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Revelation 21:12

And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

KJV

ἔχουσα τεῖχος μέγα καὶ ὑψηλόν, ἔχουσα πυλῶνας δώδεκα, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν ἀγγέλους δώδεκα, καὶ ὀνόματα ἐπιγεγραμμένα ἅ ἐστιν τῶν δώδεκα φυλῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ.

Greek NT

Et habebat murum magnum, et altum, habentem portas duodecim : et in portis angelos duodecim, et nomina inscripta, quæ sunt nomina duodecim tribuum filiorum Israël :

Vulgate

having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

ASV

And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Douay-Rheims

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In this verse

Symbols Gate

In the original Greek

17 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

δώδεκα
dodeka
adjective · 75×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
μέγας
megas
adjective · 244×
πυλών
pulon
noun · 18×
τεῖχος
teichos
noun · 9×
υἱός
uios
noun · 375×
φυλή
phule
noun · 31×
ἄγγελος
aggelos
verb · 176×
ἐπί
epi
preposition · 888×
ἐπιγράφω
epigrapho
verb · 5×
ἔχω
echo
verb · 707×
Ἰσραήλ
israel
noun · 68×
o
article · 19778×
ὄνομα
onoma
noun · 228×
ὅς
os
relative_pronoun · 1404×
ὑψηλός
upselos
adjective · 12×

Intertextual echoes

This verse quotes or alludes to 1 earlier text.

  • Ezek 48:31 · allusion
    "And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi."
    Ezekiel: twelve gates named for the twelve tribes — the new Jerusalem

Textual variants

3 variant units attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

minor
SBLGNT: τοῖς πυλῶσιν | WH/NIV/RP: τοῖς πυλῶσιν | Treg: τοὺς πυλῶνας
  • τοῖς πυλῶσινSBLGNT
  • τοῖς πυλῶσινWestcott-Hort, Reader's GNT (NA27), Robinson-Pierpont
  • τοὺς πυλῶναςTregelles
source: sblgnt-apparatus
notable
SBLGNT: ἐστιν | WH: ἐστιν | Treg/NIV: + τὰ ὀνόματα | RP: + ὀνόματα
  • ἐστινSBLGNT
  • ἐστινWestcott-Hort
  • + τὰ ὀνόματαTregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • + ὀνόματαRobinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus
notable
SBLGNT: φυλῶν | WH/Treg/NIV: φυλῶν | RP: + τῶν
  • φυλῶνSBLGNT
  • φυλῶνWestcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • + τῶνRobinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Historic Christian voices

5 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§117The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs. 1. the allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ's victory and also of Christian Bapt…
§765The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head.168 Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem.169 The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot…

Cross-references

  • Eph 2:19 — Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
  • Exod 28:21 — And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribe
  • Exod 39:14 — And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes.
  • Ezek 48:31 — And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
  • Ezek 48:31 — And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
  • Isa 26:1 — In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
  • Isa 54:12 — And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
  • Isa 60:18 — Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
  • Neh 12:27 — And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with sing
  • Num 2:2 — Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.
  • Ps 51:18 — Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
  • Ps 122:7 — Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
  • Rev 7:4 — And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
  • Rev 21:17 — And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
  • Rev 21:25 — And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
  • Rev 22:14 — Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.