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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 22

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life—water⁠ as clear as crystal—pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb,⁠ 2 flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.⁠ 3 And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him, 4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.⁠ 6 Then the angel said to me, “These words are reliable and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.” 7 (Look ! I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy expressed in this book.) 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them, I threw myself down to worship at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do this! I am a fellow servant⁠ with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who obey the words of this book. Worship God!” 10 Then he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near. 11 The evildoer must continue to do evil, and the one who is morally filthy must continue to be filthy. The one who is righteous must continue to act righteously, and the one who is holy must continue to be holy.” 12 (Look ! I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done!⁠ 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end!)⁠ 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star!”⁠ 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge. 18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.⁠ 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book. 20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.

Texts in conversation

Compare Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34:3 and Revelation 22:12

Early Christian · New Testament

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Summary

1 Clement and Revelation each join a phrase from Isaiah about God coming with his reward to one from Proverbs about repaying each person for what he has done. The combination may come from a lost writing about the end of the age that each knew.

Passages

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34:3

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
1 The good workman receives the bread of his work with confidence, but the lazy and slack one does not dare look his employer in the face. 2 So we must be eager to do good; for all things come from Him. 3 since He forewarns us saying, “Look, the Lord, and His reward is before His face, to repay each man according to his work.” 4 So He urges us to believe in Him with our whole heart, and not to be idle or slack in any good work. 5 Let our boast and our confidence be in Him: let us submit ourselves to His will; let us note the whole host of His angels, how they stand by and serve His will.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

Revelation 22:12

New Testament
10 Then he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near. 11 The evildoer must continue to do evil, and the one who is morally filthy must continue to be filthy. The one who is righteous must continue to act righteously, and the one who is holy must continue to be holy.” 12 (Look ! I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done! 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end!) 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

“... Carlyle and the Oxford Committee found no evidence for classifying higher than ‘d’ any potential allusions to either non-Pauline letters or the Apocalypse. [...] The committee remarks on the ‘noticeable’ combination of phrases from Isaiah and Proverbs found in both 1 Clement and Revelation, but observes that this ‘may perhaps be accounted for by the hypothesis that it may have been made in some earlier apocalyptic work’, and refers to Barn. 21. 3 (NTAF, 58). ...”
Andrew Gregory and Christopher Tuckett, eds., The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 154.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34:3 and Revelation 22:12

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