Revelation 21:14

ἔχων, another rough asyndeton. θεμελίους κ. τ. λ., a symbolical and corporate expression for the historical origin of the church in the primitive circle of the disciples who adhered to Jesus (cf. on Revelation 22:19). It is not their names but their historical and apostolic position which is in the writer's mind. The absence of Paul's name is no more significant than the failure to emphasise that of Peter. For the objective and retrospective tone of the allusion, with its bearing on the question of the authorship, see Introd. § 8. Foundation-stones in an ancient building were invested with high, sacred significance. Here the twelve apostles correspond roughly to the twelve φύλαρχοι of the Mosaic period (Matthew 19:28, Clem. Rom. xlii. xliii.).