What Does Revelation 21:20 Mean in the King James?
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
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 city’s wholeness is built from stones whose differences stay visible.
THE MEANING
The vision gives the city’s foundation as an ordered sequence of eight named stones, each with its own place. Its wholeness holds distinct materials together without flattening them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that unity requires every part to become alike: the stones belong to one foundation while keeping their different names.
THE ROOT
χρυσόλιθος
chrysolithos
GROWS FROM
λιθ- (lith-), the stem of λίθος (lithos)
Stone; χρυσόλιθος combines χρυσός (chrysos, gold) with λίθος (lithos, stone), giving “gold-stone.”
“chrysolite” in this verse is chrysolithos. Even inside the name of a precious jewel, the ordinary word for stone remains visible. The list presents the foundation as stone while giving each stone its own distinct name.
ALSO GROWS
lithos: stone
λίθος
This is the basic word carried inside chrysolite’s compound name.
lithoi: stones
λίθοι
The plural keeps the same stone word visible in descriptions of many stones forming one structure.
lithazō: to stone, or pelt with stones
λιθάζω
This branch shows the same stem naming an action done with stones, while this verse presents stones as the materials of a foundation.
THE PATTERN
The image of a complete dwelling is built from distinct stones, each named within an ordered structure.
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;THE THREAD
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.The Greek noun λίθος (lithos, “stone”) appears within χρυσόλιθος (chrysolithos, “gold-stone”), and 1 Peter uses its plural λίθοι (lithoi, “stones”) for people being built into a house. The foundation’s stone imagery opens into a living image of a shared dwelling.
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