Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement were used primarily by ancient Israelites and appear frequently within the Hebrew Bible as well as in later rabbinic writings, such as the Mishnah and Talmud. These units of measurement continue to be used in functions regulating Orthodox Jewish contemporary life, based on halacha. The specificity of some of the units used and which are encompassed under these systems of measurement (whether in linear distance, weight or volume of capacity) have given rise, in some instances, to disputes, owing to the discontinuation of their Hebrew names and their replacement by other names in modern usage.
Note: The listed measurements of this system range from the lowest to highest acceptable halakhic value, in terms of conversion to and from contemporary systems of measurement.
Unit conversion Archaeological While documentation on each unit's relation to another's is plentiful, there is much debate, both within Judaism and in academia, about the exact relationship between measurements in the system and those in other measurement systems. Classical definitions, such as that an etzba was seven barleycorns laid side by side, or that a log was equal to six medium-sized eggs, are also open to debate. Nevertheless, the entire system of measurement bears profound resemblance to the Babylonian and the ancient Egyptian systems, and is currently understood to have likely been derived from some combination of the two.Jewish Encyclopedia Scholars commonly infer the absolute sizes based on the better-known Babylonian units' relations to their contemporary counterparts.
Ezekiel refers to an "amah (cubit) which is an amah plus a tefah (palm breadth)",; and thus is one sixth larger than the standard amah. An explanation for this discrepancy seems to be suggested by the Book of Chronicles, which states that Solomon's Temple was built according to "cubits following the first measure", suggesting that over the course of time the original amah was supplanted by a smaller one. The Egyptians also used two different cubits, one of which—the royal cubit—was a sixth larger than the common cubit; this royal measurement was the earlier of the two in Egyptian use, and the one which the Pyramids of the 3rd and 4th Dynasties seem to be measured in integer multiples of.Peake's commentary on the Bible
The smaller of the Egyptian cubits measured , but the standard Babylonian cubit, cast in stone on one of the statues of Gudea, was 49.5 cm (19.49 in), and the larger Egyptian cubit was between 52.5 and 52.8 cm (20.67 and 20.79 in). The Books of Samuel portray the Temple as having a Phoenician architect, and in Phoenicia it was the Babylonian cubit which was used to measure the size of parts of ships. Thus scholars are uncertain whether the standard Biblical cubit would have been 49.5 or 52.5 cm (19.49 or 20.67 in), but are fairly certain that it was one of these two figures. From these figures for the size of a Biblical cubit, that of the basic unit—the finger-breadth (Etzba)—can be calculated to be either 2.1 or 2.2 cm (0.83 or 0.87 in).
Halakhic Rabbinic scholars have also attempted to calculate these measurements. The most accepted approaches are those of Rav Avraham Chaim Naeh,Shiurei Torah 1:3 who approximates the etzba at 2 cm (0.79 in), and Chazon IshMoed 39: Kuntres Hashiurim at 2.38 cm (0.94 in). A third opinion, in Rabbi Chaim P. Benish's "Midos V'Shiurei Torah", provides an alternative understanding of the Rambam and suggests that the , according to the Rambam, is 0.748–0.756 in (1.90–1.92 cm).
In the below tables, the range of values shown is that between the calculations of Naeh and Chazon Ish. The archaeological estimate is in the middle of this range.
Length and distance The original measures of length were derived from the human body—the finger, hand, arm, span, foot, and pace—but since these measures differ between individuals, they are reduced to a certain standard for general use.
The Hebrew Bible mentions the palm or handbreadth (; plural ),e.g. the span (),e.g. and the cubit or ell (; plural amot).e.g. In later periods, more measures are recorded: the digit or fingerbreadth (; plural etzba'ot), the mile (; plural milim), and the parasang (). The latter two are loan words into the Hebrew language, and borrowed measurements - the Latin mille, and Iranian parasang, respectively; both were units of itinerant distance, and thus varied according to terrain and stride length, and, in the case of the parasang, also on the speed of travel.
The measurements were related as follows: 1 palm [handbreadth] () = 4 digits (etzba'ot)Tosefta Kelim Metsia 6:4Maimonides, Commentary to Mishnah Kila'im 6:6 1 span () = 3 palms () 1 cubit [ell] () = 2 spans (), or 6 palms [handbreadths]Maimonides, Commentary to Mishnah Middot 3:1 1 mil () = 2000 cubits [ells] ()Maimonides, Commentary on Mishnah Yoma 6:4Rashi, Yoma 67a; Mishneh Torah, Tefilah 4:2; etc. 1 parasang () = 4 mils ()
Name (plural) Hebrew name (plural) Translation English equivalent SI equivalent Etzba (Etzba'ot) thumb-breadth 0.79–0.94 in 2.0–2.38 cm Tefach (Tefachim) hand-breadth 3.16–3.76 in 8.02–9.55 cm Zeret (Zarot) span 9.48–11.28 in 24.08–28.65 cm Amah (Amot) cubit 18.96–22.56 in 48.16–57.30 cm Mil (Milin) mile 0.598–0.712 mi 0.963–1.146 km parasa (parsa'ot) parasang 2.41–2.85 mi 3.87–4.58 km
Talmudic additions To the somewhat simple system of distance, the Talmud adds a few more units, namely the double palm (), the pace (), the cord (), the stadion (), the day's journey (), and an undetermined quantity named the (). The stadion appears to have been adopted from Persia, while the double palm seems to have been derived from the Greek . The relationship between four of these additional units and the earlier system is as follows: 1 double palm () = 2 palms () 1 pace () = 1 ell () 1 stadion () = 1600 palms ( mile) (). Others say that 1 stadion equalled 470–500 cubits.Josephus (Antiquities 15.11.3; XV.415–416) described the Temple Mount as follows: "This hill was walled all round, and in perimeter four furlongs; [each side measuring] a furlong (Gr. stadion)." Compare Mishnah Middot 2:1 which states that the Temple Mount measured 500 by 500 cubits. Elsewhere (Vita §12) Josephus states that Bethmaus was distant from Tiberias four stadia or one biblical mile; meaning each stadion equalled roughly 500 cubits. Saadia Gaon, on the other hand, holds that a stadion equalled 470 cubits (Uziel Fuchs, "Millot HaMishnah" by R. Saadia Gaon – the First Commentary to the Mishnah, Sidra: A Journal for the Study of Rabbinic Literature, pub. Bar-Ilan University Press (2014), p. 66). 1 day's journey (derekh yom) = 10 parasangs (parasa)
Two additional units are more ambiguous. The garmida is mentioned repeatedly but without its size being indicated; it is even sometimes treated as an area,Baba Batra 27a and as a volume.Erubin 14b The cord is given two different definitions; in the Mishnah it is 50 cubits,Erubin 5:4 but in the Gemara it is only 4 cubits.Erubin 58b
Area The Israelite system of measuring area was fairly informal; the biblical text merely measures areas by describing how much land could be sown with a certain volume measure of seed, for example the amount of land able to be sown with 2 seahs of barley. The closest thing to a formal area unit was the yoke ( ) (sometimes translated as acre), which referred to the amount of land that a pair of yoked oxen could plough in a single day; in Mesopotamia the standard estimate for this was 6,480 square cubits, which is roughly equal to a third of an acre.
The following units appear in rabbinic sources: Se'arah (, pl. ), "hair", square of a Adashah (, pl. ), "lentil", of a Geris (, pl. ), hulled fava bean, a circle with a diameter of about 2 centimeters (0.8 in) Amah al amah (), square cubit, 0.232 to 0.328 m2 (2.50-3.53 ft2) Beit rova (, pl. ), space of 10.5 cubits x 10.5 cubits for sowing kav of seed ( kav containing the volume of 6 eggs).See Appendix II - D (Liquid and Dry Measure) in Danby's translation of the Mishnah. There, it says explicitly that 1 log is the equivalent of 6 eggs, and that 4 logs is the equivalent of 1 kab. This would mean that one-fourth of a kab is equivalent to the volume of 6 eggs. Area varies between 24 and 34.5 m2 (258–372 ft2) Beit seah (, pl. ) space for sowing a 576 to 829.5 m2 (689-992 yd2) Beit kor (, pl. ) space for sowing a of seed, or what is 30 in volume; the area needed is appx. 1.73 to 2.48 hectares (4.27-6.15 acres), or about 23,000 m2 in area.Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1971, s.v. Agricultural Methods and Implements in Ancient Ereẓ Israel (p. 395).
Volume The Israelite system of powder/liquid volume measurements corresponds exactly with the Babylonian system. Unlike the Egyptian system, which has units for multiples of 1, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 of the base unit, the Babylonian system is founded on multiples of 6 and 10, namely units of 1, 12, 24, 60, 72 (60 plus 12), 120, and 720. The basic unit was the mina, which was defined as 1 sixtieth of a maris, which itself was the quantity of water equal in weight to a light royal talent; the maris was thus equal to about 30.3 litres, and hence the mina is equal to about 0.505 litres. In the Israelite system, the term log is used in place of the Babylonian mina but the measurement is otherwise the same.
Although they both use the log as the basic unit, the Israelites differentiated their systems of volume measure between dry and liquid states.
Dry measure For dry measurement, or more specifically a measure of capacity rather than of weight,The Mishnah with Maimonides' Commentary, Yosef Qafih (ed.), vol. 1, Mossad Harav Kook: Jerusalem 1963, s.v. Hallah 2:6 (p. 240). the smallest unit is the beitza (egg), followed by the log (), followed by the kab (), followed by the se'ah (), followed by the ephah (), followed by the lethek (), and finally by the kor (). The lethek is mentioned only once in the Masoretic Text, and the Septuagint translates it by the Greek term nebeloinou (νέβελ οἴνου), meaning wine-skin. These measurements were related as follows: