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5Q15

New Jerusalem

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Fragment 1 i

1 [around,] three hundred and fifty-seven cubits to each side. And a free space is left all around the block, the outside of the street: [three reeds,] twenty 2 [one] cubits. And likewise [he showed me the] measurements of [all the] blocks.⁠ [Between block and block is a street,] its width six reeds, forty-two cubits. 3 [And the] great [streets that] go out from the east [to the west]: ten reeds is the width [of the street,] seventy [cubits], two of them; and the third, 4 [which is on the] left of the [sanctuary, he] measured: eighteen reeds wide, one hundred [and twenty] and six cubits. And the width [of the streets] that go out from the south 5 [to the north: two of them] are nine reeds and four cubits to each street, sixty-seven cubits; and the middle one, [which is in the] middle of the city, 6 [he measured its width:] thirteen reeds and one cubit, ninety-two cubits. And all the streets [and the city are] paved with white stone⁠ 7 […] … […] … […] marble and jasper. 8 [And he showed me the measurements of the] eighty [posterns]. The width of the posterns is two reeds, [fourteen cubits …] 9 [… on] each and every gate there are two doors of stone. The width of the doors is [one] reed, [seven cubits.] 10 [And he showed me the measurements of the …] twelve. The width of their gates is three reeds, [twenty-one] cubits. [… On each] 11 [and every gate there are two doors.] The width of the doors is one reed and a half, ten and a half cubits […] 12 [And beside each gate there are two] towers, one on the right and one on the left. Their width and their length [are one measure: five reeds by five,] 13 [thirty-five cubits. And the stairway that goes up beside] the gate, inside, to the right of the towers, to the height of the towers: [its width is five cubits. The towers] 14 [and the stairs are five reeds by five and] five [cubits], forty [cubits] on each side of the gate. 15 [And he showed me the measurements of the gates of the blocks: their width is] two reeds, fourteen cubits, [and the width of … the measurement in cubits] 16 [… And he measured the] width [of each] threshold: two reeds, fourteen cubits, [and its lintel: one cubit …] 17 [And he measured at each] threshold its doors, and he measured inside the threshold: its length is [thirteen] cubits [and its width ten cubits.] 18 [And he brought] me inside the threshold, [and behold,] another threshold, and a gate beside the inner wall, [which is on the right side, with the measurements of the outer] 19 [gate: its width] four [cubits], its height seven [cubits], and it has two doors. And in front of this gate [is the threshold of its entrance: its width is one reed,]

Texts in conversation

Compare Ezekiel 40:3 and 5Q15 1 i 2

Hebrew Bible · Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts

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Summary

In Ezekiel 40, a heavenly figure with a measuring stick shows the prophet a temple and measures its wall. In the New Jerusalem text from the Dead Sea Scrolls, a guide also shows the narrator measurements of city blocks, a tour modeled on Ezekiel.

Passages

Ezekiel 40:3

Hebrew Bible
3 When he brought me there, I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. He was standing in the gateway. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, watch closely, listen carefully, and pay attention to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. Tell the house of Israel everything you see.” 5 I saw a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man’s hand was a measuring stick 10½ feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall as 10½ feet and its height as 10½ feet.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

5Q15 1 i 2

Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts · New Jerusalem
1 [around,] three hundred and fifty-seven cubits to each side. And a free space is left all around the block, the outside of the street: [three reeds,] twenty 2 [one] cubits. And likewise [he showed me the] measurements of [all the] blocks. [Between block and block is a street,] its width six reeds, forty-two cubits. 3 [And the] great [streets that] go out from the east [to the west]: ten reeds is the width [of the street,] seventy [cubits], two of them; and the third, 4 [which is on the] left of the [sanctuary, he] measured: eighteen reeds wide, one hundred [and twenty] and six cubits. And the width [of the streets] that go out from the south
160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 5Q15

References

“... The entire work is presented in the manner of Ezekiel 40-48 as a revelation in which the seer is shown the city with all its details and the temple with all its ceremonies. Expressions like “he introduced me,” “he showed me,” “he made me see,” and “he told me; you are seeing,” are frequently repeated. Such language transforms the description into a visual blueprint of the city and temple. ...”
Florentino García Martínez, “The Temple Scroll and the New Jerusalem,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 2:450.
“... The text is evidently modelled on Ezekiel 40-48, where the prophet is given a guided tour of an ideal or eschatological temple by an angel. The angel is not explicitly mentioned in the New Jerusalem text, but his presence may be inferred from occasional statements that “he showed me...” Like the Temple Scroll, this work stands in a tradition of speculation about the ideal temple. ...”
John J. Collins, “Apocalypticism and Literary Genre in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 2:417.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Ezekiel 40:3 and 5Q15 1 i 2

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