Where Does the Size of the New City Come From?
"The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall 500 yards (1000 cubits) on every side" (Numb. 35.4). "Measure 1000 yards (2000 cubits) outside the city for the east side, 1000 yards for the south side, 1000 yards for the west side, and 1000 yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pastureland for the cities" (Numb. 35.5). (Holman's Christian Standard Bible - HCSB)
"The outer distances are meant to be taken as 3000 feet (1000 yards) from the walls of the city" (The Apologetics Study Bible - TASB). I agree. So if the length from one wall to the next was was 100 yards or a 1000 yards, the immediate pastureland would extend out 500 yards from the wall, and the greater pastureland would extend out even further by another 500 yards.
TASB also said, "Most walled cities were 3-5 acres in size." A 5 acre city is 24,200 square yards or 156 x 156 yards which is way too small for a walled city of 500 x 500 yards. The only Bible version that said it right without any confusion was the New Living Translation, so verse 5 should read more accurately, "This area will serve as the larger pastureland for the towns." There are two pasturelands: the immediate pasture land which extends 500 yards from the walls, then another 500 yards more.
"And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs [should be, stadia]. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal" (Rev. 21.16).
The Levite cities were a miniature of the New City, just as today modern day cities which constitute the boundary of a local church are a miniature of the New City. A mistake was made in misreading Numb. 35.4 by thinking the the walls were 1500 feet in length instead of the pastureland extending 1500 feet from the walls. And then furlongs was used in the KJV which seemed to fit because 12,000 furlongs equals 1500 miles similar to walls 1500 feet in length. I can see people making this mistake.
12,000 stadia equals 2,220 km or 1379 miles. 1 stadion equals 607 feet or 185 meters. In the Bible, the number 12 stands permanency and permanent perfection. In reading the book of Revelation, we find that the number 12 is used more frequently than in any other book. Logically we should all conclude 12,000 stadia is correct because furlongs were not used back then. While it is true some commentators say "the 3000-foot dimension represent the view from outside the city, making the walled city the epicenter of a 3000 foot squared Levitical territory" they would be wrong. If the city was 300 feet in length and breadth then the territory would extend to 3300 feet. If the city was 1000 feet, the territory would extend to 4000 feet. The size of the territory would expand at its corners if the city walls grew farther out. This arrangement seems to logically make more sense than to restrict or make unnecessarily large every Levitical city with walls always 500 yards in length.
The New City is 1379 miles length and breadth rather than 1500 miles.
Wikipedia ways,
In Rev. 21:16, the angel measures the city with a golden rod or reed, and records it as 12,000
stadia by 12,000 stadia at the base, and 12,000 stadia high. A stadion is usually stated as 185.4 meters, or 600 feet, so the base has dimensions of about 2225 km by 2225 km, or 1500 miles by 1500 miles [wrong!]. In the ancient Greek system of measurement, the base of the New Jerusalem would have been equal to
144 million square stadia. If rested on the Earth, its ceiling would be inside the
exosphere.
In keeping with the several indications within
Revelation text that there is some encryption, the cube may not even represent a cube, but rather a sphere or spheroid, with a radius equivalent to approximately 6,000 stadia or 750 miles; alternatively the symbol might be taken as a "sacred dodecahedron" with the twelve's given as a clue to its actual, faceted shape. Then the spheroidal pearl "gates" could be viewed as twelve satellites of a main structure or even a planetary system.
Some Bible versions use 12,000 stadia (rounding off to 1400 miles) or mistakenly following the KJV use 12,000 furlongs (1500 miles). The goal is 144,000,000 square stadia. So what the Bible should say is 1379 x 1379 miles not 1500 x 1500 miles. How does Wiki come up with 1500 x 1500 miles equaling 12,000 x 12,000 stadia? Makes no sense.
Which Bible versions got Rev. 21.16 wrong? KJV as usual, NKJV, NASB and ASV which give 1500 miles or 12,000 furlongs. And all of the Bible verses got Numbers 35.5 wrong except the New Living Translation.
I have always always preferred 1500 x 1500 miles myself, but I realize the 1500 miles came from the KJV error by changing 12,000 stadia to 12,000 furlongs.
The correct dimensions of the New City are 1379 x 1379 miles. That may not tickle the ears as much as 1500 x 1500 does, but it is consistent with the Biblical 12,000 stadia.
http://www.online-unit-converter.com...ce-and-length/
