Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Except, Jack, that very early on, kingdoms began setting standard
measurements (usually based on those of the reigning king). This was done by
the Persians, probably earlier as well. The reason for this is not problems
in building a single boat or a private residence, but monumental
architechture, roads and bridges etc. Also, measures of weight, volume and
length were used to collect taxes, and so it was importand that there be no
disagreement between what the tax-collector calls as bushel and what the
taxee thinks is his bushel. In the Bible, when the Israelites are commanded
to give their half-shekels to the sanctuary, each "shekel of the sanctuary"
is defined as weighing 20 gerah. Other weigths, such as a pim, are also
mentioned, and archaeologists have found inscribed stone weights, that have
been found to conform to uniform standards.

Intersetingly, in describing Og, king of Bashan, Deut. 3:11 points out that
his bed measured 9x4 cubits "after the cubit of a man", that is, standard
cubits.

Yigal

Yigal

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
To: <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>; <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 6:30 AM
Subject: Cubits


> Almost all traditional units of measurement are rather
> imprecise by modern standards.  In the English system a
> yard is the distance from the nose to the end of the thumb
> (with the neck straight).  A fathom is the length of rope
> from hand to hand.  A mile is 1,000 double strides (about 5
> feet) of a Roman legionnaire.  The differences between
> individuals is small compared to over imprecision of the
> project.  If two sailors are measuring the distance to
> bottom of a shoal, if there is a few inches difference
> between their respective fathoms, it is lost in the
> changing tides and the pitch of the boat.  If someone is
> buying silk from a mercer and serge de Nimes from a second
> mercer, each at a different price per yard, the difference
> lengths of their respective arms is not important.
>
> Yigal is of course that each individual arkwright would
> measure 300 cubits somewhat differently if they were
> building a chest / box / ark.  However, so long as only one
> master arkwright is doing the measuring it does not matter.
> Even if one side of the ark is a few barleycorns (1/3rd of
> an inch) longer it has no impact on its performance.
> Nowadays we find this sort intuitive engineering
> unacceptable but until rather recently it was the norm.
>
>
> Jack Tladatsi
>