H5429 H5429
A seah, an ancient Hebrew dry measure equal to one-third of an ephah (approximately 7 liters), used for grain and flour.
The seah was a standard unit of dry measure in ancient Israel, roughly one-third of an ephah or about 7.3 liters. Abraham instructs Sarah to prepare three seahs of fine flour for his angelic visitors (Gen 18:6), Abigail brings five seahs of roasted grain to David (1 Sam 25:18), and Elijah uses two seahs of seed to measure the trench around his altar on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs 18:32). During the siege of Samaria, the miraculous fulfillment of Elisha's prophecy is measured in seahs -- 'a seah of fine flour for a shekel' (2 Kgs 7:1, 16, 18). French 'seahs' and Spanish 'seas' borrow the term directly, while German simply uses 'Sea,' reflecting the challenge of translating ancient metrological vocabulary.
Senses
1. seah (unit of dry measure) — A seah, a specific dry-volume measure equivalent to approximately one-third of an ephah (about 7.3 liters), used for measuring flour, grain, and seed. Key passages include Abraham's hospitality offering of three seahs (Gen 18:6), Abigail's gift of five seahs (1 Sam 25:18), Elijah's altar-trench measurement (1 Kgs 18:32), and Elisha's prophecy of economic restoration priced per seah (2 Kgs 7:1, 16, 18). Multilingual glosses show universal borrowing of the term -- Spanish 'seas,' French 'seahs,' German 'Sea' -- since no equivalent unit exists in modern measurement systems. 9×
AR["صاعانِ", "صاعَيْنِ", "صاعُ-", "صيعانٍ", "صِيعَانٍ", "وَ-صاعُ-", "وَصاعانِ"]·ben["এবং-দুই-সায়া", "এবং-সায়া-", "দুই-মাপের", "দুই-সায়া", "মাপ", "সায়া-"]·DE["Sea", "ein-seah-von-", "seahs", "und-ein-seah-von-", "und-zwei-seahs", "zwei-seahs"]·EN["a-seah-of-", "and-a-seah-of-", "and-two-seahs", "seahs", "two-seahs"]·FR["deux-seahs", "et-deux-seahs", "et-un-seah-de-", "seahs", "un-seah-de-"]·heb["ו-סאה-", "ו-סאתיים", "סאה-", "סאים", "סאתיים"]·HI["उसेआह-", "दो-साह", "वसातयिम", "सातयिम", "सिआह", "सेअह", "सेआह-"]·ID["dan-dua-sukat", "dan-satu-sukat-", "dua-sea", "dua-sukat", "satu-sukat-", "seah"]·IT["due-seah", "e-due-seah", "e-un-seah-di-", "seah", "seahs", "un-seah-di-"]·jav["Kalih-seah", "kalih-séah", "lan-kalih-seah", "lan-sa-seah-", "sa-seah-", "seah", "séa"]·KO["그리고-두-세아의", "그리고-한-세아의", "두-세아의", "두-스아의", "세아", "세아의", "한-세아의"]·PT["duas-medidas", "duas-seás", "e-duas-seás", "e-seá-de", "medidas-de", "seahs-de", "seá-de"]·RU["две-сеах", "две-сеи", "и-две-сеи", "и-сеа-", "мер", "меры", "сеа-"]·ES["Dos-seas-de", "dos-seahs", "medidas-de", "sea-de", "seahs", "y-dos-seas-de", "y-sea-de"]·SW["na-sea-mbili", "na-sea-mbili-za", "na-sea-ya-", "sea-mbili", "sea-mbili-za", "sea-moja-ya-", "sea-ya-", "sea-za", "vipimo"]·TR["iki-sea", "sea", "sea-", "ve-iki-sea", "ve-sea-"]·urd["اور-ایک-سیاہ-", "اور-دو-سیاہ", "ایک-سیاہ-", "دو-سیاہ", "سیاہ", "پیمانے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† סְאָה n.f. (v. infr.) se’āh, a measure of flour, grain, etc. (√ unknown; perhaps foreign word; NH id.; Aramaic סְאָה, סָאתָא, ܣܳܐܴܐ, ܣܶܐܴܐ, ܣܰܐܬܳܐ (Gk. σάτον, LewyFremdwörter 116 f.));—abs. סְאָה־ 2 K 7:1, 16, וּסֳאָה־ v 18 (Baer Ginsb cf. Ges§ 10 h); du. סָאתַיִם 1 K 18:32 + 3 times; pl. סְאִים Gn 18:6; 1 S 25:18;—always c. appos. of thing measured, Gn 18:6 (J), 1 S 25:18 1 K 18:32; 2 K…