The Hyperlinked Bible
Intertextuality Pair
Allusion
Later text
Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Earlier text
Genesis 2:10BSB
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:
Genesis 2:10 describes the primal river: "Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters." Revelation 22:1 describes "a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb." The typological correspondence is foundational: Eden's river sustaining physical life becomes the eschatological river sustaining eternal life. In Genesis, the river flows from Eden to water the garden; in Revelation, it flows from God's throne down the city's main street. The pairing of river and tree of life in both texts (Gen 2:9-10; Rev 22:1-2) creates a deliberate Eden-New Jerusalem inclusio that frames the entire biblical narrative. The New Jerusalem is the restored and escalated Eden — the garden-city where God dwells permanently with His people. The four rivers becoming one river suggests the unification and perfection of what was originally divided.