Revelation 22: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

An angel shows John the river of the water of life flowing from God's throne through the city, with the tree of life on both sides, and describes a place with no curse and no night, where God's servants see his face and reign forever. The angel then confirms that these words are true and must not be sealed up, and refuses John's attempt to worship him. Jesus says three times that he is coming soon, bringing a reward for each person's work, and identifies himself as the first and the last, the root and descendant of David. The book closes with an open invitation to come and drink, a warning against adding to or taking from its words, and a final blessing.

Claim by Claim

1. 22:1
   • He showed John a river of water of life.
   • The river was pure.
   • The river was clear as crystal.
   • The river proceeded out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2. 22:2
   • The tree of life was in the middle of the city's street.
   • The tree of life was on either side of the river.
   • The tree of life bore twelve kinds of fruit.
   • The tree yielded its fruit every month.
   • The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3. 22:3
   • There shall be no more curse.
   • The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the city.
   • His servants shall serve him.
4. 22:4
   • They shall see his face.
   • His name shall be on their foreheads.
5. 22:5
   • There shall be no night there.
   • They need no lamp.
   • They need no light of the sun.
   • The Lord God gives them light.
   • They shall reign for ever and ever.
6. 22:6
   • He said to John that these words are faithful and true.
   • The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel.
   • He sent the angel to show his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.
7. 22:7
   • He said, Behold, I come quickly.
   • Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.
8. 22:8
   • John saw these things.
   • John heard these things.
   • When John had heard and seen, he fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed him these things.
9. 22:9
   • The angel told John not to do that.
   • The angel said he is John's fellow servant.
   • The angel said he is fellow servant of John's brothers the prophets.
   • The angel said he is fellow servant of those who keep the words of this book.
   • The angel told John to worship God.
10. 22:10
    • He told John not to seal the words of the prophecy of this book.
    • He said the time is at hand.
11. 22:11
    • Let him that is unjust be unjust still.
    • Let him that is filthy be filthy still.
    • Let him that is righteous do righteousness still.
    • Let him that is holy be holy still.
12. 22:12
    • He said, Behold, I come quickly.
    • His reward is with him.
    • He will give to every man according as his work shall be.
13. 22:13
    • He is Alpha and Omega.
    • He is the beginning and the end.
    • He is the first and the last.
14. 22:14
    • Blessed are they that do his commandments.
    • They do so that they may have right to the tree of life.
    • They may enter in through the gates into the city.
15. 22:15
    • Outside are dogs.
    • Outside are sorcerers.
    • Outside are fornicators.
    • Outside are murderers.
    • Outside are idolaters.
    • Outside is everyone who loves and makes a lie.
16. 22:16
    • Jesus said he has sent his angel.
    • The angel was sent to testify these things to them in the churches.
    • Jesus said he is the root and the offspring of David.
    • Jesus said he is the bright morning star.
17. 22:17
    • The Spirit and the bride say, Come.
    • Let him that hears say, Come.
    • Let him that is thirsty come.
    • Whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
18. 22:18
    • He testifies to every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book.
    • If any man adds to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book.
19. 22:19
    • If any man takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life.
    • God shall take away his part out of the holy city.
    • God shall take away his part from the things which are written in this book.
20. 22:20
    • He who testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly.
    • Amen.
    • The response is, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21. 22:21
    • May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
    • Amen.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

22:1

"The Lamb" is the title used for Jesus throughout Revelation, drawn from the lamb killed at Passover and the lambs offered in the temple. "Water of life" means water that gives life, not water that is alive; the same construction lies behind "tree of life" in the next verse.

22:2

The tree of life comes from the garden in Genesis 2 and 3, where the first humans are shut away from it. "Nations" renders a Greek word (ethne) meaning the peoples of the world, everyone outside Israel; it is not about modern nation states. The Greek phrase "in the midst of the street" sits between the two sentences and can be read either way: the river flowing down the middle of the street, or the tree standing in the middle of the street. Translations have to pick one.

22:3

"Curse" translates a word for something placed under a ban and devoted to destruction. A first reader would hear the curse laid on the ground in Genesis 3 being lifted.

22:4

In the ancient world slaves, soldiers and the devotees of a god could be branded or tattooed to show whose they were. Earlier in Revelation the followers of the beast carry a mark on the forehead or the hand; this is the counterpart mark.

22:5

The King James "candle" means an oil lamp: a small clay dish of oil with a wick floating in it. Wax candles are not in view.

22:6

"Shortly" translates a phrase (en tachei) that can mean either soon in time or swiftly once it begins; the Greek leaves both open. The manuscripts also differ in this verse: some read "the God of the holy prophets," as the King James has it, and others "the God of the spirits of the prophets."

22:7

"Blessed" renders makarios, the word behind the beatitudes in the gospels. It is a formula of congratulation, closer to "fortunate is the one who" than to a wish or a benediction. "Quickly" is the same word discussed in verse 6, meaning soon or suddenly.

22:8

Falling at someone's feet was the ordinary gesture of reverence toward a superior in the ancient world, used for kings as well as for gods, which is why John's action and the angel's refusal of it are both worth recording.

22:9

"Fellowservant" translates a Greek word meaning fellow slave: the angel is claiming to be another member of the same household staff, not a colleague of equal rank.

22:10

A scroll was sealed shut with wax or clay so that its contents stayed closed until the proper moment. Daniel was told to seal up his visions until the time of the end; John is told to do the opposite, because in his case the time has already come near.

22:11

These are third person imperatives in Greek, the form used for official pronouncements rather than for advice. They read as a verdict that the time for changing course has run out, not as permission to go on doing wrong. "Filthy" translates a word for being defiled or unclean, not for being physically dirty.

22:12

"Reward" translates misthos, the wages owed to a worker at the end of a job. It means pay that is due, not a prize or a bonus.

22:13

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so the phrase works like saying "A to Z."

22:14

The manuscripts differ here. The Greek copies available to the King James translators read "do his commandments"; the older copies read "wash their robes," which is why modern translations print that instead.

22:15

"Dogs" was a term of contempt: dogs in that world were scavengers, not pets, and the word was used for outsiders and the ritually unclean, and in Deuteronomy for a male prostitute attached to a shrine. "Sorcerers" translates pharmakoi, from the word for drugs and potions, covering spells, poisons and magic together. "Whoremongers" in the King James is not limited to men who visit prostitutes; it renders a general word for the sexually immoral.

22:16

Isaiah spoke of the coming king as a shoot growing from the stump of Jesse, David's father. To be both the root and the offspring of David is to claim to be his source and his descendant at once. The morning star is the planet Venus, the last bright light in the sky before dawn; Numbers 24:17 speaks of a star rising out of Jacob as an image for a king.

22:17

The bride is the holy city, presented as a bride in the previous chapter. "Athirst" is simply the older English for thirsty, and "whosoever will" means whoever wants to. "Freely" translates a word meaning without payment, as a gift.

22:18

Warnings against adding or removing words were a standard safeguard attached to ancient documents, since every copy was made by hand and a copyist could quietly alter the text. Deuteronomy 4:2 carries the same formula. "Plagues" here means afflictions or blows generally, not disease specifically.

22:19

A "book of life" was pictured on the model of a city's register of citizens: to be struck from the roll was to lose your standing and your share in the place. The wording of this verse is also disputed. The older Greek manuscripts read "the tree of life," not "the book of life." The last verses of Revelation were missing from the single Greek manuscript used for the first printed Greek New Testament in 1516, so its editor translated them back into Greek from Latin, and "book" entered the text there and passed into the King James.

22:20

"Amen" is a Hebrew word carried over untranslated, meaning roughly "truly" or "so be it," used to endorse what has just been said. "Come, Lord Jesus" appears to render an Aramaic prayer of the earliest churches, marana tha, "our Lord, come," which Paul quotes in the same form at the end of 1 Corinthians.

22:21

"Grace" translates charis, generosity freely given to someone who has no claim on it; the same word covered a favor done by a patron. The manuscripts differ on the closing words: some read "with you all," some "with all the saints," and some simply "with all."