Tool Alpha
Echoes of Revelation
Revelation never quotes the Old Testament outright, yet no New Testament book refers to it more. See both texts side by side, why they don’t match, and what John does with them.
Revelation 22:3, no more curse
John takes Zechariah's promise that Jerusalem will never again lie under a ban of destruction and sets it in Eden, where the curse of Genesis 3 is lifted.
Revelation 22:3, in every translation this tool compares.
A town that tears down the sign announcing its demolition has had more than a reprieve. Zechariah promised that rebuilt Jerusalem would never again be put under God's ban and destroyed. John uses Zechariah's words. But he places them in the restored garden, so they also answer the curse that fell on the ground after Adam sinned.
The words match Zechariah 14:11 almost exactly in Greek. Both say ouk estai eti, there will be no more. Only the word for curse differs.
For curse the Greek of Zechariah has anathema; John has katathema. Beale says both words render the Hebrew cherem, the ban that marks something for destruction. Zechariah speaks of one city, safe at last after a final attack. John widens it to the whole new creation, and the setting of a river and the tree of life calls up the curse on the ground in Genesis 3:17.
John says nothing will ever again fall under God's sentence. Beale reads it as the end of the curse of death that Adam brought, now removed by the Lamb. The reason given is the throne of God and the Lamb in the city: where God fully reigns, no curse remains.
Not a promise to one city only. In Zechariah the promise belongs to Jerusalem. John applies it to the whole new creation and to everyone who lives there.
Beale says the phrase is from Zechariah 14:11, where the Greek reads anathema ouk estai eti and John reads katathema ouk estai eti. The Hebrew is vecherem lo yihyeh od, and no ban will be again. Cherem was the ban of total destruction placed on what was devoted to judgment. Beale thinks John may also have Isaiah 34:1-2 in mind, where the nations are put under the ban. Keener says the removal of the curse comes from Zechariah 14:11 and here means the reversal of Eden's curse (Genesis 3:16-19). The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible says it evokes the Greek translation of Zechariah 14:11 and also the fall; the ESV Study Bible and the CSB Study Bible point to Genesis 3; the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible names both. The grade is drawn here: Beale says the phrase is from Zechariah, and the wording differs by one word.
The sources agree on Zechariah and differ on the weight given to Genesis. Keener and the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible put the Eden curse at the center. Beale centers on Zechariah's ban and adds a possible echo of Isaiah 34:2, which no other source names.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-22-1-5\/","n":"Revelation 22:1-5, river and tree of life","s":"The angel shows John a clear, life-giving river running from God's throne through the middle of the city, with the tree of life on both banks, fruiting every month and healing the nations with its leaves. Nothing cursed remains; God's servants will see him face to face, carry his name and reign for ever in his light.","r":"Revelation 22:1-5"}
- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 22:3
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Revelation 22:3
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Revelation 22:3
- ESV Study Bible, note on Revelation 22:3
- CSB Study Bible, note on Revelation 22:1-5
- NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, note on Revelation 22:3
- Septuagint, Zechariah 14:11 and Genesis 3:17, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- Hebrew text of Zechariah 14:11, Miqra according to the Masorah (Sefaria)
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 22:3
