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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Revelation 21:17 - 21:17
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Cubits (πηχῶν)
The word originally means that part of the arm between the hand and the elbow-joint, the forearm. Hence a cubit or ell, a measure of the distance from the joint of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, i.e., about a foot and a half. The precise length, however, is disputed. Cubit is from the Latin cubitus the elbow, on which one reclines (cubat). Some take the one hundred and forty-four cubits as representing the height of the wall; others the thickness. If the height, then they must be interpreted as equal to the twelve thousand furlongs, since the length and the breadth and the height of the city are equal (Rev 21:16). It is to be noted, however, that there is a distinction between the measure of the city and the measure of the wall. “The most inconsiderable wall” remarks Düsterdieck, “is sufficient to exclude all that is impure.”
The measure of a man, that is, of the angel
“It is to be the dwelling-place of men; and even, therefore, when an angel measures it, he measures it according to the measure of a man” (Milligan).