Omer (volume)

The Omer, is an ancient Israelite unit of measure used in the era of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is used in the Bible as an ancient unit of volume for grains and dry commodities, and the Torah mentions as being equal to one tenth of an "Ephah" [] . The "Ephah" was defined as being 72 "Logs", and the "Log" was equal to the Sumerian "Mina", which was itself defined as 1 sixtieth of a "Maris" ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] ; the "Omer" was thus equal to about 12 hundreths of a "Maris". The "Maris" was defined as being the quantity of water equal in weight to a light royal Talent [there were two types of "talent" - "royal" and "common", and each type came in a "light" form and a "heavy" form, with the "heavy" form being exactly twice the weight of the "light" form] , and was thus equal to about 30.3 litres ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] , making the "Omer" equal to about 3.64 litres.

The "Omer" is not easy to fit into the remainder of the ancient Israelite measurement system, as it constitutes 1.8 "Kab"s and 0.3 "Se'ah". It is evident that it wasn't originally present, but is instead a result of the sexagesimal [60-based] system being decimalised, perhaps under the influence of Egypt or Assyria, which both had decimal systems ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] [Cheyne and Black, "Encyclopedia Biblica"] . In the Torah, it is the Priestly Code which refers to the "Omer", rather than to the "Se'ah" or "Kab" ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] ; textual scholars view the Priestly Code as one of the later sources of the Torah, dating from a period when Egypt and Assyria had much more direct influence over Israel [Richard Elliott Friedman, "Who wrote the Bible?"] .

The word "omer" is sometimes translated as "sheaf" — specifically, an amount of grain large enough to require bundling. The biblical episode of the manna describes God as instructing the Israelites to collect "an omer for each person in your tent". In Judaism, the main significance of the "omer" is the traditional offering of an "omer" of barley on the second day of Passover (during the period of Temple sacrifice) as well as the tradition of the Counting of the Omer ("sefirat ha'omer") - the 49 days between this sacrifice and the two loaves of wheat offered on the holiday of Shavuot.

ee also

*Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement
*Omer (disambiguation)

References