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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
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.![]()
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.
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SR-GNT Καὶ ἐμέτρησεν τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς, ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν, μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου. ‡
(Kai emetraʸsen to teiⱪos autaʸs, hekaton tesserakonta tessarōn paʸⱪōn, metron anthrōpou ho estin angelou.)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT And he measured her wall, 144 cubits by the measurement of a man, which is of an angel.
UST He measured its wall and reported that it was 66 meters high. The angel used the measurement that people normally use.
BSB And he measured its wall [to be] 144 cubits,[fn] by the human measure the angel was [using].
21:17 144 cubits is approximately 216 feet or 65.8 meters. The measure could indicate either height or thickness.
MSB (Same as BSB above including footnotes)
BLB And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of man, that is of the angel.
AICNT He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.
OEB Then he measured the wall; it was two hundred and eighty-eight feet, as people measure, that is as the angel measured.
WEBBE Its wall is one hundred and forty-four cubits,[fn] by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
21:17 144 cubits is about 65.8 metres or 216 feet
WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)
NET He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits according to human measurement, which is also the angel’s.
LSV And he measured its wall—one hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of the messenger;
FBV He measured the wall and it was 144 cubits[fn] thick in human measurements that the angel was using.
21:17 Over 200 feet.
TCNT [fn]Its wall was one hundred forty-four cubits according to human measurement, which the angel was using.
21:17 Its wall was 𝔐K 40% ¦ Then he measured its wall and found it to be 𝔐A,C ANT CT PCK RP TR 51.7% • MSS 7.8%
T4T He measured its wall and reported that it was ◄216 ft./70 meters► thick (OR, high). The angel used the measure that people normally use.
LEB And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits[fn] ⌊according to human measure⌋[fn], which is the angel’s.
21:17 This number in cubits amounts to 12 times 12; it would be about 65 meters (216 feet)
21:17 Literally “according to the measure of a man”
BBE And he took the measure of its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, after the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
Moff he made the measure of the wall seventy-two yards, by human, that is, by angelic reckoning.
Wymth And he measured the wall of it—a wall of a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to human measure, which was also that of the angel.
ASV And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
DRA And he measured the wall thereof an hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is of an angel.
YLT and he measured its wall, an hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of the messenger;
Drby And he measured its wall, a hundred [and] forty-four cubits, [a] man's measure, that is, [the] angel's.
RV And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
SLT And he measured her wall, an hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is the angel.
Wbstr And he measured the wall of it a hundred and forty four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
KJB-1769 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
KJB-1611 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred, and fourtie, and foure cubites, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the Angel.
(And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred, and fourtie, and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the Angel.)
Bshps And he measured the wall thereof an hundreth and fourtie and foure cubites, by the measure of man, that is of the angell.
(And he measured the wall thereof an hundredth and forty and four cubits, by the measure of man, that is of the angel.)
Gnva And hee measured the wall thereof, an hundreth fourtie and foure cubites, by the measure of man, that is, of the Angell.
(And he measured the wall thereof, an hundredth forty and four cubits, by the measure of man, that is, of the Angel. )
Cvdl And he measured the wall therof, an cxliiij. cubittes, after ye measure of a man, which the angel had.
(And he measured the wall thereof, an cxliiij. cubittes, after ye/you_all measure of a man, which the angel had.)
TNT And he measured the wall therof. an cxliiii. cubittes: the measure that the angell had was after the measure that man vseth.
(And he measured the wall thereof. an cxliiii. cubittes: the measure that the angel had was after the measure that man useth. )
Wycl And he mat the wallis of it, of an hundrid and `foure and fourti cubitis, bi mesure of man, that is, of an aungel.
(And he mat the walls of it, of an hundred and four and forty cubits, by measure of man, that is, of an angel.)
Luth Und er maß ihre Mauern, hundertvierundvierzig Ellen, nach dem Maß eines Menschen, das der Engel hat.
(And he measure(v) their/her walls, hundredvierundvierzig cubits, after to_him measure(n)/extent one/a people, the the/of_the angel has.)
ClVg Et mensus est murum ejus centum quadraginta quatuor cubitorum, mensura hominis, quæ est angeli.[fn]
(And measured it_is wall his hundred forty four cubits/elbows, measure of_man, which it_is messengers/angels. )
21.17 Mensura hominis. Juxta litteram sanctus Joannes ostendit angelum apparuisse sibi in specie hominis, ut aperte denotet eum qui significabatur verum angelum, id est Filium Dei, et verum hominem fuisse.
21.17 Mensura of_man. According_to/Near literally holy Yoannes he_showed a_messenger/angel I_appearedsse to_himself in/into/on in_appearance of_man, as openly denotet him who/which significabatur true a_messenger/angel, that it_is Son of_God, and true man to_have_been.
UGNT καὶ ἐμέτρησεν τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς, ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν, μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου.
(kai emetraʸsen to teiⱪos autaʸs, hekaton tesserakonta tessarōn paʸⱪōn, metron anthrōpou ho estin angelou.)
SBL-GNT καὶ ἐμέτρησεν τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν, μέτρον ἀνθρώπου, ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου.
(kai emetraʸsen to teiⱪos autaʸs hekaton tesserakonta tessarōn paʸⱪōn, metron anthrōpou, ho estin angelou.)
RP-GNT Καὶ ἐμέτρησεν τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς ἑκατὸν τεσσαράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν, μέτρον ἀνθρώπου, ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου.
(Kai emetraʸsen to teiⱪos autaʸs hekaton tessarakonta tessarōn paʸⱪōn, metron anthrōpou, ho estin angelou.)
TC-GNT [fn]Καὶ τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς [fn]ἑκατὸν τεσσαράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν, μέτρον ἀνθρώπου, ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου.
(Kai to teiⱪos autaʸs hekaton tessarakonta tessarōn paʸⱪōn, metron anthrōpou, ho estin angelou. )
21:17 και 𝔐K 40% ¦ και εμετρησε 𝔐A,C ANT CT PCK RP TR 51.7% ¦ και εμετρισε MSS 7.8%
21:17 εκατον τεσσαρακοντα τεσσαρων ¦ ρμδ΄ ECM TH ¦ εκατον τεσσερακοντα τεσσαρων NA SBL WH
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
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.
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]