Texts in Conversation
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.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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.
5Q15 1 i 2
New Jerusalem
Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts
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
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Notes and 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. ...”
García Martínez, Florentino
"The Temple Scroll and the New Jerusalem" in Flint, Peter W., and James C. VanderKam (eds.) The Dead Sea Scrolls After Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment
(p. 450) Brill, 1999
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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