What Does Revelation 21:18 Mean in the King James?

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

Revelation 21:18 · KJV

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 Greek uses the same word for the city’s “pure” gold and its “clear” glass: here, purity is preciousness made transparent.

THE MEANING

The city’s substance is precious, yet nothing about its purity makes it opaque: the gold is clear as glass. Wholeness appears as something of great worth that can also be seen through.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the assumption that what is valuable must be hidden or guarded from view.

THE ROOT

καθαρός

katharos

GROWS FROM

καθαρ-

kathar-

Clean, pure.

“pure / clear” in this verse is katharos. The Greek repeats ⁨καθαρός⁩: it describes the gold as “pure” and the glass as “clear.” The English uses two words, while the Greek lets one word hold both qualities together: the city’s purity is also its clarity.

ALSO GROWS

katharizō: To cleanse or purify.

καθαρίζω

This verb grows from the same word family, linking the city’s purity with the act of cleansing.

katharismos: Cleansing or purification.

καθαρισμός

This noun carries the same clean, pure quality as the gold and glass in the verse.

THE PATTERN

Purity is joined to visibility: what is clean can be seen without concealment.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10 · KJVThe clean heart places purity within the person, where this verse pictures it in the city’s very substance.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:8 · KJVHere, as in the clear city, purity is joined with seeing.

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Revelation 22:1 · KJVThe vision again pairs purity with clarity, now in the river that carries life.

THE THREAD

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Revelation 22:1 · KJV

The river is called “pure” with the same Greek word that describes the gold and glass here. The shared word carries the city’s clarity into the water of life.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us