AUTHORIZED VERSION. ful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. inherit all things; and I AUTHORIZED VERSION REVISED. shall andrine MS. and many later MSS. I am become &c. The Sinaitic read merely, the Alpha, mch. xvi. 17. olsa. xii. 3. 16. & vii. 37. Kings vii. So all our n ch. i. 8. & xxii. 13. & lv. 1. John iv. 10, ch. xxii. 17. unto me, Write: for these words are faithful and true. 6 And words are true and faith-he said unto me, †m They are ful-+So the Alexfilled. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of of the fountain of the water of life the water of life freely. freely. 7 He that overcometh shall He that overcometh shall inherit † these things; and PI will will be his God, and he be to him a God, and he shall be my son. 8 But be to me a son. 8 9 But the fearthe fearful, and unbeliev- ful, and unbelieving, and unbelieving, and the and murderers, and whore- polluted with abominations, and mongers, and sorcerers, murderers, and fornicators, and sorand idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, in the lake which burneth shall have their part in the lake rch. xx. 14, 15. with fire and brimstone: which burneth with fire and brimwhich is the second death. 9 And there came unto me ing, and the abominable, one of the seven angels stone, which is the second death. 11. ancient MSS. P ZECH. viii. 8. Heb. viii. 10. q 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. 19-21. 9 And there came unto me one of which had the seven vials the seven angels which had the sch. xv. 1, 6,7. full of the seven last plagues, and talked with seven vials and were full of the me, saying, Come hither, seven last plagues, and talked with I will shew thee the bride, me, saying, Come hither, I will command: for we have "said to me" resumed immediately with the I, leaving no doubt Who speaks) saith, Write: because these words are faithful and true. And He said to me (viz. He that sitteth upon the throne), They are fulfilled (viz. these sayings: or, but I prefer the other, all things). I am (or, I have become the Alpha, &c.: see margin) the Alpha and the Omega (see above, ch. i. 8), the beginning and the end ("the Unchangeable and Everlasting One, by Whom the old was and the new shall be, by Whom the old is fulfilled in the new, and with it all hope and all promise." De Wette). To him that thirsteth I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely (compare ch. vii. 17, and reff. Isa. and John: compare also Matt. v. 6). He that conquereth shall inherit these things (the glories to be shewn in the heavenly Jerusalem), and I will be to him [a] God, and he shall be to me a son (this will be the full performance to the sons of God of the promise in 2 Kings vii. 14: which being first made to Solomon, received its chief fulfilment in VOL. II. the great Son of David and of God [Heb. i. 5], and now in Him to them that are His). But to the cowardly (the contrast to them that conquer: the "drawers back" of Heb. x. 38: those who shrink timidly from the conflict), and the unbelievers, and the polluted with abominations (those who have partaken of the abominations in ch. xvii. 4,-of idolatries, &c.), and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the false (i. e. all liars), their part [shall be] in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (see the reff.). t ch. xix. 7. ver. 2. u ch. i. 10. & xvii. 3. ↑ So all our ancient MSS, X EZEK. xlviii. ver. 2. y ch. xxii. 5. ver. 23. 31-34. AUTHORIZED VERSION REVISED. t AUTHORIZED VERSION. shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb's wife. 1o And the Lamb. away 10 And he carried me " in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed met the holy city Jerusalem, coming down he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates out of heaven from God, 11 y having having the glory of the glory of God: and her bright- God: and her light was ness was like unto a stone most precious, eren like a jasper like unto a stone most precious, as it were to a jasper stone stone, clear as crystal; clear as crystal; 12 having a wall Z EZEK. xlviii. great and high, having z twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes a EzEx. xlviii. of the sons of Israel: 13 a on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three and on the west three gates. 31-34. me, saying, Hither, I will shew thee (hitherto verbatim as in ch. xvii. 1) the bride, the wife of the Lamb (here likewise note the contrast to the succeeding context in ch. xvii. I,-in the faithfulness and purity implied in these words). And he carried me away in the spirit (ch. xvii. 3) to (as they say in some parts of England, on to, combining motion towards and position upon) a mountain great and high (so likewise when the vision of the heavenly city is vouchsafed to Ezekiel, Ezek. xl. 1, 2), and shewed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God (this vision had begun in ver. 2, but the Apostle is now carried to this "specular mount" to have a nearer and fuller view of it. The city must not be conceived of as on or covering the mountain, but as seen descending to a spot close by it: so in Ezek. xl. 2, whether we read "by" or "upon" as in our margin), having the glory of God (i. e. not merely brightness of a divine and celestial kind, but the glorious presence of God Himself, the Shechinah, abiding in her: see ver. 23: also ch. xv. 8): her brightness (the brightness, from ver. 23, is the effect of the divine glory shining in her) [was] like to a stone most precious, as it were to a jasper stone, crystal-clear (see this "crystallizing jasper discussed in note on ch. iv. 3. twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; gates; and on the west 14 And three gates. 14 And the Ebrard thinks it is the diamond): having a wall great and high, having [also] twelve gates (see Ezek. xlviii. 30 ff., where the same features are found in the description), and at the gates twelve angels and names inscribed (contrast to the names of blasphemy, ch. xvii. 3), which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (it does not follow from this description either, 1. that the angels must necessarily be guardians, seeing that no foes remain to be guarded against: they are for the completeness and adornment of the city after the idea of a beautiful fortress, adopted to set it forth :-or, 2. that, as in the Jewish books, each gate is to be imagined as used by each tribe: the twelve tribes of Israel represent the whole people of God, and the city the encampment of Israel: see below). From (on the side entering from) the sun-rising three gates (Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, in Ezek. xlviii. 32. In ch. vii. 6, Manasseh is substituted for Dan, which is omitted. See there), from the north three gates (Reuben, Judah, Levi), from the south three gates (Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun), from the sunsetting three gates (Gad, Asher, Naphtali: Ezek. ibid. In Numbers ii., the order of encampment is thus set down: East,Judah, Issachar, Zebulun: South,-Reuben, Simeon, Gad: West,-Ephraim, Ma AUTHORIZED VERSION. AUTHORIZED VERSION REVISED. b Gal. 9. the twelve, Eph. ii. 20. 15 And he ↑ So all our ancient MSS. wall of the city had twelve the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them foundation-stones, and upon them b Matt, xvi. 18. the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. the twelve names of 15 And he that talked with apostles of the Lamb. me had a golden reed to that talked with me had † for measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall measure a golden reed, to measure + So all our thereof. And the city the city, and the gates thereof, and lieth foursquare, and the the wall thereof. 16 And the city length is as large as the : The length and the breadth a breadth and he measured lieth foursquare, and the length is nasseh, Benjamin: North,-Dan, Asher, C EZEK. xl. 8. ZECH. ii. 1. ch, xi, 1. ancient MSS. monstrous cube, 3000 stadii in length, in breadth, and in height, really does not appear to be necessarily included in these words. Nay, it seems to be precluded by what next follows, where the angel measures the height of the wall. For Düsterdieck's idea that the houses were 3000 stadii in height, while the wall was only 144 cubits, is too absurd to come at all into question. The words are open, this last consideration being taken into account, to two interpretations: 1) that the city, including the hill or rock on which it was placed, and which may be imagined as descending with it, formed such a cube as seems here described: or 2) that there is some looseness of use in the word equal, and that we must understand that the length and breadth were equal to each other and the height equal all round. Of these two I prefer the former, as doing no violence to the words, and as recalling somewhat the form of the earthly Jerusalem on its escarpment above the valley of the Kedron. Some such idea seems also to be pointed at in the rabbinical books, which describe the future Jerusalem as twelve miles high. See extracts in my Greek Test.). And he measured the wall of it (i. e. the height of the wall of it), of an hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (meaning that in this matter of d Isa. liv. 11. e ch. xxii. 2. AUTHORIZED VERSION REVISED. of the wall of it was jasper: and the city, pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19 d And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every The first foundaprecious stone. tion was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolith; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; every several gate was of one pearl: * and the street of the city was pure measure, men and angels use the same. As to the height thus given, it may be observed that the height of Solomon's porch, the highest part of his temple, was 120 cubits, 2 Chron. iii. 4, and the general height of his temple, 30 cubits, 1 Kings vi. 2). 18-27.] Material, and further description of the city. And the building-work of the wall of it [was] jasper (ch. iv. 3, note), and the city [was] pure gold like to pure glass (i. e. ideal gold, transparent, such as no gold is here, but surpassing it in splendour). The foundation-stones of the wall of the city (see above, ver. 14) [were] adorned with every precious stone (not that the stones were merely set on the foundations, but that the foundations themselves consisted of them: see below, and compare Isa. liv. 12): the first foundation-stone [was] jasper (the material of the upper building of the wall, ver. 18), the second, sapphire (the stone described under this name by Pliny seems to be our lapis lazuli. But the sapphire of the Scriptures seems more like the present hard sky-blue stone known by that name: see Ezek. i. 26), the third, chalcedony (this name is unknown: corresponding perhaps to Exod. xxviii. 19, xxxix. 12, "agate." There seems to have been an agate brought from Chalcedon. It is described as semi-opaque, sky-blue, with stripes of other colours: "like trees in autumn," Pliny), the fourth, emerald (note, ch. iv. 3), the fifth, sar AUTHORIZED VERSION. was of jasper: and the city was of pure gold, like the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, unto clear glass. 19 And a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of donyx (Exod. xxxix. 11; Ezek. xxviii. 13; perhaps garnet. Pliny describes it as "of the colour of the flesh under a fingernail." The ancient versions and Josephus call it onyx), the sixth, sardius (ch. iv. 3, note), the seventh, chrysolith (Ezek. xxviii. 13, where Josephus thus renders the word which in A. V. is "beryl." The stone at present so called is pale green, transparent, and crystallized, with shifting colours. But the ancient chrysoliths are described by Pliny as translucent with golden rays, and have been supposed the same as our topaz: or by some, as amber), the eighth, beryl (Exod. xxiv. 10, where it is "sapphire" in the A. V. It is said to have been pure sea-green), the ninth, topaz (Strabo describes it as transparent, shining with golden light. But Pliny says that it is a beautiful green: whence some have supposed it our chrysolith: see above. Compare Job xxviii. 19), the tenth, chrysoprasus (this word is found only in Pliny, who describes it as pale, and of a hue resembling the amethyst), the eleventh, jacinth (in Exod. xxviii. 19, called ligure. Pliny describes this also as a paler kind of amethyst), the twelfth, amethyst (Pliny reckons the amethyst among the purple stones. It seems to be the stone now known by that name). And the twelve gates, twelve pearls (Isa. liv. 12, “carbuncles." Wetstein quotes from a Rabbinical work, that God shall place in the gates of the new Jerusalem pearls thirty AUTHORIZED VERSION. the city was pure gold, as 22 And I saw no temple AUTHORIZED VERSION REVISED. gold, as it were transparent glass. it were transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple therein: f John iv. 23. therein: for the Lord God for the Lord God Almighty is the Almighty and the Lamb temple thereof, and the Lamb. are 23 And the city had no did lighten it, and the h & lx. 19, 20. ch. xxii. 5. ver. 11. 11. & Ixvi. 12. the temple of it. 238 And the city hath no need of 8 ISA. xxiv, 23. need of the sun, neither the sun, neither of the moon, to of the moon, to shine in shine in it: for the glory of God it for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the Lamb is the light thereof. light thereof. 24 h And the nations 24 And the nations of them shall walk by means of the light which are saved shall walk of it and the kings of the earth do in the light of it and the kings of the earth do bring bring their glory † into it. their glory and honour the gates of it shall not be shut at into it. 25 And the gates all by day: for there shall be of it shall not be shut at and honour of the nations 25 And ISA. x. 3, 5, So, omitting of them that are saved, all our ancient MSS. is omitted by and honour all our an no. 1. 20. ch. xxii. 5. cient i ISA. Ix. 11. Zech. xiv. 7. 1 ver. 24. all by day for there shall night there. 26 1 And they shall in no wise enter into it any cubits long and as many broad), each one separately of the gates was [made] out of one pearl. And the street (generic: the street-material, throughout) of the city [was] pure gold like transparent glass (see above on ver. 18). And a temple I saw not in it: for the Lord God Almighty is the temple of it, and the Lamb (i. e. the inhabitants need no place of worship or sacrifice, the object of all worship being present, and the great Sacrifice Himself being there). And the city hath not need of the sun nor yet of the moon, that they should shine on her: for the glory of God (the brightness of His presence, the Shechinah see above, ver. 11) lightened her, and her lamp was (or is) the Lamb (see Isa. lx. 19, 20. No assignment of the members of the sentence must be thought of, such as that the glory of God is her Sun, and the Lamb her moon, as has been done by some Commentators): and the nations shall walk by means of her light (i. e. she shall be so bright as to serve for light, & lii. 1. & lx. 21. Joel iii. 17. ch. xxii. 14, n Phil. iv. 3. ch. iii 5. & xiii. 8. & xx. 12. for sun and moon both,-to the world that then is, and her inhabitants. For such inhabitants are clearly supposed; see below, and ch. xxii. 2). And the kings of the earth (no longer hostile to Christ) bring (present tense of habit and certainty, as so often in this prophecy) their (the kings', not the nations', as ver. 26) glory (see Isa. lx. 3: all in which they glory) into her: and her gates shall never be shut by day (i. e. in meaning, shall never be shut, seeing it will always be day: shall never be shut, for if they were, they must be shut by day): for night shall not exist there. And they (inen) shall bring the glory and the costliness of the nations into her (Isa. lxvi. 12. Among the mysteries of this new heaven and new earth this is set forth to us: that, besides the glorified church, there shall still be dwelling on the renewed earth nations, organized under kings, and [xxii. 2] saved by means of the influences of the heavenly city). And there shall never enter into her every thing unclean, and working abomi |