Revelation 21:15 BSB

Revelation 21:15

The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

KJV

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

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Commentary

1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

And he that talked with me - The angel, Rev 21:9. Had a golden reed to measure the city - See the notes on Rev 11:1. The reed, or measuring rod, here, is of gold, because all about the city is of the most rich and costly materials. The rod is thus suited to the personage who uses it, and to the occasion. Compare a similar description in Eze 40:3-5; Eze 43:16. The object of this measuring is to show that the city has proper architectural proportions.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

The gold, the pearls, the precious stones, the walls, foundations, gates, are undoubtedly figurative expressions; seeing the city itself is in glory, and the inhabitants of it have spiritual bodies: yet these spiritual bodies are also real bodies, and the city is an abode distinct from its inhabitants, and proportioned to them who take up a finite and a determinate space.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

So here, on the contrary, the city being measured implies the entire consecration of every part, all things being brought up to the most exact standard of God's holy requirements, and also God's accurate guardianship henceforth of even the most minute parts of His holy city from all evil.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

21 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Καὶ	Kai	And	G2532 →
ὁ	ho	the [one]	G3588 →
λαλῶν	lalōn	speaking	G2980 →
μετ᾽	met᾽	with	G3326 →
ἐμοῦ	emou	me	G1473 →
εἶχεν	eichen	he had	G2192 →
μέτρον	metron	a measuring	G3358 →
κάλαμον	kalamon	reed	G2563 →
χρυσοῦν	chrusoun	golden	G5552 →
ἵνα	ina	so that	G2443 →
μετρήσῃ	metrēsē	he may measure	G3354 →
τὴν	tēn	the	G3588 →
πόλιν	polin	city	G4172 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τοὺς	tous	the	G3588 →
πυλῶνας	pulōnas	gates	G4440 →
αὐτῆς	autēs	of it	G846 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
τεῖχος	teichos	wall	G5038 →
αὐτῆς.	autēs	of it.	G846 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Zechariah 2:1
Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
leads to
- Ezekiel 40:3
  So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.
- Zechariah 1:16
  Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out…
- Ezekiel 40:5
  And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured…
- Revelation 11:1
  Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.
- Ezekiel 47:4
  Then he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through knee-deep water. Again he measured a thousand cubits and led me through waist-deep water.

Featured studies on this passage

On Revelation 21:15

Creation to New Creation

The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city — and the city has the garden in the middle of it. Seven explicit textual echoes bind Genesis 1–2 to Revelation 21–22.

Open the study →