Cubit

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

'Ammâh ( אַמָּה , Strong'S #520), “cubit.” This word has cognates in Akkadian, Ugaritic, and Aramaic. It appears about 245 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods, but especially in Exod. 25- 27; 37-38 (specifications of the tabernacle); 1 Kings 6-7 (the specifications of Solomon’s temple and palace); and Ezek. 40-43 (the specifications of Ezekiel’s temple).

In one passage, 'ammâh means “pivot”: “And the posts [literally, “sockets”] of the door moved at the voice of him that cried …” (Isa. 6:4).

In almost every other occurrence, the word means “cubit,” the primary unit of linear measurement in the Old Testament. Some scholars maintain that Israel’s system of linear measurement was primarily based on the Egyptian system. In view of the history of Israel, this is a reasonable position. A “cubit” ordinarily was the distance from one’s elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Since this distance varied from individual to individual, the “cubit” was a rather imprecise measurement. Yet the first appearance of 'ammâh (Gen. 6:15) refers to the measurement of Noah’s ark, which implies that the word must refer to a more precise length than the ordinary “cubit.”

There was an official “cubit” in Egypt. In fact, there were both a shorter “cubit” (17.6 inches) and a longer “cubit” (20.65 inches). The Siloam inscription states that the Siloam tunnel was 1,200 “cubits” long. This divided by its measurement in feet (1,749) demonstrates that as late as Hezekiah’s day (cf. 2 Chron. 32:4) the “cubit” was about 17.5 inches or the shorter Egyptian cubit. Ezekiel probably used the Babylonian “cubit” in describing the temple. The Egyptian shorter cubit is only about three inches shorter than the longer cubit; on the other hand, the Babylonian shorter cubit was about four-fifths the length of the official royal “cubit,” about a handbreadth shorter: “And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and a handbreadth …” (Ezek. 40:5). In other words, it was the width of seven palms rather than six.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Many efforts have been made to ascertain the length of this measure, from which others could be calculated. Its name signifies that it was the measure of a man's arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Of course this would vary in different persons, and some measure would have to be taken as a standard. In the Palestine Exploration this subject has not been lost sight of. Many tombs have been measured, but they give no definite result. The inscription found in the Siloam tunnel states the length of the tunnel to be 1,200 cubits, as read by Major Conder; but 1,000 cubits as interpreted by Professor Sayce. Doubtless only a round number is intended. Its length has been found to be 1,750 feet; which makes the cubit by the two interpretations, 17.5 or 21 inches. There are however many other measurements that seem to give a cubit of 16 inches. Many of the ancient stones in the base of the temple area, the breadth of the pilasters found in the north-western corner of the area, together with their distances apart, and also the Galilean synagogues, all give a measure of 16 inches. 'Quarterly Statement,' Jan., 1894.

In  Ezekiel 41:8 we read of a 'great cubit,' and in the commencement of the description of the future temple the reed is described as being "six cubits long by the cubit and a handbreadth."   Ezekiel 40:5 . This agrees with the former passage which speaks of 'a full reed of six great cubits.' From this we gather that there was an ordinary cubit, and a great cubit, the difference being a handbreadth, which is accounted to be the same as the palm, a sixth of a cubit. In  Deuteronomy 3:11 we find a cubit 'after the cubit of a man;' and in   2 Chronicles 3:3 , a cubit 'after the first measure,' or 'former' or 'older' measure. From these passages it is clear that there were different measures called the cubit. The 16 inches above named may have been the shortest, but what was the length of the longest is quiteuncertain. See WEIGHTSand Measures

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a measure used among the ancients. The Hebrews call it אמה , the mother of other measures: in Greek πηχυς . A cubit originally was the distance from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger: this is the fourth part of a well proportioned man's stature. The common cubit is eighteen inches. The Hebrew cubit, according to Bishop Cumberland and M. Pelletier, is twenty-one inches; but others fix it at eighteen inches. The Talmudists observe, that the Hebrew cubit was larger by one quarter than the Roman. Lewis Capellus and others have asserted that there were two sorts of cubits among the Hebrews: one sacred, the other common; the sacred containing three feet, the common containing a foot and a half. Moses assigns to the Levites a thousand sacred cubits of land round about their cities,  Numbers 35:4; and in the next verse he gives them two thousand common ones. The opinion, however, is very probable, that the cubit varied in different districts and cities, and at different times, &c.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Πῆχυς (Strong'S #4083 — Noun Masculine — pechus — pay'-khoos )

denotes the forearm, i.e., the part between the hand and the elbow-joint; hence, "a measure of length," not from the wrist to the elbow, but from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow joint, i.e., about a foot and a half, or a little less than two feet,  Matthew 6:27;  Luke 12:25;  John 21:8;  Revelation 21:17 .

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Measurements of length recorded in the Bible were sometimes only approximate. People of Bible times, like people today, commonly estimated lengths and distances by measuring with fingers, arms or paces. The cubit was the distance from the elbow to the finger tip. It was equal to about half a pace, or a quarter of the distance between the finger tips when the arms were outstretched sideways.

The cubit became the basic unit for estimating length, depth and height ( Genesis 7:20;  Deuteronomy 3:11;  1 Chronicles 11:23). Where exact measurements were required, such as in the construction of buildings, people used a standard cubit equal to approximately forty-four centimetres or eighteen inches ( Exodus 26:15-25;  1 Kings 6:2-6). (See also Measurement .)

King James Dictionary

Cubit n. L., the elbow signifying a turn or corner Gr.

1. In anatomy, the fore arm the ulna, and bone of the arm from the elbow to the wrist. 2. In mensuration, the length of a mans arm from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger. The cubit among the ancients was of a different length among different nations. Dr. Arbuthnot states the Roman cubit at seventeen inches and four tenths the cubit of the scriptures at a little less than 22 inches and the English cubit at 18 inches.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A measure used among the ancients. A cubit was originally the distance from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger, which is the fourth part of a well-proportioned man's stature. The Hebrew cubit, according to some, is twenty-one inches; but others fix it at eighteen. The Talmudists observe that the Hebrew cubit was larger by one quarter than the Roman.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) The forearm; the ulna, a bone of the arm extending from elbow to wrist.

(2): (n.) A measure of length, being the distance from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The cubit was a measure used among the Eastern nations, containing about eighteen inches of our English measure. The Hebrews, by a very singular idea, called it Ammah; that is, mother: as if other measures were produced by this.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A rod or staff the measure of a cubit is called in  Judges 3:16 Gomed , which literally means a "cut," something "cut off." The LXX. and Vulgate render it "span."

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Cubit. See Weights and Measures .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Cubit.  Genesis 6:15. See Measures.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Weights And Measures

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

CUBIT . See Weights and Measures.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

CUBIT. —See Age, and Weights and Measures.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(in Heb. אִמָּה , Ammah' , lit. mother, i.e. of the arm, the fore-arm; Greek Πῆχυς , an Ell ) is a word derived immediately from the Latin Cubitus , the lower arm. The length of the cubit has varied in different nations and at different times. Derived as the measure is from a part of the human body, and as the human stature has been of very dissimilar length, the cubit must of necessity have been various. The lower arm, moreover, may take in the entire length from the elbow to the tip of the third or longest finger, or it may be considered as extending from the elbow merely to the root of the hand at the wrist, omitting the whole length of the hand itself. If the definition of Celsus (8. 1) is taken, and the cubit is identified with,the ulna, the under and longer of the two bones of which the arm consists, still a fixed and invariable measure is not gained. That the cubit among the Hebrews was derived as a measure from the human body is clear from  Deuteronomy 3:11 — "after the cubit of a man" ( אִמִּת אַישׁ , see Bottcher, Proben Alttest. Schrift . p. 288). But it is difficult to determine whether this cubit was understood as extending to the first or the end of the third finger. As, however, the latter seems most natural, since men, when ignorant of anatomy, and seeking in their own frames standards of measure, were likely to take both the entire foot and the entire fore-arm, the probability is that the longer was the original cubit, namely, the length from the elbow to the extremity of the longest finger. The: Egyptian cubit, which it is likely the Hebrews would adopt, consisting of six hand- breadths, is found on the ruins of Memphis ( Journal Des Savans , 1822, Nov., Dec.; comp. Herod. 2:149). The Rabbins also (Mishna, Chelim, 17:9) assign six hand-breadths to the Mosaic cubit. By comparing Josephus (Ant. 3, 6,5) with  Exodus 25:10, it will, moreover, be found that the weight of his authority is in the same scale. According to him, a cubit is equal to two spans. Now a span is equal to three hand-breadths (Schmidt, Bibl. Mathemat . p. 117; Eisen-Schmidt, De Ponderibus , p. 110); a cubit, therefore, is equal to six hand-breadths, The hand-breadth is found as a measure in  1 Kings 7:26; comp.  Jeremiah 3:21. In the latter passage the finger-breadth is another measure.

The span also occurs  Exodus 28:16. So that, it appears, measures of length were, for the most part, borrowed by the Hebrews from members of the human body. Still no absolute and invariable standard presents itself. If the question, What is a hand or finger-breadth? be asked, the answer can be only an approximation to fact. If, however, the palm or hand-breadth be taken at 3 inches, then the cubit will amount to 21 inches. In addition to the common cubit, the Egyptians had a longer one of six palms four inches. The Hebrews also have been thought to have had a longer cubit, for in  Ezekiel 40:5, we read of a cubit which seems to be an ordinary "cubit and an handbreadth;" see also  Ezekiel 43:13, where it is expressly said, "the cubit is a cubit and an hand-breadth." The prophet has been supposed to refer here to the then current Babylonian cubit, a measure which it is thought the Jews borrowed during the period of their captivity. The Rabbins make a distinction between the common cubit of five hand-breadths and the sacred cubit of six hand-breadths-a distinction which is held to be insufficiently supported by De Wette ( Archaologie , p. 178). Consult Lamy, De Tabernaculo , c. 8; Carpzov, Apparat . p. 676. — Kitto, s.v. An ancient Egyptian cubit now in the Royal Museum of Paris measures 20.484 inches. The Hebrew cubit, according to Bishop Cumberland and M. Pelletier, is twenty-one inches; and the Talmudists observe that the Hebrew cubit (meaning probably the longer or sacred measure) was larger by one quarter than the Roman, which would make it contain 21.843 inches. Many writers fix it at eighteen inches, confounding it with the Greek and Roman measure of a foot and a half. The most approved computation assigns each kind of Jewish cubits the same length as the corresponding Egyptian namely, 20.24 inches for the ordinary one, and 21.888 for the sacred, which is confirmed by the mean length of several ancient cubits marked on the Egyptian monuments (Wilkinson's Anc. Egyptians, 2d series, 1:30), by a comparison of the dimensions of the Pyramids with those given in ancient authorities (Vyse's Pyramids of Gizeh, 3, 104, 105), and which we shall find to correspond remarkably with the Talmudical statement of the circuit of the Temple. In a later edition of his Ancient Egyptians, however ("Popular Account," 2:258), Wilkinson makes the ordinary Egyptian cubit to have consisted of seven palms or twenty-eight digits, and gives nine exact computations of its length, varying from 20.4729 to 20.7484 inches, which yield an average of 20.6169 inches; and he states the cubit on the Nilometer at Elephantine, from actual measurement, to be 20.625 inches. This last is perhaps the most accurate dimension attainable for the standard cubit. (See Bockh, Metrol. Uitersuch. Berl. 1838, p. 12; Thenius, in the Stud. u. Krit. 1846, 1:770; 2:299; Lepsius, Die alt-dgyptische Elle, Berl. 1865.) (See Metrology).

In  Judges 3:16, the term translated "cubit" is in the original גֹּמֶר , Go'Med (literally, a Cut ), a rod or staff, as the measure of a cubit. In the New Testament our Lord characteristically employs the term cubit ( Matthew 27:6;  Luke 12:25) for the enforcement of a moral and spiritual lesson. The term also occurs in  John 21:8, and in  Revelation 21:17; and in the Apocrypha ( 2 Maccabees 13:5). (See Measure).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kū´bit ( אמּה , 'ammāh  ; πῆχυς , pḗchus ): The standard for measures of length among the Hebrews. They derived it from the Babylonians, but a similar measure was used in Egypt with which they must have been familiar. The length of the cubit is variously estimated, since there seems to have been a double standard in both countries, and because we have no undisputed example of the cubit remaining to the present time. The original cubit was the length of the forearm, from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, as is implied from the derivation of the word in Hebrew and in Latin ( cubitum ). It seems to be referred to also in  Deuteronomy 3:11 : "after the cubit of a man." But this was too indefinite for a scientific standard, and the Babylonians early adopted a more accurate method of measurement which passed to the nations of the West. They had a double standard, the so-called royal cubit and the ordinary one. From the remains of buildings in Assyria and Babylonia, the former is made out to be about 20, 6 inches, and a cubit of similar length was used in Egypt and must have been known to the Hebrews. This was probably the cubit mentioned by   Ezekiel 40:5 and perhaps that of Solomon's temple, "cubits after the first measure" (  2 Chronicles 3:3 ), i.e. the ancient cubit. The ordinary cubit of commerce was shorter, and has been variously estimated at between 16 and 18 or more inches, but the evidence of the Siloam inscription and of the tombs in Palestine seems to indicate 17, 6 inches as the average length. See Weights And Measures . This was the cubit of six palms, while the longer one was of seven ( Ezekiel 40:5 ). The cubit mentioned in  Judges 3:16 is from a different word in Hebrew ( גּמד , gōmedh ) and was probably shorter, for Ehud girded it on his thigh under his clothing.

The New Testament references are  Matthew 6:27;  Luke 12:25 , "Which of you ... can add a cubit unto the measure of his life?";  John 21:18 , "about two hundred cubits off";  Revelation 21:17 , "the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits."

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Cubit is a word derived immediately from the Latin cubitus, the lower arm. The length of the cubit has varied in different nations, and at different times. Derived as the measure is from a part of the human body, and as the human stature has been of very dissimilar length, the cubit must of necessity have been various. That the cubit among the Hebrews was derived as a measure from the human body is clear from —'after the cubit of a man.' But it is difficult to determine whether this cubit was understood as extending to the wrist or the end of the third finger. As, however, the latter seems most natural, since men, when ignorant of anatomy, and seeking in their own frames standards of measure, were likely to take both the entire foot and the entire fore-arm, the probability is that the longer was the original cubit, namely, the length from the elbow to the extremity of the longest finger.

The hand-breadth is found as a measure in , comp. . In the latter passage the finger-breadth is another measure. The span also occurs, . So that, it appears, measures of length were, for the most part, borrowed by the Hebrews from members of the human body. Still no absolute and invariable standard presents itself. If the question, What is a hand or a finger-breadth? be asked, the answer can be only an approximation to fact. If, however, the palm or hand-breadth is taken at 3½ inches, then the cubit will amount to 21 inches. In addition to the common cubit, the Egyptians had a longer one of 6 palms 4 inches. The Hebrews also have been thought to have had a longer cubit; for, in , we read of a cubit which seems to be an ordinary 'cubit and an hand-breadth;' see also , where it is expressly said 'the cubit is a cubit and an hand-breadth.' The prophet has been supposed to refer here to the then current Babylonian cubit—a measure which it is thought the Jews borrowed during the period of their captivity. In the New Testament our Lord characteristically employs the term cubit for the enforcement of a moral and spiritual lesson. The term also occurs in , and in . In justice in measures, as well as in weights, is strictly enjoined.