👑WEB · Revelation 21:4
What does Revelation 21:4 mean?
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”"
— Revelation 21:4 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”
He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
He said to me, “I have become the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Explanation
Revelation 21:4 describes a future scene in which God personally comforts his people by wiping away their tears, and in which the very sources of human sorrow—death, mourning, crying, and pain—are permanently abolished. The verse explains that this is possible because "the first things," meaning the old order of existence marked by sin, suffering, and decay, have passed away entirely. It is not a temporary relief but a total and final transformation of reality itself.
The book of Revelation was written by the apostle John, likely while he was exiled on the island of Patmos, to churches in Asia Minor facing persecution, hardship, and the temptation to compromise their faith under pressure from the Roman Empire. These were real communities enduring real suffering—some believers had already lost loved ones to persecution, others faced poverty, social exclusion, or the threat of death for refusing to worship the emperor. John writes to give them hope by unveiling, through vivid symbolic vision, what lies beyond their present trials: the ultimate victory of God and the renewal of all creation. Revelation 21 specifically describes the "new heaven and new earth," including the descent of the New Jerusalem, God's dwelling place among his people. Verse 4 sits within this vision as a description of what life will be like when God's presence is fully and permanently established among humanity.
Theologically, this verse affirms several core Christian convictions. First, it emphasizes the intimacy of God's care—he does not merely announce the end of suffering but personally wipes away tears, an image of tender, direct compassion. Second, it affir
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