Revelation 21:23

21:23 The vitality, energy, and life of the city are not in institutions or physical sources of power and light, but in the glory of God and the Lamb. The sun and moon were features of the first creation (Gen 1:14-19; see Isa 60:19-20). • the Lamb is its light: Jesus is the light of the world (see John 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36).

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

The second form of particular description (as I said, verse 12) from foreign and outward accidents: which are these, Light from God himself, in this verse, glory from men, verse 24, perfect security from all harm, verse 25. Finally such truth and incorruption of glory (verse 26) as can bear and abide with it, nothing that is inglorious, the last verse.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

in it--so Vulgate. But A, B, and ANDREAS read, "(shine) on it," or literally, "for her."

the light--Greek, "the lamp" (Isa 60:19-20). The direct light of God and the Lamb shall make the saints independent of God's creatures, the sun and moon, for light.

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 23. No need of the sun] This is also one of the traditions of the ancient Jews, that "in the world to come the Israelites shall have no need of the sun by day, nor the moon by night."-Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 7, 3. God's light shines in this city, and in the Lamb that light is concentrated, and from him everywhere diffused.

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

(23) And the city had no need of the sun . . .—Rather, And the city hath not need of the sun, nor of the moon that they should shine on (or, for) her; for the glory of God enlightened her, and her lamp is the Lamb. The Shechinah is again alluded to. Light is the emblem of knowledge and holiness. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1Jn_1:5). Christ the Lamb, came as the Light of the World. Now in the heavenly Jerusalem is the light seen as a lamp that burneth. The imagery is drawn from Isaiah. “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” (Isa_60:19). No more will there be needed subsidiary or intermediate luminaries. He who makes the righteous to shine like stars, and causes His churches to shine like lights in the world, will be Himself the Light and Sun of His people: they shall see Him as He is. It is again to be noticed that the emblem of the Lamb is used to describe our Lord in this verse, and in the last, as it was also in Rev_21:14. The memory of Christ’s work on earth is never obliterated: still in the intense splendour and joy of that city of light the remembrance of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter gives depth and fulness to its joy.

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

23. no need of the sun &c.] Isa_60:19. It is impossible to say whether it is here meant that the sun and moon do not shine, or only that the city is not dependent on them.

the light thereof] The word is that commonly rendered candle or lamp. This makes it unlikely that the analogy is meant to be suggested, that the Lord God is the Sun of the city, and the Lamb the Moon.

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.

And the nations of them which are saved,.... In distinction from them that will be deceived by Satan, Rev 20:8. These are not all the nations of the world, which will be gathered before Christ, the Judge, for all will not be saved, there is a world that will be condemned; nor the Gentiles only, which shall come into the church state of the Jews when called, for that state is not here designed; and besides, all Israel shall be saved then; nor the living saints at Christ's coming, who shall have escaped, and are saved from the general conflagration; for these, with the raised ones, will be caught up together to Christ, and descend and dwell together on earth, and make one church state; but all the elect of God, both Jews and Gentiles, whom God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, and the Spirit has called out of all the nations of the earth: these are only saved ones; such are already saved, not only are determined to be saved, and for whom salvation is wrought out by Christ, and to whom it is applied at conversion, and who are representatively set down in heavenly places in Christ, and are already saved by hope and faith, and with respect to the certainty of salvation; all which may be said of saints in the present state; but these will be such, who will be actually and personally saved, will be in the full possession of salvation, enjoying all the blessings of it: they will be partakers of the first resurrection, and the glories of it: the tabernacle of God will be with them, they will be free from all sorrows and death, and will inherit all things: the Syriac version reads, "the nations that are saved"; who are redeemed and saved by Christ: this may teach us how to understand those phrases, which seem to favour general redemption, as all men, the world, the whole world; see Isa 45:20. These words, "of them which are saved", are left out in the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, but are in all the copies. These nations are the inhabitants of this city, and they

shall walk in the light of it, which is Christ; they shall enjoy it; they shall have the light of life, and be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light, and that continually: they shall not only come to it, but continue in it, and walk at it, and by the light of it: the walk of these will be different from the walk of saints now, who walk by faith, and not by sight; but these shall walk by sight, enjoying the beatific vision of God, and the Lamb. The Jews say (b), that Jerusalem, in time to come, will be made a lamp to the nations of the world, , "and they shall walk in its light", or by the light of it, which is the sense of Isa 60:3 "the Gentiles shall come to thy light"; see Isa 9:1

and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it; by whom may be meant either mystically all the saints, who will be kings as well as priests unto God, and will reign as such with Christ in this state, will cast their crowns at his feet, and give him all the honour and glory; or literally, the kings of the earth, who shall have relinquished antichrist, hated the whore, and burnt her with fire, and who will have been nursing fathers in the spiritual reign; or rather all good kings that ever have been in the earth: not that they will be kings of the earth at this time, for now all rule, authority, and power, will be put down; nor will any worldly riches, honour, and glory, be brought by them into this state, nor will they be needed in it; but it is to be understood of who have been kings on earth, though not of their having brought earthly riches and grandeur into the interest and churches of Christ; as David gave much towards the building of the temple, which was begun and finished by King Solomon his son, and as Constantine greatly enriched and aggrandized the church when he became emperor; but the sense seems to be this, that such who have been Christian kings on earth will prefer the happiness of this state to all their riches and greatness here; and that could all the glory of the kings of the earth be put together, it would not equal, but be greatly inferior to the glory of the new Jerusalem; Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of the inhabitants of this place; see Rev 20:6 besides, these shall do all homage, and submit to Christ the King of kings in the midst of the church, which may be meant by "glory" and "honour".

(b) Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 56. 3.

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

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Ver. 23. And the city had no need] He saith not there shall be no sun or moon, but there shall be no such need of them as is now; for the Lamb shall outshine them, shine they never so gloriously, as they shall in that new heaven, Isa 30:26.

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 city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it - This imagery seems to be derived from Isa 9:19-20. See notes on those verses. No language could give a more striking or beautiful representation of the heavenly state than what is here employed.

For the glory of God did lighten it - By the visible splendor of his glory. See the notes on Rev 21:11. That supplied the place of the sun and the moon.

And the Lamb is the light thereof - The Son of God; the Messiah. See the Rev 5:6 note; Isa 60:19 note.

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

Needeth not sun nor moon, where there is no vicissitude or succession of day and night, the divine brightness always shining to them. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The sun and the moon are the two great luminaries of the world, which God hath made, the one to rule the day, the other to rule the night; in heaven there will be no need of any of these.

Light, in Scripture, (in its metaphorical notion), signifies knowledge or comfort; there will in heaven be no need of any created beings, to help us to either of these; God and Christ shall there fill the souls of his saints with knowledge and joy not to be expressed.

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

23. The lighting of a city it is very important to know. And no city was ever lighted like this city. It is lighted by the very Light of all lights. No candle (Rev_22:5) needed to relieve its darkness; no gas, no calcium, no electricity, no luminiferous ether dispersed its night; no sun, no moon, created its day. The very glory of God did lighten it, being in itself one perpetual day.

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 city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; hath no need. So Isa_60:19, Isa_60:20, "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light, and thy God thy Glory." For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof. The glory of God (cf. ver. 11). No distinction is to be made between God and the Lamb; both are the Light. (cf. Joh_1:5)

The glory light: a sermon for Midsummer Day.

"And the city had no need of the sun," etc. Today is the longest day of the year the day in which the light of the sun lasts longer than on any other day. It may be allowed, therefore, to suggest thoughts concerning that place and time when the sun shall no longer be needed, its light being superseded by the light of the glory of God. Now, it may be that our text is to be taken literally. What is here said is clearly not impossible, for there has been the resemblance of it already in the most holy place of the tabernacle. But if the sun be really no longer needed, then we may believe that there will be

I BETTER MEANS THAN THE PRESENT OF REVEALING WHAT IS TO BE KNOWN. The sun is our revealer here. Its light is that which makes all things manifest. All light, artificial as well as natural, comes from one central sun. Either from the sun"s direct rays, as in daylight, or from those rays stored up in primeval forest products, and now liberated again for our use. But when we see things in the light of God"s glory, we shall see far more than we do now. Our judgments of what is seen will, after such vision, be changed not a little.

II BETTER MEANS OF GROWTH. The sun is such a means. Harvests spring and ripen beneath its beams. And because "growth" will belong to the better world for we cannot conceive of an everlasting halt and standstill even more than to this, there must be means of growth. The sun here represents all such means, whether in things material, mental, or moral. But if these means are superseded, then the glory of God must be and in things spiritual we can well understand this a better means.

III AND OF ADORNMENT. It is the sun which, touching, tinges with all loveliest hues even the dullest and dreariest things. Out of the dreary rain it calls forth the gorgeous "bow in the cloud," the seven-hued arch that spans the heavens, so unspeakably lovely that St. John makes it again and again the symbol of the glory that over arches the throne of God. But in the light of Christ and God, told of here, we shall become spiritually beautiful. Here we may see all manner of beauty, and remain foul at heart"Where every prospect pleases, And only man is vile.

But that light likens those on whom it falls to him from whom it comes. What, then, is the adornment of the natural sun compared to that?

IV AND OF SERVICE. "Work... while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." So, and truly, spoke our Lord. Sunlight and strength alike fail us, though service needs to be rendered and work waits to be done. So is it here. But there the essentials of service will be present in degree and kind such as here we have not known.

CONCLUSION.

1. In order to our possession of all these, we must use the means we have. They that cannot bear a weak light, will yet less bear a strong one.

2. As there are better things provided for us, we may be sure that we shall be made better likewise, so as to be fit for them. Our future home is a prepared place for a prepared people. S.C.

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

The glory of God - Infinitely brighter than the shining of the sun.

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

23. And the city had no need of the sun. Night never settles down to shut out its splendor, and eternal light, springing from the brightness of God and the Lamb, precludes the need of a sun or moon.

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.

its lamp is the Lamb

Here the glory of Jesus, the Lamb, is spoken of as if it were a lamp that gives light to the city. (See: Metaphor)

The nations will walk

The words "the nations" are a metonym for the people who live in the nations. "Walk" here is a metaphor for "live." AT: "The people from all the different nations will live"

Its gates will not be shut

This can be stated in active form. AT: "No one will shut the gates" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

glory

lamp

lamb

nation

walk

light

king

splendor

gate

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Another fulfilment of the O.T. ideal (Isa 60:19-20 ). It is a Jewish-Christian symbol for Paul’s thought God shall be all and in all . So in 4 Ezra 7 :[42] at the last judgment there is neither sun nor moon nor any natural light, “but only the splendour of the glory of the Most High”. “As the sun of righteousness Christ has been able to vanquish the sol inuictus of the Roman Cæsar-cultus” (Usener, Gôtternamen , p. 184). A cruder form of the idea occurs in the pseudo-Philonic Biblic. Antiquit . where “non erat necessarium lumen (for the night-march), ita exsplendebat genuinum lapidum lumen” ( i.e. , of the jewels on the Amorite idols), jewels which were replaced by twelve precious stones each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. οὐ χρείαν ἔχει.… Isa 9:19. It is impossible to say whether it is here meant that the sun and moon do not shine, or only that the city is not dependent on them.

ὁ λύχνος. The word is that commonly rendered “candle” or “lamp.” This makes it unlikely that the analogy is meant to be suggested, that the Lord God is the Sun of the city, and the Lamb the Moon.

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.

The glory of God did lighten it. Compare Isa 60:19, 20.

The light [ο λυχνος] . Rev., better, lamp. See on Joh 5:35.

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