Revelation 21:9

The Vision of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:9 to Revelation 22:5

The Measure of the City, Revelation 21:9-17

9. And there came unto me&c. As in Revelation 17:1. "unto me" should be omitted, so that the sentence as far as "vials" is verbatimthe same as there. The identical form of introduction emphasizes the contrast between Babylon and Jerusalem, the harlot and the bride.

full According to the correct text, this word is made to agree not with "the seven bowls" but with "the seven angels." But probably it is a merely accidental grammatical inaccuracy of St John's. There is a much worse "false concord" in Revelation 14:19.

in the Spirit Revelation 17:3; Revelation 1:10. Cf. Ezekiel 3:14.

to a great and high mountain Ezekiel 40:2. The preposition rendered "to" plainly implies that St John was set onthe mountain; whether the city occupied the mountain itself, or another site within view. In Ezek. l.c. the city apparently occupies the southern slope of the mountain, whence the seer views it.

that great city, the holy Jerusalem Read, the holy city Jerusalem.

descending … from God Verbatimthe same as in Revelation 21:2, according to the true text. The descent described here is no doubt the same as there, but St John's vision of the descent is not exactly the same. He has seen, as it were in the distance, the appearance of the city: but his attention was absorbed in listening to the sayings of Revelation 21:3. Now, he is summoned to attend to the other, and finds it at the same stage where he noticed it in passing before.