Ancient Hebrew units of measurement
Encyclopedia
Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement, such as the Omer, used primarily by ancient Israelites, appear frequently within the Hebrew Bible
as well as in later Judaic
scripture, such as the Mishnah
and Talmud
. These units of measurement are still an important part of Jewish life today.
There is much debate within Judaism, as well as by outside scholars, about the exact relationship between measurements in the system and those in other measurement systems, such as the International Standard Units system used in many parts of the modern world, and in modern scientific writing. Classical statements, such as that an Etzba was seven barley
corns laid side by side, or that a Log was equal to six medium-sized eggs, are so indefinite and vague as to be nearly useless.
Nevertheless, the entire system of measurement corresponds almost exactly with the Babylonian system
, and in all probability the Israelite measurement system was derived from the Babylonian, with some lesser level of influence from the Egyptian system
. It may therefore be assumed that the relationship between the Israelite measurements and SI units is the same as the relationship between the Babylonian system and SI Units.
Note: The listed measurements of this system range from the lowest to highest acceptable halachic value
, in terms of conversion to either metric or Imperial units.
(Hebrew: אמה, Amah, plural Amot), mile (Hebrew: מיל, Mil; plural milin), and parasang (Hebrew: פרסה, Parasa). The latter two are loan words into the Hebrew language, and borrowed measurements - the Latin
mile
, and Persian
Parasang
, respectively; the Persian Parasang was approximately (but not exactly) equal to 4 Roman miles.
The Israelite measurements were related as follows:
, but two different factors are given in the Bible; Ezekiel's measurements imply that the ell was equal to 1 cubit plus 1 palm (Tefah), while elsewhere in the Bible, the ell is equated with 1 cubit exactly. Ezekiel's ell, by which he gave measurements of the Jerusalem Temple, is thus one sixth larger than the standard ell, for which an explanation seems to be suggested by the Book of Chronicles; the Chronicler writes that Solomon's Temple was built according to "cubits following the first measure", suggesting that over the course of time the original ell was supplanted by a smaller one. It seems not coincidental that the Egyptians also used two different ells, one of which — the royal ell — was a sixth larger than the common ell; this royal measurement was the earlier of the two in Egyptian use, and the one which the Pyramid
s of the 3rd and 4th Dynasties seem to be measured in integer multiples of.
The smaller of the Egyptian ells measured 450 mm, but the standard Babylonian ell, cast in stone on one of the statues of King Gudea
, was 495 mm, and the larger Egyptian ell was between 525 and 528 mm. The Books of Samuel
portray the Temple as having a Phoenicia
n architect, and in Phoenicia it was the Babylonian ell which was used to measure the size of parts of ships. Thus scholars are uncertain whether the standard Biblical ell would have been 525 or 495 mm, but are fairly certain that it was one of these two figures. From these figures for the size of a Biblical ell, that of the basic unit — the fingerbreadth (Etzba) — can be calculated to be either 22 or 21 mm; Jewish rabbinical sources approximate at either 20 mm, or according to Talmudic scholar Chazon Ish, 25 mm. The mile (Mil) is thus about 1050 or 990 m — approximately 1 km, and not equal to the modern land mile of 1760 yards (which is known as the "London Mile").
The precise width of the etzba (thumb) has been a subject of controversy among halakhic authorities. The best known is that of the Chazon Ish.
See also Rabbi Chaim P. Benish's "Midos V'Shiurei Torah" where he brings an alternative view in understanding the Rambam and therefore suggests that the etsba, according to the Rambam, is 1.9–1.92 cm (0.748–0.756 in). This would affect the other measurements in the following ways: Tefah 7.6–7.68 cm (2.99–3.02 in); Zeret 22.8–23.04 cm (8.98–9.07 in); Amah 45.6–46.08 cm (17.95–18.14 in).
Alternatively, according to some early authorities a zeret is two tefahim instead of three.
The relationship between four of these additional units and the earlier system is as follows:
The other 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, and as a volume. The chord is given two different definitions; in the Mishnah
it is 50 ells, but in the Gemara
it is only 4 ells.
the standard estimate for this was 6480 square cubits, which is roughly equal to a third of an acre
.
"Searah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. searot) hair
, square 1/36 of a giris
"Adashah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. adashot) lentils, 1/9 of a giris
"Geris" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) split bean, a circle with a diameter of about 20mm
"Amah al amah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) square cubit 2,304 cm2 to 3,318 cm2
"Beit rova" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing ¼ of a kav 24m2 to 34.56m2
"Beit seah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a seah 576 m2 to 829.4m2
"Beit kor" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a kor 17,280m2 to 24,883m2
Although they both use the log as the basic unit, the Israelites differentiated their systems of volume measure between dry and liquid states.
, and the Septuagint translates it by the Greek term nebeloinou, meaning wine-skin. These measurements were related as follows:
The smaller unit the Ke'zayit
is, by different sources, considered equal to 1/2 a bezah, 1/3 of a bezah, or not directly related to the other units of volume.
The Omer, which the Torah
mentions as being equal to one tenth of an Ephah, is an awkward fit into this system (it constitutes 1.8 Kabs and 0.3 Se'ah), and it is evident that it wasn't originally present, but is instead a result of decimalisation, perhaps under the influence of Egypt
or Assyria
, which both had decimal systems. In the Torah, it is the Priestly Code
which refers to the Omer, rather than to the Se'ah or Kav; textual scholars
view the Priestly Code as one of the later sources of the Torah, dating from a period when Egypt and Assyria had much more direct influence over Israel. However, the Omer is mentioned as a tenth of an ephah in Exodus 16:36, before the Priestly code.
Use of the Omer to collect manna
is easily explained by Egyptian
influence as the Israelites were leaving Egypt after 400 years, regardless of how one views the Exodus
The Bath, equal to 72 Logs, is thus the liquid equivalent of the Ephah, also equal to 72 Logs. The liquid equivalent of the omer, which appears without a special name, only being described as the tenth part of a bath, is as much of an awkward fit as the omer itself, and is only mentioned by Ezekiel and the Priestly Code; scholars attribute the same explanation to it as with the Omer — that it arose as a result of decimalisation. The Omer is mentioned as a tenth of an ephah in Exodus 16:36, before the Priestly code.
by the time the Talmud came to be created. The definitions for many of these are disputed. Those that were certain (disputed) fractions of the Kab include, in increasing order of size, ukla (עוכלא), tuman (תומן), and kapiza (קפיזא). Those that were larger, in increasing order of size, included the modius (מודיא), geriwa (geriwa), garab (גרב). Of unidentified size were the ardaba (אדרב), the kuna (כונא), and the qometz (קמץ); the latter two of these were said to equate to a handful.
(Hebrew: שקל), and giru
, related to one another as follows:
In the Israelite system, the ratio of the giru to the shekel was altered, and the talent, mina, and giru, later went by the names kikkar (ככר), litra, and gerah (גרה), respectively; litra is a loan word from Latin - libra, meaning pound.
The Israelite system was thus as follows:
There were, however, different versions of the talent/kikkar in use; a royal and a common version. In addition, each of these forms had a heavy and a light version, with the heavy version being exacly twice the weight of the lighter form; the light royal talent was often represented in the form of a duck, while the heavy royal talent often took the form of a lion. The mina for the heavy royal talent weighed 1.01 kg, while that for the heavy common talent weighed only 0.9824 kg; accordingly, the heavy common shekel would be about 16 g. According to Josephus
, it was the heavy common talent, and its mina and shekel, that was the normal measure of weight in Syria
and Judea
; Josephus also mentions an additional unit - the bekah - which was exactly half a shekel.
Gradually, the system was reformed, perhaps under the influence of Egypt, so that a mina was worth only 50 shekels rather than 60; to achieve this, the shekel remained the same weight, while the weight of the standard mina was reduced. Moses
mandated that the standard coinage would be in single shekels of silver
; thus each shekel coin would constitute about 0.51 troy ounces of pure silver. In Judea, the Biblical shekel was initially worth about 3⅓ denarii, but over time the measurement had enlarged so that it would be worth exactly four denarii.
is a lunar calendar
synchronised with the seasons by intercalation
, i.e. a lunisolar calendar
. There are thus 12 ordinary months plus an intercalary month. The months originally had very descriptive names, such as Ziv (meaning light) and Ethanim (meaning strong, perhaps in the sense of strong rain - i.e. monsoon
), with Canaan
ite origins, but after the Babylonian captivity
, the names were changed to the ones used by the Babylonians
. With the Babylonian naming, the intercalary month has no special name of its own, and is merely referred to as Adar I, the following month being Adar/Adar II (in the Babylonian calendar, it was Adar II that was considered to be the intercalary month).
) describe a seven day week. The seven-day cycle is not seen as a cycle in nature and is rather a custom biblically originating from .
The Hebrew calendar follows a seven-day weekly cycle, which runs concurrently but independently of the monthly and annual cycles. The names for the days of the week are simply the day number within the week. In Hebrew, these names may be abbreviated using the numerical value of the Hebrew letters, for example "Day 1, or Yom Rishon".
.
By Talmudic times, the Babylonian system of dividing up the day (from sunset to sunrise, and sunrise to sunset), into hours (Hebrew: שעה, sha'ah), parts (Hebrew: חלק, heleq, plural halaqim), and moments (Hebrew: רגע, rega, plural rega'im), had been adopted; the relationship of these units was:
To complicate matters, Halakha
states that there is always 12 hours between sunrise and sunset, so these measurements are averages. For example, in the summer, a day time hour is much longer than a night time hour.
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
as well as in later Judaic
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
scripture, such as the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. These units of measurement are still an important part of Jewish life today.
There is much debate within Judaism, as well as by outside scholars, about the exact relationship between measurements in the system and those in other measurement systems, such as the International Standard Units system used in many parts of the modern world, and in modern scientific writing. Classical statements, such as that an Etzba was seven barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
corns laid side by side, or that a Log was equal to six medium-sized eggs, are so indefinite and vague as to be nearly useless.
Nevertheless, the entire system of measurement corresponds almost exactly with the Babylonian system
Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement
Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement originated in the loosely organized city-states of Early Dynastic Sumer. The units themselves grew out of the tradition of counting tokens used by the Neolithic cultural complex of the Near East. The counting tokens were used to keep accounts of personal...
, and in all probability the Israelite measurement system was derived from the Babylonian, with some lesser level of influence from the Egyptian system
Ancient Egyptian units of measurement
-Length:Units of length date back to at least the early dynastic period. In the Palermo stone for instance the level of the Nile river is recorded. During the reign of Pharaoh Djer the height of the river Nile was given as measuring 6 cubits and 1 palm...
. It may therefore be assumed that the relationship between the Israelite measurements and SI units is the same as the relationship between the Babylonian system and SI Units.
Note: The listed measurements of this system range from the lowest to highest acceptable halachic value
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, in terms of conversion to either metric or Imperial units.
Length and distance
The original measures of length were clearly 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 Israelite system thus used divisions of the fingerbreadth(Hebrew: אצבע, Etzba; plural etzba'ot), palm (Hebrew: טפח, Tefah/Tefach; plural Tefahim/Tefachim), span (Hebrew: זרת, Zeret), ellEll
An ell , is a unit of measurement, approximating the length of a man's arm.Several national forms existed, with different lengths, includingthe Scottish ell ,the Flemish ell ,the French ell...
(Hebrew: אמה, Amah, plural Amot), mile (Hebrew: מיל, Mil; plural milin), and parasang (Hebrew: פרסה, Parasa). The latter two are loan words into the Hebrew language, and borrowed measurements - the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
mile
Mile
A mile is a unit of length, most commonly 5,280 feet . The mile of 5,280 feet is sometimes called the statute mile or land mile to distinguish it from the nautical mile...
, and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
Parasang
Parasang
The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance comparable to the European league.In antiquity, the term was used throughout much of the Middle East, and the Old Iranian language from which it derives can no longer be determined...
, respectively; the Persian Parasang was approximately (but not exactly) equal to 4 Roman miles.
The Israelite measurements were related as follows:
- 1 palm (Tefah) = 4 fingerbreadths (Etzba'ot)
- 1 span (Zeret) = 3 palms (Tefahim)
- 1 ell (Amah) = 2 spans (Zeret)
- 1 mil (Mil) = 2000 ells (Amot)
- 1 parasang (Parasa) = 4 mils (Milin)
Discrepancies of ell
The biblical ell is closely related to the cubitCubit
The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....
, but two different factors are given in the Bible; Ezekiel's measurements imply that the ell was equal to 1 cubit plus 1 palm (Tefah), while elsewhere in the Bible, the ell is equated with 1 cubit exactly. Ezekiel's ell, by which he gave measurements of the Jerusalem Temple, is thus one sixth larger than the standard ell, for which an explanation seems to be suggested by the Book of Chronicles; the Chronicler writes that Solomon's Temple was built according to "cubits following the first measure", suggesting that over the course of time the original ell was supplanted by a smaller one. It seems not coincidental that the Egyptians also used two different ells, one of which — the royal ell — was a sixth larger than the common ell; this royal measurement was the earlier of the two in Egyptian use, and the one which the Pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
s of the 3rd and 4th Dynasties seem to be measured in integer multiples of.
The smaller of the Egyptian ells measured 450 mm, but the standard Babylonian ell, cast in stone on one of the statues of King Gudea
Statues of Gudea
Twenty-seven statues of Gudea have been found so far . A-K were found during Ernest de Sarzec's excavations in the court of the palace of Adad-nadin-ahhe in Telloh . Statues M-Q come from clandestine excavations in Telloh in 1924; the rest come from the art trade, with unknown provenances and...
, was 495 mm, and the larger Egyptian ell was between 525 and 528 mm. The Books of Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
portray the Temple as having a Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n architect, and in Phoenicia it was the Babylonian ell which was used to measure the size of parts of ships. Thus scholars are uncertain whether the standard Biblical ell would have been 525 or 495 mm, but are fairly certain that it was one of these two figures. From these figures for the size of a Biblical ell, that of the basic unit — the fingerbreadth (Etzba) — can be calculated to be either 22 or 21 mm; Jewish rabbinical sources approximate at either 20 mm, or according to Talmudic scholar Chazon Ish, 25 mm. The mile (Mil) is thus about 1050 or 990 m — approximately 1 km, and not equal to the modern land mile of 1760 yards (which is known as the "London Mile").
The precise width of the etzba (thumb) has been a subject of controversy among halakhic authorities. The best known is that of the Chazon Ish.
| Name (Plural) | Hebrew Name (Plural) | Translation | Size (Metric) | Size (English) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etzba (Etzba'ot) | (אצבע (אצבעות | thumbbreadth | 2–2.4 cm | 0.79–0.94 in | The latter value is Chazon Ish's. Since all other units are multiples of the etzba, they vary accordingly. |
| Tefach (Tefachim) | (טפח (טפחים | handbreadth | 8–9.6 cm | 3.15–3.78 in | |
| Zeret (Zarot) | (זרת (זרות | span Span (unit) A span is the distance measured by a human hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger. In ancient times, a span was considered to be half a cubit... |
24.0–28.8 cm | 9.45–11.34 in | |
| Amah (Amot) | (אמה (אמות | cubit Cubit The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times.... |
48.0–57.6 cm | 18.9–22.7 in | |
| Ris | stadium Stadion (unit of length) The stadion, Latinized as stadium and anglicized as stade, is an ancient Greek unit of length. According to Herodotus, one stade is equal to 600 feet. However, there were several different lengths of “feet”, depending on the country of origin.... |
128–153.6 m | 139–167 yd | ||
| Mil (Milin) | mile Mile A mile is a unit of length, most commonly 5,280 feet . The mile of 5,280 feet is sometimes called the statute mile or land mile to distinguish it from the nautical mile... |
960–1152 m | 1049–1258 yd | Time to walk a mil is 18 minutes. | |
| Parasa (Parsa'ot) | parasang Parasang The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance comparable to the European league.In antiquity, the term was used throughout much of the Middle East, and the Old Iranian language from which it derives can no longer be determined... |
3.84–4.608 km | 2.4–2.88 mi | Distance covered by an average man in a day's walk is 10 parsa'ot. Time to walk a parasa is 72 minutes. |
See also Rabbi Chaim P. Benish's "Midos V'Shiurei Torah" where he brings an alternative view in understanding the Rambam and therefore suggests that the etsba, according to the Rambam, is 1.9–1.92 cm (0.748–0.756 in). This would affect the other measurements in the following ways: Tefah 7.6–7.68 cm (2.99–3.02 in); Zeret 22.8–23.04 cm (8.98–9.07 in); Amah 45.6–46.08 cm (17.95–18.14 in).
Alternatively, according to some early authorities a zeret is two tefahim instead of three.
Talmudic additions
To the somewhat simple system of distance, the Talmud adds a few more units, namely the double palm (Hebrew: חסיט, hasit), the pace (Hebrew: פסיעה, pesiah), the cord (Hebrew: חבל, hebel), the stadium (Hebrew: ריס, ris), the day's journey (Hebrew:דרך יום , derekh yom), and an undetermined quantity named the garmida (Hebrew: גרמידא). The stadium appears to have been adopted from Persia, while the double palm seems to have been derived from the Greek dichas.The relationship between four of these additional units and the earlier system is as follows:
- 1 double palm (hasit) = 2 palms (tefah)
- 1 pace (pesiah) = 1 ell (amah)
- 1 stadium (ris) = 1600 palms (2/15 mile) (tefah)
- 1 day's journey (derekh yom) = 10 parasangs (parasa)
The other 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, and as a volume. The chord is given two different definitions; in the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
it is 50 ells, but in the Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
it is only 4 ells.
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 (Hebrew semed) (sometimes translated as acre), which referred to the amount of land that a pair of yoked oxen could plough in a single day; in MesopotamiaMesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
the standard estimate for this was 6480 square cubits, which is roughly equal to a third of an acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
.
"Searah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. searot) hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
, square 1/36 of a giris
"Adashah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. adashot) lentils, 1/9 of a giris
"Geris" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) split bean, a circle with a diameter of about 20mm
"Amah al amah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) square cubit 2,304 cm2 to 3,318 cm2
"Beit rova" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing ¼ of a kav 24m2 to 34.56m2
"Beit seah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a seah 576 m2 to 829.4m2
"Beit kor" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a kor 17,280m2 to 24,883m2
Volume and capacity
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 measurements, the smallest unit was the egg (Hebrew: Bezah), then came the Log (לג), Kav (קב), Se'ah (סאה), Ephah (איפה), Letek (לתך), and Kor (כור). The Letek is mentioned only once in the masoretic textMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
, and the Septuagint translates it by the Greek term nebeloinou, meaning wine-skin. These measurements were related as follows:
- 6 Eggs (Bezah) = 1 Log
- 4 Log = 1 Kav
- 6 Kav = 1 Se'ah
- 3 Se'ah = 1 Ephah
- 5 Ephah = 1 Letek
- 2 Letek = 1 Kor
The smaller unit the Ke'zayit
Ke'zayit
Ke'zayit is a Talmudic unit of volume approximately equal to the size of an average olive. The word itself literally means "like an olive." The rabbis differ on the precise definition of the unit:...
is, by different sources, considered equal to 1/2 a bezah, 1/3 of a bezah, or not directly related to the other units of volume.
The Omer, which the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
mentions as being equal to one tenth of an Ephah, is an awkward fit into this system (it constitutes 1.8 Kabs and 0.3 Se'ah), and it is evident that it wasn't originally present, but is instead a result of decimalisation, perhaps under the influence of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
or Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
, which both had decimal systems. In the Torah, it is the Priestly Code
Priestly Code
The Priestly Code is the name given, by academia, to the body of laws expressed in the Torah which do not form part of the Holiness Code, the Covenant Code, the Ritual Decalogue, or the Ethical Decalogue. The Priestly Code constitutes the majority of Leviticus, as well as some of the laws...
which refers to the Omer, rather than to the Se'ah or Kav; textual scholars
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
view the Priestly Code as one of the later sources of the Torah, dating from a period when Egypt and Assyria had much more direct influence over Israel. However, the Omer is mentioned as a tenth of an ephah in Exodus 16:36, before the Priestly code.
Use of the Omer to collect manna
Manna
Manna or Manna wa Salwa , sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is the name of an edible substance that God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert according to the Bible.It was said to be sweet to the taste, like honey....
is easily explained by Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
influence as the Israelites were leaving Egypt after 400 years, regardless of how one views the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
Liquid measure
For liquid measure, the main units were the Log, Hin, and Bath, related as follows:- 1 Hin = 12 Logs
- 1 Bath = 6 Hin
The Bath, equal to 72 Logs, is thus the liquid equivalent of the Ephah, also equal to 72 Logs. The liquid equivalent of the omer, which appears without a special name, only being described as the tenth part of a bath, is as much of an awkward fit as the omer itself, and is only mentioned by Ezekiel and the Priestly Code; scholars attribute the same explanation to it as with the Omer — that it arose as a result of decimalisation. The Omer is mentioned as a tenth of an ephah in Exodus 16:36, before the Priestly code.
Talmudic additions
In Talmudic times many more measures of capacity were used, mostly of foreign origin, especially from Persia and Greece, which had both held dominance over JudeaJudea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
by the time the Talmud came to be created. The definitions for many of these are disputed. Those that were certain (disputed) fractions of the Kab include, in increasing order of size, ukla (עוכלא), tuman (תומן), and kapiza (קפיזא). Those that were larger, in increasing order of size, included the modius (מודיא), geriwa (geriwa), garab (גרב). Of unidentified size were the ardaba (אדרב), the kuna (כונא), and the qometz (קמץ); the latter two of these were said to equate to a handful.
Weight and coins
The Babylonian system, which the Israelites followed, measured weight with units of the talent, mina, shekelShekel
Shekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
(Hebrew: שקל), and giru
Gerah
A gerah Hebrew "גרה" is an ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency. One gerah is one-twentieth of a shekel. A shekel being 180 barleycorns or 60 carob divided by 20 = 3 carob. This is 0.568 grams....
, related to one another as follows:
- 1 shekel = 24 giru
- 1 mina = 60 shekels
- 1 talent = 60 mina
In the Israelite system, the ratio of the giru to the shekel was altered, and the talent, mina, and giru, later went by the names kikkar (ככר), litra, and gerah (גרה), respectively; litra is a loan word from Latin - libra, meaning pound.
The Israelite system was thus as follows:
- 1 shekel = 20 gerahGerahA gerah Hebrew "גרה" is an ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency. One gerah is one-twentieth of a shekel. A shekel being 180 barleycorns or 60 carob divided by 20 = 3 carob. This is 0.568 grams....
- 1 litra = 60 shekels
- 1 kikkar = 60 litra
There were, however, different versions of the talent/kikkar in use; a royal and a common version. In addition, each of these forms had a heavy and a light version, with the heavy version being exacly twice the weight of the lighter form; the light royal talent was often represented in the form of a duck, while the heavy royal talent often took the form of a lion. The mina for the heavy royal talent weighed 1.01 kg, while that for the heavy common talent weighed only 0.9824 kg; accordingly, the heavy common shekel would be about 16 g. According to Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, it was the heavy common talent, and its mina and shekel, that was the normal measure of weight in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
; Josephus also mentions an additional unit - the bekah - which was exactly half a shekel.
Gradually, the system was reformed, perhaps under the influence of Egypt, so that a mina was worth only 50 shekels rather than 60; to achieve this, the shekel remained the same weight, while the weight of the standard mina was reduced. Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
mandated that the standard coinage would be in single shekels of silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
; thus each shekel coin would constitute about 0.51 troy ounces of pure silver. In Judea, the Biblical shekel was initially worth about 3⅓ denarii, but over time the measurement had enlarged so that it would be worth exactly four denarii.
- "Pruta" (pl. prutot) - a copperCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
coin (Hebrew פרוטה prutahPrutahPrutah Hebrew is a word borrowed from the Mishnah and the Talmud, in which it means "a coin of smaller value". The word was probably derived originally from an Aramaic word with the same meaning....
) - 0.022 g
- "Issar" (pl. issarim) - a RomanRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
copper coin (AsAs (coin)The , also assarius was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.- Republican era coinage :...
) - 0.177 g
- "Pundion" (pl. pundionim) - a Roman copper coin (DupondiusDupondiusThe dupondius was a brass coin used during the Roman Empire and Roman Republic valued at 2 asses ....
) - 0.35 g
- "Ma'ah" (pl. ma'ot = "money") - a silverSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
coin, (Hebrew gerahGerahA gerah Hebrew "גרה" is an ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency. One gerah is one-twentieth of a shekel. A shekel being 180 barleycorns or 60 carob divided by 20 = 3 carob. This is 0.568 grams....
) - 0.7 g
- In Hebrew it is called a GerahGerahA gerah Hebrew "גרה" is an ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency. One gerah is one-twentieth of a shekel. A shekel being 180 barleycorns or 60 carob divided by 20 = 3 carob. This is 0.568 grams....
(as in twenty gerah is a ShekelShekelShekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
, Exodus); (litt. grainGRAINGRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
; also gramGramThe gram is a metric system unit of mass....
derives from it).
- "Dinar" (pl. Dinarim) - a Roman silver coin (DenariusDenariusIn the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted in 211 BC. It was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus...
(pl. denarii, (Hebrew ZuzZuz (coin)A Zuz was an ancient Hebrew silver coin struck during the Bar Kochba revolt. They were overstruck on Roman Imperial denarii or Roman provincial drachmas of Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian...
, pl. zuzim) - 4.25 g
- In Hebrew, a silver Dinar was called a "Zuz" to avoid confusion with the gold DinarAureusThe aureus was a gold coin of ancient Rome valued at 25 silver denarii. The aureus was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century, when it was replaced by the solidus...
.
- "Shekel" (pl. shkalim) - a Jewish silver coin (ShekelShekelShekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
, (Hebrew שקל) - 14 g
- MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
instituted it as the standard coinage. From 8.5 to 16 grams (Chazon Ish) or .51 troy ounces of pure silver. -
- "Sela" (pl. selo'im) - a silver coin (TetradrachmTetradrachmThe tetradrachm was an Ancient Greek silver coin equivalent to four drachmae. It was in wide circulation from 510 to 38 BC.-History:Many surviving tetradrachms were minted by the polis of Athens from around the middle of the 5th century BC onwards; the popular coin was widely used in transactions...
) - 17 g (a sela equals two shekelShekelShekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
).
- The ThalerThalerThe Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...
, Taler and finally the DollarDollarThe dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
derive from it.
- Dinar (pl. dinarim or dinerei) - a Roman gold coin (AureusAureusThe aureus was a gold coin of ancient Rome valued at 25 silver denarii. The aureus was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century, when it was replaced by the solidus...
) (Hebrew "Dinerei zahav") - 8 g of gold (106.25 g in silver)
- "Minah" (pl. ) - a silver coin - 425 g
- Not to be confused with manehManehManeh may refer to:* Maneh District, an administrative subdivision of Iran* An older spelling for mina , an ancient weight...
which is 100 zuzim.
- "Kikor" (pl. kikorei) - a Jewish silver weight of two Issar - 0.354 g
Year
The Hebrew calendarHebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
is a lunar calendar
Lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
synchronised with the seasons by intercalation
Intercalation
Intercalation is the insertion of a leap day, week or month into some calendar years to make the calendar follow the seasons or moon phases. Lunisolar calendars may require intercalations of both days and months.- Solar calendars :...
, i.e. a lunisolar calendar
Lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will...
. There are thus 12 ordinary months plus an intercalary month. The months originally had very descriptive names, such as Ziv (meaning light) and Ethanim (meaning strong, perhaps in the sense of strong rain - i.e. monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
), with Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ite origins, but after the Babylonian captivity
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
, the names were changed to the ones used by the Babylonians
Babylonian calendar
The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian precedecessor...
. With the Babylonian naming, the intercalary month has no special name of its own, and is merely referred to as Adar I, the following month being Adar/Adar II (in the Babylonian calendar, it was Adar II that was considered to be the intercalary month).
Week
The Israelite month was clearly broken up into weeks, since the Genesis creation (and biblical references to ShabbatShabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
) describe a seven day week. The seven-day cycle is not seen as a cycle in nature and is rather a custom biblically originating from .
The Hebrew calendar follows a seven-day weekly cycle, which runs concurrently but independently of the monthly and annual cycles. The names for the days of the week are simply the day number within the week. In Hebrew, these names may be abbreviated using the numerical value of the Hebrew letters, for example "Day 1, or Yom Rishon".
Day
In addition to "tomorrow" (machar) and "yesterday" (etmol), the Israelite vocabulary also contained a distinct word for two days ago (shilshom). Maḥaratayim ("the day after tomorrow"), is a dual form of machar, literally "two tomorrows". In the Bible, the day is divided up vaguely, with descriptions such as midnight, and half-night. Nevertheless, it is clear that the day was considered to start at duskDusk
Dusk is the beginning of darkness in the evening, and occurs after twilight, when the sky generally remains bright and blue. Civil dusk is when the earth has rotated enough that the center of the sun is at 6° below the local horizon...
.
By Talmudic times, the Babylonian system of dividing up the day (from sunset to sunrise, and sunrise to sunset), into hours (Hebrew: שעה, sha'ah), parts (Hebrew: חלק, heleq, plural halaqim), and moments (Hebrew: רגע, rega, plural rega'im), had been adopted; the relationship of these units was:
- 1 part (heleq) = 76 moments (rega'im) (each moment, rega, is 0.04386 of a second; 22.8 rega'im is 1 second)
- 1 hour (sha'ah) = 1080 parts (halaqim) (each heleq is 3⅓ seconds)
- 1 day = 24 hours (sha'ah)
To complicate matters, Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
states that there is always 12 hours between sunrise and sunset, so these measurements are averages. For example, in the summer, a day time hour is much longer than a night time hour.