Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jonathan Robie <jonathan AT texcel.no>]

At 04:28 PM 8/11/98 EDT, RHutchin AT aol.com wrote:
>We read in 1 Kings. 7:23 --  And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the
one
>brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits:
and
>a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. 
>
>This verse raises the issue of the value of Pi in the minds of some.  The
>issue turns on whether the phrase--a line of thirty cubits did compass it
>round about--must refer only to the outside diameter of the molten sea or can
>it also refer to the inside diameter.  If it refers to the inside diameter,
>then there is no problem.
 
Let me ask a naive question: did the Hebrews of that time have a way to
express anything as exact as the decimal portion of pi? I know that the Old
Testament talks about "one half" and "one third", but did they have
decimals or really exact fractions? For instance, 22/7 would be a great
approximation, but is this a concept that they would have used back then?

Since modern engineers do approximations, what's wrong with approximating
to 3? Is there really a problem with this?

Jonathan