CHAPTER 22

22:1. .] The Seer is now shewn by the

Angel (21:9) the interior of the City. The vision combines that of Ezekiel 47:112 with
the account of Eden in Gen. 2:9 ff., adding certain new features. In Gen. l.c. the river
issues from Eden and is parted into four heads; in Ezekiel a stream issues from its
source in the Temple-rock, and running east-wards presently becomes a river too deep
to be forded; the river makes its way to the Dead Sea, which it converts into fresh water,
and on its banks there grow fruit trees which bear throughout the year. In St Johns
vision the river issues from the Throne of God and of the Lamb, which has taken the
place of the Temple (cf. 21:22 with 22:3); and it waters not the wilderness but the City
itself (cf. Ps. 45. (46.) 5 ),
and the fruit trees which grow on its banks are identified with the Tree of Life which
grew in the primaeval Paradise.
For see 7:17, 21:6, 22:17, notes. The conception of a river of the water
of life appears already in Joel 3:18 , Zech. 14:8
, and Ez. 47:9
, , ; cf.
Sanhedr. f. 100. 1 Deus producturus est fluvium ex sancto sanctorum iuxta quem
omnia genera fructuum delicatorum erunt. See especially Jo. 7:38 ,
, . The
explanation which follows ib. 39 (
) leaves no doubt how the metaphor was
understood by the school of St John, and may therefore be taken to interpret the present
passage. The River of Life which gladdens the City of God is the gift of the Spirit
which followed the Ascension and which, once bestowed, remains with the Church for
ever (Jo. 14:16). (v. 1), sparkling like rock crystal; cf. 4:6
... . ., the River of the
life-giving Spirit issues forth out of the Throne, or, as Andreas explains,
, . The words, however, cannot be used with
any confidence in the Filioque controversy, for it is the mission of the Spirit rather than
His eternal Procession which is in view here, as indeed it probably is even in Jo. 16:26.
For the patristic interpretation see History of the Doctrine of the Procession, p. 8, note.
(vv. 1, 3) is a startling expression; elsewhere the
Lamb is or (5:6, 7:17), and
is the Almighty Father as distinguished from the Incarnate Son (5:13, 6:16, 7:10). But
cf. 3:21, where the glorified Christ is represented as the Fathers , and see
note there.
2. .] W.H., following Matthaei,
connect . with v. 1 (cf. R.V. he shewed me a river in the midst
of the street thereof), and govern by (R.V. on this
side of the river and on that). But if the words . belonged to v. 1, they
would more naturally precede than follow . Moreover, though the
adverbs may have a prepositional force (cf. e.g. Jos. 9:6 (8:33)

 (



, Dan. 12:5 Th.
), yet their position after suggests that they are used
adverbially as in Ex. 26:13 ; Ez. 47:7 (the
basis of the present passage) ; ib. 12
. On the whole, then, the usual punctuation seems
preferable, and we may translate between the street of the City and the river, on this
side and on that: for = cf. c. 5:6, note. The picture presented is that
of a river flowing through the broad street which intersects the city, a row of trees being
on either bank. The precise phrase is quoted by Wetstein from
Aelian N.A. 2:4, 9:34, 13:23.
.] Cf. Ez. 47:12
...
( , cf. M.T. (

) .
Andreas well remarks:
, . For = (
, Lc. 23:31) and the phrase . , see 2:7, note; like
in Gen. 1:11 f.,
is here clearly collective, since there are trees on either side of the river. Andreas:
. The twelve fruits,
one for each month, are suggested by Ezekiel l.c. and familiar to later Jewish writers,
e.g. Shemoth rabba 15 tempore futuro & Deus faciet arbores quae quovis mense
fructus ferant; homo vero qui de illis comedet sanabitur. It is not clear whether twelve
crops of fruit are intended or twelve manner of fruits (A.V., R.V.); the latter idea lends
itself well to the symbolism of the passage, for the one fruit of the Spirit is manifold
in its varieties (Gal. 5:22). The fruits of the Tree of Life are doubtless life-supporting
(Gen. 3:22) and intended for the service of the citizens of the New Jerusalem; see v. 14,
and cf. Ez. 47:12 , Enoch 25:5
, . But the tree is not only good for food (Gen. 3:6); its
leaves have therapeutic properties (Ez. l.c.); the LXX. rendering
is obscure, but our writer has access to another version or to the Heb., and
rightly translates



by . The therapeutic
work of Christ (Lc. 9:11 ) is continued on its
spiritual side by the Church, and may find in a future order opportunities at present
unsuspected. As in c. 21:24, 21:26, the Seer seems to forecast the presence of ,
nations not yet included among the citizens of the New Jerusalem, even after the
Parousia, but the inference is too uncertain to be used for a dogmatic purpose. He may
refer only to the functions of the Church in the present state; so far as she fulfils her true
office she is the healer of the diseases of humanity.
3. ] is without example in Biblical Greek,
though occurs in Mt. 26:74 as the equivalent of Mc.s ,
and the noun is used in Did. 16 . It is perhaps
somewhat stronger than (Andreas:
), an execration and not simply a ban. may be either the sentence
pronounced, as in the phrase (Deut. 13:15 f., Acts 23:14), or

the object on which it is laid (Deut. 7:26 , ), cf.

Rom. 9:3, 1 Cor. 12:3, 16:22, Gal. 1:8 f. Probably the latter is the meaning of
here; no execrated or execrable person or thing shall be found in the Holy City; cf. v. 15.
The form of the thought is from Zech. 14:11 ((

) ,
. adds to the strength of the negative; nothing
of the sort remains in the New Jerusalem; contrast Gen. 3:19.
.] The Throne of God, when first revealed to the Seer, was
seen through a door opened in Heaven (4:1); now he sees it in the Holy City which is
descending to the earth, and on it sits not the Father only but the Incarnate and glorified
Son (v. 1, note.) In Christ the Church has within her that which makes the chief glory of
Heaven, the revealed Presence of God.
3, 4. .] To the final revelation of God
there corresponds a perfected service; where the Throne is always in sight the service
must be perpetual: cf. 7:15 ,

a vision which is now seen to find its fulfilment in the New Jerusalem. On
see the note on the passage just quoted.
promises to the Church in her ideal state a privilege denied to the Lawgiver of the O.T.;
cf. Ex. 33:20, 33:23
... ,
. A reversal of this positive bar to complete fellowship with God seems to be
foreshadowed in Ps. 16. (17.) 15
, but see Kirkpatrick ad l. To see God is
the reward of purity, and conversely the sight of God in Christ will perfect the process
of purification (Mt. 5:8, 1 Jo. 3:2 ff.).
. Cf. Andreas:
; Bede: confessio nominis sancti, nunc inter
hostes servate, tunc victores in patria glorificat. Entire consecration to the service of
God is however the leading idea of the metaphor; see cc. 3:12, 14:1, notes.
5. , .] See 21:23, 21:25 notes; the
Seer repeats like a refrain the absence of night in the ideal City, and the supersession of
light, natural or artificial, by the revelation of the glory of God. The more difficult
reading adds force to this refrain: they have no need of lamplight, and
sunlight they have none.
contrasts the eternal reign of the
Saints with the limited reign of c. 20:4 , ib. 6
. Potentially, indeed, they were reigning even in
the first century (cf. 5:10 ), but neither the first century nor the
fourth witnessed a full or permanent realization of the Regnum Dei, which is reserved
for the Church in her perfect state. Perfect service will be accompanied by perfect
sovereigntywill be perfect sovereignty. The beauty of the sequence ...
has been finely caught by the Gregorian phrase cui servire regnare est.

Interpreters of the Apocalypse who recognise its prophetic character differ widely
with regard to the reference of this final vision. Does the New Jerusalem belong wholly
to the future, or is its fulfilment to be sought in the present life of the Church?
Augustine (de civ. Dei 20:17) denounces the latter view in no measured terms: hoc de
isto tempore accipere quo regnat [sc. ecclesia] cum rege suo mille annis impudentiae
nimiae mihi videtur quis vero tam sit absurdus et obstinatissima contentione vesanus,
qui audeat affirmare in huius mortalitatis aerumnis, non dico populum sanctum, sed
unumquemque sanctorum nullas habentem lacrymas et dolores? In hoc quoque
libro obscura multa dicuntur verum in his verbis ubi air Absterget Deus omnem
lacrymam ab oculis eorum etc., tanta luce dicta sunt de saeculo futuro ut nulla
debeamus in litteris sacris quaerere vel legere manifesta, si haec putaverimus obscura.
Even a stronger case might be made out for a purely futurist view; in its favour may be
urged the place which the vision occupies in the order of the Book (but see note on
20:1); the difficulty of finding an approximately complete counterpart to it in the history
of the Christian Society; the writers use of the future tense in 21:24 ff., 22:3 ff. On the
other hand it cannot be denied that there is much in the picture which fulfils itself to a
greater or less extent in the present experience of Christendom, if allowance is made for
the idealism which characterizes the thought and language of Apocalyptic prophecy.
Perhaps it is in this last consideration that the solution of the difficulty is to be
found. The Holy City which passes before the mind of St John is the Ideal Church as
conceived in the purpose of God and to be realized in His own time. So far as this
conception is purely spiritual, the powers by which it can be converted into actuality
have been in the possession of the Church from the first, and the results are manifest in
the moral triumphs of Christianity. Already the many colours of the New Jerusalem and
the flashes of its crystal luminary may be seen by those whose eyes are not closed
against the heavenly vision; men slake their thirst in the River, and nations find healing
in the leaves of the Tree. But as a whole the ideal is still far above us, nor will it be
reached until a new age has been inaugurated by the Lords Return.
22:620. EPILOGUE: LAST WORDS OF THE ANGEL, THE SEER, AND THE LORD .
6. .] The visions of the Apocalypse are now
ended; they have reached their climax in the New Jerusalem. It remains for the Seer to
report the parting utterances of some of the personae dramatis, and this is done in the
disjointed manner which characterizes much of the latter portion of the Book; it is often
difficult to distinguish the speakers, or to trace the connexion of the thought.
The first speaker (vv. 6 f.) is doubtless the hierophant angel of 21:9, 21:15, 22:1. The
sayings which he pronounces to be faithful and true (21:5, note) are, as the sequel
shews, the teachings of the entire Book, and not only the noble words with which the
last of its visions has just ended (vv. 35). The which follows is quasi-epexegetic:
these sayings are faithful and true, seeing that they constitute a message which the
Almighty Himself has sent through His angel. There is a reference here, as in more than
one other phrase in the Epilogue, to the Prologue (1:13); the words
are repeated verbatim from 1:1. is
doubtless the Eternal Father, as in 1:8, 4:8, 11:17, 15:3, 16:7, 18:8, 19:6, 21:22, 22:5.
Here He is , the God from Whom prophetic
inspiration proceeds, Who is the Source of prophetic gifts; cf. Arethas:

 ,
. For in this sense cf. 1 Cor. 12:10
, 14:12 , and ib. 32
. The are not to be identified with the
of 1:4, 5:6, which are before the Divine Throne, and are the Eyes of the
Lamb; they are the natural faculties of the Prophets, raised and quickened by the Holy
Spirit, but still under human control, and standing in a creaturely relation to God. Cf.
Num. 16:22, 27:16 (
) , where the phrase
is used in reference to human life in general. The Enochic Lord of the Spirits (Enoch
37:2 et passim) has quite another meaning; see Charles ad loc., and cf. 2 Macc. 3:24
.
It is noteworthy that even in the visions of this book, which came to him when he
was apparently alone in Patmos, St John associates himself with the whole body of the
Christian Prophets. The esprit de corps thus revealed is interesting; at the same time it is
to be observed that he does not isolate the prophetic order from the rest of the Christian
Society; if in the first instance the message comes to the Prophets only, it comes to them
for the benefit of the Church at large (see Mc. 4:21 f., note); it is their duty to
communicate it to all the Servants of God. For see 10:7, 11:18, 16:6, 18:20,
18:24, 22:9; and for , 1:1, 2:20, 7:3, 19:2, 19:5, 22:3, notes.
7. .] The Voice of Christ is heard behind, or speaking
through, the voice of His angel. For this parenthetical cf. 16:15, 22:12,
22:20; , suggested here by the Angels , is added in 2:16, 3:11, and below
vv. 12, 20. On in this Book see 6:1, note.
The beatitude which follows is here, as in 16:15, part of Christs utterance; it is a
repetition in a shorter form of 1:3, so that the Book ends as it began, with a felicitation
of its devout students. On Primasius well observes: servare dicit hic
reverenter credere et purioris vitae proposito custodire. points to
the all but completed roll on the Seers knee; throughout the Apocalypse he has
represented himself as writing his impressions at the time (cf. 10:4 ),
and his task is now nearly ended.
8. .] As at the beginning of the
Book (1:1, 1:4, 1:9), the author gives his name, without any distinguishing title, as
Dionysius of Alexandria had already observed (Eus. H.E. 7:25):
, . The writer
claims however, to be the Seer himself ( . ); cf. Dan. 12:5, 12:8, LXX.
... . , the things which the Angel had just
shewn him (cf. infr. ), i.e. the revelation of the New
Jerusalem. So astounding was this whole vision, the crowning glory of the Book, that
the Seer forgets the warning he has recently received (19:10), and again prostrates
himself before the Angel. The commentators offer alternative explanations, e.g.
Primasius writes: aut semel factum iteravit aut magno visionum stupore perculsus
adorare se iterum voluisse confitetur. There is nothing in the context to justify the
supposition that St John believed himself to be worshipping Christ; though the angel

had spoken the words in the person of Christ, yet the Seer knew him
to be one of the bearers of the Seven Bowls (21:9). Still less can it be maintained that it
is Christ Who refuses the worship; here, as in c. 19., it is the cult of angelic beings that
the Apocalyptist wishes to discourage by the example of his own repeated lapse; see
notes on 19:10.
. is repeated from v. 7 and answers to
in 19:10.
10. .] The Angel continues; on this
see 19:9, note. His instruction is exactly the reverse of that which is given to
Daniel (8:26 (

(


(( ((
; ( cf. 12:9

((
((

(( (


; LXX.

: cf. v. 4). But the circumstances are differentindeed, they are

reversed; as Milligan well says, it was not a time now for sealing up, but for
breaking seals; the end was not, as in Daniels case (see Driver on Dan. l.c.), far off,
but at hand, almost within sight. Therefore the prophecy of this book is to be left open
for all who will to read; nay, the hearing and reading of the book (1:3, 22:7), and so far
as may be, the study of its mysteries (13:18, 17:9), are to be warmly encouraged. The
Incarnation had brought the season for the fulfilment of Gods purposes relatively near,
even before the end of the first century; cf. 1:3, note. On the practice of sealing books,
to keep their contents secret, see c. 5:1, note. Only in reference to one detail in this
Book is the Seer directed ... ... (10:4); the rest is for the ears and
eyes of all Christians.
11. .] Daniel is still in view; cf. Dan. 12:10 ((

((
, LXX. ... ,
(

(Th. ); perhaps the Apocalyptist has also in mind Ez.

3:27, . In Daniel the sense seems to be that
the great trial which Antiochus was the means of bringing upon the Jewish people,
while it exercised a purifying influence upon the faithful, would but confirm the
disloyal in their wickedness; see Driver ad loc. While this thought may not be entirely
absent from the present passage, another is more prominent. It is not only true that the
troubles of the last days will tend to fix the character of each individual according to the
habits which he has already formed, but there will come a time when change will be
impossiblewhen no further opportunity will be given for repentance on the one hand
or for apostasy on the other. In the imagination of the Seer the moment has been reached
when the Master of the house has arisen and shut the door, and those that are without
will knock in vain (Mt. 25:10, Lc. 13:25); men can then no longer recede from the
position which they have chosen to take up. Cf. Andreas:
, and the caution added by Arethas:
, . ,
he whose habit it is to do wrong, the wrong-doer, with special reference perhaps to the
persecutorso at least the sufferers in the Viennese troubles understood it; cf. Eus. H.E.
5:1: ,
. ,

the representative of another class, the immoral pagan or reprobate; the may be
scrupulously moral, the disregards purity of life or even common decency; for
the word and its cognates see Zech. 3:3 ( ((
;) Job 14:4
; ; Jac. 1:21 ,
with Dr Mayors note. The aorists (, , not , )
indicate the fixity of the state into which the and the have entered;
there is henceforth no break in the downward course, which is indeed viewed as a single
act; cf. Blass, Gr. p. 194 f. Fixity in good is in like manner to be attained when the end
comes; the just (the opposite character to ) and the saint (the opposite to
) will enter on a permanent life of righteousness and of holiness. Not of course
that the and the can be divorced; the true is always , and the
is, in the perfect state at least, ; the two qualities were united in the Son of
Man (Acts 3:14 ), and will be united in all who are finally His; but
they are kept apart here for the sake of the antithesis to , . For
the Viennese letter quoted above has , a reading
which Zahn (Gesch. d. NTlichen Kanons, 1:201) pronounces gewiss ursprnglich,
and which certainly has much to recommend it; if we accept it, the sense will be let him
be held righteous (Vulg. iustificetur), which corresponds with , let him
enter on a state of sanctification. On the other hand it is perhaps more probable that
, which answers to as to , has
been changed to in order to balance . Primasius strangely
renders: iustus autem iustiora faciat, similiter et sanctus sanctiora, although above he
rightly gives: qui perseverant nocere noceant et qui in sordibus est, sordescat adhuc.
12. , .] The Voice of Christ comes
in parenthetically, as in v. 7; see note there. He speaks as the Steward of the great
, Who in the eventide of the world will call the labourers to receive their
days wages (Mt. 20:8); see 11:18, note. Though the is one and the same in all
cases, its value to the individual worker varies according to the work he has donea
principle which is steadily maintained throughout Scripture (Ps. 61:13, Job 34:11 f., Isa.
40:14, 42:11 (LXX.), Mc. 13:34, Rom. 2:5, Apoc. 2:23, 20:12 f.). The use of to
represent the gratuitous (Rom. 6:23) and spiritual compensations of the future life
belongs to the circle of ideas associated with , , , .
, the reward which it belongs to Me to give (2 Tim. 4:8); contrast .
, Mt. 5:12 (, Mt. 6:2, 6:5, 6:16; , Mc. 9:41), the reward which ye
(they, he) shall receive. , cf. Isa. 40:10
... ; ib. 62:11
. The inf. expresses the purpose for which the
reward is brought (cf. Blass, Gr. p. 223), so that it is nearly equivalent to ;
strikes a note often heard in this Book (2:23, 6:11, 21:13).
13. .] Cf. 21:6 , ,
in which is now inserted from 1:17, 2:8, . While .
Blass, F. Blass, Grammar of N.T. Greek. Translated by H. St J. Thackeray
(London, 1898).

is applied only to Christ, this is the only occasion on which He receives the great title
. It is the crowning instance in this Book of the attribution of Divine
prerogatives to the Incarnate Son; only seems to be withheld from the
Son, perhaps because it represents the underived Source of the Divine Life. On the
meaning of as applied to our Lord cf. Tert. de monog. 5 (quoted in
note on c. 1:8). The phrase is applicable in many senses, but perhaps it is used here with
special reference to our Lords place in human history. As creation owed its beginning
to the Word of God, so in His incarnate glory He will bring it to its consummation by
the Great Award. He is the of faith (Heb. 12:2), and not less
truly the of all life.
14. .] The reading is not altogether
easy to determine. Perhaps it is slightly more probable that
arose out of , than that the reverse occurred; on the other
hand, the documentary evidence is decidedly in favour of the former, and it is against
the latter that the use of the Johannine writings all but invariably supports the phrase
(so Jo. 14:15, 14:21, 15:10, 1 Jo. 2:3 f., 3:22, 3:24, 5:3, Apoc. 12:17,
14:12the sole exception is 1 Jo. 5:2, where . . occurs); moreover, the
prepossessions of the scribes would have favoured rather than
. Upon the whole, then, . may with some
confidence be preferred; and it yields an admirable sense.
This, the final beatitude of the Apocalypse, deals with the issues of the higher life.
They who wash the robes of the inner life from the of the world by faith in the
Sacrifice of our Lord (7:14, note) shall win the right of access to the Tree of Life and of
entrance into the City of God; ... is but another version of
, , interpreted in the light of
the Cross. ... ... : blessed are they that the right shall be
theirs and they may enter (Benson)a mixture of constructions observed already in
c. 3:9; the future after is frequent in this Book (6:4, 6:11, 9:5, 9:20, 13:12, 14:13),
and if it is to be distinguished in meaning from the conjunctive, it may point to the
certainty, the actuality, of the result, while the conjunctive suggests that there are
conditions which must be fulfilled first.
On the Tree of Life see v. 2, and c. 2:7, notes. The Vision of the New Jerusalem
places the Paradise of God in the heart of the City, so that right of access to the Tree
implies right of entrance into the City, and the entrance must precede the access. If in
this passage the right of access is mentioned first, it is probably with the view of laying
the emphasis upon the greater right, which indeed includes all. On . see
21:12: the dative is instrumental, the gate-towers being regarded as the means of
entrance.
15. .] Benson: out, ye dogsa bold and impressive rendering, but
scarcely admissible in this context; the persons thus characterized have already been
cast out. Primasius is more true to the mind of the writer: foris autem remanebunt
canes; cf. Bede: cuncta enim rabies improborum et nunc intrinsecus ecclesiam tentat,
sed cum intraverit paterfamilias et sanctis secum ad nuptias intrantibus clauserit ostium,

tunc incipient foris stare et pulsare ostium. No one who has watched the dogs that
prowl in the quarters of an Eastern city (Ps. 58. (59.) 7, 15) will wonder at the contempt
and disgust which the word suggests to the Oriental mind. For its application to unclean
or otherwise offensive persons see Deut. 23:18 (19)
(see Drivers note ad loc.) ; Ps. 21. (22.) 17
; ib. 21 ... ; Mt.
7:6 ; Mc. 7:27
; Phil. 3:3 (see Lightfoots note).
In the last two passages at least reference is made to the use of the term by the Jews to
denote the heathen or the Gentiles, of which Schttgen ad loc. quotes a typical example
from Pirke R. Eliezer 29: quicumque edit cum idolatra idem est ac si ederet cum cane.
quis est canis? qui non circumcisus est. But in the present passage neither Jews nor
Gentiles as such are in view; the (Syr.gw.
= ) are the
of 21:8, i.e. those who had been defiled by long contact with the foul
vices which honeycombed pagan society. These were not even in St Johns day strictly
limited to the heathen (see 2:14, 2:20 ff., note, and cf. 2 Cor. 12:21); and he must have
foreseen that as time went on, and the Church grew in numbers, she would lose in
purity. Tertullian goes too far when he says (de pud. 19): non enim de ethnicis
videbitur sapere illorum est enim foras dari qui intus fuerunt; but Andreas is
doubtless right: ...
. On . see 21:8, note;
is a welcome interpretation of in the
earlier list, which 21:27 has already supplied in part. But goes
deeper than ; he who loves falsehood is in his nature akin to it, and has through
his love of it proved his affinity to Satan, who is (Jo. 8:44); for him,
while he is such, there can be no entrance into the City, no access to the Tree of Life; cf.
2 Th. 2:12

Jo. 1:6
. With compare Jer. 8:10 1 ;

. To do the truth, or to do falsehood, to act
a lie, are St Johns terms for a life which is fundamentally sincere or insincere. The
rendering of A.V., R.V. (text), every one that maketh a lie, misses this point, probably
out of regard for the circumstance that is anarthrous here (contrast Jo. 8:44,
Rom. 1:25, Eph. 4:25, 2 Th. 2:11). But would not have suited this context, if
it was the writers intention to represent the insincere life as a single act, as if the mans
whole existence had been a lie.
16. .] Though the whole Book is an
(1:1), the revelation has hitherto been made through the
ministry of angels or in a vision of the glorified Lord, or through the Spirit in the mind
of the Seer (2:7). Now at length Jesus speaks in His human personal name ( ,
as in v. 8). He attests the bona fides of His messenger: it was I Who sent
him; it is on My behalf that he has spoken; his testimony is Mine. is used
rather than (cf. 1:1 )I sent,
without the accessory idea of a special commission (cf. Westcott, Add. Note on John

20:21); it is enough to say that the angel came from the Lord; by His angel Jesus
Himself had borne witness to the members of the Asian Churches () and the
contents of this Book () were thus ultimately from Him. These communications,
though addressed primarily to the Christians of Asia, had a wider purpose: they were
made , with reference to the needs of Christians generally; cf. the
use of in 10:11
, in reference to peoples, &c., and see Jo. 12:16. are
not the Seven Churches only, but the Christian societies throughout the world, which in
the next generation were known in their aggregate as (Ign. Smyrn.
8. 2; cf. Harnack, Mission u. Ausbreitung, p. 293). The Apocalypse does not use
of the whole Church, as St Paul does (Col., Eph.; cf. Hort, Ecclesia, p. 147
ff.); when St John wishes to express the ideal unity of Christendom, he does so by
means of a symbolical female figure, the Mother (12:1 ff.) or the Wife or Bride (19.,
21., 22.) of Christ.
] Cf. 5:5 ,
.; and see note there. To the Seer now adds: . does not here
mean race, family or house, as in Acts 4:6 , ib. 7:13
; but offspring, as in Acts 17:28 f.
.; cf. the similar use of genus in Verg. Aen. 4:12 genus esse
deorum. Jesus is not only the (Isa. 11:1), but He is at once
the and the , the Root and the Offshoot, the Beginning and the End of the
whole economy associated with the Davidic family. In the Messiah, the latest Scion of
the House of David, its earliest ideals and hopes are realized.
] Cf. 2:28 , a
promise which is now interpreted. The Morning Star, the Lords ultimate gift to the
conqueror, is Jesus Himself. Among the stars of the spiritual firmament (1:16, 1:20) He
is as the (Job 3:9, 11:17, 38:12, 41:9 (10)) or (2 Pet. 1:19), the
brightest in the whole galaxy, the Light which lightens every man by its coming into the
world (Jo. 1:9); the Star of Dawn, Whose coming precedes the sunrise of the Day of
God. The metaphor is used by the son of Sirach in reference to Simon the High Priest
(Sir. 50:6 ), and of Mordecai in the Targum on
Esther (ipse Mardochai similis fuit Lucifero splendenti inter stellas); in Isa. 14:12 it
occurs in a splendid dirge over a fallen King of Babylon:
. The Morning Star of the Church shines to-day as
brightly as in the age of St John; He does not fall or set.
17. ] The answer of the Church to the
Voice of Jesus in v. 12. is probably not the Spirit regarded as the indwelling
life of the Body of Christ, as in Eph. 4:4 , but rather, in
accordance with the general use of the Apocalypse, the Spirit of prophecy, the Spirit in
the prophetic order; the Spirit and the Bride is thus practically equivalent to the
Prophets and the Saints (16:6, 18:24). The Christian Prophets inspired by the Spirit of
Jesus, and the whole Churchthe Churches considered as an ideal unityrespond as
with one voice to the Lords great announcement. It rouses in all Christians the desire,

never long dormant, for His Return. On see 21:2, 21:9, notes; for cf. 6:1,
note; here it is obvious to supply from v. 20.
.] The call is to be taken up and repeated by every
hearer (1:3, note) of this Book; not only the Church in her ideal unity, but each
individual member of every Christian congregation where the book shall be read is
invited to demand the fulfilment of the Lords promise . In what
follows there is a remarkable change of reference; for , St John
writes . , i.e. instead of being bidden to welcome the coming Christ, he who
is athirst is himself bidden to come; he is welcomed to Christ in words which remind us
of the Johannine Gospel (Jo. 6:35 ,
; 7:37 , ).
contrasts happily with in the Oxyrhynchus Sayings, though the
latter is doubtless relatively true. Here . is contrasted with ; he that still
thirsts, the eager enquirer who is seeking after the salvation which is to be found in the
Church, the unbaptized catechumen, cannot yet share in the Churchs yearning for the
Return of the Lord; he must first come to the Fountain of the Water of Life and drink,

before he can welcome Christ Himself. looks back to Isa. 55:1

(

. Behind the , there is yet another class of non-Christians who are

welcomed ; willingness to receive the truth may exist where as yet there is
no thirst for it, and such willingness is of God and a first step towards eternal life: cf.
Phil. 2:13 ; Bede ad loc.:
et ipsum enim velle Dei donum est. On , see 21:6, note;
suggests that though the supply is gratuitous, the responsibility of accepting and
using it rests with the individual; cf. 3:18, note.
18. .] The Speaker is still surely Jesus, and not,
as many commentators have supposed, St John. Jesus has borne testimony throughout
the Book by His angel, and now He bears it in person. His testimony, which is
addressed to every hearer of the Book, is a solemn protest against wilful perversions of
its teaching. The words are doubtless suggested by the warning of Moses in Deut. 4:2;
, ; ib.
12:32 ,
, ; Prov. 24:29 (30:6) ,
; cf. the imprecation which Aristeas (ed. Thackeray, 34)
supposes to have been pronounced after the completion of the first Greek version of the
Pentateuch, and the boast of Josephus, c. Ap. 1:8: ,

. It was not
uncommon for writers to protect their works by adding a solemn adjuration to the
scribes to correct the copies carefully, and in no case to mutilate or interpolate the
original; cf. e.g. Irenaeus ap. Eus. H. E. 5:20:

,
, Rufinus, prol. in libros : omnem qui hos libros descripturus
est vel lecturus in conspectu Dei Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti contestor ne addat
aliquid scripturae, ne auferat, ne inserat, ne immutet; sed conferat cum exemplaribus
unde scripserit, etc. If the solemn warning of the present verse was intended in this

sense, it has signally failed; for in no other book of the N.T. is the text so uncertain as in
the Apocalypse. But, like its archetype in Deuteronomy, it has a deeper reference; it is
no mere lapsus calami, no error of judgement or merely intellectual fault which is
condemned, but the deliberate falsification or misinterpretation of a Divine message. It
is not the letter of the Apocalypse, but its spirit which is thus jealously guarded; and no
honest copyist in days before the invention of printing, no honest translator or
interpreter of either those times or our own, can incur the terrible penalty. As Bede, with
his usual discernment, writes: haec propter falsatores dixit, non propter eos qui
simpliciter quod sentiunt dicunt. Nevertheless the warning, with its danger signal on
either hand, ought to give pause to any who would lightly handle the Apocalypse, and
suggests to those who venture upon handling it at all Augustines prayer: si qua de
meo, et Tu ignosce et Tui.
In , ... there is a play upon the two
meanings of and : if any one shall lay (more) on them (add to them),
God will lay on him the plagues (blows) described in this Book. Cf. Acts 16:23
. is another way of
saying . ; the portion which the man had
once possessed in the Tree is regarded as taken from it, i.e. he has no longer any rights
in it; cf. 21:8, and Acts 8:21 .
: not as Vg. et de his quae scripta sunt, but in apposition to
, ; cf. (supra). Consciously
to rob this Book of any part of its essential teaching is to rob oneself of the bliss which
it promises: to add to its teaching is to incur the visitations which it threatens. For either
act, if deliberate, proclaims a will which is out of harmony with the Will of God and
with His ordering of the world; and the rebellious will, while it continues such, cannot
receive the things of the Spirit of God here or hereafter. The warning is addressed to
Christians who by their attitude towards this Book show themselves to be unworthy of
their inheritance.
20. ]
.] To His solemn testimony in reference to the use of the Book the
Lord adds a last word in answer to the call of the Church. The Spirit and the Bride and
the loyal hearers of the Book had bidden Him come, and to their He replies
, , yea, I am coming, and coming quickly; on which the Seer, speaking both
for the Prophets and for the whole Church, responds, Amen, so be it: come, Lord
Jesus. On , see 1:7, note; here expresses the Lords assent to the call
, and , the absolute faith in His word of the Seer and those whom he
represents, and their content with the prospect of His Coming; cf. 2 Tim. 4:8
. (1 Cor. 12:3) occurs in this Book only
here and in the next verse; it belongs to the language of devotion, which is appropriate
to the context.
21. THE FINAL BENEDICTION .
] An ending of this kind is unusual in
Apocalypses, as Bousset points out; but it is suitable to an Apocalypse which is also a
Vg. The Latin Vulgate.

letter to the Churches (1:4, note), designed to be read in the congregation. An

Apocalypse in its inner character, a prophecy in its purpose, the Book is in its literary
form an Epistle, and therefore begins and ends with the epistolary forms familiar to the
Asian Churches through the Epistles of St Paul. All the thirteen Epistles of St Paul end
with a benediction, constructed on the same general lines, but varying in detail. The
Pauline parting benediction begins invariably with , which is followed (except in
Eph., Col., and the Pastorals) by [] []; the ending is
either (Rom., 1 Cor., 1 Thess., Col., Pastorals), or (2
Cor., 2 Th., and in substance, Eph.), or (Gal., Phil., Philem.).
Hebrews follows the Pauline model with , but no such form
appears in the Catholic Epistles; the nearest to it is in 1 Peter, which ends
. St John follows St Paul in the opening words (
); in the latter part of the sentence the MSS. offer a choice between
and , for is a conflation, and
a correction from St Paul. On the whole the preference should probably be given
to the non-Pauline , although it has the support of but one of the uncial
( ;)not only is it less likely to have suggested itself to a copyist than
, but it is in close accordance with the writers usual phraseology; is his
constant term for the members of the Churches (8:3 f., 11:18, 13:7, 13:10, 14:12, 16:6,
17:6, 18:20, 18:24, 19:8, 20:9). The Saints, the men of consecrated lives, are, in the
Apocalyptists view, the men for whose advantage the whole course of human history is
being carried to its end; who are destined as a body to survive the wreck of cities and
empires, and in the end to dominate a new world. But the grace of the Lord Jesus is the
only source of their strength, and the guarantee of their triumph; and the last words of
the Apocalypse are at once a reminder of this primary condition of success, and a prayer
that it may be realized in the experience of the baptized, both in the cities of Asia and
throughout the world.
MSS.

SUBSCRIPTION. Only two of the Uncials give a subscription to the Book; repeats
(for surely is both here and at the head of the
pages in a mere itacism), and A, which had only in the title, now agrees

with . The forms offered by some cursives and versions add nothing to our knowledge
of the Book or its writer.
1

1The Apocalypse of St. John ( ed. Henry Barclay Swete;, 2d. ed.; New York:
The Macmillan company, 1907), 294.