What Does Revelation 21:14 Mean in the King James?
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Lamb’s city is grounded in the names, the natures and witness, of those sent by him.
THE MEANING
You are shown a city whose foundations bear names, making its structure inseparable from the people associated with the Lamb. Their identity is set into the city’s architecture, so belonging here has a face.
THE ROOT
ὀνόματα
onomata
GROWS FROM
ὀνομα-
onom-
Name; in use, also a person’s recognized identity or reputation.
The names are placed on the foundations, where they become part of what gives the city its shape. A name can carry the nature and witness of the person named, so these are not merely labels on the structure.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name or call by name.
ὀνομάζω
The same word family makes naming an act of identifying someone, not simply decorating a surface.
onomastos: Named, renowned.
ὀνομαστός
A name can carry the recognized character of a person, illuminating why these names belong in the city’s foundations.
ἀποστόλων
apostolōn
GROWS FROM
ἀποστελλ-
apostell-
To send forth or dispatch.
“apostles” in this verse is apostolōn. English “apostle” can sound like a title, while its Greek word family keeps the sending audible. The names in the foundations belong to people whose identity is bound to being sent forth.
ALSO GROWS
apostellō: To send or dispatch.
ἀποστέλλω
This verb makes the apostles’ defining movement clear: they are sent out.
apostolē: A sending or commission.
ἀποστολή
The related noun carries the act of sending into the role named in the verse.
θεμελίους
themelious
GROWS FROM
θεμελι-
themeli-
A base laid beneath a structure; the word family also carries the sense of establishing.
“foundations” in this verse is themelious. The foundation is not only what lies beneath the city; it is the city’s establishing ground. The verse places names on that ground, joining the city’s stability to the identity and witness those names carry.
ALSO GROWS
themelioō: To lay a foundation or establish.
θεμελιόω
This verb shows the foundation as an act of establishing, not only a static object.
themeliosis: A founding or foundation.
θεμελίωσις
The related noun keeps the focus on the grounding that gives a structure its stability.
THE PATTERN
God’s dwelling is pictured through foundations and pillars that give the community its shape and identity.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.THE THREAD
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;Ephesians makes explicit the architecture Revelation compresses into one image: the apostles are associated with the foundation. Revelation adds that the foundations carry their names, placing their witness within the city’s structure.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us