Measure

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

(The following modern equivalents of ancient measurements are based upon the latest research, and are as correct as is possible at this time)

Dry

1. A bushel, about a peck

• Matthew 5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
• Mark 4:21 Jesus also said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Doesn’t he set it on a stand?
• Luke 11:33 No one lights a lamp and puts it in a cellar or under a basket. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.

2. A cab, or kab, about two quarts

• 2 Kings 6:25 So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.

3. A cor, equal to one homer or ten ephahs, equal to about eleven and one-ninth bushels

• 1 Kings 4:22 Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,
• 1 Kings 5:11 and year after year Solomon would provide Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil.
• 2 Chronicles 2:10 I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”
• 2 Chronicles 27:5 Jotham waged war against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them, and that year they gave him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand cors of barley. They paid him the same in the second and third years.
• Ezra 7:22 up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt without limit.

4. An ephah, equal to three seah, and in liquid, to a bath, containing about a bushel and a half

• Exodus 16:36 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
• Leviticus 5:11 But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he may bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.
• Leviticus 6:20 “This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the LORD on the day he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.
• Leviticus 19:36 You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
• Numbers 5:15 then he is to bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity.
• Numbers 28:5 along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives.
• Judges 6:19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.
• Ruth 2:17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.
• 1 Samuel 1:24 Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.
• 1 Samuel 17:17 One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.

5. A half-homer, about five and a half bushels

• Hosea 3:2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

6. A homer, about eleven bushels, equal to a cor or ten ephahs

• Leviticus 27:16 If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it — fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.
• Numbers 11:32 All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp.
• Isaiah 5:10 For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
• Ezekiel 45:11–14 The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure for both. The shekel will consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels will equal on…
• Hosea 3:2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

7. An omer, about one bushel

• Exodus 16:16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”
• Exodus 16:18 When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.

8. A seah, about a peck and a half

• Genesis 18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
• 1 Samuel 25:18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys
• 1 Kings 18:32 And with the stones, Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
• 2 Kings 7:1 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”
• 2 Kings 7:16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. It was then that a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
• 2 Kings 7:18 It happened just as the man of God had told the king: “About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel.”

9. A tenth deal, about a gallon, equal to one-tenth of an ephah

• Exodus 29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
• Leviticus 14:10 On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil.
• Leviticus 14:21 If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,
• Leviticus 23:13 along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil — a food offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma — and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
• Leviticus 23:17 Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.
• Leviticus 24:5 You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,
• Numbers 15:4 then the one presenting his offering to the LORD shall also present a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter hin of olive oil.
• Numbers 15:6 With a ram you are to prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of olive oil,
• Numbers 15:9 present with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil.
• Numbers 28:9 On the Sabbath day, present two unblemished year-old male lambs, accompanied by a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, as well as a drink offering.

Liquid

1. A bath, about eight gallons and a half

• 1 Kings 7:26 It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.
• 1 Kings 7:38 He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands.
• 2 Chronicles 2:10 I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”
• 2 Chronicles 4:5 It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.
• Ezra 7:22 up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt without limit.
• Isaiah 5:10 For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
• Ezekiel 45:10–11 You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure for both.
• Ezekiel 45:14 The prescribed portion of oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath from each cor (a cor consists of ten baths or one homer, since ten baths are equivalent to a homer).
• Luke 16:6 ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Take your bill,’ said the manager, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

2. A firkin, nearly nine gallons

• John 2:6 Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons.

3. A hin, about a gallon and a half

• Exodus 29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
• Exodus 30:24 500 shekels of cassia — all according to the sanctuary shekel — and a hin of olive oil.
• Leviticus 19:36 You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
• Leviticus 23:13 along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil — a food offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma — and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
• Numbers 15:4–10 then the one presenting his offering to the LORD shall also present a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter hin of olive oil. With the burnt offering or sacrifice of each lamb, you are to prepare a quarter hin of wine as a drink offering. With a ram you are to pre…
• Numbers 28:5 along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives.
• Numbers 28:7 The drink offering accompanying each lamb shall be a quarter hin. Pour out the offering of fermented drink to the LORD in the sanctuary area.
• Numbers 28:14 Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine with each bull, a third of a hin with the ram, and a quarter hin with each lamb. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon throughout the year.
• Ezekiel 4:11 You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times.

4. A log, about a pint, one-twelfth of a hin

• Leviticus 14:10 On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil.
• Leviticus 14:12 Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
• Leviticus 14:15 Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm,
• Leviticus 14:21 If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,
• Leviticus 14:24 The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.

See Weights

Linear

1. A finger

• Jeremiah 52:21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.

2. A handbreadth

• Exodus 25:25 And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.
• Exodus 37:12 And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.
• 1 Kings 7:26 It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.
• 2 Chronicles 4:5 It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.
• Psalm 39:5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
• Ezekiel 40:5 And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.
• Ezekiel 40:43 The double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be placed on the tables.
• Ezekiel 43:13 These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:

3. A span

• Exodus 28:16 It must be square when folded over double, a span long and a span wide.
• 1 Samuel 17:4 Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
• Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?
• Isaiah 48:13 Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.
• Lamentations 2:20 Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• Ezekiel 43:13 These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:

4. A cubit, the length of a man's forearm

See Cubit

5. A reed, probably six cubits

• Ezekiel 40:5 And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.

6. A fathom

• Acts 27:28 They took soundings and found that the water was twenty fathoms deep. Going a little farther, they took another set of soundings that read fifteen fathoms.

7. A pace

• 2 Samuel 6:13 When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

8. A furlong

• Luke 24:13 That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

9. A mile, probably nine-tenths of an English mile

• Matthew 5:41 and if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

10. A Sabbath day's journey, two thousand paces

• Acts 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

Must Be Just

• Leviticus 19:35–36 You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume. You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 25:13–16 You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small. You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Fo…
• Proverbs 11:1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
• Proverbs 16:11 Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.
• Proverbs 20:10 Differing weights and unequal measures— both are detestable to the LORD.
• Proverbs 20:23 Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.
• Hosea 12:7–9 A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands. And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.” But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in ten…
• Micah 6:10–12 Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed? Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights? For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

See Dishonesty

See Integrity