Stature
Stature [1]
stat̬´ū́r ( מד , madh , מדּה , middāh , "measure" ( Numbers 13:32 , etc.), קומה , ḳōmāh , "standing up" ( 1 Samuel 16:7 , etc.); ἡλικία , hēlikı́a , "greatness"): This last word means "height of the body," "stature," in Luke 2:52; Luke 19:3; Ephesians 4:13 , but it can mean "length of life" equally well and has this force in John 9:21 , John 9:23; Hebrews 11:11 . And this meaning, not "stature" (as in the King James Version), is fixed for Matthew 6:27 parallel Luke 12:25 , for to add some 18 inches (see Cubit ) to one's "stature" would be a grotesque feat, while it is the smallness of the act that is emphasized. Hence, the translation "able to extend his long path of life by a single cubit" (the Revised Version (British and American) "measure of life"). Compare also "great of stature" Baruch 3:26 ( εὐμεγέθης , eumegéthēs ).
