Wicked People Outside the New Jerusalem
The concept of "wicked people outside the New Jerusalem" draws on biblical imagery of a holy city contrasted with those who are excluded due to their unrighteousness. While the "New Jerusalem" is primarily an eschatological vision in the New Testament, the idea of Jerusalem as a place from which the wicked are excluded has roots in Old Testament prophetic literature and later theological reflection.
In the Old Testament, Jerusalem was often depicted as a city that, despite its sacred status, harbored wickedness. The prophet Jeremiah describes "wicked men" among the people of Jerusalem who oppressed the vulnerable, growing "fat and sleek" through their injustice [3]. Ezekiel similarly portrays Jerusalem as a "wanton prostitute," graphically communicating the "ugliness and offensiveness of Judah’s sin" [10, 12]. This depravity was so profound that it necessitated divine judgment, with a "hot wind from the bleak hills" bringing ruin upon the city [9]. Even David, lamenting the betrayal he faced, complained that the city of Jerusalem itself had "strangely fell in with Absalom and fell off from David," indicating a widespread moral corruption [5]. The city's affliction and "wandering" were a consequence of its people falling into the hand of their foes, with no ally to help them [2].
Rabbinic tradition also speaks of the removal of the wicked from sacred spaces. The Babylonian Talmud discusses the burning of certain offerings "north of Jerusalem, and outside of three camps," suggesting a physical separation of defilement from the holy city [6, 7]. Another passage connects those who covered the Sanctuary with "repugnant creatures and creeping animals" to the prophecy of the dry bones, implying a spiritual defilement that leads to exclusion [11].
Augustine, reflecting on the nature of the city of God, distinguishes between the "old city" of Adam, which bears the "offshoot of iniquity," and the "new" people of God who belong to Jerusalem [4]. one tradition notes that the earthly city of Jerusalem was destroyed, becoming merely an "emblem" or "shadow" that passed away [8]. For Augustine, true belonging to the "city of God" involves a transformation from an old, sinful self to a new, righteous one [4]. The name "Neapolis," meaning "the new city," further emphasizes this concept of a renewed, purified dwelling [1]. This theological perspective reinforces the idea that the New Jerusalem is not merely a physical location but a spiritual state, from which the unrighteous are inherently excluded.
Sources
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Neapolis — the new city”
- Lamentations “Lamentations 1:7 (LITV) — In the days of her affliction and her wandering, Jerusalem remembers all her desirable things from previous days, when her people fell into the hand of the foe; and there is no ally for her. The foes saw her; they laughed at her annihilations.”
- Jeremiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Jeremiah 5:26: 5:26-28 Among the people of Jerusalem were wicked men who grew fat and sleek by oppressing orphans and . . . the poor (7:6).”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM LXII.(4) (part 5): is born of Adam, not yet doth belong to Jerusalem: for he beareth with him 253 the offshoot(1) of iniquity, and the punishment of sin, having been consigned to death, and he belongeth in a manner to a sort of old city. But if he is to be in the people of God; his old self will be thrown down, and he will be builded up new. For this reason therefore Cain builded a city where there was not a city. For from mortality and from naughtiness every one setteth out, in order that he may be made good hereafter. "For as by the disob”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 55:9: David here complains of his enemies, whose wicked plots had brought him, though not to his faith's end, yet to his wits' end, and prays against them by the spirit of prophecy. Observe here, I. The character he gives of the enemies he feared. They were of the worst sort of men, and his description of them agrees very well with Absalom and his accomplices. 1. He complains of the city of Jerusalem, which strangely fell in with Absalom and fell off from David, so that he had none there but how own guards and servants that he could repose any confidence in: How has tha”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 176a.136:1: North of Jerusalem, and outside of three camps. Rabbi Yosei says: They are burned in the place of the ashes.”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 68b.1: North of Jerusalem, and outside of three camps. Rabbi Yosei says: They are burned in the place of the ashes.”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM LXXXVII.(5) (part 6): are spoken. Now the earthly city has been destroyed: after suffering the enemy's rage, it fell to the earth; it is no longer what it was: it exhibited the emblem, and the shadow hath passed away. Whence then are "very excellent things spoken of thee, thou city of God"? Listen whence: "I will think upon Rahab and Babylon, with them that know Me" (ver. 4). In that city, the Prophet, in the person of God, says, "I will think upon Rahab and Babylon." Rahab belongs not to the Jewish people;(9) Babylon belongs not to the Jew”
- Jeremiah (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Jeremiah 4:11: Description of the impending ruin, from which nothing can save but speedy repentance. - Jer 4:11. "At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bleak hills in the wilderness cometh on the way toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow and not to cleanse. Jer 4:12. A wind fuller than for this shall come to me; now will I also utter judgments upon them. Jer 4:13. Behold, like clouds it draws near, and like the storm are it chariots, swifter than eagles its horses. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. Jer 4:14. Wash from wi”
- Ezek (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ezek 16:1: 16:1-63 Jerusalem is exposed as a wanton prostitute. Even in the relatively mild form of the English translation, ch 16 is hard to read, and it was at least as shocking in the ancient context. Ezekiel was graphically communicating the full ugliness and offensiveness of Judah’s sin. He refused to be polite when discussing his people’s depravity. In fact, his refusal to tone down the offensiveness of Jerusalem’s sin is precisely the point of the passage. The offensive nature of the portrayal was critical to its effectiveness because Ezekiel’s hearers could understand ”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 92b.9: Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa says: These are the people who covered the Sanctuary with repugnant creatures and creeping animals, as it is stated: “So I entered and saw and behold, every form of creeping animal and repugnant animal, and all the idols of the house of Israel, etched upon the wall around” (Ezekiel 8:10), and it is written there with regard to the prophecy of the dry bones: “And he passed me over them around and around” (Ezekiel 37:2). By means of a verbal analogy between: Around, in one verse and the identical term in the other it is derived that the t”
- Ezekiel (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ezekiel 16:1: 16:1-63 Jerusalem is exposed as a wanton prostitute. Even in the relatively mild form of the English translation, ch 16 is hard to read, and it was at least as shocking in the ancient context. Ezekiel was graphically communicating the full ugliness and offensiveness of Judah’s sin. He refused to be polite when discussing his people’s depravity. In fact, his refusal to tone down the offensiveness of Jerusalem’s sin is precisely the point of the passage. The offensive nature of the portrayal was critical to its effectiveness because Ezekiel’s hearers could understa”