Their ruler was the body. The working units ran finger → handbreadth (four fingers) → span (three handbreadths) → cubit, the forearm: two spans, six handbreadths, twenty-four fingers. The Jewish Encyclopedia reckons the ancient Hebrew cubit at 495–525 millimeters, about 19½ to 20½ inches, while cautioning that the exact standard “can not be determined exactly.” Ezekiel deliberately measures his Temple with a longer rod, “a cubit and a handbreadth” each (Ezek 40:5). The measure was everyday enough for Jesus to ask which of you, by being anxious, “can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?” (Matt 6:27).
Daily life in Bible times
The cubit: a body ruler
Distance & travel
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Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.
- Ezekiel 40:5bsb
And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.
- Matthew 6:27bsb
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
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