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Rev 21:17. Καὶ ἐμέτρησε τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῆς, ἑκατὸν τεσσαράκοντα τεσσάρων μέτρον ἀνθρώπου ὅ ἐστιν ἀγγέλου) After ἑκατὸν τεσσαράκοντα τεσσάρων many have added πηχῶν:[233] but we have shown in the Apparatus, see Ed. ii. on this passage, that more than one ancient witness is without this word. It is certain that they are not walls, but the measures of one wall, which are noticed: and even reeds might be understood. The 12,000 stadia show the height also of the city; the 144 either reeds or cubits give the height of the wall, which is not much less than the height of the city, or rather equal to it. For height is especially regarded in walls, as the epithets even of the Greek and Latin poets prove. The 12,000 stadia, since they are mentioned absolutely, were those in use among men: the 144 either cubits or reeds were not those of men, but angelico-human, much greater than those of men. Whether there were 144 reeds or cubits, the comparison of the 12,000 stadia exhibits the same height of wall. But yet there is a strong argument which advises us rather to take them as reeds. For it is not shown how many cubits a reed contains: and it might contain four cubits, because four cubits measure the stature of a man; or six cubits, as in Eze 40:5. Therefore, if the wall was of 144 cubits, it would not be known of how many reeds also it was: and therefore the golden reed, which is called the measure, would be an unknown, that is, no measure in reality. The height of the wall was ascertained, the angel applying his reed 144 times. The measure of the reed is frequently noticed in Ezekiel in a similar argument, and by ellipsis; and in one instance, ch. Eze 42:17, just as here in the Apocalypse. The Greeks have inserted πήχεις. See Meyer de Ultimis Ezech. p. 26, etc. The Hebrews often construe the numeral adjective and the substantive in the plural and singular number; for instance, וארבעת אלפים מדה, Eze 48:30; Eze 48:33. And thus John, ἙΚΑΤῸΝ ΤΕΣΣΑΡΆΚΟΝΤΑ ΤΕΣΣΆΡΩΝ ΜΈΤΡΟΝ. John ἈΝΘΡΩΠΟΕΙΔῶς ἘΘΕΏΡΗΣΕ, saw in human appearance, as Andreas of Cæsarea says, the angel measurer: therefore “that measuring pole,” says Grotius, “was of the same size as the stature of the human form, in which the angel appeared, and therefore the cubits also were according to that measure.” Grotius might have spared the clause respecting the cubits.
[233] So AB Vulg. But h omits πηχῶν; there is no other very old authority for the omission.-E.