H4060a H4060a
Measure, measurement; a measured dimension, allotted section, bodily stature, or (rarely) a garment.
Middah is the Hebrew Bible's primary noun for the act and result of measuring. It appears overwhelmingly in technical architectural and sacral contexts — the curtains of the tabernacle (Exodus 26), Ezekiel's elaborate temple vision, and Nehemiah's wall-repair assignments. Yet the word extends beyond tape-measure precision into metaphorical territory: Job 28:25 speaks of God measuring out the weight of the wind, and Jer 31:39 envisions a 'measuring line' stretching over Jerusalem's restoration. Spanish medida and German Mass both capture the core well, but the fascinating outlier is Ps 133:2, where the same form likely means 'garment' (from the homographic noun mad), reminding us that Hebrew lexicography must always attend to homographic roots lurking beneath identical consonantal skeletons.
5. garment or robe — A garment or robe — a single occurrence at Ps 133:2, where the anointing oil runs down Aaron's beard onto the 'collar of his robes' (middotav). Most lexicographers (BDB included) attribute this to the homographic noun mad (garment) rather than middah (measure), and the multilingual evidence supports the distinction: Spanish vestiduras ('garments') and English 'his robes' both select clothing vocabulary with no trace of measurement semantics. The consonantal overlap makes this a classic case of Hebrew homographic disambiguation. 1×
AR["ثِيَابِهِ"]·ben["পোশাকের-তার।"]·DE["sein-robes"]·EN["his-robes"]·FR["de-mesure"]·heb["מידותיו"]·HI["उसके-वस्त्रों-के"]·ID["jubahnya"]·IT["[מדותיו]"]·jav["jubah-ipun"]·KO["그-의-옷-의"]·PT["suas-vestes"]·RU["одежд-его"]·ES["vestiduras-de-él"]·SW["mavazi-yake"]·TR["giysilernin"]·urd["اُس-کے-کپڑوں-کے"]
▼ 4 more senses below
Senses
1. measure or measurement — The dominant sense: a standard unit of measurement, the act of measuring, or a measured quantity — 41 of 54 occurrences. Covers the tabernacle curtain specifications (Exod 26:2, 8; 36:9, 15), Levitical fair-measure laws (Lev 19:35), Ezekiel's measuring reed and temple dimensions (Ezek 40:3, 5; 42:15-19), and figurative uses like Job 28:25's 'measure for the wind.' French mesure, Spanish medida, and German Mass all converge cleanly on this core sense. The prepositional constructions ke-middah ('according to the measure') confirm the word's role as a metrological standard. 41×
AR["الْ-قِيَاسِ","الْقِيَاسِ","قَامَة","قِيَاسٌ","كَهَذِهِ-","مِقياسٌ","مِقْدَارٌ","مِقْيَاسًا"]·ben["-মাপের","মাপ","মাপের","মাপের-মতো"]·DE["Mass","das-Mass","measure","messen"]·EN["according-to-the-measures","measure","the-measure"]·FR["[מדה]","comme-mesures","le-mesure","mesure","mesurer"]·heb["ה-מידה","כ-מידות","מדה ׀","מידה"]·HI["नाप","माप","माप-की","माप-के-अनुसार","लम्बाई-की"]·ID["pengukur-itu","sesuai-ukuran","ukuran"]·IT["come-misure","il-misura","measure","misura"]·jav["kados-ukuran-ukuran","ukuran","ukuran-punika"]·KO["그-측량의","그-치수들-대로","치수","치수가","치수는","치수의"]·PT["a-medida","conforme-as-medidas","medida"]·RU["измерения","измерительная","мера","мерой","меры","по-мерам","роста"]·ES["conforme-a-las-medidas","la-medida","medida"]·SW["kipimo","kulingana-na-vipimo","kupimia","kwa-vyote"]·TR["ölçü","ölçülere-göre","ölçünün"]·urd["اِن-ناپوں-کے-برابر","قد-کا","ناپ","ناپنے-کا","ناپنے-کے"]
Exod 26:2, Exod 26:8, Exod 36:9, Exod 36:15, Lev 19:35, Josh 3:4, 1 Kgs 6:25, 1 Kgs 7:9, 1 Kgs 7:11, 1 Kgs 7:37, 1 Chr 11:23, 2 Chr 3:3 (+29 more)
2. measured section or portion — A measured-off section or allotted portion, especially of a building or territory — 7 occurrences clustered tightly in Nehemiah 3 (vv. 11, 19, 20, 21, 24). Each wall-repair crew is assigned a middah, a defined section to rebuild. The shift from abstract measurement to concrete 'portion' is subtle but real: German Abschnitt ('section') captures it better than Mass, and Spanish medida does double duty. This sense likely developed from the practice of measuring out work assignments — the measure became the thing measured. 7×
AR["قِسْمًا","قِسْمٌ"]·ben["মাপ"]·DE["Abschnitt"]·EN["section"]·FR["[מדה]"]·heb["מדה"]·HI["भाग"]·ID["bagian"]·IT["misura"]·jav["ukuran"]·KO["구역"]·PT["medida"]·RU["участком"]·ES["Medida","medida"]·SW["kipimo"]·TR["ölçü"]·urd["حصہ"]
3. stature or bodily height — Physical stature or bodily height — 3 occurrences describing persons of exceptional size. The spies report giants as men of middot, 'men of great stature' (Num 13:32); the Philistine warrior has extra fingers and is a man of middah (1 Chr 20:6); and Isaiah 45:14 describes the tall Sabeans. English 'stature' and French stature both select body-specific vocabulary here, confirming that this is not simply 'measurement applied to people' but a lexicalized sense meaning physical tallness. 3×
AR["القَامَةِ","ضَخْمٌ","قَامَاتٍ"]·ben["-উচ্চ-আকৃতির","পরিমাপের","মাপের।"]·DE["Mass","[מדה]","stature"]·EN["stature"]·FR["[מדה]","stature"]·heb["מדה","מדות","מידה"]·HI["कद्दावर-का","लंबे-कद-के","लम्बे-कद-के"]·ID["berbadan-besar","berukuran-besar","tinggi"]·IT["misura","stature"]·jav["ageng","jangkung","ukuranipun-ageng"]·KO["치수-의","큰-키","키-큰"]·PT["de-medida","estatura","medidas"]·RU["великорослые","рослые","роста"]·ES["de-gran-estatura","estatura","medidas"]·SW["mkubwa","wakubwa","warefu"]·TR["dev","olculu","ölçülerin"]·urd["بڑے-قد-کے","قد-آور","لمبے-قد-کے"]
4. size or dimensions — The overall size, extent, or spaciousness of something — 2 occurrences at 1 Chr 23:29 (Levitical duties include oversight of 'measures and sizes') and Jer 22:14 (Jehoiakim building a palace 'of spacious dimensions'). Spanish dimensiones and German und-Mass both reach for the spatial-extent meaning rather than a specific metric unit. The distinction from sense 1 is that here middah denotes the overall magnitude of a thing rather than a calibrated standard. 2×
AR["وَ-مِقْدَارٍ","وَاسِعًا"]·ben["ও-পরিমাপ","মাপের"]·DE["[מדות]","und-Mass"]·EN["and-size","spaciousness"]·FR["[ומדה]","[מדות]"]·heb["ו-מדה","מידות"]·HI["और-नाप","बड़ा"]·ID["dan-takaran","yang-luas"]·IT["e-misura","misura"]·jav["ingkang-ageng","lan-taker"]·KO["그리고-치수","큰-방들의"]·PT["de-medidas","e-capacidade"]·RU["и-размера","обширный"]·ES["de-dimensiones","y-tamaño"]·SW["kubwa","na-mizani"]·TR["geniş","ve-miktar"]·urd["اور-پیمانے","بڑا"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. מִדָּה n.f. measure, measurement, stature, size, garment (mostly late)—מ׳ Ex 26:2 + 35 times; cstr. מִדַּת Ez 40:21 + 2 times; pl. מִדּוֹת Ez 41:17 + 12 times; מִדּוֹתָיו ψ 133:2; מִדּוֹתֶיהָ 48:16;— 1. measure, act of measurement, i.e. long measure Ez 41:17 (del. Co), 42:15; 48:30, 33; cf. Jos 3:4 (P), 1 Ch 23:29, v. also Lv 19:35 (H); once of liquid measure, fig., Jb 28:25; קַו֯ה הַמּ׳ Je…