Apocalipse 21
Oecumenius
Apocalipse 21:1
And he says, I saw new heavens and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more. Peter says something similar in his second epistle, saying that "we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth." (2 Peter 3:13) But he does not say that the heaven and the earth and the sea have passed into annihilation and nonexistence, or that others have been created in their stead; rather, that those now existing have cast off their corruption and have become new, as one puts off an old and polluted garment and removes its filth. For everything is called new that was not such before but has now come into being. Then the creation will be made free from all corruption, which it has suffered through the transgression of men. And most trustworthy witness of these things is the divine apostle writing to the Romans and saying these things concerning the creation: "for the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will but because of him who subjected it, with hope that the creation itself also will be liberated from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Rom. 8:19-21) And not only he but also the inspired prophet, singing concerning heaven and earth according to the testimony just cited: "and all of them shall be worn out as a garment, and like a mantle you will fold them up and they will be changed." (Ps. 101:27) — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:2
And he says: And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. By Jerusalem he associates the blessed end and dwelling of the saints, which having called Jerusalem figuratively both now and in the times to come he has adorned magnificently and fittingly, that from sensible things we may send our mind to the intelligible blessedness and conduct of the saints. Was I not right in the above when I said that the vision calls the end of the holy ones and the dwelling there a figurative Jerusalem? — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:3
Behold, now it has revealed the riddle, saying, Behold, the tent of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. The apostle made this clearer when he said later, "We who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:17) — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:4
And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And Isaiah the prophet said a similar thing, saying "death was swallowed up in victory, and again God took away every tear from every face." (Isa. 25:8) For if according to the divine apostle in that blessed Life of the Saints "pain and sorrow and groaning have fled away," (Isa. 51:11) what kind of tear will remain for those who have escaped these things? He says the former things are passed away. He says the suffering of the saints has reached an end. Now the mutual exchanges of pains are provided. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:5
Behold, he says, I make all things new. For if the heavens and the earth and the sea are renewed, and moreover people themselves and the things of their joy and glory are new, not interrupted by tears or mourning or dishonor, then all things will be new. But do not think, O John, he says, that what is spoken and shown to you has some extravagant imagination or falsehood in magnitude; all things are faithful and true; therefore write them. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:6
He says: It has been done! What has been done? These things, that is the things said, and nothing false about them. He put "have been done" instead of "they will happen." He says: I am the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end. Since he again takes up what was said earlier about him, we too, following him step by step, may again take up what we said before. The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, indicate God's lack of beginning and endlessness; for since nothing in this life among us is without a beginning, he used "beginning" and "end" in place of "without beginning" and "without end." He says: To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. In the Gospels the Lord says: "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Matt. 5:6) To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. And how, he says, freely, when the saints attain the coming life after many labors? Why then does he say to give freely? This signifies that nothing comparable to the goods of that time can ever be brought by a man, even if he labors ever so much; this is what the apostle suggesting said: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be revealed to us." (Rom. 8:18) — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:7
The one who conquers, he says, will inherit both the passions and the evil beast, the Devil; will inherit these things. Therefore, the one who conquers. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:8
But as for the cowardly and unbelieving and these and those, there will be a portion in the lake of fire. He calls cowardly those who are weak in every good work through voluntary misery. And he says false to all liars. He did not say to the liars but to the false ones, that is, to those who act against nature and, having falsified the natural beauty of virtue, wear counterfeit faces of depravity. And that that fire will be the second death has been said among those who have reached it. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:9
And one of the seven angels came and said to me, who were these seven about which much was spoken in the earlier ones (Rev. 15-17): Come, he says, I will show you the bride of the Lamb. He wishes to show "the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven," (Heb. 12:23) which Jerusalem he also calls the heavenly; concerning which Paul spoke to the Hebrews, saying, "For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire, and to darkness and gloom and a storm, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear what was commanded. Even if a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned, or shot through with an arrow. And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and to multitudes of angels, to the festive gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, and to God the judge of all." (Heb. 12:18-23) Through the assembly or church of all the saints and through the heavenly Jerusalem the word depicts the blessedness of the saints, and the life they shall have in God and with God, as it has been said, adorning it bodily and gloriously, and leading our mind into a spiritual glory and brightness. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:10
Therefore, from that state. "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." For without spiritual grace no human mind could ever be exalted so as to enter into the perception of the glory of the saints. And fittingly the church, and likewise the life of the righteous and the state; there also was a great and high mountain; for nothing lowly or close to the ground or prostrate was among them, but all things were high and uplifted. For it is written concerning them that "the mighty ones of the earth were greatly exalted by God." (Ps. 46:10) — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:11
Her radiance, that is, the Sun of righteousness Christ (Mal. 4:2), is said to be like a jasper stone. The jasper, as was said above, being somewhat green, signifies the life-giving and life-sustaining Christ, "who opens his hand and fills every living thing with good will" (Ps. 145:16); for green is considered the source of all earthly food. But the jasper was also clear as crystal, showing the purity and holiness of Christ; "for he committed no sin, and deceit was not found in his mouth," (Isa. 53:9) according to the prophecies of Isaiah. And Christ again is the wall of the saints, that is, of his church, being our bulwark and defense and help. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:12
He says that it has twelve gates, by which he alludes to the divine apostles who proclaimed to us the entrance into faith in Christ. And on the gates are twelve angels; for I am persuaded that they co-operated with the holy apostles, and that divine angels aided the faith of the world; for if the law given through Moses was spoken by angels, as the apostle says; "if the word spoken through angels proved unwavering," (Heb. 2:2) how much more did the evangelic proclamation have angels cooperating? And he says, and names written, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Israel is indeed sensibly those born of Jacob the patriarch; but spiritually it is those who conform to the faith of our father Abraham. And to this the apostle, called "father of those by circumcision not only but also of those who follow the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham," (Rom. 4:12) bears witness. For Israel is interpreted as "the mind seeing God," that is, discerning. And which of the faithful more than these perceived God, or have become discerning by the abundant working of the Spirit? Therefore the names of these are written on the gates of the city. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:13
And the twelve tribes indicate the fullness of the faithful; for having once called the faithful Israel, he has also adhered to the number of their fullness, saying twelve tribes, and he says that from the four quarters of the world there were three at each gate. For the glorious apostles wholly took up a triad, proclaiming it consubstantial to the nations, and "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:19) — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:14
And the wall of the city, he says, had twelve foundations; for Christ, whom we have thought of as a wall, rests upon the preaching of the apostles, and upon them has gone forth as a "chief cornerstone," (1 Peter 2:6; Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:20) as it is written. And upon them, that is, upon those foundations, are twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. He has barely revealed the riddle, plainly saying that he calls the apostles the gates and foundations of the holy city of the church; by whose teaching may we all abide, turning away from the profane babblings of the false knowledge of heretics; by the grace of Christ our teacher and chief shepherd; to whom be glory forever. Amen. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:15
The reed with which he measured the holy city was geometric; and it was golden because of the preciousness of both the measuring angel and the city being measured. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:16
And the city, it says, lies foursquare, and its length, its breadth, and its height are equal. The foursquare shape, as it seems to those skilled in these matters, is and is called a cube; for there is also a plane square; but when it is both square and equilateral in all dimensions, they say the cube signifies stability; for the good things of the saints are permanent and unchangeable, with no transformation corrupting their blessedness. The greatness of the city reveals both the magnificence of the saints and that, even if they are far surpassed in number by the sinners, nevertheless they themselves are not few in number, but are such as to fill so great a city. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:17
And he measured, it says, its wall at a hundred and forty-four cubits by the measure of a man, which is that of an angel. In many places, according to the customary usage of the divine Scripture, men are called angels. And this is clear from those passages in which Gabriel the Archangel is interpreted as a man of God (see Dan. 9:21). And the prophet said, "You will save men and beasts, O Lord" (Ps. 36:6): men indeed are called angels, beasts the men; for despite the mind of the angels we men happen to be irrational and brute. For he did not say "men and beasts" so that one might be proud, meaning true men and real beasts; for it was said to the apostle about the beasts, "Is God concerned with oxen?" (1 Cor. 9:9) Therefore the things called beasts by the prophet must be understood as men, and those called men as angels. But the Lord also, according to Luke, called men angels, saying, "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and you likewise are like men awaiting their Lord, when he will be released from the wedding." (Luke 12:35-36) Since therefore in many respects men are called angels from above; and they have eyes toward God. For this reason he says here a measure of man which is an angel. The saying hints that the divine is altogether incomprehensible, for we have conceived Christ as a wall of the city in the things before, and still more by contemplation of the majesty of God men become angels. Therefore the wall of the city was measured by an angelic rod and not by a human one. And the secret who is to have the number of the rods is by the wisdom of the angels, who also measured it knowingly. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:18
And he says that the inner structure of its wall is jasper. Already we have received jasper as the symbol of the incorruptible and life-giving Christ. And he says the city is pure gold, like clear glass. The gold is arranged with brilliance and transparency. The precious and purity of the saints is presented in works and words. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:19-20
And he says the foundations of the wall of that city are adorned with every precious stone. As for the foundation of the wall, the Lord is a wall, as has been said many times. We have spoken of the holy apostles in the foregoing. As though Christ rests in their teaching and has mounted upon them according to the promise given, in which he also says, "and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age." (Matt. 28:20) Therefore these are the foundations, that is, the apostles, in every excellence; for the precious stones denote excellence, they are adorned; for by deed they became pure through the preaching and through the struggles for Christ and by their favorable nature toward him even unto blood. And if anyone will wish to be precise even about the stones, such a kind of vision may be found, but a little from above will be enough. The high priests according to the law of Moses were variously attired with a kind of tunic and a shoulder-covering and a mitre and a breastplate, girded and surrounded by other things (see Ex. 29:5-6), both awe and astonishment, moreover exhibiting a secret symbolism through their form. And among them was also the saying of judgment (see Ex. 28:15), which was carried upon the shoulder-covering by a woven work in various fashion. The form of the saying was a double breastplate, a small and square thing (Ex. 28:16), in which twelve stones were set in four rows with the names of the sons of Israel; some of these stones indeed were also placed in the foundations of the wall there, others were corner-stones and not placed in those. For in the breastplate of judgments there are borne eight stones corresponding to the foundations there: jacinth; sapphire; emerald; sardius; chrysolite; beryl; topaz; amethyst; and four of the stones in the foundations are not numbered with those in the breastplate of judgment. They are these: sardonyx; chrysoprase; hyacinth. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:21
And there were also the gates of the city, which we likewise received as the apostles, each one from a single pearl. Therefore the pearl is now set as new, not itself numbered among the stones of the list, and it is possible to see that the newly named ones are rather more valuable than those placed in the list in the old book; by which is indicated that the holy apostles have knowledge of the Old Covenant and approve of the decrees established in that, and the wise apostle could say, "having been made righteous according to the law, I am blameless" (Philip. 3:6) and also approved in the precepts of the New Covenant, and that its knowledge has been enriched, which was much clearer and somewhat more precious than the knowledge in the Old, if indeed the things in the law were a shadow, and the things in the New were truth; for this is hinted by the mingling set forth: both the precious stones of the Old and the New are in the foundations of the city, which, as has been said, testify to the apostles. And this is what the Lord said in the Gospels: "therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure new things and old." (Matt. 13:52) And he says that the gates of the city, which we have likewise conceived in describing the apostles who arrived, each one is made of a single pearl, their preciousness being pure and bright, as they are described. And the street of the city, he says, was pure gold, like transparent glass. It has been said that gold and the purity and transparency of glass signify the precious and refined aspect of the holy life. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:22
And he says I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. For what need is there of a temple when He is present and in a certain sense cohabiting with the saints of God and is seen face to face as far as possible? For the divine apostle called the present knowledge of God "through a mirror and in a riddle"; but the future, "face to face." (1 Cor. 13:12) But naturally one might ask, what then? We have already invoked God the Almighty, and the Father of the Lord and of the Lamb, the Son of God; shall we not also recall the Holy Spirit? One must say to him: saying, "O this one," the Lord and God named the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for God did so; and again saying, "the Lord God Almighty," he signified the Holy Trinity by the three names. But someone might also ask this: why, then, having been reminded of the venerable Trinity by the saying "the Lord God Almighty are its temple," is the Lamb, who is Christ, counted to us from the outside, so that we should no longer conceive a Trinity? May it not be so, I should say to him. For we are not taught so, but a memory is borne of both the Holy Trinity and of the Lamb, the sense of the statement signifying that the one who was incarnate is of the Holy Trinity, and that after the flesh the Son fills the Holy Trinity and is not now in heaven separated from the flesh. For he indicated the Son incarnate by periphrasis both by "God who is the Son," and by "the Lamb," which again is the same Christ incarnate, consubstantial with us and enlivened intelligibly; in whom the Word is united to the particular flesh according to hypostasis. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:23
And the city, it says, has no need of the sun. For they enjoy the light of the divine and spiritual. For in that time the saints perceive, at the end of the spiritual things, no need of sensible light. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:24
And it says the nations will walk by its light. Not only the nations, but also the saints from Israel who have believed. But since those from the Gentiles are more numerous, it indicated these as well as those from the greater number. And the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it. He calls all the saints kings of the earth, concerning whom it is written in the passage appointing "the heavenly kings over it, they shall be whitened in Selmon," (Ps. 67:15) as was said before. These therefore have even glorious and honorable status. And he says: the boastings borne of virtue will be laid up in that holy city, as he said that the goods of virtue dwell together with the saints. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:25
And its gates he says shall not be shut by day. The meaning is twofold: for either this says that there will be peace and absence of fear, such that there will be no need to keep watch over the city by day or to bar the doors ever, or that the apostolic teachings, for we called the apostles gates, will not be silenced even there, but the apostles will be present there as teachers of new doctrines and of more divine things to the saints; for the righteous are "children of day and light," (1 Thess. 5:5) they will delight in divine and illuminating praises and mysteries, light ever being about them and a divine shining of light. For he says there will be no night there. For if the divine radiance were ever interrupted, then there would be night; but if it is impious to say this, that the divine light ever ceases, how could there be night for the saints? — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:26
Glory and honor of the nations, that which is brought into the holy city, in an indirectness he said those who among the Gentiles have become esteemed and have behaved worthy of life; for these shall be carried into the heavenly Jerusalem and shall dwell together with the saints therein. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 21:27
And he says that nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and falsehood shall ever enter it, but those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb. "For what fellowship has light with darkness," (2 Cor. 6:14) or a sinner with the righteous of God? whom the Lord in the Gospels also delivered to us as separated by a great chasm. (see Luke 16:26) — Commentary on Revelation