Diverse expressions were used for these measurements, their being determined in the most practical way possible, reckoned by known averages.
Expressions of distance
A bow-shot
When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.
Some distance
Exodus 33:7 A variety of distance often lies behind this expression, as can be seen in the examples that follow. See also Genesis 35:16, Genesis 36:6; Numbers 2:2; 1 Samuel 26:13; 2 Samuel 15:17; Matthew 8:30
Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.
A Sabbath day's journey
Acts 1:12 While this is the only mention of this phrase in Scripture, it was in fact a popular expression, indicating the distance a devout Jew could walk on the Sabbath. It was based on the rabbinical interpretation of Exodus 16:29 in the light of Numbers 35:5, and was limited to 2,000 cubits.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
A day's journey
1 Kings 19:3–4 See also Numbers 11:31
And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
A three-day journey
Genesis 30:36 See also Exodus 3:18; Numbers 10:33; Ezra 10:7–9; Jonah 3:3
Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Far away
Deuteronomy 28:49 See also 1 Kings 8:46 parallel 2 Chronicles 6:36; Isaiah 6:12; Ezekiel 11:15–16; Joel 3:8; Zechariah 6:15; Acts 22:21
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle — a nation whose language you will not understand,
Expressions of area
Area expressed by the yoke
1 Samuel 14:14 The area translated “about half an acre” in the Hebrew means “half a yoke”. The yoke was the area of land ploughed by a yoke of oxen in one day, approximately one acre. See also Isaiah 5:10 The Hebrew describes the area as “ten-yoke”, that is, the land ploughed by ten yoke of oxen in one day.
In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in about half an acre of land.
Area expressed by the amount of seed required to sow the land
If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it — fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.
Area expressed by its constituent measurements
Ezekiel 40:47 See also Exodus 28:16 parallel Exodus 39:9; 1 Kings 7:23; Ezekiel 45:1–6
Next he measured the court. It was square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.