Revelation 21:17
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
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.
American King James Version (AKJV)
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.
American Standard Version (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.
Basic English Translation (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.
Webster's Revision
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.
World English Bible
Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
English Revised Version (ERV)
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.
Definitions for Revelation 21:17
Clarke's Revelation 21:17 Bible Commentary
The wall - a hundred and forty and four cubits - This is twelve, the number of the apostles, multiplied by itself: for twelve times twelve make one hundred and forty-four.
The measure of a man, that is, of the angel - The cubit, so called from cubitus, the elbow, is the measure from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and is generally reckoned at one foot and a half, or eighteen inches; though it appears, from some measurements at the pyramids of Egypt, that the cubit was, at least in some cases, twenty-one inches.
By the cubit of a man we may here understand the ordinary cubit, and that this was the angel's cubit who appeared in the form of a man. Or suppose we understand the height of the man as being here intended, and that this was the length of the measuring rod. Now allowing this height and rod to be six feet, and that this was intended to have some kind of symbolical reference to the twelve tribes, mentioned Revelation 21:12, represented by the twelve gates; and to the twelve apostles, represented by the twelve thresholds or foundations; then twenty-four, the number of the tribes and apostles, multiplied by six, make precisely the number one hundred and forty-four.
Barnes's Revelation 21:17 Bible Commentary
And he measured the wall thereof - In respect to its "height." Of course, its length corresponded with the extent of the city.
An hundred and forty and four cubits - This would be, reckoning the cubit at eighteen inches, two hundred and sixteen feet. This is less than the height of the walls of Babylon, which Herodotus says were three hundred and fifty feet high. See the introduction to chapter 13 of Isaiah. As the walls of a city are designed to protect it from external foes, the height mentioned here gives all proper ideas of security; and we are to conceive of the city itself as towering immensely above the walls. Its glory, therefore, would not be obscured by the wall that was thrown around it for defense.
According to the measure of a man - The measure usually employed by men. This seems to be added in order to prevent any mistake as to the size of the city. It is an "angel" who makes the measurement, and without this explanation it might perhaps be supposed that he used some measure not in common use among people, so that, after all, it would be impossible to form any definite idea of the size of the city.
That is, of the angel - That is, "which is the measure employed by the angel." It was, indeed, an angel who measured the city, but the measure which he employed was that in common use among people.
