23 αρνίον. Καὶ ἡ πόλις { 25 it. And its gates shall

not be shut at all by

day, (for there shall be

νης, ἵνα φαίνωσιν ἐν | 26 no night there,) and αὐτῇ· ἡ γὰς δόξα they shall bring the τὸ Θεὸ ἐφώτισεν glory and the honour αὐτὴν, καὶ ὁ λύχνο of the nations into it; 97 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing which defileth, and which worketh abomination and deceit, but only they who are written in the book of Life of the Lamb. 1 And he shewed me a

ἕνα, ἕκασον ἀπο διδῶν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῷ· καὶ τὰ φύλλα τα ξύλα εἰς θεραπείαν τῶν ἐθνῶν. 3 Καὶ πᾶν καλάθεμα Ex Isaι ETC x 8 Spór To Oε x τῇ ἀρνία ἐν αὐτῇ ἔσαι καὶ οἱ δέλοι αὐτῷ λατρεύσεσιν 4 αὐτῷ. Καὶ ἔψονται τὸ πρόσωπον αὑτε, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων 5 αὐτῶν. Καὶ νὺξ ἐκ £5×1 [ixeï]• xx¡ ¿ χρεία λύχνε καὶ φωτός ηλίας, ὅτι Κύ ριθ. ὁ Θεὸς φωλίσει

ἐπ' αὐτές· καὶ βασ σιλεύσεσιν εἰς τὰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.

Aud

5 their foreheads.
there shall be no night
[there], and no need
of lamp, even of light
of the Sun; because
the Lord God shall
give light upon them:
and they shall reign
for ever and ever.

face

and his name

shall be in their fore5 heads. And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for, the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever,

The main prophecy had already come to its conclusion *. He who opened it in the first chapter, had brought it to its final period in this. The end of all worldly things is succeeded by the new creation: and "the holy city, the new Jerusalem," had been exhibited, as " descending from God out of heaven, pre"pared as a bride adorned for her husband." But a nearer and more particular view of this blissful seat was desirable; and therefore, when the scene was closed, and the throne no longer in view, one of the angels, who had exhibited to the prophet the harlot, the corrupt city, Babylon, conde

5

See note, ch, xxi. 5.

scendingly

scendingly offers to shew him a nearer exhibition of the bride, the heavenly Jerusalem. Thus the contrast between the two is more effectually shewn. And therefore this vision, like that of the xviith chapter, seems to stand apart from the rest; and is to be accounted as an episode. Therefore the scene, on which it is represented, is also apart. As, in the xviith chapter, the angel had transported the prophet into the wilderness, there to behold the harlot, the corrupt city; so he now conveys him in the Spirit, to a great and high mountain, a place of eminent power and worship*, to behold the Christian Church, perfect and triumphant, after the renovation of all things.

Ver. 11. And her splendour like a most precious stone.] Here follows a very gorgeous very gorgeous description of the new city, which, conformably to the prophecy of Isaiah, is built of precious stones, with a superb costliness beyond the reach of earthly potentates. The gems, employed to decorate this glorious city, are such as have ever been in the highest request in the eastern regions, which produce them. Upon the

* See note, ch. viii. 8.

+ Ch. liv. 11, 12.

The description of most of these as given by the ancient writers, may be seen in Pliny's Natural IIistory. See also Dionysii Orbis Descriptio, cap. India; and in works of more modern date,-in Thunburgh's Travels, vol. iv. p. 218 ; &c. -The Crystal Jasper of ver. 11. is described by Pliny, lib. xxxvii. c. 8, 9.

The connection of these two gems may be seen in these lines:

Τέμνοις κρυςαλλά καθαρόν λίθον, οία τε πάχνην
Χειμερίην δηεις δε και ὑδατοἔσσαν ἴασπιν.

Here the clear crystal, like the winters' ice,

You cut; and with it find the watery jasper.

And again, line 724:

Φύει δε κρυςάλλον, ιδ' ηέςόεσσαν ἴασιν

Dionysii Perig. lin. 781.

And

the parallel passage in Isaiah, Bishop Lowth has written this judicious observation: "These seem to be ge"neral images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of eastern "nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some moral "and precise meaning." Nothing more seems intended than to afford some general, but lofty and sublime notion of the splendour of this superb and heavenly mansion, which the Apostle Paul, following the words of the Prophet Isaiah *, represents to be beyond conception †. And, to describe the building, as composed of the very richest and most costly materials, yet such as few persons have seen, or can imagine, is figuratively to say the same thing. Yet, that the reader may not confine his notions to earthly splendour solely, at the twelve gates are twelve angels, and on each of the gates is inscribed

And in these lines of the same author, are described several of the precious stones, which are figuratively employed to build the New Jerusalem:

Αλλοι δ' ιχνεύωσιν ἐπι προβόλησιν ἀναυρων
Ηπε βηρυλλος γλαυκην λίθον, ή αδαμανα
Μας μαιζον, ή χλωρα διαυγάζωσαν ἴασπιν,
Η γλαυκιόωνία λίθον καθαροῖο τοπαζε,

Και γλυκερην αμεθυσον υπήρέμα πορφυρέασαν.

Some trace among the torrents' rifted beds

The clear, blue beryl, or resplendent diamond,
Or green pellucid jasper, or pure topaz,
Or the mild, gently-purpling amethyst.

1 Cor. ii. 9. Isaiah Ixiv. 4.

1118-1123.

"Eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor have entered into "the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for those that "love him."

This figurative language thus applied, may be seen by consulting Lam. iv. 1-7 ; & 1 Cor. iii. 12-15.

a name

a name of a tribe of Israel*; and the foundation is raised (as in Eph. ii. 20. and 1 Pet. ii. 5,) "on the "Apostles and Prophets; Jesus Christ himself being the "chief corner-stone." Every thing unclean and faulty, is excluded from this city; whence we may deduce an additional proof that this prophecy is not to have its final completion in this world; where the good and the bad, the wheat and the tares, are to grow together until the "end t." Some commentators have been led to a different interpretation, by observing that the new city descends from heaven; and is therefore, say they, upon earth: but this objection will be completely removed, by remarking that the earth, to which the Heavenly Jerusalem descends, is not the earth we now inhabit. A new Heaven and a new earth are produced; -"Behold," says the Creator, "I make all things new ‡." This vision therefore appears to exhibit the future mansions of the blessed. It succeeds the general judgment of the dead; and to no other mansion can in any wise be applied the glorious representation which describes the favoured inhabitants admitted to see "the "face of God §," and reigning for ever and ever . Such is the city alluded to by the Apostle to the Hebrews, who, speaking of this world, says, "here we "have no continuing city, but seek one to come ¶." Agreeably to which, in this prophecy it is declared that there is "here no temple." In this world, as now constituted, Religion cannot subsist without her temples; without some external mode of bringing men to God. But when "just men, made perfect, see face to face" the glories of their God, Faith and Hope, on which

• See note, ch. vii. 4.
↑ Ch. xx. 11. xxi. 1. 4, 5.
|| Ch. xxii. 4, 5.

Matt. xiii. 40.

§ Compare 1 Cor. xiii. 12. ¶ Heb, xi. 10. 16. xii. 22.

the