Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement
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 Jewish contemporary life. 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.
Contemporary unit conversion[edit]
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.[1] Scholars commonly infer the absolute sizes based on the better-known Babylonian units' relations to their contemporary counterparts.[1]
Area[edit]
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.[21] The closest thing to a formal area unit was the yoke (Hebrew: צמד tsemed)[22] (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.[9]
"Searah" (Hebrew: שערה) - (pl. searot) hair, square 1⁄36 of a geris
"Adashah" (Hebrew: עדשה) - (pl. adashot) lentils, 1⁄9 of a geris
"Geris" (Hebrew: גריס) - (pl. gerisin) hulled fava bean, a circle with a diameter of about 2 centimeters (0.8 in)
"Amah al amah" (Hebrew: אמה על אמה) - (pl. amot) square cubit 0.232 to 0.328 m2 (2.50-3.53 ft2)
"Beit rova" (Hebrew: בית רובע) - (pl. batei rova) space of 10.5 cubits x 10.5 cubits for sowing 1⁄4 kav of seed (1⁄4 kav containing the volume of 6 eggs).[23] Area varies between 24 and 34.5 m2 (258–372 ft2)
"Beit seah" (Hebrew: בית סאה) - (pl. batei seah) space for sowing a seah 576 to 829.5 m2 (689-992 yd2)
"Beit kor" (Hebrew: בית כור) - (pl. batei kor) space for sowing a kor of seed, or what is 30 seah 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.[24]
The Babylonian system, which the Israelites followed, measured weight with units of the talent, mina, shekel (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 being the Greek form of the Latin libra, meaning pound.[9][40]
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 exactly 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 kilograms (2.23 lbs), while that for the heavy common talent weighed only 984 grams (2.17 lbs); accordingly, the heavy common shekel would be about 15.87 grams (0.56 oz).[1] 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;[41] 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 15.86 grams (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.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the : Easton, Matthew George (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
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