Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 21:17

ἐμέτρησεν is omitted in B2.

τεῖχος. א has χιλος (i.e. χεῖλος) which oddly might mean glacis, and so make sense.

17. ἐμέτρησεν τὸ τεῖχος. We should naturally understand, the height of it. The walls of the historical Babylon are differently stated as having been 200, 300, or nearly 340 feet high. But we are told that they were about 80 feet in breadth (Hdt. I. clxxviii. 5: cf. Jeremiah 51:58): so if we do admit that the City here is conceived as 340 miles high, there is a sort of proportion in making its walls not less than 72 yards thick.

μέτρον�, ὅ ἐστιν�. In Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah angels often appear and are named as men. If this Book followed the same usage we might suppose that angelic cubits are meant, thus enhancing the size. In Ezekiel it is explained that the reed is 6 royal cubits, each being a handbreadth beyond the ordinary cubit. Apart from such reminiscences the sense would be that angels use a cubit of the same length as men, viz. the average length of the forearm, from the elbow to the finger-tip. It might be implied that angels are not of superhuman stature.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 21:17

Old Testament

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