Today’s NT Greek Reading

Today’s reading is from Rev 21:22-27:

Καὶ ναὸν οὐκ εἶδον ἐν αὐτῇ, ὁ γὰρ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ναὸς αὐτῆς ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ ἀρνίον. καὶ ἡ πόλις οὐ χρείαν ἔχει τοῦ ἡλίου οὐδὲ τῆς σελήνης, ἵνα φαίνωσιν αὐτῇ, ἡ γὰρ δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐφώτισεν αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ λύχνος αὐτῆς τὸ ἀρνίον. καὶ περιπατήσουσιν τὰ ἔθνη διὰ τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτῆς: καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς φέρουσιν τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν εἰς αὐτήν: καὶ οἱ πυλῶνες αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ κλεισθῶσιν ἡμέρας, νὺξ γὰρ οὐκ ἔσται ἐκεῖ: καὶ οἴσουσιν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰς αὐτήν. καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτὴν πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ [ὁ] ποιῶν βδέλυγμα καὶ ψεῦδος, εἰ μὴ οἱ γεγραμμένοι ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου.

And I saw no temple in it, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations walk by its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. And its gates shall not ever be shut* by day, for there will be no night there. And they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. And nothing unclean, and no one who practices what is detestable and false, shall ever enter into* it, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

* Both of these expressions are emphatically negative. This is indicated in Greek by doubly negating the aorist subjunctive verb with οὐ μὴ, as we find here. This is the strongest way to negate something in Greek; indeed, it rules out the idea from even being a possibility. So, to paraphrase John’s words here, “Not only will its gates never be shut—it is not even a remote possibility!” And, “Not only will nothing unclean or anyone who does detestable and false things not enter into it—it is not even remotely possible for them to enter!”  Some serious words which, for me, prompt hope, thanksgiving, praise, prayer, and a healthy dose of uneasiness!