Revelation 21:4 Meaning and Explanation
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →These words are read at more funerals than almost any others in Scripture, and their comfort lies in how specific they are. The verse lists the actual contents of human grief and states that each one ends. Its position matters as much as its content, since the promise follows immediately upon the announcement that God will dwell with his people.
The promise names four things that will end, death, sorrow, crying, and pain, and it pictures God himself removing tears from the eyes of his people because the former order has passed away.
The Context of Revelation 21:4
John is describing the vision that closes his book. Verse 1 sees a new heaven and a new earth, the first heaven and the first earth having passed away. Verse 2 sees the holy city, new Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Verse 3 records a great voice announcing that the tabernacle of God is with men, that he will dwell with them, that they shall be his people, and that God himself will be with them. Verse 4 follows as the consequence. Verse 5 has the One on the throne declaring that he makes all things new, and verse 6 offers the water of life freely.
What Does Revelation 21:4 Mean?
The first action is personal and physical: "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The image is of a hand at someone's face, close enough to touch. What follows is a list of endings, and the repeated "no more" gives it the rhythm of a decree. "Death" comes first as the root of the rest, then "sorrow," then "crying," then "pain," moving from the great enemy through inward grief to its audible expression and its bodily experience. The closing clause supplies the reason: "the former things are passed away." An entire order of existence has ended, and with it everything that produced the tears.
The promise depends on verse 3. God dwelling with his people is the cause, and the end of grief is the result, which keeps the hope of this chapter centered on God's presence rather than on improved conditions. The vision also completes a thread that runs from Genesis, where death entered the human story, to this page where death is named as gone. Chapter 21 continues with the city described in detail, and chapter 22 restores the tree of life and states that there shall be no more curse. Isaiah had promised that God would swallow up death in victory and wipe away tears from all faces, and John's vision takes up that promise directly.
Paul writes that the last enemy to be destroyed is death, and that when this mortal has put on immortality the saying will be brought to pass about death being swallowed up in victory. The New Testament traces that victory to the resurrection of Jesus. Revelation 1 has already presented him as the One who was dead and is alive for evermore, holding the keys of death. The promise in 21:4 is therefore anchored in something that has already happened in history. The God whose hand wipes away tears is the God who entered our grief, wept at a grave, and rose.
Revelation 21:4 in the Original Language
exaleipho (ἐξαλείφω), 'wipe away' -- to wipe out or blot out completely, used for erasing writing so that no trace remains. Applied to tears, the word describes a removal that leaves nothing behind, which matches the finality of the four endings that follow.
Bible Verses Related to Revelation 21:4
“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
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
- Isaiah 25:8
“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:26
“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:”
- Revelation 22:3
Where Revelation 21:4 Echoes in Scripture
Isaiah 25:8 supplies the language John takes up. There the prophet declares that the Lord GOD will swallow up death in victory and wipe away tears from all faces, removing the rebuke of his people from the whole earth. Paul quotes the same line in 1 Corinthians 15 while writing about resurrection. Three widely separated texts share one sentence, which shows how long this hope had been carried and how firmly the early church anchored it in Christ's own resurrection.
How to Apply Revelation 21:4 Today
Grief keeps its own timetable, and this verse gives no instruction to hurry it. What it gives is a horizon. Knowing that our tears have an end, and that God himself attends to them personally, changes how we sit with loss even while the loss remains. It also directs practical care. Because God draws near to the sorrowful, we can sit with people in hospital rooms and at gravesides without needing an explanation to offer. Reading these words aloud to someone who is dying is an old and good practice.
Reflection & Prayer
What tears are we carrying that we would want God's own hand to wipe away, and can we name them to him honestly today? A prayer: Lord, you have promised an end to death and sorrow and crying and pain. Hold my grief until that day, keep the hope of your presence alive in me, and make me gentle with those who are weeping now. Amen.