Referents from Apocrypha for Chapter 21

21:2. “…the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

2 Esdras 7:26: “For behold, the time will come, when the signs which I have foretold to you will come to pass, that the city which now is not seen shall appear,y and the land which now is hidden shall be disclosed.”  Note ‘y’: “Arm: Lat Syr that the bride shall appear, even the city appearing  (OAA, p. 37).

 

21:3, 7. “…and God himself shall be with them, and be their God….I will be his God and he shall be my son.”

2 Esdras 2:15: “Mother, embrace your sons; bring them up with gladness, as does the dove; establish their feet, because I have chosen you, says the Lord.”

 

Baruch 2:35: “I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God and they shall be my people; and I will never again remove my people Israel from the land which I have given them.”

 

21:9-21. “…the holy Jerusalem….”

2 Esdras 10:27: “And I looked, and behold, the woman was no longer visible to me, but there was an established city, and a place of huge foundations showed itself….”

 

2 Esdras 10:45: “This woman whom you saw, whom you now behold as an established city, is Zion.”

 

21:9. “Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

2 Esdras 13:35-6: “And Zion will come and be made manifest to all people, prepared and built, as you saw the mountain carved out without hands.”

 

21:19. “And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones….”

Tobit 13:16-18: “For Jerusalem shall be built with sapphires and emeralds, her walls with precious stones, and her towers and battlements with pure gold.  17. The streets of Jerusalem will be paved with beryl and ruby and stones of Ophir; 18. all her lanes will cry ‘Hallelujah!’ and will give praise, saying, ‘Blessed is God, who has exalted you for ever.'”  [Tobit was probably written in second century BC  It contains much that is neither lawful nor Christian, such as magical episodes, etc.]

 

21:23. “…for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

2 Esdras 2:35-36: “Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because the eternal light will shine upon you for evermore.  Flee from the shadow of this age, receive the joy of your glory.”

 

21:26. “…the glory and honor of the nations into it…”

Baruch 5:5: “Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height and look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.”

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