Measurement
MEASUREMENT
There is no certainty about present-day equivalents of many of the measurements given in the Bible. These measurements probably varied considerably even in Bible times. (Concerning measurements of weight and the cheating that was common where there were few official standards, see WEIGHTS.)
Measures of capacity for grain and for liquids sometimes had different names. The largest measure of capacity was the homer, or cor, equal to about 370 litres (Lev 27:16; 1Ki 4:22). The homer, or cor, was divided into ten smaller measures. In the case of grain this measure was called an ephah (Jdg 6:19; Eze 45:11) and in the case of liquids a bath (Ezr 7:22; Eze 45:11). The grain measure, the ephah, was divided into ten omers (Exo 16:36). The liquid measure, the bath, was divided into six hins (Lev 23:13). A hin was divided into twelve logs (Lev 14:10).
People in ancient times, as in the present day, often measured length by calculating according to the span of their fingers, the length of their arms, the distance they could walk in a set time, and so on. The basic measurement of length, the cubit, was the approximate distance from the elbow to the tip of the finger. More exactly, the cubit was about forty-four centimetres or eighteen inches (Exo 25:23; Deu 3:11; Rev 21:17; see CUBIT). Half a cubit was a span, the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger on an outstretched hand (Exo 28:16; 1Sa 17:4). A handbreadth, or four fingers, was the distance across the hand at the base of the four fingers. It was equal to about a third of a span (Exo 25:25; Jer 52:21).
Longer distances may have been calculated in cubits (Num 35:4), but more often they were estimated approximately; for example, the distance a fired arrow might travel (Gen 21:16), the length of a ploughed furrow (1Sa 14:14), or the distance a person could walk in a day (Num 11:31; Gen 30:36). A Sabbath days journey was the distance that the Jewish leaders laid down as the maximum a person was allowed to travel on the Sabbath day. It was about one kilometre (Exo 16:29; Act 1:12).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Measurement
(Lat. metiri, to measure) The process of ascribing a numerical value to an object or quality either on the basis of the number of times some given unit quantity is contained in it, or on the basis of its position in a series of greater and lesser quantities of like kind. See Intensive, Extensive Quantity. — A.C.B.