William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Revelation 21:1
21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had gone; and the sea was no more. John has seen the doom of the wicked, and now he sees the bliss of the blessed. The dream of a new heaven and a new earth was deep in Jewish thought. "Behold," said God to Isaiah, "I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, or come into mind" ( Isaiah 65:17 ). Isaiah speaks of the new heaven and the new earth which God will... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Revelation 21:1-8
We have here a more general account of the happiness of the church of God in the future state, by which it seems most safe to understand the heavenly state. I. A new world now opens to our view (Rev. 21:1): I saw a new heaven and a new earth; that is, a new universe; for we suppose the world to be made up of heaven and earth. By the new earth we may understand a new state for the bodies of men, as well as a heaven for their souls. This world is not now newly created, but newly opened, and... read more