What Does Revelation 21:22 Mean in the King James?

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

Revelation 21:22 · 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 sanctuary is not a place that contains God; the Lord God and the Lamb themselves are the sanctuary.

THE MEANING

The city’s sacred center is the Lord God and the Lamb themselves; no separate structure contains them. This speaks to you now: God’s presence is not confined to a designated holy place, because the holy place is defined by their presence.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

God can be near only inside a designated sacred building.

THE ROOT

ναός

naos

GROWS FROM

ναίω

naiō

To dwell, inhabit; ⁨ναός⁩ (naos) is a sanctuary or dwelling place.

English “temple” can sound like a building, while the Greek word carries the sense of a sanctuary where presence dwells. Here that sanctuary is not a structure for God and the Lamb to inhabit: they themselves are the city’s dwelling place.

ALSO GROWS

naos: Sanctuary, temple, dwelling place

ναός

This is the word used in the verse; its dwelling-place sense makes the claim more intimate than an architectural image.

naopoios: Temple-maker, builder of a sanctuary

ναοποιός

This compound names the making of a sanctuary; the verse names the Lord God and the Lamb themselves as the sanctuary.

THE PATTERN

A sanctuary is made by God’s indwelling presence, not by a structure that contains it.

A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

Psalm 90:1 · KJVGod is named as the enduring dwelling place, making presence itself the home.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 · KJVGod’s presence makes people the temple, carrying sacred dwelling beyond a building.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Revelation 21:3 · KJVGod dwelling among people is the city’s defining reality.

THE THREAD

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨ναός⁩ (naos, sanctuary): there, people are called God’s temple; here, the Lord God and the Lamb are the city’s temple. The shared word links sacred dwelling to presence itself.

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