity and Philo of the restitution of inheritances in the year of jubilee. As a technical medical term it means complete restoration to health. See a like idea in palingenesia (renewal, new birth) in Matthew 19:28; Titus 3:5. This universalism of Peter will be clearer to him after Joppa and Caesarea. [source]
Not the same as κάλαμος areed. See Revelation 11:1; Revelation 21:15; and on 3 John 1:13. This word means a stalk of grain after the ears have been cut off. It was used for thatch in building. Virgil, “Aeneid,” 654, alludes to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus with its roof bristling with stubble. [source]
Only here and Revelation 21:11, see note. Properly, luminaries. So Rev., in margin. Generally of the heavenly bodies. See Genesis 1:14, Genesis 1:16, Sept. [source]
Accusative articular infinitive object of ηγησατο hēgēsato “the being equal with God” (associative instrumental case τεωι theōi after ισα isa). Ισα Isa is adverbial use of neuter plural with ειναι einai as in Revelation 21:16. [source]
Predicate accusative with ηγησατο hēgēsato Originally words in μος ̇mos signified the act, not the result The few examples of αρπαγμος harpagmos (Plutarch, etc.) allow it to be understood as equivalent to αρπαγμα harpagma like βαπτισμος baptismos and βαπτισμα baptisma That is to say Paul means a prize to be held on to rather than something to be won (“robbery”). To be on an equality with God (το ειναι ισα τεοι to einai isa theoi). Accusative articular infinitive object of ηγησατο hēgēsato “the being equal with God” (associative instrumental case τεωι theōi after ισα isa). Ισα Isa is adverbial use of neuter plural with ειναι einai as in Revelation 21:16. Emptied himself First aorist active indicative of κενοω kenoō old verb from κενος kenos empty. Of what did Christ empty himself? Not of his divine nature. That was impossible. He continued to be the Son of God. There has arisen a great controversy on this word, a Κενοσις Kenosis doctrine. Undoubtedly Christ gave up his environment of glory. He took upon himself limitations of place (space) and of knowledge and of power, though still on earth retaining more of these than any mere man. It is here that men should show restraint and modesty, though it is hard to believe that Jesus limited himself by error of knowledge and certainly not by error of conduct. He was without sin, though tempted as we are. “He stripped himself of the insignia of majesty” (Lightfoot). [source]
For glory see on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ἱσχὺς powernot often in Paul. It is indwelling power put forth or embodied, either aggressively or as an obstacle to resistance: physical power organized or working under individual direction. An army and a fortress are both ἰσχυρὸς. The power inhering in the magistrate, which is put forth in laws or judicial decisions, is ἰσχὺς , and makes the edicts ἰσχυρὰ validand hard to resist. Δύναμις is the indwelling power which comes to manifestation in ἰσχὺς The precise phrase used here does not appear elsewhere in N.T. In lxx, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Isaiah 2:21. The power ( δύναμις ) and glory of God are associated in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1. Comp. κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ strengthof his glory, Colossians 1:11. Additional Note on ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον eternaldestruction, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Ἁιών transliterated eon is a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle ( περὶ οὐρανοῦ , i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the eon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life ( αἰών ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Il. v. 685; Od. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mytho-logical period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many eons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one eon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the eon depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated world; world representing a period or a series of periods of time. See Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49; Luke 1:70; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 1:21. Similarly οἱ αἰῶνες theworlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 11:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. To deduce that meaning from its relation to ἀεί is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, ἀεί does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always ( ἀεί ) liars (Titus 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Hebrews 3:10; 1 Peter 3:15. Ἁεί means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. “The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.”-DIVIDER- In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of eons. A series of such eons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. See Ephesians 3:11. Paul contemplates eons before and after the Christian era. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; comp. Hebrews 9:26. He includes the series of eons in one great eon, ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων theeon of the eons (Ephesians 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the throne of God as enduring unto the eon of the eons (Hebrews 1:8). The plural is also used, eons of the eons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; Philemon 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The adjective αἰώνιος in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, ἀΐ̀διος , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Judges 1:6. Ἁιώνιος means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα , habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, lxx, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 29:9; Exodus 32:13; Joshua 14:9; 1 Samuel 8:13; Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Chronicles 28:4. See also Matthew 21:19; John 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13. The same is true of αἰώνιος . Out of 150 instances in lxx, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Genesis 48:4; Numbers 10:8; Numbers 15:15; Proverbs 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 61:8. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material can not carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render αἰώνιος everlastingOf course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as αἰώνιος , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer than men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations to time. God's eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive eons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded. That αἰώνιος occurs rarely in the New Testament and in lxx does not prove that its place was taken by αἰώνιος . It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Romans 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Romans 16:26he speaks of the eternal God ( τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ ); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal ( χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive eons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the eons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων theKing of the eons, applied to God in 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 15:3; comp. 2Timothy href="/desk/?q=2ti+1:9&sr=1">2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the eons. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternallife, which occurs 42 times in N.T., but not in lxx, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or eon, or continuing during that eon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by αἰώνιος . Κόλασις αἰώνιος , rendered everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an eon other than that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases ζωὴ αἰώνιος does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the eon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matthew 19:16; John 5:39. John says that ζωὴ αἰώνιος is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47, John 6:64. The Father's commandment is ζωὴ αἰώσιος , John 12:50; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is ζωὴ αἰώνιος , John 17:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. 'Eternal life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as ἡ ὄντως ζωὴ thelife which is life indeed, and ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ θεοῦ thelife of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”-DIVIDER- Thus, while αἰώνιος carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the eon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new eon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new eon, - the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In the present passage it is urged that ὄλεθρον destructionpoints to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this be true, if ὄλεθρος isextinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective αἰώνιος is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But ὄλεθρος does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb ἀπόλλυμι todestroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says, “the world being deluged with water, perished ” ( ἀπολοῦνται 2 Peter 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12quoted from Isaiah href="/desk/?q=isa+51:6&sr=1">Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:16; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost ” ( ἀπολωλός ), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost ( ἀπολωλότα ) sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6, comp. Matthew 15:24. “He that shall lose ( ἀπολέσῃ ) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:25. Comp. Luke 15:6, Luke 15:9, Luke 15:32. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In this passage the word destruction is qualified. It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, “ at his second coming, in the new eon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Ἁιώνιος may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millennial eon between Christ's coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that eon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterizing or enduring through a period or eon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is αἰώνιος to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.sa180 [source]
Mostly in Revelation. Only here in Pastorals. In Paul, Romans 4:11; 1 Corinthians 9:2. Used here rather in the sense of inscription or motto. Comp. Deuteronomy 6:9; Deuteronomy 11:20; Revelation 21:14. There are two inscriptions on the foundation stone, the one guaranteeing the security, the other the purity, of the church. The two go together. The purity of the church is indispensable to its security. [source]
Attention is called to this phrase as specially significant, because it indicates that the shaking prophesied by Haggai is to be final. It is to precede the new heaven and the new earth. Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. [source]
Comp. Matthew 25:34; John 14:2; Revelation 21:2. City is significant, as showing that the fulfillment of God's promise lies in introducing them into the perfection of social life. Comp. Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10; Revelation 22:19. [source]
The sense is impaired in A.V. by the omission of the articles, the city, the foundations. Passing over the immediate subject of God's promise to Abraham - his inheritance of the land in which he sojourns - the writer fastens the patriarch's faith upon the heavenly fulfillment of the promise - the perfected community of God, which, he assumes, was contained in the original promise. By the city he means the heavenly Jerusalem, and his statement is that Abraham's faith looked forward to that. The idea of the new or heavenly Jerusalem was familiar to the Jews. See Hebrews 12:22, Hebrews 13:14; Galatians 4:26; Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:2. The Rabbins regarded it as an actual city. For the foundations comp. Revelation 21:14. In ascribing to the patriarchs an assured faith in heaven as the end and reward of their wanderings, the writer oversteps the limits of history; but evidently imports into the patriarchal faith the contents of a later and more developed faith - that of himself and his readers. [source]
Note Peter's characteristic multiplication of epithets. Incorruptible ( ἄφθαρτον )From ἀ , not, and φθείρω , to destroy or corrupt. Undefiled ( ἀμίαντον )From ἀ , not, and μιαίνω , to defile, though the verb means especially to defile by staining, as with color; while μολύνω , also translated defile (1 Corinthians 8:7), is to besmirch, as with mire. We might render unstained, though the word is not used with any conscious reference to its etymology. That fadeth not away ( ἀμάραντον ) Used by Peter only, and but once. From ἀ , not, and μαραίνομαι , to wither. The loveliness of the heavenly inheritance is described as exempt from the blight which attaches to earthly bloom. As between ἄφθαρτον , incorruptible, and ἀμάραντον , unwitheringthe former emphasizes the indestructibility of substance, and the latter of grace, and beauty. The latter adjective appears in the familiar botanical name amaranth. It will be observed that all of these three epithets are compounded with the negative particle ἀ , not. Archbishop Trench aptly remarks that “it is a remarkable testimony to the reign of sin, and therefore of imperfection, of decay, of death throughout this whole fallen world, that as often as we desire to set forth the glory, purity, and perfection of that other, higher world toward which we strive, we are almost inevitably compelled to do this by the aid of negatives; by the denying to that higher order of things the leading features and characteristics of this.” Compare Revelation 21:1, Revelation 21:4, Revelation 21:22, Revelation 21:23, Revelation 21:27; Revelation 22:3, Revelation 22:5. [source]
As in 2 Peter 1:4. The reference is to Isaiah 65:17.; Isaiah 66:22. See also Revelation 21:1. For καινος kainos (new) see note on Matthew 26:29. For the expectant attitude in προσδοκωμεν prosdokōmen (we look for) repeated from 2 Peter 3:12 and again in 2 Peter 3:14, see απεκδεχομετα apekdechometha (we eagerly look for) in Philemon 3:20. [source]
Not literally, but the number symbolical of fixedness and full completion (12 x 12). The interpretations, as usual, vary greatly, dividing generally into two great classes: one holding that only Jews are meant, the other including the whole number of the elect both Jew and Gentile. Of the former class some regard the sealed as representing Jewish believers chosen out of the literal Israel. Others add to this the idea of these as forming the nucleus of glorified humanity to which the Gentiles are joined. Others again regard them as Jews reserved by God until Antichrist comes, to maintain in the bosom of their nation a true belief in Jehovah and His law, like the seven thousand in the days of Elijah. The interpretation of the latter class seems entitled to the greater weight. According to the Apocalyptic usage, Jewish terms are “christianized and heightened in their meaning, and the word “Israel” is to be understood of all Christians, the blessed company of all faithful people, the true Israel of God.” See Romans 2:28, Romans 2:29; Romans 9:6, Romans 9:7; Galatians 6:16; Philemon 3:3. The city of God, which includes all believers, is designated by the Jewish name, New Jerusalem. In Revelation 7:3, the sealed are designated generally as the servants of God. In chapter 14 the one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed are mentioned after the description of the enemies of Christ, who have reference to the whole Church of Christ; and the mention of the sealed is followed by the world-wide harvest and vintage of the earth. The one hundred and forty-four thousand in chapter 14, have the Father's name written in their foreheads; and in Revelation 22:4, all the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem are so marked. In Revelation 21:12, the twelve tribes include all believers. The mark of Satan which is in the forehead, is set upon all his servants without distinction of race. See Revelation 13:16, Revelation 13:17; Revelation 14:9; Revelation 16:2; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:4. The plagues threaten both Jews and Gentiles, as the sealing protects all. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Χιλιάς , a collective term like, μυριάς , meaning the number one thousand, is almost invariably used with men in Revelation. See Revelation 7:4; Revelation 11:13. Only once with a material object (Revelation 21:16). With inferior objects χίλιοι athousand is used. See Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6. These words are the theme of Alford's noble hymn - “Ten thousand times ten thousandIn sparkling raiment bright, The armies of the ransomed saints-DIVIDER- Throng up the steeps of light:-DIVIDER- 'Tis finished, all is finished,-DIVIDER- Their fight with death and sin;-DIVIDER- Fling open wide the golden gates,And let the victors in.” [source]
The last of the twelve stones in the High Priest's breastplate (Exodus 28:20; Exodus 39:13), and the first of the twelve enumerated in the foundation of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19). Also the stone employed in the superstructure of the wall of the Heavenly City (Revelation 21:18). The stone itself was of different colors, the best being purple. According to Revelation 21:11, it represents a crystalline brightness. [source]
See Ezekiel 48:35. The believer whose brow is adorned with this name has the freedom of the heavenly city. Even on earth his commonwealth is in heaven (Philemon 3:20). “Still, his citizenship was latent: he was one of God's hidden ones; but now he is openly avouched, and has a right to enter in by the gates to the city” (Trench). The city is called by John, the great and holy (Revelation 21:10); by Matthew, the holy city (Matthew 4:5); by Paul, Jerusalem which is above (Galatians 4:6); by the writer to the Hebrews, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Plato calls his ideal city Callipolis, the fair city (“Republic,” vii., 527), and the name Ouranopolis, heavenly city, was applied to Rome and Byzantium. For new ( καινῆς ), see on Matthew 26:29. The new Jerusalem is not a city freshly built ( νέα ), but is new ( καινὴ ) in contrast with the old, outworn, sinful city. In the Gospel John habitually uses the Greek and civil form of the name, Ἰεροσόλυμα ; in Revelation, the Hebrew and more holy appellation, ἱερουσάλημ . [source]
The word originally means that part of the arm between the hand and the elbow-joint, the forearm. Hence a cubit or ell, a measure of the distance from the joint of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, i.e., about a foot and a half. The precise length, however, is disputed. Cubit is from the Latin cubitus the elbow, on which one reclines (cubat ). Some take the one hundred and forty-four cubits as representing the height of the wall; others the thickness. If the height, then they must be interpreted as equal to the twelve thousand furlongs, since the length and the breadth and the height of the city are equal (Revelation 21:16). It is to be noted, however, that there is a distinction between the measure of the city and the measure of the wall. “The most inconsiderable wall” remarks Düsterdieck, “is sufficient to exclude all that is impure.” [source]
It is counted as men usually count. Compare Revelation 21:17, and a man's pen, Isaiah 8:1. Some explain, a symbolical number denoting a person. [source]
More correctly, tribes. The word used of the true Israel in Revelation 5:5; Revelation 7:4-8; Revelation 21:12. As the tribes of Israel are the figure by which the people of God, Jew or Gentile, are represented, so unbelievers are here represented as tribes, “the mocking counterpart of the true Israel of God.” Compare Matthew 24:30, Matthew 24:31. [source]
The phrase I was in the Spirit occurs only here and Revelation 4:2: in the Spirit, in Revelation 17:3; Revelation 21:10. The phrase denotes a state of trance or spiritual ecstasy. Compare Acts 10:10; 2 Corinthians 12:2, 2 Corinthians 12:4. “Connection with surrounding objects through the senses is suspended, and a connection with the invisible world takes place” (Ebrard). “A divine release from the ordinary ways of men” (Plato, “Phaedrus,” 265). “You ask, 'How can we know the infinite?' I answer, not by reason. It is the office of reason to distinguish and define. The infinite, therefore, cannot be ranked among its objects. You can only apprehend the infinite by a faculty superior to reason; by entering into a state in which you are your finite self no longer; in which the divine essence is communicated to you. This is ecstacy. It is the liberation of your mind from its finite consciousness … . But this sublime condition is not of permanent duration. It is only now and then that we can enjoy this elevation (mercifully made possible for us) above the limits of the body and the world … . All that tends to purify and elevate the mind will assist you in this attainment, and facilitate the approach and the recurrence of these happy intervals. There are then different roads by which this end may be reached. The love of beauty which exalts the poet; that devotion to the One, and that ascent of science which makes the ambition of the philosopher; and that love and those prayers by which some devout and ardent soul tends in its moral purity towards perfection. These are the great highways conducting to heights above the actual and the particular, where we stand in the immediate presence of the Infinite who shines out as from the deeps of the soul” (Letter of Plotinus, about A D. 260). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Richard of St. Victor (died 1173) lays down six stages of contemplation: two in the province of the imagination, two in the province of reason, and two in the province of intelligence. The third heaven is open only to the eye of intelligence - that eye whose vision is clarified by divine grace and a holy life. In the highest degrees of contemplation penitence avails more than science; sighs obtain what is impossible to reason. Some good men have been ever unable to attain the highest stage; few are fully winged with all the six pinions of contemplation. In the ecstasy he describes, there is supposed to be a dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit as by the sword of the Spirit of God. The body sleeps, and the soul and all the visible world is shut away. The spirit is joined to the Lord, and, one with Him, transcends itself and all the limitations of human thought. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Sufism is the mystical asceticism of Mohammedanism. The ecstasy of a Sufi saint is thus described:“My tongue clave fever-dry, my blood ran fire,My nights were sleepless with consuming lore, Till night and day sped past - as flies a lance-DIVIDER- Grazing a buckler's rim; a hundred faiths-DIVIDER- Seemed there as one; a hundred thousand years-DIVIDER- No longer than a moment. In that hour-DIVIDER- All past eternity and all to come-DIVIDER- Was gathered up in one stupendous Now, - -DIVIDER- Let understanding marvel as it may. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Where men see clouds, on the ninth heaven I gaze,-DIVIDER- And see the throne of God. All heaven and hell-DIVIDER- Are bare to me and all men's destinies,-DIVIDER- The heavens and earth, they vanish at my glance:-DIVIDER- The dead rise at my look. I tear the veil-DIVIDER- From all the world, and in the hall of heaven-DIVIDER- I set me central, radiant as the Sun.”Vaughan, “Hours with the Mystics,” ii., 19 Beatrice says to Dante:“We from the greatest bodyHave issued to the heaven that is pure light; Light intellectual replete with love,-DIVIDER- Love of true good replete with ecstasy,Ecstasy that transcendeth every sweetness.”Dante says:“I perceived myselfTo be uplifted over my own power, And I with vision new rekindled me,-DIVIDER- Such that no light whatever is so pure-DIVIDER- But that mine eyes were fortified against it.”“Paradiso,” xxx., 38-60. Again, just before the consummate beatific vision, Dante says:“And I, who to the end of all desiresWas now approaching, even as I ought The ardor of desire within me ended. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Bernard was beckoning unto me, and smiling,-DIVIDER- That I should upward look; but I already-DIVIDER- Was of my own accord such as he wished;-DIVIDER- Because my sight, becoming purified,-DIVIDER- Was entering more and more into the ray-DIVIDER- Of the High Light which of itself is true. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- From that time forward what I saw was greater-DIVIDER- Than our discourse, that to such vision yields,-DIVIDER- And yields the memory unto such excess.”“Paradiso,” xxxiii., 46-57. [source]
Old word for a growing reed (Matthew 11:7) which grew in immense brakes in the Jordan valley, a writer‘s reed (3 John 1:7), a measuring-rod (here, Revelation 21:15.; Ezekiel 40:3-6; Ezekiel 42:16-19). [source]
Future active of πατεω pateō here to trample with contempt as in Luke 21:24, even the holy city (Matthew 4:5; Isaiah 48:2; Nehemiah 11:1). Charles thinks that only the heavenly city can be so called here (Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10; Revelation 22:19) because of Luke 11:8 (Sodom and Gomorrah). But the language may be merely symbolical. See Daniel 9:24. [source]
Second aorist active indicative of απερχομαι aperchomai See Revelation 9:12 for this use and Revelation 21:1, Revelation 21:4. The second woe (η ουαι η δευτερα hē ouai hē deutera) is the sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:12) with the two episodes attached (10:1-11:13). [source]
Repeating εβαλεν ebalen and referring to αμπελον ampelon (vintage) just before.Into the winepress the great winepress (εις την ληνον τον μεγαν eis tēn lēnon ton megan). Ληνος Lēnos is either feminine as in Revelation 14:20; Revelation 19:15, or masculine sometimes in ancient Greek. Here we have both genders, a solecism frequent in the Apocalypse (Revelation 21:14 το τειχος εχων to teichos echōn). See Matthew 21:33. For this metaphor of God s wrath see Revelation 14:10; Revelation 15:1, Revelation 15:7; Revelation 16:1, Revelation 16:19; Revelation 19:15. [source]
This use of the participle in place of ειχεν eichen (imperfect) is like that in Revelation 4:7.; Revelation 12:2; Revelation 19:12; Revelation 21:12, Revelation 21:14, a Semitic idiom (Charles), or as if καταβαινων katabainōn (nominative) had preceded in place of καταβαινοντα katabainonta little book A diminutive of βιβλαριον biblarion (papyri), itself a diminutive of βιβλιον biblion (Revelation 5:1) and perhaps in contrast with it, a rare form in Hermas and Revelation 10:2, Revelation 10:9, Revelation 10:10. In Revelation 10:8 Tischendorf reads βιβλιδαριον biblidarion diminutive of βιβλιδιον biblidion (Aristophanes) instead of βιβλιον biblion (Westcott and Hort). The contents of this little book are found in Revelation 11:1-13. [source]
Literally, “cast without” (second aorist active imperative of εκβαλλω ekballō not measure it Prohibition with μη mē and the first aorist active (ingressive) subjunctive of μετρεω metreō This outer court is left to its fate. In Herod‘s temple the outer court was marked off from the inner by “the middle wall of partition” Future active of πατεω pateō here to trample with contempt as in Luke 21:24, even the holy city (Matthew 4:5; Isaiah 48:2; Nehemiah 11:1). Charles thinks that only the heavenly city can be so called here (Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10; Revelation 22:19) because of Luke 11:8 (Sodom and Gomorrah). But the language may be merely symbolical. See Daniel 9:24.Forty and two months Accusative of extent of time. This period in Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7. It occurs in three forms in the Apocalypse (forty-two months, here and Revelation 13:5; 1260 days, Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6; time, times and half a time or 3-1/2 years, Revelation 12:14 and so in Daniel). This period, however its length may be construed, covers the duration of the triumph of the Gentiles, of the prophesying of the two witnesses, of the sojourn of the woman in the wilderness. [source]
Nominative case in apposition with σημειον sēmeion “The first ‹sign in heaven‘ is a Woman - the earliest appearance of a female figure in the Apocalyptic vision” (Swete).Arrayed with the sun (περιβεβλημενη τον ηλιον peribeblēmenē ton hēlion). Perfect passive participle of περιβαλλω periballō with the accusative retained as so often (9 times) in the Apocalypse. Both Charles and Moffatt see mythological ideas and sources behind the bold imagery here that leave us all at sea. Swete understands the Woman to be “the church of the Old Testament” as “the Mother of whom Christ came after the flesh. But here, as everywhere in the Book, no sharp dividing line is drawn between the Church of the Old Testament and the Christian Society.” Certainly she is not the Virgin Mary, as Revelation 12:17 makes clear. Beckwith takes her to be “the heavenly representative of the people of God, the ideal Zion, which, so far as it is embodied in concrete realities, is represented alike by the people of the Old and the New Covenants.” John may have in mind Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31) as well as Micah 4:10; Isaiah 26:17.; Isaiah 66:7 without a definite picture of Mary. The metaphor of childbirth is common enough (John 16:21; Galatians 4:19). The figure is a bold one with the moon “under her feet” (υποκατω των ποδων αυτης hupokatō tōn podōn autēs) and “a crown of twelve stars” (στεπανος αστερων δωδεκα stephanos asterōn dōdeka), a possible allusion to the twelve tribes (James 1:1; Revelation 21:12) or to the twelve apostles (Revelation 21:14). [source]
Ληνος Lēnos is either feminine as in Revelation 14:20; Revelation 19:15, or masculine sometimes in ancient Greek. Here we have both genders, a solecism frequent in the Apocalypse (Revelation 21:14 το τειχος εχων to teichos echōn). See Matthew 21:33. For this metaphor of God s wrath see Revelation 14:10; Revelation 15:1, Revelation 15:7; Revelation 16:1, Revelation 16:19; Revelation 19:15. [source]
Second aorist active indicative of αποπερω apopherō to bear away, prophetic aorist. This verb is used of angels at death (Luke 16:22) or in an ecstasy (Revelation 21:10 and here). [source]
In Isaiah 21:1 there is το οραμα της ερημου to horama tēs erēmou (the vision of the deserted one, Babylon), and in Isaiah 14:23 Babylon is called ερημον erēmon John may here picture this to be the fate of Rome or it may be that he himself, in the wilderness (desert) this side of Babylon, sees her fate. In Revelation 21:10 he sees the New Jerusalem from a high mountain. [source]
Instrumental case. Χρυσιωι Chrusiōi is cognate with the participle. Λιτωι τιμιωι Lithōi timiōi is collective (Revelation 18:12, Revelation 18:16; Revelation 21:19). There is a ζευγμα zeugma also with μαργαριταις margaritais (Revelation 18:12, Revelation 18:16; Revelation 21:21), for which word see Matthew 7:6. Probably John is thinking of the finery of the temple prostitutes in Asia Minor. [source]
Perfect passive participle of περιβαλλω periballō with the accusative retained as so often (9 times) in the Apocalypse. Both Charles and Moffatt see mythological ideas and sources behind the bold imagery here that leave us all at sea. Swete understands the Woman to be “the church of the Old Testament” as “the Mother of whom Christ came after the flesh. But here, as everywhere in the Book, no sharp dividing line is drawn between the Church of the Old Testament and the Christian Society.” Certainly she is not the Virgin Mary, as Revelation 12:17 makes clear. Beckwith takes her to be “the heavenly representative of the people of God, the ideal Zion, which, so far as it is embodied in concrete realities, is represented alike by the people of the Old and the New Covenants.” John may have in mind Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31) as well as Micah 4:10; Isaiah 26:17.; Isaiah 66:7 without a definite picture of Mary. The metaphor of childbirth is common enough (John 16:21; Galatians 4:19). The figure is a bold one with the moon “under her feet” (υποκατω των ποδων αυτης hupokatō tōn podōn autēs) and “a crown of twelve stars” (στεπανος αστερων δωδεκα stephanos asterōn dōdeka), a possible allusion to the twelve tribes (James 1:1; Revelation 21:12) or to the twelve apostles (Revelation 21:14). [source]
Like ετεριστη etheristhē in Revelation 14:16, in obedience to the instructions in Revelation 14:18 “The vine of the earth.” Here αμπελος ampelos is used for the enemies of Christ collectively pictured.And cast it Repeating εβαλεν ebalen and referring to αμπελον ampelon (vintage) just before.Into the winepress the great winepress (εις την ληνον τον μεγαν eis tēn lēnon ton megan). Ληνος Lēnos is either feminine as in Revelation 14:20; Revelation 19:15, or masculine sometimes in ancient Greek. Here we have both genders, a solecism frequent in the Apocalypse (Revelation 21:14 το τειχος εχων to teichos echōn). See Matthew 21:33. For this metaphor of God s wrath see Revelation 14:10; Revelation 15:1, Revelation 15:7; Revelation 16:1, Revelation 16:19; Revelation 19:15. [source]
Probably his own spirit, though the Holy Spirit is possible (Revelation 1:10; Revelation 4:2; Revelation 21:10), without Paul‘s uncertainty (2 Corinthians 12:2). Cf. Ezekiel 3:14.; Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 11:24.Into a wilderness (εις ερημον eis erēmon). In Isaiah 21:1 there is το οραμα της ερημου to horama tēs erēmou (the vision of the deserted one, Babylon), and in Isaiah 14:23 Babylon is called ερημον erēmon John may here picture this to be the fate of Rome or it may be that he himself, in the wilderness (desert) this side of Babylon, sees her fate. In Revelation 21:10 he sees the New Jerusalem from a high mountain.Sitting Present middle participle of κατημαι kathēmai as in Revelation 17:1. “To manage and guide the beast” (Vincent).Upon a scarlet-coloured beast (επι τηριον κοκκινον epi thērion kokkinon). Accusative with επι epi here, though genitive in Revelation 17:1. Late adjective (from κοκκος kokkos a parasite of the ilex coccifera), a crimson tint for splendour, in Revelation 17:3, Revelation 17:4; Revelation 18:12, Revelation 18:16; Matthew 27:28; Hebrews 9:19.Full of names of blasphemy See Revelation 13:1 for “names of blasphemy” on the seven heads of the beast, but here they cover the whole body of the beast (the first beast of Revelation 13:1; Revelation 19:20). The harlot city (Rome) sits astride this beast with seven heads and ten horns (Roman world power). The beast is here personified with masculine participles instead of neuter, like τηριον thērion (γεμοντα gemonta accusative singular, εχων echōn nominative singular, though some MSS. read εχοντα echonta), construction according to sense in both instances. The verb γεμω gemō always has the genitive after it in the Apocalypse (Revelation 4:6, Revelation 4:8; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 15:7; Revelation 17:4; Revelation 21:9) save here and apparently once in Revelation 17:4. [source]
Accusative retained after this passive verb of clothing, as so often. Πορπυρους Porphurous is old adjective for purple (from πορπυρα porphura), in N.T. only here and John 19:2, John 19:5. See preceding verse for κοκκινος kokkinos Perfect passive participle of χρυσοω chrusoō old verb, to gild, to adorn with gold, here alone in N.T.With gold and precious stone and pearls (χρυσιωι και λιτωι τιμιωι και μαργαριταις chrusiōi kai lithōi timiōi kai margaritais). Instrumental case. Χρυσιωι Chrusiōi is cognate with the participle. Λιτωι τιμιωι Lithōi timiōi is collective (Revelation 18:12, Revelation 18:16; Revelation 21:19). There is a ζευγμα zeugma also with μαργαριταις margaritais (Revelation 18:12, Revelation 18:16; Revelation 21:21), for which word see Matthew 7:6. Probably John is thinking of the finery of the temple prostitutes in Asia Minor.Full of abominations Agreeing with ποτηριον potērion “cup” (neuter singular accusative). Some MSS. read γεμων gemōn (nominative masculine like εχων echōn in Revelation 17:3, quite irregular). For βδελυγματων bdelugmatōn (genitive after γεμον gemon) see Matthew 24:15; (Mark 13:14), common in the lxx for idol worship and its defilements (from βδελυσσω bdelussō to render foul), both ceremonial and moral. See Jeremiah 15:7.Even the unclean things of her fornication (και τα ακαταρτα της πορνειας αυτης kai ta akatharta tēs porneias autēs). Either the accusative after γεμον gemon as in Revelation 17:3 (and full of the unclean things of her fornication) or the object of εχουσα echousa like ποτηριον potērion f0). [source]
“Fled away” The sea had given up its dead (Revelation 20:13). There were great risks on the sea (Revelation 18:17.). The old physical world is gone in this vision. It is not a picture of renovation of this earth, but of the disappearance of this earth and sky (not heaven where God dwells). It is a glorious picture here in Revelation 21:1-8 in sharp contrast to the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15. The symbolism in neither case is to be pressed too literally, but a stern and a glorious reality exists behind it all. [source]
“Fled away” The sea had given up its dead (Revelation 20:13). There were great risks on the sea (Revelation 18:17.). The old physical world is gone in this vision. It is not a picture of renovation of this earth, but of the disappearance of this earth and sky (not heaven where God dwells). It is a glorious picture here in Revelation 21:1-8 in sharp contrast to the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15. The symbolism in neither case is to be pressed too literally, but a stern and a glorious reality exists behind it all. [source]
Πλατος Platos is old word, in N.T. only here, Revelation 21:16; Ephesians 3:18. The hosts of Satan spread over the earth.Compassed (εκυκλευσαν ekukleusan). First aorist (prophetic) active indicative of κυκλευω kukleuō to encircle, late verb (Strabo) from κυκλος kuklos (circle), in N.T. only here and margin in John 10:24 (for εκυκλωσαν ekuklōsan from κυκλοω kukloō).The camp of the saints Παρεμβολη Parembolē Perfect passive participle of καταβαινω agapaō “the city the beloved.” See Psalm 78:68; Psalm 87:2 for Jerusalem so described. So Charles takes it here, but Swete holds it to be “the Church the New Zion” that is meant.And fire came down out of heaven Second aorist (prophetic) active indicative of κατεστιω katabainō Cf. Genesis 19:24; Genesis 39:6; Ezekiel 38:22; 2 Kings 1:10, 2 Kings 1:12; Luke 9:54 (about John).Devoured them (katephagen autous). Second aorist (prophetic) active of katesthiō to eat up (down). Vivid climax to this last great battle with Satan. [source]
The sea had given up its dead (Revelation 20:13). There were great risks on the sea (Revelation 18:17.). The old physical world is gone in this vision. It is not a picture of renovation of this earth, but of the disappearance of this earth and sky (not heaven where God dwells). It is a glorious picture here in Revelation 21:1-8 in sharp contrast to the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15. The symbolism in neither case is to be pressed too literally, but a stern and a glorious reality exists behind it all. [source]
Glorious picture caught by John and repeated from Revelation 3:12 and again in Revelation 21:10. But Charles distinguishes this new city of God from that in 21:9-22:2 because there is no tree of life in this one. But one shrinks from too much manipulation of this symbolism. It is better to see the glorious picture with John and let it tell its own story.Made ready (ητοιμασμενην hētoimasmenēn). Perfect passive participle of ετοιμαζω hetoimazō as in Revelation 19:7. The Wife of the Lamb made herself ready in her bridal attire.As a bride adorned Perfect passive participle of κοσμεω kosmeō old verb (from κοσμος kosmos ornament like our cosmetics), as in Revelation 21:19. Only here the figure of bride is not the people of God as in Revelation 19:7, but the abode of the people of God (the New Jerusalem).For her husband (τωι ανδρι αυτης tōi andri autēs). Dative case of personal interest. [source]
Perfect passive participle of κοσμεω kosmeō old verb (from κοσμος kosmos ornament like our cosmetics), as in Revelation 21:19. Only here the figure of bride is not the people of God as in Revelation 19:7, but the abode of the people of God (the New Jerusalem).For her husband (τωι ανδρι αυτης tōi andri autēs). Dative case of personal interest. [source]
Syntactically this clause goes with Revelation 21:10, the feminine accusative singular participle εχουσαν echousan agreeing with πολιν polin the radiance of the dazzling splendour of God as seen in Isaiah 60:1; Ezekiel 43:5. God‘s very presence is in the Holy City (the Bride). [source]
John returns, after the parenthesis in Revelation 21:11, to the structure in Revelation 21:10, only to use the accusative εχουσαν echousan as before to agree with πολιν polin but the nominative εχουσα echousa as again with “twelve gates” Πυλων Pulōn is an old word (from πυλη pulē gate) for a large gate as in Luke 16:20 and six times in Rev for the gate tower of a city wall (Revelation 21:12, Revelation 21:13, Revelation 21:15, Revelation 21:21, Revelation 21:25; Revelation 22:14) as in 1 Kings 17:10; Acts 14:13. See Ezekiel 48:31. for these twelve gates, one for each tribe (cf. Revelation 7:1-8). [source]
Present middle indicative of κειμαι keimai The predicate adjective is from τετρα tetra (Aeolic for τεσσαρες tessares four) and γωνος gōnos (γωνια gōnia corner, Matthew 6:5) here only in N.T. As in Ezekiel 48:16, Ezekiel 48:20. It is a tetragon or quadrilateral quadrangle (Revelation 21:12.). [source]
Instrumental case (cf. Revelation 21:15 for καλαμος kalamos) and for μετρεω metreō (aorist active indicative here) [source]
Another multiple of 12 (12x12=144) as in Revelation 7:4; Revelation 14:1. It is not clear whether it is the height or the breadth of the wall that is meant, though υπσος hupsos (height) comes just before. That would be 216 feet high (cf. Revelation 21:12), not enormous in comparison with the 7,000,000 feet (1500 miles) height of the city. [source]
Or ενδομησις endomēsis elsewhere so far only in Josephus (Ant. XV. 9. 6, a mole or breakwater) and in an inscription (Syll. 583 31), apparently from ενδομεω endomeō to build in, and so the fact of building in. The wall had jasper (Revelation 21:11) built into it. [source]
No copula ην ēn (was) expressed. The city shone like a mass of gold in contrast with the jasper lustre of the wall.Pure glass (υαλωι καταρωι hualōi katharōi). Associative instrumental case after ομοιον homoion υαλος Hualos (apparently from υει huei it rains, and so raindrop) in N.T. only Revelation 21:18, Revelation 21:21. [source]
Associative instrumental case after ομοιον homoion υαλος Hualos (apparently from υει huei it rains, and so raindrop) in N.T. only Revelation 21:18, Revelation 21:21. [source]
These gate towers (πυλωνες pulōnes) were mentioned in Revelation 21:12. Each of these (cf. Isaiah 54:12) is a pearl, one of the commonest of jewels (Matthew 7:6; Matthew 13:46; 1 Timothy 2:9). [source]
It is rectangular, both walls and city within. Babylon, according to Herodotus, was a square, each side being 120 stadia. Diodorus Siculus says that Nineveh was also foursquare.With the reed (τωι καλαμωι tōi kalamōi). Instrumental case (cf. Revelation 21:15 for καλαμος kalamos) and for μετρεω metreō (aorist active indicative here)Twelve thousand furlongs This use of the genitive σταδιων stadiōn with επι epi is probably correct (reading of Aleph P), though A Q have σταδιους stadious (more usual, but confusing here with χιλιαδων chiliadōn). Thucydides and Xenophon use επι epi with the genitive in a like idiom (in the matter of). It is not clear whether the 1500 miles (12,000 furlongs) is the measurement of each of the four sides or the sum total. Some of the rabbis argued that the walls of the New Jerusalem of Ezekiel would reach to Damascus and the height would be 1500 miles high.Equal (ισα isa). That is, it is a perfect cube like the Holy of Holies in Solomon‘s temple (1 Kings 6:19.). This same measurement (πλατοσ μηκοσ υπσος platosβατος mēkoshupsos) is applied to Christ‘s love in Ephesians 3:18, with bathos (depth) added. It is useless to try to reduce the measurements or to put literal interpretations upon this highly wrought symbolic language. Surely the meaning is that heaven will be large enough for all, as Jesus said (John 14:1.) without insisting on the materialistic measurement of a gorgeous apartment house full of inside rooms. [source]
“With every precious stone.” The list of the twelve stones in Revelation 21:19, Revelation 21:20 has no necessary mystical meaning. “The writer is simply trying to convey the impression of a radiant and superb structure” (Moffatt). The twelve gems do correspond closely (only eight in common) with the twelve stones on the high priest‘s breastplate (Exodus 28:17-20; Exodus 39:10.; Ezekiel 28:13; Isaiah 54:11.). Charles identifies them with the signs of zodiac in reverse order, a needless performance here. See the stones in Revelation 4:3. These foundation stones are visible. For jasper (ιασπις iaspis) see Revelation 4:3; Revelation 21:11, Revelation 21:18; Isaiah 54:12; sapphire (σαππειρος sappheiros) see Exodus 24:10;. Isaiah 54:11 (possibly the λαπις λαζυλι lapis lazuli of Turkestan); chalcedony (χαλκηδων chalkēdōn) we have no other reference in N.T. or lxx (described by Pliny, H.N. XXXIII.21), possibly a green silicate of copper from near Chalcedon; emerald (σμαραγδος smaragdos) here only in N.T., see Revelation 4:3 σμαραγδινος smaragdinos and like it a green stone. [source]
“Temple I did not see in it.” The whole city is a temple in one sense (Revelation 21:16), but it is something more than a temple even with its sanctuary and Shekinah Glory in the Holy of Holies. [source]
First aorist active indicative of πωτιζω phōtizō to illumine, old verb from πως phōs (Luke 11:36). If the sun and moon did shine, they would give no added light in the presence of the Shekinah Glory of God. See Revelation 21:11 for “the glory of God.” Cf. Revelation 18:1; Revelation 21:3. “Their splendour is simply put to shame by the glory of God Himself” (Charles).And the lamp thereof is the Lamb (και ο λυχνος αυτης το αρνιον kai ho luchnos autēs to arnion). Charles takes ο λυχνος ho luchnos as predicate, “and the Lamb is the lamp thereof.” Bousset thinks that John means to compare Christ to the moon the lesser light (Genesis 1:16), but that contrast is not necessary. Swete sees Christ as the one lamp for all in contrast with the many λυχνιαι luchniai of the churches on earth (Revelation 1:12, Revelation 1:20). “No words could more clearly demonstrate the purely spiritual character of St. John‘s conception of the New Jerusalem” (Swete). [source]
The angel as in Revelation 21:9, Revelation 21:10 (cf. Revelation 1:1; Revelation 4:1). Now the interior of the city. [source]
Apparently the same angel as in Revelation 22:1 (Revelation 21:9, Revelation 21:15). [source]
Present active articular participle of πλυνω plunō See Revelation 7:14 for this very verb with στολας stolas while in Revelation 3:4 the negative statement occurs. Cf. 1 Corinthians 6:11.That they may have the right (ινα εσται η εχουσια αυτων hina estai hē exousia autōn). Purpose clause with ινα hina and the future middle of ειμι eimi (a common construction in this book, Revelation 6:4, Revelation 6:11; Revelation 9:5, Revelation 9:20; Revelation 13:12; Revelation 14:13), that there may be their right.”To come to the tree of life “Over the tree of life.” On εχουσια επι exousia epi = “power over” see Revelation 6:8; Revelation 13:7; Revelation 16:9; Luke 9:1. On “the tree of life” see Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2.May enter in (εισελτωσιν eiselthōsin). Purpose clause with ινα hina and the second aorist active subjunctive of εισερχομαι eiserchomai parallel with ινα εσται hina estai (future).By the gates Associative instrumental case of πυλων pulōn (Revelation 21:12), “by the gate towers.” [source]
“Over the tree of life.” On εχουσια επι exousia epi = “power over” see Revelation 6:8; Revelation 13:7; Revelation 16:9; Luke 9:1. On “the tree of life” see Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2.May enter in (εισελτωσιν eiselthōsin). Purpose clause with ινα hina and the second aorist active subjunctive of εισερχομαι eiserchomai parallel with ινα εσται hina estai (future).By the gates Associative instrumental case of πυλων pulōn (Revelation 21:12), “by the gate towers.” [source]
Associative instrumental case of πυλων pulōn (Revelation 21:12), “by the gate towers.” [source]
Not νεας neas (young), but καινης kainēs (fresh). See also Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10 and already Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22. Charles distinguishes between the Jerusalem before the final judgment and this new Jerusalem after that event. Perhaps so! In the Apocalypse always this form Ιερουσαλημ Ierousalēm (Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10), but in John‘s Gospel ιεροσολυμα Hierosoluma (Revelation 1:19, etc.). [source]
Old word for column, in N.T. only here, Revelation 10:1; Galatians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:15. Metaphorical and personal use with a double significance of being firmly fixed and giving stability to the building. Philadelphia was a city of earthquakes. “Temple” Strong double negative ου μη ou mē with the second aorist active subjunctive of ερχομαι erchomai The subject is ο νικων ho nikōn (the one overcoming). “Fixity of character is at last achieved” (Charles). He, like the στυλος stulos (pillar), remains in place.Upon him Upon ο νικων ho nikōn (the victor), not upon the pillar He receives this triple name (of God, of the city of God, of Christ) on his forehead (Revelation 14:1; Revelation 7:3; Revelation 17:5; Revelation 22:4) just as the high-priest wore the name of Jehovah upon his forehead (Exodus 28:36, Exodus 28:38), the new name (Revelation 2:17), without any magical or talismanic power, but as proof of ownership by God, as a citizen of the New Jerusalem, with the new symbol of the glorious personality of Christ (Revelation 19:12), in contrast with the mark of the beast on others (Revelation 13:17; Revelation 14:17). For citizenship in God‘s city see Galatians 4:26; Philemon 3:20; Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 12:22; Hebrews 13:14.The new Jerusalem (της καινης Ιερουσαλημ tēs kainēs Ierousalēm). Not νεας neas (young), but καινης kainēs (fresh). See also Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10 and already Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22. Charles distinguishes between the Jerusalem before the final judgment and this new Jerusalem after that event. Perhaps so! In the Apocalypse always this form Ιερουσαλημ Ierousalēm (Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10), but in John‘s Gospel ιεροσολυμα Hierosoluma (Revelation 1:19, etc.).Which cometh down Nominative case in apposition with the preceding genitive πολεως poleōs as in Revelation 1:5; Revelation 2:20, etc.Mine own new name (το ονομα μου το καινον to onoma mou to kainon). For which see Revelation 2:17; Revelation 19:12, Revelation 19:16. Christ himself will receive a new name along with all else in the future world (Gressmann). [source]
Upon ο νικων ho nikōn (the victor), not upon the pillar He receives this triple name (of God, of the city of God, of Christ) on his forehead (Revelation 14:1; Revelation 7:3; Revelation 17:5; Revelation 22:4) just as the high-priest wore the name of Jehovah upon his forehead (Exodus 28:36, Exodus 28:38), the new name (Revelation 2:17), without any magical or talismanic power, but as proof of ownership by God, as a citizen of the New Jerusalem, with the new symbol of the glorious personality of Christ (Revelation 19:12), in contrast with the mark of the beast on others (Revelation 13:17; Revelation 14:17). For citizenship in God‘s city see Galatians 4:26; Philemon 3:20; Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 12:22; Hebrews 13:14.The new Jerusalem (της καινης Ιερουσαλημ tēs kainēs Ierousalēm). Not νεας neas (young), but καινης kainēs (fresh). See also Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10 and already Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22. Charles distinguishes between the Jerusalem before the final judgment and this new Jerusalem after that event. Perhaps so! In the Apocalypse always this form Ιερουσαλημ Ierousalēm (Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10), but in John‘s Gospel ιεροσολυμα Hierosoluma (Revelation 1:19, etc.).Which cometh down Nominative case in apposition with the preceding genitive πολεως poleōs as in Revelation 1:5; Revelation 2:20, etc.Mine own new name (το ονομα μου το καινον to onoma mou to kainon). For which see Revelation 2:17; Revelation 19:12, Revelation 19:16. Christ himself will receive a new name along with all else in the future world (Gressmann). [source]
Associative-instrumental case of ιασπις iaspis old word (Persian), used for stones of different colors, one opaque like opal, one translucent (Revelation 21:11, Revelation 21:18., possibly here, only N.T. examples), one a red or yellow stone (Isaiah 54:12). Some even take it for the diamond. Certainly not our cheap modern jasper.A sardius (σαρδιωι sardiōi). Old word, in N.T. only here and Revelation 21:20. The carnelian or other red stone, derived from Sardis (Pliny).Rainbow Old word, in N.T. only here and Revelation 10:1. From Ezekiel 1:28.An emerald (σμαραγδινωι smaragdinōi). Adjective (from σμαραγδος smaragdos Revelation 21:19), of emerald (supply λιτωι lithōi), in associative instrumental case after ομοιος homoios John sees no form for God (Exodus 24:10), but only the brilliant flashing gems. “In the vision the flashing lustre of the ιασπις iaspis and the fiery red of the σαρδ sard are relieved by the halo (ιρις iris) of emerald which encircled the Throne” (Swete). A complete circle. [source]
Old word, in N.T. only here and Revelation 10:1. From Ezekiel 1:28.An emerald (σμαραγδινωι smaragdinōi). Adjective (from σμαραγδος smaragdos Revelation 21:19), of emerald (supply λιτωι lithōi), in associative instrumental case after ομοιος homoios John sees no form for God (Exodus 24:10), but only the brilliant flashing gems. “In the vision the flashing lustre of the ιασπις iaspis and the fiery red of the σαρδ sard are relieved by the halo (ιρις iris) of emerald which encircled the Throne” (Swete). A complete circle. [source]
Adjective (from σμαραγδος smaragdos Revelation 21:19), of emerald (supply λιτωι lithōi), in associative instrumental case after ομοιος homoios John sees no form for God (Exodus 24:10), but only the brilliant flashing gems. “In the vision the flashing lustre of the ιασπις iaspis and the fiery red of the σαρδ sard are relieved by the halo A complete circle. [source]
Old adjective (from υαλος hualos glass, Revelation 21:18, Revelation 21:21), in N.T. only here and Revelation 15:2. Possibly from υει huei (it rains), like a raindrop. At any rate here it is the appearance, not the material. Glass was made in Egypt 4,000 years ago. In Exodus 24:10 the elders see under the feet of God in the theophany a paved work of sapphire stone (cf. Ezekiel 1:26). The likeness of the appearance of sky to sea suggests the metaphor here (Beckwith). [source]
Imperfect active of κλαιω klaiō picturesque, descriptive, I kept on weeping much; natural tense in these vivid visions (Revelation 1:12; Revelation 2:14; Revelation 5:4, Revelation 5:14; Revelation 6:8, Revelation 6:9; Revelation 10:10; Revelation 19:14; Revelation 21:15). Perhaps weeping aloud. [source]