Revelation 21:1 · Clearspring

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Other translations

WEBBE

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

BSB

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

KJV

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

ASV

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.

BBE

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were gone; and there was no more sea.

Original Greek

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Καὶ Kai And G2532 εἶδον eidon I saw G1492 οὐρανὸν ouranon a heaven G3772 καινὸν kainon new G2537 καὶ kai and G2532 γῆν gēn an earth G1093 καινήν kainēn new G2537 ὁ ho (the) G3588 γὰρ gar for G1063 πρῶτος prōtos the first G4413 οὐρανὸς ouranos heaven G3772 καὶ kai and G2532 ἡ hē the G3588 πρώτη prōtē first G4413 γῆ gē earth G1093 ἀπῆλθαν apēlthan had passed away G565 καὶ kai and G2532 ἡ hē the G3588 θάλασσα thalassa sea G2281 οὐκ ouk not G3756 ἔστιν estin is G1510 ἔτι eti any longer G2089

The early church

Having concluded his prophecy of the judgment awaiting bad people, John has to speak of what is to befall the good.… [The new heaven and earth] will happen in the order which he indicated, by anticipation, in the earlier verse where he said he saw sitting on a throne one from whose face heaven and earth fled away. First, to be sure, will come the judgment of those uninscribed in the Book of Life and their consignment to eternal fire.… Afterwards, this world as we see it will pass away, burned away by terrestrial fires, just as the flood was caused by the overflowing of terrestrial waters. This conflagration will utterly burn away the corruptible characteristics proper to corruptible bodies, as such; whereupon our substance will possess only those qualities that are consistent with bodies immortalized in this marvelous transformation—to this end, that the world, remade into something better, will become fit for people now remade, even in their bodies, into something better.

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430City of God

It is hard to know whether [the sea] will be dried up by the terrible heat of those flames or will itself be transformed into something better. For though we read that there will be a new heaven and earth, I cannot recall having ever seen mentioned a new sea, save perhaps in that verse of the Apocalypse, "a sea of glass similar to crystal." Yet in that passage, John was not talking about the end of the world; moreover, he did not claim to have seen a sea proper, but something like a sea. Still, as prophecy is prone to intermingle the literal and metaphorical and so veil its meaning, it may be that in our present text, "and the sea is no more," John was speaking of the identical sea he spoke of earlier: "And the sea gave up the dead that were in it." For then, this world of ours, made restless and stormy by the lives of men (and, hence, figuratively, called the sea), will have passed away.

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430City of God

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 1–8

The new heaven and the new earth will not be separate from each other; the earth of the saints, their glorified, bodies, will be heavenly. The old world, with all its troubles and tumults, will have passed away. There will be no sea; this aptly represents freedom from conflicting passions, temptations, troubles, changes, and alarms; from whatever can divide or interrupt the communion of saints. This new Jerusalem is the church of God in its new and perfect state, the church triumphant. Its blessedness came wholly from God, and depends on him. The presence of God with his people in heaven, will not be interrupt as it is on earth, he will dwell with them continually. All effects of former trouble shall be done away. They have often been in tears, by reason of sin, of affliction, of the calamities of the church; but no signs, no remembrance of former sorrows shall remain. Christ makes all things new. If we are willing and desirous that the gracious Redeemer should make all things new in order hearts and nature, he will make all things new in respect of our situation, till he has brought us to enjoy complete happiness. See the certainty of the promise. God gives his titles, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, as a pledge for the full performance. Sensual and sinful pleasures are muddy and poisoned waters; and the best earthly comforts are like the scanty supplies of a cistern; when idolized, they become broken cisterns, and yield only vexation. But the joys which Christ imparts are like waters springing from a fountain, pure, refreshing, abundant, and eternal. The sanctifying consolations of the Holy Spirit prepare for heavenly happiness; they are streams which flow for us in the wilderness. The fearful durst not meet the difficulties of religion, their slavish fear came from their unbelief; but those who were so dastardly as not to dare to take up the cross of Christ, were yet so desperate as to run into abominable wickedness. The agonies and terrors of the first death will lead to the far greater terrors and agonies of eternal death.

Read Matthew Henry on Revelation 21 →

Cross-references

10

Topics

Heaven Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena Earth Readings, Select Astronomy Sea Restoration