Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement

Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement were the standard for ancient Israelites and appear throughout the Hebrew Bible, as well as in later rabbinic works like the Mishnah and Talmud. These units still regulate aspects of Orthodox Jewish life today, based on halacha. Disputes have arisen over the exact value of some units, since their original Hebrew names fell out of use and were replaced by modern terms.

The system includes measurements for length, weight, and volume. Archaeological evidence shows strong similarities to Babylonian and ancient Egyptian systems, and scholars believe it likely derived from a combination of both. Absolute sizes are often inferred from better-known Babylonian units.

Ezekiel mentions a cubit (amah) that is a cubit plus a handbreadth (tefah), making it one-sixth larger than the standard. The Book of Chronicles suggests that Solomon’s Temple was built using “cubits following the first measure,” implying the original cubit was later replaced by a smaller one. Egypt also had two cubits: a common one of 17.72 inches (45 cm) and a royal cubit one-sixth larger, used for the Pyramids. The standard Babylonian cubit, cast in stone on a statue of Gudea, was 49.5 cm (19.49 in), while the larger Egyptian cubit ranged from 52.5 to 52.8 cm (20.67 to 20.79 in). Since the Books of Samuel describe the Temple’s architect as Phoenician, and Phoenicia used the Babylonian cubit for shipbuilding, scholars are uncertain whether the Biblical cubit was 49.5 or 52.5 cm, though they are fairly sure it was one of these. From these figures, the basic unit—the fingerbreadth (etzba)—would be either 2.1 or 2.2 cm (0.83 or 0.87 in).

Rabbinic scholars have also calculated these measurements. The most accepted approaches are those of Rav Avraham Chaim Naeh, who approximates the etzba at 2 cm (0.79 in), and Chazon Ish at 2.38 cm (0.94 in). A third opinion, from Rabbi Chaim P. Benish’s “Midos V'Shiurei Torah,” interprets the Rambam as giving an etzba of 0.748–0.756 in (1.90–1.92 cm). In the tables below, the range of values shown is between the calculations of Naeh and Chazon Ish, with the archaeological estimate falling in the middle.

Lengths were originally based on the human body—finger, hand, arm, span, foot, and pace—but were standardized for general use. The Hebrew Bible mentions the palm or handbreadth (tefakh), the span (zeret), and the cubit or ell (amah). Later texts add the digit or fingerbreadth (etzba), the mile (mil), and the parasang (parasa). The mile and parasang are loanwords from Latin and Iranian, respectively, and were units of itinerant distance that varied by terrain, stride, and travel speed.

The measurements relate as follows: - 1 palm (tefach) = 4 digits (etzba'ot) - 1 span (zeret) = 3 palms (tefahim) - 1 cubit (amah) = 2 spans, or 6 palms - 1 mil = 2000 cubits - 1 parasang = 4 mils

The Talmud adds a few more units: the double palm (hasit), the pace (pesiah), the cord (hebel), the stadion (ris), the day’s journey (derekh yom), and an undetermined quantity called the garmida. The stadion appears to have been adopted from Persia, and the double palm from the Greek dichas. Their relationships are: - 1 double palm = 2 palms - 1 pace = 1 cubit - 1 stadion = 1600 palms (2/15 mile); others say it equaled 470–500 cubits - 1 day’s journey = 10 parasangs

Two units are more ambiguous. The garmida is mentioned repeatedly without a clear size and is sometimes treated as an area or volume. The cord has two different definitions in the Mishnah.