Revelation 21:9–11

The New Jerusalem Descends

21:9 Then21 one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and spoke to me,22 saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb!” 21:10 So23 he took me away in the Spirit24 to a huge, majestic mountain25 and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 21:11 The city possesses26 the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.27

21	tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
22	tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετʼ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.” See also v. 15.
23	tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation.
24	tn 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).
25	tn Grk “to a mountain great and high.”
26	tn 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.
27	tn 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.”