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OET (OET-LV) And he_measured the wall of_it, of_a_hundred forty four cubits, a_measure of_human_origin that is also of_the_messenger.
OET (OET-RV) He also measured the wall to be 70m using normal measurements.[fn]
21:17 It’s not stated if that’s the height or the thickness of the city wall.
In this section, an angel showed the new Jerusalem to John. The angel again used a metaphor of a bride to describe new Jerusalem. The city was large and beautiful. God lived there with his people. His glory lighted the city. John described the city, the river that flowed through the city, and the tree that gave life. There were no bad things in the city at all.
Other examples for this section heading are:
The vision of the new Jerusalem
John saw/described the new Jerusalem as a bride for the Lamb
And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits,
He measured the height of its wall, and it was one hundred and forty-four cubits,
The angel also measured the city’s wall. It was sixty-six meters high.
And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits: The Greek does not say which measurement of the wall is 144 cubits. The BSB and some English versions (RSV, NASB, NABRE, GW, NET, ESV, KJV) translate the Greek literally. For example, the RSV says:
He also measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits
Other English versions interpret this measurement in two ways:
The measurement refers to the height of the wall. For example:
He measured its wall, and this was a hundred and forty-four cubits high (NJB) (GNT, NJB, CEV, REB, NCV)
The measurement refers to the thickness of the wall, as in the BSB. For example:
Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (NLT) (NIV, NLT)
If you interpret this measurement, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because 21:12 speaks of a great, high wall.Beale (page 1076) and Swete (page 289) say it is probably the height of the wall. Hughes (on TW) is definite that it refers to the height. Beckwith (page 761) says, “The indefinite expression would most naturally be taken of length or height, and (length) is excluded here.”
144 cubits: A “cubit” is a measure of length from a man’s fingertip to his elbow. One cubit is about 45 centimeters (1.5 feet). So this phrase refers to about 66 meters (216 feet). You may want to:
Use the Jewish unit of measure as the BSB does. You may then want to explain the distance in a footnote. For example:
This is about 66 meters.
This is 216 feet.
Use the common unit of measure in your area. For example:
66 meters
216 feet (GNT)
86 paces You may then want to explain the literal words in a footnote. For example:
Literally: “144 cubits.” The cubit is the Jewish unit of measure of length. It is the length from the fingertip to the elbow (about 45 centimeters).
by the human measure the angel was using.
using the human cubit measurement.
(The angel used the measure that people use.)
by the human measure: This phrase indicates that the angel used the cubit that people use. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
by man’s measurement (NIV)
according to the cubit used by people
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
ἐμέτρησεν τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς, ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν
˱he˲_measured (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐμέτρησεν τό τεῖχος αὐτῆς ἑκατόν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστίν ἀγγέλου)
John is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You can supply these words from the context if that would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: [he measured her wall and found it to be 144 cubits]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐμέτρησεν τό τεῖχος αὐτῆς ἑκατόν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστίν ἀγγέλου)
This could be the measurement: (1) of the height of the wall. Alternate translation: [144 cubits high] (2) of the thickness of the wall. Alternate translation: [144 cubits thick]
Note 3 topic: translate-bdistance
ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐμέτρησεν τό τεῖχος αὐτῆς ἑκατόν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστίν ἀγγέλου)
A cubit was the measurement of the distance from a person’s elbow to his longest fingertip, typically about half a meter or about 18 inches. If it would be helpful in your language, you could give the equivalent in modern measurements. However, you might also wish to retain the ancient measurement, since there may be some symbolic significance to the number 144. Alternate translation: [about 70 meters] or [about 200 feet]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου
˓a˒_measure ˱of˲_human_origin that (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐμέτρησεν τό τεῖχος αὐτῆς ἑκατόν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστίν ἀγγέλου)
Since cubits were the distance from an elbow to a fingertip, John needs to specify from what size person the angel determined this measurement. This could mean: (1) that the angel appeared to John in human form and so the distance from his elbow to his fingertip was the same as that of a human. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [The angel appeared in human form, and so he used an ordinary human cubit to measure] (2) that the angel may have been a giant compared with humans, but the angel still used a human-sized cubit. Alternate translation: [The angel used the cubit measure that people ordinarily use]
21:17 In the ancient world, walls were important not only to the defense and boundary of a city, but also to its status. That these walls are 216 feet thick (Greek 144 cubits) indicates the strength of God’s redeemed people. The measurement of 144 cubits again uses a multiple of 12 to represent God’s people. A cubit was the length of a man’s forearm, with a standard length of about 18 inches.
OET (OET-LV) And he_measured the wall of_it, of_a_hundred forty four cubits, a_measure of_human_origin that is also of_the_messenger.
OET (OET-RV) He also measured the wall to be 70m using normal measurements.[fn]
21:17 It’s not stated if that’s the height or the thickness of the city wall.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.