אֹ֫רֶךְ94 H0753
Length; spatial measurement or dimension; duration of time ('length of days'); forbearance, patience ('length of anger').
The Hebrew noun אֹרֶךְ appears almost exclusively in contexts of precise measurement — the length of the ark, the tabernacle curtains, the temple courts, Ezekiel's visionary city. Over 90 percent of its occurrences are architectural, forming part of the formulaic 'the length of X and the breadth of X' that structures Priestly and Ezekielian blueprints. Yet two metaphorical extensions deserve attention: אֹרֶךְ יָמִים ('length of days,' Ps 21:5; Prov 3:2, 16) promises longevity as divine blessing, while the rare אֹרֶךְ אַפַּיִם ('length of nostrils,' Prov 25:15) — rendered in Spanish as largura de ánimo and in German as Langmut — denotes patient forbearance, the slow expansion of breath before anger ignites.
3. forbearance, patient endurance — Figurative forbearance, patience, or self-restraint, found in the expression אֹרֶךְ אַפַּיִם ('length of nostrils/anger,' Prov 25:15) and in contexts like Psalm 91:16 and 93:5 where enduring divine presence is in view. The body metaphor is vivid: patience is the slow, extended breath before the nose flares in anger. French long (patience) and German Langmut capture this compound sense. Only a handful of occurrences, but lexicographically distinctive as an idiom frozen from the spatial root. 4×
AR["بِ-طُولِ","طُولَ","لِطُولِ"]·ben["-দীর্ঘ-","দীর্ঘ","দীর্ঘকাল","দীর্ঘকালের-জন্য"]·DE["Laenge","für-Länge-von","mit-Länge-von"]·EN["by-length-of","for-length-of","with-length-of"]·FR["dans-long","long","à-long"]·heb["אורך","ב-אורך","ל-אורך"]·HI["के-लिए-दीर्घता","दीर्घता","लंबाई-से","ले-लम्बाई"]·ID["Dengan-kesabaran","Panjang","untuk-panjang"]·IT["in-da-length-di","lungo"]·jav["Dawah","ing-dawah","kalayan-sabar","kanggé-panjang"]·KO["-의-기이","긴","오래-"]·PT["Com-longanimidade-de","Com-longura-de","para-longura-de","por-longos"]·RU["долготерпением","долготой","на-долготу"]·ES["Con-largura-de","Largura-de","por-largura-de"]·SW["Urefu-wa","kwa-urefu-wa","kwa-uvumilivu"]·TR["sabırla","uzun","uzunluğu-boyunca","uzunluğuna-"]·urd["-لمبائی-تک","صبر-سے","لمبائی-تک","لمبی"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. spatial length, measurement — Physical length or spatial dimension of an object, overwhelmingly used for architectural and construction measurements (87 occurrences). This is the sense that pervades Exodus 25-27 (the tabernacle), 1 Kings 6-7 (Solomon's temple), and Ezekiel 40-48 (the visionary temple). The formulaic pairing with רֹחַב ('breadth') appears scores of times. Spanish longitud/largo, French longueur, and German Länge all translate this uniformly, confirming a stable, cross-linguistically basic dimensional term. 87×
AR["الطُّولُ","طولاً","طُولًا","طُولُ","طُولُهَا","طُولُهُ","طُولِ"]·ben["দৈর্ঘ্য"]·DE["Laenge"]·EN["length","length-of"]·FR["[ארך]","longueur"]·heb["אורך","ארך"]·HI["लंबाई","लम्बाई"]·ID["panjang","panjangnya"]·IT["lunghezza"]·jav["dawa","dawa-ning","dawanipun","dawanipun,"]·KO["길이","길이-","길이로","길이와"]·PT["Comprimento-de","comprimento","comprimento-de"]·RU["длина","длиной","длины"]·ES["Longitud-de","de-largo","largo","longitud","longitud-de"]·SW["Urefu-wa","urefu","urefu-wa"]·TR["uzunluk","uzunluğu","uzunluğunun"]·urd["لمبائی"]
Exod 25:10, Exod 25:17, Exod 25:23, Exod 27:1, Exod 27:9, Exod 27:11, Exod 28:16, Exod 30:2, Exod 37:1, Exod 37:6, Exod 37:10, Exod 37:25 (+38 more)
2. duration, longevity — Temporal duration or longevity, appearing in the fixed phrase אֹרֶךְ יָמִים ('length of days'). In Psalm 21:5 the king receives 'length of days forever and ever,' and Proverbs 3:2, 16 promises that Wisdom's right hand holds 'length of days.' The metaphor maps spatial extent onto the time axis — a long life is a life stretched out. Korean 장수 (longevity) and Hindi दीर्घायु (long life) confirm that translators consistently reach for specialized temporal vocabulary here rather than spatial terms. 4×
AR["طُولَ","طُولُ"]·ben["দীর্ঘ","দীর্ঘতার-জন্য"]·DE["Laenge","Länge-von"]·EN["for-length","length-of"]·FR["[לארך]","long"]·heb["אורך","ל-אורך"]·HI["दीर्घायु","लम्बाई","लम्बाई-के-लिए"]·ID["Panjang","panjang","untuk-lamanya"]·IT["[לארך]","length-di","lungo"]·jav["dawaning","kangge-dangunipun","panjang"]·KO["길이-는","길이-를","길이-의"]·PT["Longura-de","duração-de","longura-de","por-duração-de"]·RU["Долгота","долготу","на-долготу"]·ES["Largura-de","largura-de","por-largos"]·SW["Urefu-wa","kwa-muda-mrefu","urefu-wa"]·TR["uzunluğu","uzunluğuna","uzunluğunu"]·urd["طوالت","لمبائی","لمبے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אֹ֫רֶךְ94 n.[m.] length—only sg., א׳ abs. Ex 27:1 +; cstr. Gn 6:15; אָרְכּוֹ Ex 25:10 +; אָרְכָּם 2 Ch 3:11; אָרְכָּן Ez 42:11, etc.— a. length of ark Gn 6:15 (P), of land of Canaan 13:17 (J); most often of ark & other measurements in tabernacle & temple Ex 25:10, 17; 26:2, 8; 27:1, 9 + (22 times Ex, P), 1 K 6:2, 3, 20 + (13 times K & Ch), Ez 40:7, 11, 18 + (41 times Ez), etc. b. of time א׳…