(Ἱερουσαλἡμ καινἠ , Hierousalḗm kainḗ ): This name occurs in Revelation 21:2 ( Revelation 21:10 , "holy city"). The conception is based on prophecies which predict a glorious future to Jerusalem after the judgment (Isaiah 52:1 ). In Revelation, however, it is not descriptive of any actual locality on earth, but allegorically depicts the final state of the church ("the bride," "the wife of the Lamb," Revelation 21:2 , Revelation 21:9 ), when the new heaven and the new earth shall have come into being. The picture is drawn from a twofold point of view: the new Jerusalem is a restoration of Paradise (Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1 , Revelation 22:2 , Revelation 22:14 ); it is also the ideal of theocracy realized (Revelation 21:3 , Revelation 21:12 , Revelation 21:14 , Revelation 21:22 ). The latter viewpoint explains the peculiar representation that the city descends "out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:2 , Revelation 21:10 ), which characterizes it as, on the one hand, a product of God's supernatural workmanship, and as, on the other hand, the culmination of the historic process of redemption. In other New Testament passages, where theocratic point of view is less prominent, the antitypical Jerusalem appears as having its seat in heaven instead of, as here, coming down from heaven to earth (compare Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 12:22 ). See also REVELATION OF JOHN .
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
WikipediaThe ISBE is a classic Bible reference compiled from nearly 10,000 entries written by over 200 different Bible scholars and teachers. In addition to the encyclopedia articles, all of the major words of the Bible are represented and defined.
The historical, cultural, and linguistic information in the ISBE can be of great value in Bible study and research.
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