New Jerusalem Dead Sea Scroll
Written in Aramaic, the text describes a vast city, rectangular in shape, with twelve gates and encircled by a long wall.
Images for each fragment are available at the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library.
Reference Date Scholars debate the potential of a relationship between New Jerusalem and the Temple Scroll, another Qumran text featuring similar motifs.
However, in the opinion of Lorenzo DiTommaso, "there are almost no similarities between the two texts in the matter of genre, basic form and content, or architectural urban design.
[4] While the Temple Scroll is written in first person, in the language of Hebrew, and described as legislative.
He goes on, "The New Jerusalem metaphor of Revelation represents such a deep transformation of its starting point (Ezekiel and Isaiah) that it is difficult to understand how this can be considered a development of the basic Old Testament texts".
[8] In Revelation 21:9, there is a contrast between the great harlot (Babylon) and the bride of the Lamb (the Holy city of Jerusalem).
One is of the earth, symbolizing the passion and evil of man, and the other descends from heaven, completely pure and beautiful.
Robert Mounce writes that "The holy city descending from God out of heaven should be understood as a "real event" within the visionary experience ... the visionary terms of a future event which will usher in the eternal state.
However, others suggest the opposite, that Jerusalem plays an important role in the eschatological sense, such as 4Q177 and 1QM XII 10–16.
Martínez sums up this evidence: "This seems to be the logical perspective from which to read the description of the city and of the temple of the New Jerusalem text.
This interpretation is confirmed by the fragmentary reference we find in a copy from Cave to the final war against Kittim, Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Babel.
Description of the New Jerusalem (found in fragments in caves 1, 2, 4, 5, and 11) appears to be inspired by Ezekiel.
Also, the guidance of the angel and the measuring rod used in Revelation 21:9–10 and 15-17 are modeled on Ezekiel 40-48, as are the same motifs in the description of the New Jerusalem".
