Revelation 21:2

Revelation 21:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
• New International Version (NIV)I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Context of Revelation 21:2

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had gone away. The sea also was not there any more. I saw God's own holy city, called the new Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. It was very beautiful, like a bride who is wearing beautiful clothes, ready to meet her husband. 3I heard a voice that spoke loudly from the throne. It said, ‘Look! God's home is now among people! God will live together with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them and he will be their God. 4God will take away all the tears from their eyes. Nobody will ever die again. Nobody will be sad again. Nobody will ever cry. Nobody will have pain again. Everything that made people sad has now gone. That old world has completely gone away.’

Revelation 21:2 word by word

καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινὴν εἶδον καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡτοιμασμένην ὡς νύμφην κεκοσμημένην τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• JohnἸωάννηςIōannēs · JohnG2491
• sawὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• the holyἅγιοςhagios · holyG40
• cityπόλιςpolis · cityG4172
• newκαινόςkainos · newG2537
• JerusalemἹερουσαλήμHierousalēm · JerusalemG2419
• coming downκαταβαίνωkatabainō · to come/go downG2597
• fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• out ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• heavenοὐρανόςouranos · heavenG3772
• preparedἑτοιμάζωhetoimazō · to make readyG2090
• asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• a brideνύμφηnumphē · brideG3565
• adornedκοσμέωkosmeō · to arrangeG2885
• for herαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• husbandἀνήρanēr · man: husbandG435

Cross-references for Revelation 21:2

• Revelation 1:1This book describes the things that God showed to Jesus Christ. He wanted Jesus to show these things to his own servants. They are events that must happen soon. Jesus sent his angel to show them to me, his servant John.
• Revelation 3:12Everyone who wins against Satan will be safe in God's house. I will make them like a strong pillar in the temple of my God. They will never leave that place again. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of his city. The name of that city is the new Jerusalem. It will come down from heaven. My God will send it down to the earth. I will also write my new name on those people.
• Psalms 48:1The Lord is great. He deserves that people praise him in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
• Psalms 87:3People say great things about you! You are God's own city! Selah.
• Isaiah 1:21Oh! Jerusalem! Once you loved the Lord, as a wife loves her husband. But now you have become like a prostitute! At one time, the city was full of justice, and honest people lived there. But now the city is full of murderers!
• Isaiah 52:1Wake up, Zion! Be ready to show your strength! Jerusalem, God's holy city, Put on your beautiful clothes! Foreign people who do not serve God will not attack your city again.
• Jeremiah 31:23The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: ‘I will bring my people back from the land where they have been prisoners. Then the people in the towns of Judah will again say, “We pray that the Lord will bless you, Jerusalem. You are the special place where he lives on his holy mountain!”
• Hebrews 11:10We see that Abraham was waiting to live in God's special place. That is the city that God himself has built. God has made it very strong so that it will be there for ever.
• Hebrews 12:22But as believers in Christ, you have not come to God in that way. You have come to Mount Zion. You have come to the city of the true God who lives. You have come to the city of Jerusalem that is in heaven. There are many thousands of happy angels all together in that place.
• Hebrews 13:14Here on earth, we who are believers do not have a city that will always be our home. But we are waiting for God's city that will come.
• Revelation 21:10Then God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a great mountain that was very high. He showed me God's own holy city, Jerusalem. The city was coming down out of heaven from God.
• Galatians 4:25Hagar is like a picture of Sinai mountain in Arabia. Also, she is like the city of Jerusalem here on earth now, because that city and its people are slaves under the authority of God's Law.
• Revelation 19:7We must shout with joy because we are so happy! We will say that God is great! The time has come for the Lamb's wedding party. His bride has prepared herself.
• Psalms 45:9The daughters of kings are among your visitors. Your royal bride stands at your right hand. She is wearing gold from Ophir.
• Isaiah 54:5Now your Maker is your husband. His name is the Lord Almighty. Israel's Holy God is your Redeemer. He is called, ‘The God who rules the whole earth’.
• Isaiah 61:10I am very happy, because of what the Lord, my God, has done. I have so much joy! He has given salvation to me, like clothes that I can wear all the time. I have his righteousness as my coat! He makes me handsome, like a bridegroom who wears a priest's hat. He makes me beautiful, like a bride who wears her jewels.

Commentaries on Revelation 21:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2And I John - The writer of this book; whether the evangelist and apostle, or John the Ephesian presbyter, has been long doubted in the Church. New Jerusalem - See the notes on Galatians 4:24-27; (note). This doubtless means the Christian Church in a state of great prosperity and purity; but some think eternal blessedness is intended. Coming down from God - It is a maxim of the ancient Jews that both the tabernacle, and the temple, and Jerusalem itself…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven - See the Analysis of the chapter. On the phrase “new Jerusalem,” see the Galatians 4:26 note, and Hebrews 12:22 note. Here it refers to the residence of the redeemed, the heavenly world, of which Jerusalem was the type and symbol. It is here represented as “coming down from God out of heaven.” This, of course, does not mean that this great city was “literally” to descend upon…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2coming down … from God: The new creation is a gift from God. At first, God created everything good. In the end, God will create a new, perfect world. This image of Jerusalem as a beautiful bride (see Isaiah 61:10) contrasts sharply with the vision of Babylon (or Rome) as the prostitute (Revelation 17:4–5; 18:2–3; see study note on Revelation 21:9–22:9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. And I John--"John" is omitted in A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Andreas; also the "I" in the Greek of these authorities is not emphatic. The insertion of "I John" in the Greek would somewhat interfere with the close connection which subsists between "the new heaven and earth," Re 21:1, and the "new Jerusalem" in this verse. Jerusalem ... out of heaven--(Re 3:12; Ga 4:26, "Jerusalem which is above"; He 11:10; 12:22; 13:14). The descent of the new…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 21:2

• Bride
• Church
• Heaven
• Jerusalem
• Readings, Select
• Restoration
• Types

In the dictionaries

• God
• Jerusalem
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• New Jerusalem
• holy city
• Jacinth
• Solomon, Song of
• Tabernacle
• Unbelieving
• Citizenship

Commentaries on Revelation 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings