Revelation 21:10-14

21:10 So¹ he took me away in the Spirit² to a huge, majestic mountain³ and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 21:11 The city possesses⁴ the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.⁵ 21:12 It has⁶ a massive, high wall⁷ with twelve gates,⁸ with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel⁹ are written on the gates.¹⁰ 21:13 There are¹¹ three gates on the east side, three gates on the north side, three gates on the south side and three gates on the west side.¹² 21:14 The¹³ wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation.

²tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

³tn Grk “to a mountain great and high.”

⁴tn Grk “from God, having the glory of God.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “the city” to refer back to the previous clause and translating the participle (“having”) as a finite verb.

⁵tn On the term ἰάσπιδι (iaspidi) BDAG 465 s.v. ἴασπις states, “jasper, a precious stone found in various colors, mostly reddish, somet. green…brown, blue, yellow, and white. In antiquity the name was not limited to the variety of quartz now called jasper, but could designate any opaque precious stone. Rv 21:18f. W. λίθος 4:3 (TestSol C 11:8). λίθος ἴασπις κρυσταλλίζων a stone of crystal-clear jasper 21:11 (cp. Is 54:12); perh. the opal is meant here; acc. to some, the diamond.”

⁶tn Grk “jasper, having.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

⁷tn Grk “a (city) wall great and high.”

⁸tn On this term BDAG 897 s.v. πυλών 1 states, “gate, esp. of the large, impressive gateways at the entrance of temples and palaces…of the entrances of the heavenly Jerusalem…οἱ πυλῶνες αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ κλεισθῶσιν its entrances shall never be shut Rv 21:25; cp. vss. 12ab, 13abcd, 15, 21ab; 22:14.”

⁹tn Grk “of the sons of Israel.” The translation “nation of Israel” is given in L&N 11.58.

¹⁰tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the gates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹tn The words “There are” have been supplied to make a complete English sentence. This is a continuation of the previous sentence, a lengthy and complicated one in Greek.

¹²tn The word “side” has been supplied four times in this verse for clarity.

¹³tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.