Section 21:9–22:5
An angel showed the new Jerusalem to John
In this section, an angel showed the new Jerusalem to John. The angel again used a metaphor of a bride to describe new Jerusalem. The city was large and beautiful. God lived there with his people. His glory lighted the city. John described the city, the river that flowed through the city, and the tree that gave life. There were no bad things in the city at all.
Other examples for this section heading are:
The vision of the new Jerusalem
-or-
John saw/described the new Jerusalem ⌊as a bride for the Lamb⌋
Paragraph 21:9–14
21:9a–b
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues: This is the same phrase as in 17:1, except that the phrase full of the seven final plagues is added here. It refers to the seven angels of chapter 16.
In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that the bowls were still full of the plagues. If that is true in your language, indicate that the bowls no longer have the plagues in them. For example:
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls ⌊which earlier were⌋ full of the seven last plagues came and said to me
-or-
⌊Earlier/Previously I had seen⌋ seven angels holding seven bowls filled with the final seven plagues/disasters. ⌊Now⌋ one of them came to me and said
21:9c
the bride, the wife of the Lamb: The phrase the bride and the phrase the wife of the Lamb are similar in meaning. Both refer to the new Jerusalem. Repeating a similar meaning in Greek emphasizes that meaning.
In some languages repeating a similar meaning has a different use. If that is true in your language, you may want to emphasize the meaning in a different way. For example:
the bride who is the wife of the Lamb
-or-
the bride that the Lamb has married (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
indeed the new wife of the Lamb
the bride, the wife: The word bride can refer to a woman about to be married or a woman recently married. The word wife usually refers to a woman who has recently married. But here it is implied that the wedding of the Lamb has not yet occurred. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that the bride was already married. If that is true in your language, indicate that the marriage is soon.
the Lamb: This is a title for Jesus. Jewish people killed a lamb at the Passover as a sacrifice to God. The lamb has symbolic meaning as a special sacrifice and is a symbol for the Christ. See how you translated this title in 5:6 or 19:7.
In some languages readers would not clearly understand a literal translation as a title for Jesus. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain in a footnote that the word Lamb is a title for Jesus as the Christ. For example:
This word is a symbolic title for Jesus. ⌊It indicates that he was like the lambs that the Jewish people sacrificed to God at every Passover Feast. Like those lambs, he died at Passover as a sacrifice to God.⌋
-or-
See the footnote on “the Lamb” at 5:6.
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