Marko Jauhiainen, «The Measuring of the Sanctuary Reconsidered (Rev 11,1-2)», Vol. 83 (2002) 507-526
The act of measuring in Rev 11,1-2 does not portray the Church as spiritually protected but physically vulnerable, as normally thought. Not only are there lexical and interpretive difficulties with the traditional view, it is also not supported by the OT and extra-biblical evidence commonly adduced. Reading two kai/j differently and recognizing an allusion to Ezek 8:16 LXX addresses both the lexical and interpretive issues. The act of measuring is used to communicate the fact that contrary to Ezek 8–9, this time God will not abandon his earthly sanctuary, though idolatry among his people will still be judged.
spiritually protected but physically vulnerable, if that were John’s intention.
There is an alternative way of reading Rev 11,1-2 which solves some of the problems outlined above while still adhering to the traditional "spiritual protection vs. physical vulnerability"-view. The kai/ between the sanctuary and the altar could be taken as epexegetical, thus equating the sanctuary with the altar and the worshipers18. This reading has at least three advantages: First, there is no longer uncertainty over the identification of the altar and the "outer court". The altar is the altar of incense, located within the sanctuary, and the court is the court immediately surrounding the sanctuary. Second, the mention of the worshipers, who must be priests in order to worship within the sanctuary, now makes more sense. Finally, the worshipers are no longer a direct object of measuring and thus the use of metre/w ceases to be a lexical problem.
However, though the moving of the altar and the worshipers inside the sanctuary may solve some of the issues, the traditional interpretation remains problematic. For example, the mention of the altar still seems superfluous, and the use of the verb e)kba/llw with the "outer court" remains unexplained19. Moreover, according to both variants of the traditional interpretive schema, John is using not only the "sanctuary", the "worshipers" (possibly the "altar"), and the "outer court", but also the "holy city" to refer to the Church — and all this within what is essentially a single sentence20. While there is no