Revelation 21:4

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.^[a] Death will exist no longer;^[b] grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer,^[c] because the previous things^[d] have passed away.^[e]

Revelation 21:4 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 21:4

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes
Occasioned by sin, Satan, the hidings of God's face, and afflictive dispensations of Providence; for these will be no more:

and there shall be no more death;
natural or violent; there will be no more putting of the saints to death, or persecution of them unto death, as in former times; nor will they die a natural death any more; these children of the resurrection, and inhabitants of the new heaven and earth, will be like the angels, who die not; there will be no more deadness as to spiritual things among the saints; and as for the second death, that will have no power over them. So the Jews say ^F21, (abl) (dytel htym Nya) , "there is no death in the world to come"; good is laid up for the righteous in the world to come, and with them is no death {x}; and after the resurrection the body is perfect, and shall never after taste the taste of death ^F25.

Neither sorrow, nor crying;
on account of sin, or because of oppression and persecution, or through the loss of near relations and friends; sorrow and sighing will flee away, all occasions thereof being gone: neither shall there be any more pain; either of body or mind; there will be nothing to afflict the mind, and make that uneasy, but all the reverse; nor will there be any sickness or diseases of body, for the body will be raised glorious, powerful, incorruptible, and spiritual.

For the former things are passed away;
not only the first heaven and earth, the world, its fashion, and its lusts; but the former grievous times under Rome Pagan and Papal, and everything which in this present life gives uneasiness and distress.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F21 Echa Rabbati, fol. 48. 2. & Midrash Kohelet, fol. 61. 2.
F24 Maimon. Teshuva, c. 8. sect. 1.
F25 Midrash Hanneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 70. 1.

Revelation 21:4 In-Context

2 I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God's dwelling is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will exist no longer; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.

5 Then the One seated on the throne said, "Look! I am making everything new." He also said, "Write, because these words are faithful and true."

6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty from the spring of living water as a gift.

Footnotes

• [a]. Isaiah 25:8
• [b]. Isaiah 25:8; 1 Co 15:54
• [c]. Isaiah 35:10; 65:19
• [d]. Or the first things
• [e]. Isaiah 42:9