H0520a H0520a
Cubit; a unit of linear measure (approx. 18 inches / 45 cm), the standard dimension for construction, distance, and depth.
Ammah is the everyday unit of length throughout the Hebrew Bible, derived from the forearm (from elbow to fingertip) and appearing in nearly every building project, measurement, and spatial description in Scripture. It measures Noah's ark (Gen 6:15), the tabernacle and its furnishings (Exod 25-27), Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 6), and Ezekiel's visionary temple (Ezek 40-48). Two minor variant senses appear at the edges: in Deut 3:11, 'the cubit of a man' specifies a standard against the possibly larger royal cubit, and in Jer 51:13 the word may function metonymically for 'measure' in a broader sense. But in 246 of 248 occurrences the meaning is simply the concrete linear unit — stable, unambiguous, and universally rendered as codo (Spanish), coudee (French), Elle (German), and cubit (English).
3. cubit-of (specific cubit standard) — The cubit in construct with a specifying standard — a single occurrence at Deut 3:11, where Og's iron bed is measured by 'the cubit of a man' (ammat ish), distinguishing the ordinary cubit from a possibly larger royal or long cubit (cf. Ezek 40:5 where a cubit-plus-a-handbreadth is specified). The construct phrase functions not as a measurement itself but as a calibration clause, and cross-lingual renderings (Spanish en codo de, French par cubit de) treat the construct as a prepositional qualifier. This is the only passage in the Hebrew Bible that explicitly names the standard being used. 1×
AR["بِذِرَاعِ-"]·ben["হাতে-"]·DE["durch-cubit-von-"]·EN["by-cubit-of-"]·FR["par-cubit-de-"]·heb["ב-אמת"]·HI["-रब्बा-में"]·ID["menurut-hasta-"]·IT["da-cubit-di-"]·jav["ngangge-hasta"]·KO["규빗-으로"]·PT["em-côvado-de-"]·RU["по-локтю-"]·ES["en-codo-de"]·SW["kwa-dhiraa-ya"]·TR["arşına-göre-"]·urd["ہاتھ-"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. cubit (unit of length) — A cubit as a standard unit of linear measurement, approximately 18 inches or 45 cm — the near-universal sense at 246 occurrences. Used for dimensions of buildings (the temple, tabernacle, city walls), objects (the altar, the ark of the covenant, Goliath's spear shaft), water depths (Gen 7:20), and distances. Every target language renders it with a dedicated measurement term: Spanish codo, French coudee, German Elle, Korean 규빗, Swahili dhiraa. The word appears in singular, dual (ammatayim, 'two cubits'), and plural forms, with articles and in construct chains, but the referent is always the same linear unit. 246×
AR["أَذرُعٍ","أَذْرُعٍ","ذِراعاً","ذِرَاعًا","ذِرَاعٍ"]·ben["হাত"]·DE["Elle","Ellen"]·EN["cubit","cubits"]·FR["coudée","coudées"]·heb["אמה","אמות"]·HI["हाथ"]·ID["hasta"]·IT["cubiti","cubito"]·jav["asta","asta,","asta.","hāsta"]·KO["규빗","규빗들","큐빗"]·PT["côvado","côvados"]·RU["локоть","локтей","локтя"]·ES["codo","codos"]·SW["dhiraa"]·TR["arsın","arşın"]·urd["ہاتھ"]
Gen 6:15, Gen 6:15, Gen 6:15, Gen 7:20, Exod 26:16, Exod 27:1, Exod 27:1, Exod 27:1, Exod 27:12, Exod 27:13, Exod 27:14, Exod 27:16 (+38 more)
2. measure, standard of measurement — A metonymic extension to 'measure' or 'standard of measurement' in a broader sense — a single occurrence at Jer 51:13 ('you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your ammah has come'). Here the word seems to mean something like 'your appointed measure' or 'your end-measure,' functioning figuratively for Babylon's appointed doom. The multilingual evidence is revealing: French renders verite ('truth'), German Wahrheit ('truth'), while Spanish gives medida ('measure') — suggesting translators struggled with a sense that has moved well beyond the concrete forearm-length. 1×
AR["مِقْدَارُ"]·ben["পরিমাপ"]·DE["Wahrheit"]·EN["the-measure-of"]·FR["vérité"]·heb["אמת"]·HI["नाप"]·ID["ukuran"]·IT["verita"]·jav["ukuran"]·KO["캙대가"]·PT["medida-de"]·RU["мера"]·ES["medida-de"]·SW["kipimo"]·TR["ölçüsü"]·urd["ناپ"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
II. אַמָּה246 n.f. ell, cubit (SI אמה; so Sab. DHMZMG 1865, 613; Aramaic ܐܰܡܳܐ, אַמָּא; Assyrian ammatu Nor280; Ethiopic እመት etym. dub.; Thes al. mater brachii, i.e. length of fore-arm; others from √ ii. אמם, أَمَّ precede, be in front, & hence fore-arm cf. Di Is 6:4; DlPr 109 MV der. immediately from √ אמם be wide (v. supr.), אַמָּה = distance, & hence a particular distance, ell, cubit)—א׳ abs.…