Revelation 21:22-27, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Revelation 21:22-27
God and the Lamb Are Temple and Light for Open-Gated Nations
God and the Lamb are the temple and the light
John sees no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. The city has 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. Presence replaces shrine and luminary. That is not contempt for Israel's temple memory; it is fulfillment language in which God himself is the meeting place.
The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. Many early witnesses lack of them which are saved and simply have the nations walking by the city's light. Either wording still lets nations and kings survive into the vision as contributors, not as erased peoples. Their glory does not authorize empire, colonialism, or Christian nationalism.
Gates stay open; defilement still does not enter
The gates shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. They shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. Openness is the city's posture. It is not a claim that anything goes, and it does not cancel survivor safety in present communities.
There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Moral truth remains. Falsehood and ruin are excluded. Open gates and a barred lie belong together.
How this should shape us
Walk toward a city whose light is a person, not a sun you control. Welcome the nations' honor without baptizing empire, and keep truth and safety while you practice the city's open-gated welcome.
Teach it back
Explain Revelation 21:22-27 in your own words. Include its place in Revelation's visionary movement, one major interpretive uncertainty, one Old Testament or first-century control, and one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters differ?
Best judgment: Nations and kings survive into the vision as healed contributors, complicating readings of total ethnic erasure. KJV 'nations of them which are saved' includes later wording not present in many critical texts.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete coverage.
Revelation 21:22-27, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations checked independently of the KJV.
Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Revelation.txt, 21:22-27
Supports: Greek form, morphology, and lexical-range cross-check; lexical data does not decide context by itself.
STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Acts–Revelation data, rows for 21:22-27
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual variants, imagery, cross-references, and stated alternatives.
NET Bible Revelation PDF, printed pp. 2408–2447, 21:22-27 and attached translator/textual notes
Supports: Revelation's textual transmission, KJV/TR history, local uncertainty, and limits of reconstructing an earliest text.
Hernández, 'The Greek Text of Revelation,' author preprint, sections on textual plurality, Textus Receptus, Erasmus, manuscript recovery, Hoskier, Schmid, and Text und Textwert; local implications for 21:22-27
Supports: Methodological control for verbal, thematic, structural, authorial, reader, and later intertextual claims.
Moyise, 'Intertextuality and the Use of Scripture in the Book of Revelation?' pp. 391–401; allusion-method discussion applied to 21:22-27
Supports: Authorship, date, audience, genre, cycles, Roman setting, Lamb-shaped conquest, and limits on persecution reconstructions.
Oxford Handbook authorized preview: Koester, 'Revelation in Its Historical and Theological Context,' printed pp. 1–20; Reddish, 'The Genre of the Book of Revelation,' printed pp. 21–32; applied to 21:22-27
Supports: Reader-first whole-book context, Roman Asia, symbolism, worship, judgment, endurance, and responsible reception.
Enter the Bible Revelation course, sections Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and Bible in the World; applied to 21:22-27
Supports: Full confessional commentary, Greek observations, Old Testament links, four major interpretive approaches, millennial options, and application.
Tabb, 'Revelation,' commentary heading covering Revelation 21:22-27 plus Introduction and Theology
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete coverage.
Exact location: Revelation 21:22-27, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Revelation.txt, 21:22-27
Open the Revelation Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Greek form, morphology, and lexical-range cross-check; lexical data does not decide context by itself.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Acts–Revelation data, rows for 21:22-27
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Revelation with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual variants, imagery, cross-references, and stated alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Revelation PDF, printed pp. 2408–2447, 21:22-27 and attached translator/textual notes
Open the official NET Revelation PDF ↗peer reviewed handbook chapter author preprint
The Greek Text of Revelation
Juan Hernández Jr.
The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation, 2020
Supports: Revelation's textual transmission, KJV/TR history, local uncertainty, and limits of reconstructing an earliest text.
Exact location: Hernández, 'The Greek Text of Revelation,' author preprint, sections on textual plurality, Textus Receptus, Erasmus, manuscript recovery, Hoskier, Schmid, and Text und Textwert; local implications for 21:22-27
Open Hernández's author-uploaded preprint ↗peer reviewed open access article
Intertextuality and the Use of Scripture in the Book of Revelation?
Steve Moyise
Scriptura 84, 2003; online record 2013
Supports: Methodological control for verbal, thematic, structural, authorial, reader, and later intertextual claims.
Exact location: Moyise, 'Intertextuality and the Use of Scripture in the Book of Revelation?' pp. 391–401; allusion-method discussion applied to 21:22-27
Open Moyise's Scripture-use article ↗modern scholarly handbook preview
The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation — publisher preview
Craig R. Koester, editor; chapters by Craig R. Koester and Mitchell G. Reddish
Oxford University Press, 2020
Supports: Authorship, date, audience, genre, cycles, Roman setting, Lamb-shaped conquest, and limits on persecution reconstructions.
Exact location: Oxford Handbook authorized preview: Koester, 'Revelation in Its Historical and Theological Context,' printed pp. 1–20; Reddish, 'The Genre of the Book of Revelation,' printed pp. 21–32; applied to 21:22-27
Open the Oxford Handbook preview ↗modern scholarly book introduction
Revelation course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Craig R. Koester and Kristofer Phan Coffman
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online course inspected 2026
Supports: Reader-first whole-book context, Roman Asia, symbolism, worship, judgment, endurance, and responsible reception.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Revelation course, sections Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and Bible in the World; applied to 21:22-27
Open the Enter the Bible Revelation course ↗modern open commentary
Revelation
Brian J. Tabb
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023 online edition
Supports: Full confessional commentary, Greek observations, Old Testament links, four major interpretive approaches, millennial options, and application.
Exact location: Tabb, 'Revelation,' commentary heading covering Revelation 21:22-27 plus Introduction and Theology
Open Tabb's Revelation commentary ↗