Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
> The original question about Noah?s ark was, how long was
> the 300 cubits in modern units.  Given the fact that that
> section of Genesis was written for a more agriculturally
> oriented society and the construction of the box had no
> taxation associated with it, there is no reason to assume
> that either the author had a standardized length in mind or
> that the audience had any similar thought. Further, since
> the author was not actually planning on having anyone
> actually build such a box (it had already been done after
> all), the actual details were not really all that important
> to either the listener or the author. This is of course
> assuming that the author literally meant 300 cubits as
> opposed to that number meaning some unimaginable great
> length for a wooden box.
> Jack Tladatsi

Let's not forget that the original question was not about an "legendary"
wooden ark, but about a very real temple, built by professional builders
using the most advanced techniques known in the Roman world. It is
unimaginable that they did not use "standard" measurements. The question is,
which standard?

Yigal