Revelation 21:19

Rev_21:19-20

And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

The foundation stones

Our text is part of Johns description of the New Jerusalem. It is the living city of the living God. I say, emphatically, the living city, for the apostle is thinking not so much of a place as of a people. The imagery, regarded superficially, would suggest to us a literal city, with actual walls and houses and streets; but a closer examination shows us that this was hardly the writers intention. He tells us, for instance, that the twelve foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, that God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it, and that it is not lighted by sun or moon, but the Lamb is the light thereof. From all which we conclude that it is not a material but a spiritual city--a city whose stones are living souls, whose pearly gates and streets are resplendent, not with material radiance, but with the more ethereal light of moral and spiritual beauty. It is a city built and compacted together by Christ--Christ Himself being both the foundation and the superstructure of it. In a word, it is the redeemed Church of God. Not the Church as it actually exists. It is the bride adorned for her marriage without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Let us keep this in mind as we seek the interpretation of the imagery.

I. There is nothing base or common in this city. Every part is most beautiful and every part most precious. It is this feature of the description which fills us with a sense of rapture. Now, remember we are speaking of a living city, not of mere dead walls and buildings. The meaning, then, is that every member of the glorified Church, every living stone on those living walls, is of perfect beauty, and of priceless worth, most precious in the sight of God, most precious in each others sight. Once common dust, stained with sin, fit only to be trampled on by God and all pure angels, now wrought by a Divine alchemy into radiant pearls and precious stones, so that even the place where God puts His feet is glorious. Now every streak of imperfection has been removed, every fault repaired. In the olden time alchemists spent weary days and nights, and wore their flesh to bone and their brains to madness, in striving to change the common metals into precious gold. Of course their labour was in vain; and yet the dream had a foundation of reality. Christ, the Divine transformer, has succeeded in a far grander sense than they thought and intended. There, on the radiant walls and streets of the New Jerusalem, are the proofs of His success. The common charcoal and the brilliant diamond are, as you know, of the same material. Each of them is simply a lump of carbon, and the chemist can actually change the splendid gem into dull black charcoal. But there his power ends; he cannot change it back again. And the world and the devil can put noble souls into their crucibles and turn them out black and lustreless. Their genius suffices for that transformation, and then fails. But Christ takes these marred elements and touches them back into such vivid splendour that they shine like jasper on the heavenly walls. And the Church of the Apocalypse is a treasure-house filled with these Christ-wrought jewels. It is the communion of beautiful souls, where the feeblest is as David and David as an angel of God, where a man is more precious than the gold of Ophir, where each esteems other better than himself, and where the spiritual beauty of each one is the wealth of all. This is not, as some suppose, the setting forth of a heaven of material splendour--a magnified jewellers shop, as it has been irreverently called. It is rather the exaltation of the moral over the material. It means that the true gold and pearls of the universe are the graces of Gods elect souls. The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

II. The imagery of our text suggests infinite variety. All manner of precious stones. The apostle enumerates twelve of them, but these twelve are only representative of the greater number. Similarly the twelve gates of the city are pearls, but no two alike, for each several gate is of one distinct pearl. Further on, the tree of life, growing in the midst of the city, yields twelve manner of fruit: and so it is everywhere. There is only one feature of general likeness. Every part shines with the radiance of the jasper. The apostles of Christ were just as diverse in mind, manner, and disposition as any twelve men could be. James was a thorough conservative, Paul as thorough a radical. Peter was bold and enterprising, Andrew timid and retiring. John was imaginative and sanguine, Thomas prosaic and despondent. Yet they were all vessels made meet for the Masters service; all alike sanctified; all alike filled with the Divine Spirit; and now they are built up in the New Jerusalem, each one with his individuality preserved, each one a precious stone beautiful and glorious after its own kind. This living city has room for all manner of souls. See how Christ gathered them in. Fishermen and sailors, rude in speech and uncultured in mind; publicans, inclined to cautiousness and calculation; scribes, full of book-learning, exact and formal; Pharisees, in whom ritualism was ingrained; Roman centurions, soldierly and imperious; physicians, like Luke. An endless variety, indeed, whose peculiarities Christs service would not remove, but only purify and deepen. Now they shine all manner of precious stones in the Holy City, making heavens intercourse delightful. How significant are the words which follow our text! The kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour unto it; and further on, They shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. The kings of the earth; that is, not the Caesars, and Constantines, and Charlemagnes, but the more royal souls who are kings by the imposition of a Divine hand. And the glory and honour of the nations, the most faithful of the Israelites, the noblest of the Greeks, the purest Romans, the most brilliant of Frenchmen, the most artistic of Italians, the strongest among German and Anglo-Saxon thinkers--all of them, with the fine qualities which distinguished them as nations, preserved and sanctified in Christ. The most gifted minds, the sweetest singers, the sublimest poets, the rarest geniuses, the bravest soldiers, the noblest patriots and statesmen--all the glory and honour of the nations. Christ claims the best of every kind to garnish the living walls. Chrysostom and Augustine its orators, Pascal and Malebranche its philosophers, Newton and Kepler its scientists, Dante and Milton its poets, Michael Angelo and Titian its artists. Men who were as devout in faith as they were gigantic in intellect, and these, and thousands of others as noble as they, have brought their honour and glory into the city. Oh, what a building that will be when it is completed! What a society of elect and choice souls when every variety of human disposition, every manner of gift purified and immortalised, are gathered together in one redeemed company! The foundation of the wall of the city was garnished with all manner of precious stones.

III. The imagery of our text suggests the mode of Christian growth. The apostle enumerates singly and in their proper order the twelve foundation stones. He must have had some distinct meaning in this. The precious stones rising one above the other would represent, if we could only interpret them correctly, the growth, the upbuilding of the Holy City--the Church. And as the Church is built up exactly after the manner of the individual believer, we have also Christian growth represented in the picture. Now look for a moment at the twelve rows. There is first, as we might expect, the jasper, which represents Christ. All living, growing faith starts from that as foundation. There can be no enduring building on any other base. Next comes the sapphire, a rich blue stone, like the azure of the sky--that blue sky which is the everlasting type of calmness and peace. So this sapphire represents the second stage of Christian growth, the indescribable peace and calm which come from resting on Christ, and from the sense of forgiveness. The third is the chalcedony, white, and yet not unmixed white. It is the first purity of the Christian life, the purity of the young fervent disciple, not perfect, not altogether unselfish--for the beginnings of religious life are always too self-regarding--and yet very fair to look upon. The fourth is the emerald, a flashing green pearl, the colour which all poets of all nations have chosen as the symbol of hope, and so indicative of the hope which glows in the disciples breast, enduing him for trial, and spurring him on to all his endeavours. Then comes the sardonyx, a stone with a white surface on a dark ground. See what that means--the fervour of the first love is gone, and the time of temptation and partial backsliding has come. The dark ground, the old nature, which was deemed dead, reappears, thrusting itself up under the Christian purity. Then follows the deep blood-red sardius, the type of suffering and patience and death--the type pre-eminently of Christ; for you remember, He that sat upon the throne was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. The sardius after the sardonyx--suffering to correct impurity. For when the Church has lost the fervour of its faith and the glow of its love, and the dark world spirit is reappearing under its white professions, then nothing can avail but a new baptism in Christ, a fresh draught of His cup of martyrdom, fellowship in His sufferings, and conformity to His death. Trial, affliction, tears, are denoted by the blood-red sardius. Next is the chrysolyte, washed with gold, radiant with the colour of gold, showing how the Church and the single believer come forth from their baptism of suffering refined and glorious, like gold. Then the beryl, blue again, to represent Gods heavenly calm, but a richer, deeper and clearer blue than the sapphire, because that second peace which results from renewed baptism with Christ and a share in His sufferings is deeper and more enduring. The ninth is the topaz, where the green tints mingle with the gold. It is the exquisite commingling of joys realised and joys yet expected--a large measure of heaven now and a confident waiting for more. The tenth is the chyrsoprasus, gold and blue. The riches of Gods love, the wealth of increasing graces, and the peace which passeth all understanding. All through the colours are becoming purer and deeper and more refined. Last are the jacinth and the amethyst, the darker and the lighter purple, the colour which in all ages has done service as the emblem of victory and triumph, the colour into which the rainbow refines itself at last--for violet is the topmost of the rainbows bands, and points upward to the deep heavens hinting at far-off glories. So the Church has grown, through its long, wayward, distracted, man-vexed, God-guided history. Now pure and fervent and full of unspeakable calm; and now falling from its first faith and love, and needing to be crucified with Christ again and purified afresh by baptisms of martyrdom and pain; but ever rising to clearer knowledge, to larger charity, to purer faith, and to the still far-off hills of triumph. And thus do we rise from glory to glory. And yet that is not the last. For above the amethyst is the jasper again--the superstructure of the wall is of jasper. That means like Christ at last. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)

The street of the city was pure gold.

The golden street

The street of the city stands for the lowest range of its life. In its foundations there must exist vast and eternal principles to make its many-sided life possible. Its wall of unity and defence must be equally resplendent. In its gates the vastest thoughts and forces and aims of the city find expression. But in the street that which is low and obscure finds its place. There the narrower and lower interests of life are centred, the little wrangling in the bazaar or market-place, the little cares for daily bread. Such a symbol would not deny that there may be greatness and nobility in the street.

1. The ideal city is here presented as possessing lower and higher ranges of life. Looking at the city of human life as it is in actual existence at present, the street must correspond with what we call in an emphatic way the earthly relations of life, of which the human body is the typical medium and symbol. The lowest rung of life is that which has to do with the necessities and cravings of our physical existence. These constitute an influence that ever tends to drag us downward, to lower our ideals, to narrow our vision, and to dwarf our action. This antagonism between the higher and the lower, between the foundations and the street, is forcibly brought out in our Saviours injunction: Do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Yet these earthly needs are ever with us, and the battle and struggle for earthly things fills a large place in human life. Though we cannot live by bread alone, we cannot yet live without bread. The street problem in our cities is one of vast proportions. The earthly side of life looms large, and threatens to overwhelm the others. It is in the corresponding relation in the ideal city that we must look for the street of gold. It is not to be supposed, then, that these earthly relations are in themselves an evil. On the contrary, they are a valuable addition to the sum of human life, just as the street is to the city. The evil consists in the abuse of them, in their degradation through sin and selfishness, or in giving them a position of false pre-eminence. The walls must not be flung down in order that the street may be seen. Yet without its street the city would be mutilated. Leaving the metaphors into which Johns picture so strongly tempts us, let us remember that the total of human life is greatly enriched by its earthly side. The wider the range of desire, sensibility, and consciousness, the nobler are the possibilities of power. A life without higher and lower elements in it would be a dull monotony, a stagnant simplicity, like the same note struck for ever on the same string. To make the rich music of harmony you must have higher and lower notes. The secret of the wonder of our human lives is found in the great ranges of higher and lower, of which they are composed. St. Johns symbols tell us that the life of the ideal city will be analogous to the present in this, that it will range all the way from the heavenly to the earthly, from the spiritual to the corporeal. There will still be earthly interests to attract, earthly tasks to perform, earthly pleasures to enjoy, and earthly ends to gain. The life of earth, in as far as it is innocent and pure, will be there in all its completeness. If the ideal city can in any sense be realised before the coming of Christ, it can only be as a smaller society within the larger whole of human life. For nothing appears to be clearer in the New Testament than that there will be ungodliness in the world at the time of His coming, and even ungodliness of a gross, arrogant, and powerful kind.

2. So we are led to another thought--namely, that in the ideal city there shall be nothing commonplace even in lifes lowest range. I think most will instinctively feel at this point in our exposition that there is beautiful appropriateness in the selection of gold to describe the lowest element in the life of the holy city. So in this city there is nothing common or unclean. The street of the city of our life is at present full of commonplace. Very frequently it is but wood, hay, and stubble. And there are unfortunate moments when we even trample it into mire and clay. The dead level of earthly cares and interests seems often to mock the dignity of the spirit within us, and many of lifes tasks and experiences seem trivial and mean. But in the holy city the lowest interests and powers shall be exalted into dignity. All the stubble of our daily life shall disappear. The street of the city shall be of pure gold. There are two or three ways in which this may be achieved. In the full glory of the ideal city there will, without doubt, be a considerable elevation in our earthly faculties and earthly relations. The children of the resurrection shall stand together upon a higher plane of life. Those things in our present earthly existence that are most gross and incidental shall disappear entirely, while all that is essential in the earthly and corporeal part of our nature shall be preserved and greatly exalted. A great elevation of earthly relations will also be secured by their due subordination. It is almost a truism, although a paradox, that the undue exaltation of earthly things effects their degradation. What is beautiful and appropriate in its due place becomes hideous and repulsive when it is exalted beyond its measure. By this means many earthly relations that in their due place add to the symmetry and beauty of human life are so used as to make life a hollow and distorted thing. Thus the gold is perverted into dross, and the precious becomes injurious. So, when all things shall be subordinated according to their measure, the whole of life will rise in value, and that which is lowliest shall become exceeding precious. The street shall be of pure gold. Further, the lowest relations of life will be raised by the Diviner spirit that shall be infused into them. Much of our life is common and trivial, because we exercise it in a common and trivial spirit. If we partake of the common meal in the spirit of holiness and love, it is no more common. It also becomes a sacrament, a holy thing, and a means of grace to the soul. In this way shall the lower ranges of life in the ideal city become greatly exalted.

3. Further, in this description of the street of the city there is a distinct indication of a special process of purification having been performed. In the eighteenth verse the word pure is used twice, so as to give it special emphasis. Pure gold is constantly used in the Scriptures to symbolise that which has been purified, and especially by fire. The application of this part of the symbol is obvious and striking. The lower ranges of life are preeminently those in which wood, hay, and stubble appear. But, as a kind of compensation for this, it is in this lower region of life that the fires of purification burn most frequently and effectively. The great discipline of men is carried on amid the sorrows, the disappointments, and the crosses of daily life. The great fires of a purifying Providence sweep through the streets of the city, burn up the dross, and purify the gold.

4. In the last place, Johns symbol teaches us that in the ideal city the lowest range of life will be a mirror of the highest. The street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. Leaving the language of symbol, all the lowest interests of the holy city will reveal the presence and the power of the higher. In every corporeal activity, in every earthly function, even in the lowliest tastes, the spiritual grandeur of the soul will be seen, and the spiritual ends of the life will be revealed. To raise the earthly that it may become the mirror of the heavenly should be our constant aim. (John Thomas, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 21:19-20. And the foundations of the wall — That is, the lower parts of it; were garnished with all manner of precious stones — Were inlaid quite round, and beautified with a great variety of them; or were beautifully formed of them. The precious stones on the high-priest’s breast-plate of judgment were a proper emblem to express the happiness of God’s church in his presence, and in the blessing of his protection. The like ornaments on the foundation of the walls of this city may express the perfect glory and happiness of all the inhabitants of it, from the most glorious presence and protection of God. The colours of these are remarkably mixed. A jasper — A precious stone as hard as marble, and of various colours, as of green, yellow, red, violet; a sapphire — Of a sky-blue, speckled with gold; a chalcedony — Or carbuncle, an elegant gem, whose colour is deep red: with an admixture of scarlet; an emerald — Of a bright green; a sardonyx — Red, streaked with white; a sardius — Or sardine-stone, of a deep red; a chrysolite — Of a gold colour, as the word signifies; a beryl — Sea- green; a topaz — A mixture of green and yellow; a chrysoprasus — A beautiful mixture of gold and green; a jacinth — Of a red purple; an amethyst — A violet purple. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls — Each one being a pearl, entire and undivided, with all their beautiful pillars, arches, mouldings, and cornices. And the street was pure gold — And yet transparent, reflecting the light that shone upon it with a lustre equal to that which is the most highly polished.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21:19 The twelve precious stones adorning the foundation stones of the city’s wall are a reminder of the twelve stones on the high priests’ breastplate that represented the people of God (see Exod 28:17-20).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev 21:19. Κεκοσμημένοι, garnished) That is, built and adorned: for the very foundations are jewels; as the very gates are pearls. Concerning Adamant, see Hiller’s Syntagm. pp. 35, 36. An abbreviated expression, as in Vitruvius, l. x. c. 20, pluteum, turriculæ similitudine ornatum. Herodotus, lib. i. concerning Babylon, ἐκεκόσμητο δὲ ὠς οὐδὲν ἄλλο πόλισμα, where he calls the ditch, the wall, and the gates, the ornament of the city.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And--so Syriac, Coptic, and ANDREAS. But A, B, and Vulgate omit. Compare Rev 21:14 with this verse; also Isa 54:11.

all manner of precious stones--Contrast Rev 18:12 as to the harlot, Babylon. These precious stones constituted the "foundations."

chalcedony--agate from Chalcedon: semi-opaque, sky-blue, with stripes of other colors [ALFORD].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. The foundations of the wall] Does not this mean the foundations or thresholds of the gates? The gates represented the twelve tribes, Re 21:12; and these foundations or thresholds, the twelve apostles, Re 21:14. There was no entrance into the city but through those gates, and none through the gates but over these thresholds. The whole of the Mosaic dispensation was the preparation of the Gospel system: without it the Gospel would have no original; without the Gospel, it would have no reference nor proper object. Every part of the Gospel necessarily supposes the law and the prophets. They are the gates, it is the threshold; without the Gospel no person could enter through those gates. The doctrine of Christ crucified, preached by the apostles, gives a solid foundation to stand on; and we have an entrance into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, Heb 10:19, c. And in reference to this we are said to be built on the FOUNDATION of the APOSTLES and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, Eph 2:20.

The first foundation was jasper] A stone very hard, some species of which are of a sea-green colour but it is generally a bright reddish brown.

The second, sapphire] This is a stone of a fine blue colour, next in hardness to the diamond.

The third, a chalcedony] A genus of the semipellucid gems, of which there are four species:-

1. A bluish white; this is the most common sort.

2. The dull milky veined; this is of little worth.

3. The brownish black; the least beautiful of all.

4. The yellow and red; the most beautiful, as it is the most valuable of all. Hitherto this has been found only in the East Indies.

The fourth, an emerald] This is of a bright green colour without any mixture, and is one of the most beautiful of all the gems, The true oriental emerald as very scarce, and said to be found only in the kingdom of Cambay.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) And the foundations of the wall . . .—Better, The foundations of the wall of the city (were) adorned with every precious stone. We may compare the adornment of the harlot (Rev_17:4). Her robe was decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls. The Bride, the Lamb’s wife, has her beautiful ornaments, richer and rarer than those which adorned the world-mistress. The comparison reminds us, in a vivid and figurative way, of our Master’s often-repeated teaching. He that saveth his life, loseth it; he that loseth, saveth it; he that is content to pass by the dazzling attractions of the world, refusing splendour from the outstretched hand of Babylon, will win the true spiritual riches. There is no man that has turned away for Christ’s sake from the attractions of the world-spirit, that hath forsaken houses and lands for Christ’s sake and the gospel, but shall receive manifold more, &c. (Mar_10:28-31). The “jewels of right celestial worth” are part of the heritage of him who can nobly hold cheap the degrading hire of the world. (Comp. Isa_54:12.)

The foundation are various. There were in the foundation of the Church diversities of gifts and administrations, but the same Lord and the same spirit. In the heavenly city we have harmony, not monotony; variety, not sameness; unity, not uniformity. The stones are not arranged in the order of the high priest’s breastplate, but according to their various shades of colour, beginning from the foundation.

1. Jaspis, dark opaque green.

2. Sapphirus, Lapis-lazuli, opaque blue.

3. Chalcedon, an Emerald of a greenish hue.

4. Smaragdus, bright transparent green.

5. Sardonyx, white and red.

6. Sardius, bright red.

7. Chrysolite, our Topaz, bright yellow.

8. Beryl, bluish green.

9. Topazion, or Peridot, yellowish green.

10. Chrysoprasus, a darker shade of the same colour.

11. Hyacinthus, Sapphire, sky blue.

12. Amethystus, violet.

“Chrysoprasus is probably an error for Chrysopaston, a dark blue stone, studded with gold, by which substitution all the shades of blue will follow each other.” (See King, On Gems.)

With this blended harmony of colour the foundation-stones would encircle the heavenly city as with a rainbow belt. In the seer’s view the light of the heavenly city would shine with hues that betoken the advent of the morning. The varying tints would glow like pledges of a dayspring from on high.

“Along the tingling desert of the sky,

Beyond the circle of the conscious hills

Were laid in jasper-stone as clear as glass

The first foundations of that new, near Day,

Which should be builded out of heaven to God.

Jasper first, I said;

And second, sapphire; third, chalcedony;

The rest in order;-last, an amethyst.”

The foundation-stones are twelve. “As twelve, they indicate their numerical completeness (Revelation 7, 14); as shining with a common lustre, their unity; as stones of different hues, their manifoldness; as brilliant stones, the glorification of this earthly life through the light of Heaven” (Lange).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. garnished] The same word that is rendered “adorned” in Rev_21:2. From the next sentence we are to understand that they are adorned by being constructed of these stones, not that stones are fastened on merely for ornament.

precious stones] See Isa_54:11-12; where however there is less detail than here, and what there is is not quite the same: a warning against expecting too minute a symbolism in the details. It is true that contemporary superstition ascribed mystical meanings and magical virtues to the various stones, and it is possible that the revelation made to St John was given in terms of these beliefs, which he and his readers may have known of or even have held. But though not a priori incredible, this is hardly likely: these superstitions had, it seems, much less hold on the popular mind in St John’s day than some centuries later: and at all times they were too vague and too variable to give us a key to the interpretation. There may be a definite meaning in each of the stones named, but the general meaning of the whole is all that we can be sure of. As St Hildebert says,

Quis chalcedon, quis jacinthus,

Norunt illi qui sunt intus.

The first foundation] The enumeration probably begins from one of the angles, and goes round the wall in order. It is useless to guess which Apostle’s name was on which stone, but it may be presumed that St Peter’s would be on the first. But in no two of the canonical lists of the Apostles are their names given in the same order; and, so far as there is any order among them, they are arranged in three groups of four, not, as is here required, in four groups of three.

jasper] Like the superstructure of the wall, Rev_21:18. But it can hardly be meant, that the Church is built more solidly on to St Peter than to any other of the Twelve.

sapphire] The Greek and Hebrew words are (as with “jasper”) the same as the English. Yet it is almost certain that the stone so called in St John’s day was not our sapphire, but the far less precious lapis lazuli.

chalcedony] Apparently not the stone now so called, but one closely resembling the emerald.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The fifth, sardonyx,.... Which is partly of the sardian, and partly of the onyx stone, which resembles a man's nail, from whence it has its name; it is reddish, bordering on white; it may be thought to answer to the onyx in the breastplate, on which was written the name of Joseph.

The sixth, sardius; the same with the sardine stone, Rev 4:3 of a blood colour, and what is commonly called a cornelian: it is found in Sardinia, from whence it has its name, and in Bohemia and Silesia, though those of Babylon are the best. This was Reuben's stone.

The seventh, chrysolite; a stone of a dusky green colour, with a cast of yellow; by its name it should have the colour of gold. Schroder says it is found in Bohemia, and that it is the same the moderns call the topaz. Some think it answers to "tarshish" in the breastplate, rendered "beryl", on which was the name of Asher.

The eighth, beryl; a stone of a pale green colour, thought to be the diamond of the ancients: it may answer to the "ligure" in the breastplate, which the Targum on Sol 5:14 calls "birla", and had the name of Dan on it.

The ninth, a topaz; a stone very hard and transparent, of a beautiful yellow, or gold colour: the topaz of Ethiopia was counted the best, Job 28:19. Some say it is so called from the island "Topazus"; on this stone Simeon's name was engraven.

The tenth, a chrysoprasus; a stone of a green colour, inclining to that of gold, from whence it has its name; for this is the agate in the breastplate, which was Napthali's stone.

The eleventh, a jacinth; or "hyacinth": a stone of a purple, or violet colour, from whence it has its name; though what the moderns so call is of a deep reddish yellow, pretty near a flame colour. Zabulon's stone was the diamond.

The twelfth, an amethyst; a stone of a violet colour, bordering on purple: it has been thought a preservative from drunkenness, from whence it seems to have its name. On this stone was written the name of Gad. Agreeably to this account of John's, the Jews speak (n) of the tabernacle above being built on twelve precious stones; and sometimes they say (o), that the holy blessed God will found Jerusalem with ten kind of precious stones, and which they mention, and several of which are the same with these.

(n) Zohar in Gen. fol. 17. 2. & in Exod. fol. 65. 4. (o) Abkath Rocel, p. 150. Vid. Zohar in Exod. fol. 96. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

Ver. 19. And the foundations] The apostles and their faithful successors, who were puriores caelo, saith Chrysostom, clearer than the sky, the very stars of the world and flowers of the Churches, as Basil calleth them. The twelve patriarchs have, Exo 28:15-21, each of them his precious stone inscribed with his name in the breastplate of judgment: a symbol of the Church under the law. Levi hath the chalcedony, Judah the smaragd. But here in the foundation of the New Jerusalem, the Church under the gospel, Levi hath the smaragd, and Judah the chalcedony (the tribes have their stones in Aaron’s breastplate, according to their birth). Our Savionr’s chalcedony in Levi’s place tells us (saith Mr Sarson) that he hath put an end to legal sacrifices, and that he is both king and priest of his Churches.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the foundations of the wall of the city - notes on Rev 21:14.

Were garnished - Were adorned, or decorated. That is, the foundations were composed of precious stones, giving them this highly ornamented and brilliant appearance.

The first foundation - The first “row, layer, or course.” notes on Rev 21:14.

Was jasper - See the notes on Rev 4:3.

The second, sapphire - This stone is not elsewhere mentioned in the New Testament. It is a precious stone, next in hardness to the diamond, usually of an azure or sky-blue color, but of various shades.

The third, a chalcedony - This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The stone referred to is an uncrystallized translucent variety of quartz, having a whitish color, and of a luster nearly like wax. It is found covering the sides of cavities, and is a deposit from filtrated silicious waters. When it is arranged in “stripes,” it constitutes “agate”; and if the stripes are horizontal, it is the “onyx.” The modern “carnelian” is a variety of this. The carnelian is of a deep flesh red, or reddishwhite color. The name chalcedony is from “Chalcedon,” a town in Asia Minor, opposite to Byzantium, or Constantinople, where this stone was probably first known (Webster’s Dictionary).

The fourth, an emerald - See the notes on Rev 4:3. The emerald is green.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And the foundations of the wall of the city, by which, we noted before, are to be understood the apostles, who, building upon the one foundation, Christ Jesus, by their holy doctrine laid the beginnings of the gospel churches, the first stones, (upon the Rock Christ), which were afterwards multiplied, others being builded upon them, till the whole church was perfected.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. “Jasper, as we have seen above, is usually a stone of green transparent colour, with red veins; but there are many varieties. Sapphire is of a beautiful azure or sky-blue colour, almost as transparent and glittering as a diamond. Chalcedony seems to be a species of the agate, or more probably, the onyx. The onyx of the ancients was probably of a bluish white, and semi-pellucid. The emerald was of a vivid green, and next to the ruby in hardness.”—Stuart.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. Omit "and". (cf. Isa_54:12, "All thy borders of pleasant stones Foundations (cf. ver. 14). The first foundation was jasper. Probably the diamond (see on Rev_4:3). The second, sapphire. Thought to be the modern lapis lazuli. It was of a clear blue colour, (Exo_24:10) and very precious. (Job_28:16) The third, a chalcedony. Not the modern stone of that name, but a green carbonate of copper, found in the mines of Chalcedon. It was, therefore, a kind of inferior emerald. The fourth, an emerald. The same as the modern stone. (cf. Rev_4:3)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the foundations were adorned with precious stones - That is, beautifully made of them. The precious stones on the high priest's breastplate of judgment were a proper emblem to express the happiness of God's church in his presence with them, and in the blessing of his protection. The like ornaments on the foundations of the walls of this city may express the perfect glory and happiness of all the inhabitants of it from the most glorious presence and protection of God. Each precious stone was not the ornament of the foundation, but the foundation itself. The colours of these are remarkably mixed. A jasper is of the colour of white marble, with a light shade of green and of red; a sapphire is of a sky-blue, speckled with gold; a chalcedony, or carbuncle, of the colour of red-hot iron; an emerald, of a grass green.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

19, 20. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished. They were adorned with precious stones. The twelve apostolic foundations present every spiritual grace and beauty. The various stones named are among the most precious known to the ancients.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

19. οἱ θεμ. Text. Rec[844] has καὶ οὶ with א* 1.

[844] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.

ὁ πρῶτος. א has ὁ εἷς.

19. θεμέλιοι … κεκοσμημένοι. From the next sentence we are to understand that they are adorned by being constructed of these stones, not that stones are fastened on merely for ornament.

λίθῳ τιμίῳ. See Isa 54:11-12 where however there is less detail than here, and what there is is not quite the same: a warning against expecting too minute a symbolism in the details. It is true that contemporary superstition ascribed mystical meanings and magical virtues to the various stones, and it is possible that the revelation made to St John was given in terms of these beliefs, which he and his readers may have known of or even have held. But though not a priori incredible, this is hardly likely: these superstitions had, it seems, much less hold on the popular mind in St John’s day than some centuries later: and at all times they were too vague and too variable to give us a key to the interpretation. There may be a definite meaning in each of the stones named, but the general meaning of the whole is all that we can be sure of. As St Hildebert says,

Quis chalcedon, quis jacinthus,

Norunt illi qui sunt intus.

ὁ πρῶτος. See on Rev 21:14. If the two descriptions are to be combined the enumeration probably begins at one of the angles, and goes round the wall in order. It is useless to guess which Apostle’s name was on which stone, but it may be presumed that St Peter’s would be on the first. But in no two of the canonical lists of the Apostles are their names given in the same order; and, so far as there is any order among them, they are arranged in three groups of four, not, as is here required, in four groups of three.

ἴασπις. Like the superstructure on the wall Rev 21:18. But it can hardly be meant, that the Church is built more solidly on to St Peter than to any other of the twelve. If the twelve foundations are twelve courses it would be quite natural that the stone used for the superstructure should also be used for the lowest course.

σάπφειρος. Lapis-lazuli, the colour of which gives the modern name to the blue jacinth, see on Rev 9:17.

χαλκηδών. A green stone like an emerald from the copper mines of Chalcedon. It is uncertain whether our Chalcedony gets the name from Pliny’s Chalcedonius Jaspis, or from his Carchedonius (a kind of carbuncle), which was often written by mistake with Cal-; for our chalcedony sometimes is like an inferior fire opal, and in Marbod we read

Pallensque Chalcedonius

Ignis habet effigiem.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All manner of precious stones. Compare Isaiah 54; 11, 12; 1Ch 29:2.

Sapphire [σαπφειρος] . Compare Isa 54:11; Eze 1:26. Probably lapis lazuli. Our sapphire is supposed to be represented by the jacinth in ver. 20. Pliny describes the sapfeirov as opaque and sprinkled with specks of gold, and states that it came from Media (i. e. Persia and Bokhara) whence the supply is brought to this day. King (" Precious Stones and Gems, "cited by Lee), says :" Before the true precious stones were introduced from India, the lapis lazuli held the highest place in the estimation of the primitive nations of Asia and Greece; in fact it was almost the only stone known to them having beauty of color to recommend it. "

Chalcedony [χαλκηδων] . From Chalcedon, where the stone was found in the neighboring copper mines. It was probably an inferior species of emerald, as crystal of carbonate of copper, which is still popularly called "the copper emerald." Pliny describes it as small and brittle, changing its color when moved about, like the green feathers in the necks of peacocks and pigeons.

Emerald. See on ch. Rev 4:3.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.