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Dear friends,
In today's newsletter, the last one which will deal with standards in biblical times, we will discuss measurement standards – the ways of measuring length. Like some of the measurements used today, biblical measurements were based on the average length of different body parts.
Ama, אַמָּה
The main measurement used in biblical times was the Ama, literally meaning a forearm or a cubit.
There were apparently slightly different measurements of the Ama used at different times, and in 2 Chronicles 3:3 we find a clarification as to which Ama was used for building Solomon’s Temple: “Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building the house of God: the length, according to cubits in the first measure, sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits”. The relationship between the other measurements and the Ama changes between the short, original Ama and the longer Ama used after the exiles returned from Babylon, and possibly also at an earlier time. The original Ama was six Tefaxs, the longer one being seven.
The Ama is used as part of the description of virtually anything dealing with measurement in the Bible: Noah’s ark, the Temple, and more.
Determining the length of the Ama in comparison to modern standards is a difficult task and a few different measurements have been suggested. One of the ways is based on the Siloam inscription. The Siloam Tunnel was dug by King Hezekiah at the end of the eighth century BCE in order to bring water into Jerusalem and enable the city to sustain the oncoming Assyrian siege. In the middle of the tunnel an unusual inscription, one of the only written artifacts found from the First Temple period, was found. It describes how the tunnel was carved in the stone, with two teams working towards each other from either end of a crack, thus enabling the water to flow from the Gihon spring which was outside of the city walls to a pool inside the city.
In this inscription, we are told that the tunnel was 1200 Amas. It is difficult to figure out precisely how the length was measured, and the number could also be an estimate or the closest round number, but calculations based on it lead to the conclusion that the Ama was approximately 41 cm. This is not far from the standard Egyptian Ama, which was 44 cm.
Tefax, טֶפַח
The measurement of a Tefax is based on a handbreadth, a fist.
Tefax is occasionally pointed differently, and pronounced Tofax. It is used for different measurements of artifacts in the Temple.
Etzba, אֶצְבַּע
An Etzba is both the general word "finger" as well as the index finger. According to late sources, its length was one quarter of a Tefax.
The measurements we have mentioned are used not only for describing buildings or structures, but occasionally also for describing the size of people. One such case is Goliath. In1 Samuel 17 we hear all about this Philistine hero, who vexed the Israelites, insulting their God, and waited for an Israelite opponent, hoping to humiliate whoever that might be and thus the entire Israelite nation. Goliath is described as being six Amot and a Zeret tall. A Zeret, זֶרֶת, is the pinky, and apparently this was not an exact measurement but rather a natural one.
While none of the experienced warriors were willing to face Goliath, one young boy was brave enough to do so: David. Although he had little experience, David was not afraid, and was confident that God, whom Goliath was defying, would be on his side. He defeated Goliath by shooting a stone at him with a sling, hitting him on his forehead. David thus became a national hero and later the king.
Have a great week!
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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