Revelation 21:4; And God Shall Away All Tears From Their Eyes

Revelation 21:4 (KJV)  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. 

As a follow-up to the positive incentive emphasised in v3, v4 describes conditions in the New Jerusalem in negative terms – 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. 

The negative description of future conditions in a sense is easier, because finite humans accustomed only to an old earth ravaged by sin are void of experience in an ideal environment such as the new creation will be (1 John 3:2). (Swete)

1 John 3:2 (KJV)  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 

These conditions exceed present powers of conception (Mounce).

The singular number of “all tears” or “every tear”, He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes focuses on God’s great compassion for the individual even to the point of noticing infinitely small minutia (Smith, Morris).

The same compassion has already been evidenced in connection with the earlier heavenly multitude (Revelation 7:17 cf. Isaiah 25:8; 65:19).

Revelation 7:17 (KJV)  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 

Isaiah 25:8 (KJV)  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 65:19 (KJV)  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 

These are tears caused by the grief and pain of an existence in the old creation, not tears of repentance as in Isaiah 61:3-10.

Isaiah 61:3-10 (KJV)  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: menshall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody 1995, 445]