Jewish and Biblical Units of Measurement

Jewish and Biblical Units of Measurement

Judaism has its own system of measurement that is consistent from the time of TaNaKh to Mishna and Talmud. The data below is derived from a standard Talmudic student's textbook "The practical Talmud dictionary" by Rabbi Yitzhak Frank, The Ariel Institute, Jerusalem, Israel, 1994.

The precise width of the ehtzba (thumb) is a subject of controversy among halakhic authoritis. The best known is that of the Hazon Ish.

The measurements have lowest and highest acceptable halakhic value in terms of conversion to either metric or Imperial measurements.

Length

Area

"Siarah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. siarot) hair square 1/36 of a giris

"Adashah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. adashot) lentils 1/9 of a giris

"Giris" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) split bean a circle with a diameter of about 20mm

"Amah al amah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) square cubit 2,304cm2 to 3,318cm2

"Bait rova" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing 1/4 of a "kav" 24m2 to 34.56m2

"Bait seah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a "seah" 576m2 to 829.4m2

"Bait kor" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) space for sowing a "kor" 17,280m2 to 24,883m2

Volume

"Zait" (Hebrew זית) - (pl. )olive; a unit of volume 1/2 of beytza.

"Beytza" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) egg 0.0576 L to 0.1 L

"Revi'it" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) 0.086 to 0.15 L

"Log" (Hebrew ) - (pl. login) 0.345 to 0.6 L
When used with "reva" one quarter , this is a liquid measurement. Rova is used for dry measurement.

"Kav" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) 1.38 to 2.4 L

"Esaron" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) 2.49 to 4.32 L
When used with "omer" , this is a liquid measurement. Omer is used for dry measurement..

"Seah" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) 8.29 to 14.4 L

"Bat" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) 24.88 to 43.2 L
When used with "ephah" , this is a liquid measurement. Ephah is used for dry measurement.

"Bor" (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) cistern 248.83 to 432 L
When used with "homer" , this is a liquid measurement. Homer (heap) is used for dry measurement.

Coins and weights

*"Pruta" (pl. prutot) - a copper coin (Hebrew פרוטה prutah) - 0.022 g

*"Issar" (pl. issarim) - a Roman copper coin (As) - 0.177 g

*"Pundion" (pl. pundionim) - a Roman copper coin (Dupondius) - 0.35 g

*"Ma'ah" (pl. ma'ot = "money") - a silver coin, (Hebrew gerah) - 0.7 g:In Hebrew it is called a Gerah (as in twenty gerah is a Shekel, Exodus); (litt. grain; also gram derives from it).

*"Dinar" (pl. Dinarim) - a Roman silver coin (Denarius (pl. denarii, (Hebrew Zuz pl. zuzim) - 4.25 g:In Hebrew this was called a "Zuz" to avoid confusion with the gold Dinar.

*"Shekel" (pl. shkalim) - a Jewish silver coin (Shekel, (Hebrew שקל) - in grams: 14:Moshe Rabeinu instituted as the standard coinage. From 8.5 to 16 grams (Chazon Ish) or .51 troy ounces of pure silver. (Main article Shekel)

*"Sela" (pl. selo'im) - a silver coin (Tetradrachm) - 17 g (a sela equals two shekel).

:The Thaler, Taler and finally the Dollar derive from it.

*"Dinar" (pl. dinarim or dinerei) - a gold Roman coin (Aureus) (Hebrew "Dinerei zahav") - 8 g of gold (106.25 g in silver)

*"Minah" a silver coin (Hebrew ) - (pl. ) 425 g:Not to be confused with "maneh" which is 100 "zuzim".

*"Kikor" (pl. kikorei) - a Jewish silver weight of two Issar - 0.354 g.

External links

* [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/toshba/halacha/berur-2.htm Ka-Zait; source in Hebrew]


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