Section 21:1–8
John saw the new heaven and earth
In this section, John saw a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem. John also heard someone explain that God now lives with his people. The person also spoke about those who did not follow God.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The new heaven and earth descended, and God began living with his people
-or-
All things made new (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
Paragraph 21:1–4
21:1a
Then: The Greek word here is the usual word that indicates that the story continues. However, here it introduces a new part of the story. Use a natural way to introduce a new part of the story in your language.
a new heaven and a new earth: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as heaven can also mean “sky” as in 20:11b. Here it probably refers to everything in the universe that surrounds the earth. So the phrase heaven…and…earth probably refers to all of creation.
In some languages a literal translation would wrongly refer only to the place where God lives and the place where people live. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Translate the correct meaning in your translation. For example:
a new earth and sky ⌊and everything else that God newly made⌋
-or-
a new earth and a new sky ⌊and all that is in them⌋
• Translate the literal meaning and explain its meaning in a footnote. For example:
This saying refers to a whole new universe.
a new earth: The word earth refers to the whole world here: the land and sea.
21:1b
for: This conjunction introduces the reason that there was a new heaven and earth.
the first heaven and earth had passed away: This clause indicates that the first heaven and earth no longer existed. For example:
the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist (NET Bible)
the first heaven and earth: This phrase probably refers to the same things as in 20:11b. But there are some English translations that use the English word “sky” instead of heaven. In both verses, the phrase refers to all of creation. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
all that God created/made first
-or-
the first earth and sky ⌊and all that is in them⌋
-or-
the first universe
the first heaven: The word heaven here probably has the same meaning as in 21:1a.
21:1c
and the sea was no more: The Greek clause is literally “no sea existed anymore.” The new earth did not have a sea. In Jewish culture, the sea was a symbol of chaos and evil. So John probably used the sea as a symbol for chaos and evil.
You should translate following the Greek or English. But you may want to explain the implied information in a footnote. For example:
In Jewish culture, the sea was a symbol of chaos and evil.
sea: The word sea refers to a large body of water. A sea is often so large that someone standing on one side cannot see the other side. Here the word sea refers to seas and oceans in general. See how you translated this word in 5:13 or 20:13.
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