21:14a

The wall of the city had twelve foundations: It is not clear where each of these twelve foundations were in relationship to each other. Some possibilities are:

(1) The twelve stones were side by side under the whole city and its wall.

(2) The stones lay end to end around the city under the wall so that there were three stones to each side.

(3) The foundations were in twelve layers, one on top of another.

Translate in a way that allows these interpretations. For example:

The wall of the city had twelve foundations ⌊under it⌋
-or-
The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The city’s wall was built on twelve foundation stones (Good News Translation)

The wall of the city: This wall is the wall that surrounded the city (21:12a).

foundations: A foundation is the first layer of a building or construction. It is usually partly buried so that it will not move. But in this case, John saw all twelve foundations. Some languages do not have a word for foundation. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Use the word in your language for the first layer of construction when building a strong wall or house. The word must be appropriate for building a wall on top of it.

Describe in your translation how a foundation is used. For example:

twelve large stones under it which were secure in the ground
-or-
twelve large stones partly buried in the ground to make the wall strong

• Use the major language word. If people are not familiar with this word, explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

A foundation is the first layer of a building or construction. It is usually partly buried so that it will not move and cause the building to collapse.

21:14b

bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb:
The Greek is literally “and on them, names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” The phrase “on them” is emphasized in the Greek. Some English versions also emphasize this phrase. For example:

and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (New International Version)

However, the Berean Standard Bible translates these words with the English word bearing. Do what is most natural in your language.

apostles: In general, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as apostles refers to those sent with a message. They are representatives or messengers of a higher authority. Here it refers to twelve men whom Jesus chose to take his message to the world.

Some ways to translate this word are:

• Translate the meaning. For example:

representatives
-or-

⌊special⌋ messengers
-or-
sent-people

• Use the major language word or phrase.

See how you translated this word in 2:2 or 18:20.

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