קוֹמָה, H6967
Height, stature; the vertical measurement of a structure or the physical build of a person
A feminine noun denoting vertical extent, used both for architectural measurements and human physical stature. The majority of its 46 occurrences describe the height of constructed objects -- the temple, its pillars, the tabernacle furnishings, Noah's ark, city walls -- where precision matters and the word functions as a technical building term. When applied to persons, as with Saul's impressive height or the beloved's stature in Song of Solomon, it shifts from engineering measurement to embodied quality. The multilingual evidence tracks this split neatly: Arabic uses irtifa' for structures but qama for people, and Korean distinguishes nopi (height) from ki (bodily stature).
Senses
1. height of structure/object — The measured vertical dimension of a building, wall, pillar, altar, or other constructed object, appearing 34 times primarily in construction narratives. Arabic irtifa', Korean nopi, and Swahili urefu consistently render this as abstract dimensional measurement. Found densely in Exodus 25-27 (tabernacle specifications), 1 Kings 6-7 (Solomon's temple), and Genesis 6:15 (Noah's ark at thirty cubits). The word functions here as a technical architectural term within precise cubit-based descriptions. 34×
AR["ارتِفاعُها","ارتِفاعُهُ","ارْتِفَاعُ","ارْتِفَاعُهَا","ارْتِفَاعُهُ","اِرتِفاعُهُ"]·ben["উচ্চতা","উচ্চতা-তার","এর-উচ্চতা","তার-উচ্চতা"]·DE["Hoehe","Hoehe-von","ihre-Höhe","sein-Hoehe","seine-Hoehe"]·EN["height-of","its-height"]·FR["[קומתו]","hauteur-de","son-hauteur"]·heb["קומת","קומת-ה","קומת-ו","קומתה-ה","קומתו","קומתו-ו"]·HI["उसकी-ऊँचाई","उस्की-ऊनचाई","ऊँचाई","ऊँचाई-उसकी"]·ID["hasta-tingginya","tinggi","tingginya"]·IT["altezza","altezza-di","sua-altezza","suo-altezza"]·jav["dhuwuripun,","dhuwuripun.","inggil","inggiling","inggilipun","inggilipun.","inggilè","inggilénipun"]·KO["그-높이의","그것-의-높이","그것의-높이","그것의-높이는","그것의-높이였다","높이는"]·PT["Altura-de","a-sua-altura","altura-dela","altura-dele","altura-sua","sua-altura"]·RU["высота","высота-его","высота-её"]·ES["altura-de","altura-de-ella","altura-de-él","su-altura"]·SW["Urefu","juu-ya","kimo-chake","kwa-miti","thelathini","urefu-wake","ya-dhiraa"]·TR["yüksekligi","yüksekliği","yüksekliği-onun"]·urd["اونچائی","اونچائی-اس-کی","اُس کی اونچائی","اُس-کی-اونچائی"]
Gen 6:15, Exod 25:10, Exod 25:23, Exod 27:1, Exod 27:18, Exod 30:2, Exod 37:1, Exod 37:10, Exod 37:25, Exod 38:1, Exod 38:18, 1 Kgs 6:2 (+22 more)
2. stature of a person — The bodily height or physical build of a human or personified figure, attested 12 times. Multilingual evidence reveals a genuine semantic distinction: Arabic shifts to qama (bodily stature), Korean to ki (a person's height), and Hindi to kad/kathi (build, frame). Key passages include 1 Samuel 16:7, where God tells Samuel not to judge by Eliab's qomah because the Lord looks at the heart, and Song of Solomon 7:7, where the beloved's stature is compared to a palm tree -- both contexts where embodied physical presence, not mere measurement, is in view. 12×
AR["الْقَامَةِ","عَالِيَ","فِي-الْقَامَةِ","فِي-قَامَتِهَا","قامتِهِ","قَامَةٍ","قَامَتُكِ","قَامَتُهَا","قَامَتُهُ","قَامَتِهِ"]·ben["-উচ্চতার","উচ্চতা","উচ্চতায়","উচ্চতার","তাঁর-উচ্চতায়","তাদের-উচ্চতায়","তার-উচ্চতা","তার-দেহের","তোমার-উচ্চতা"]·DE["Hoehe","[הקומה]","[קומתך]","sein-stature","stature-sein","stature-von"]·EN["his-stature","in-stature","in-their-stature","its-stature","stature","stature-his","stature-its","stature-of","the-stature","your-stature"]·FR["[הקומה]","son-stature","stature","stature-de","stature-son","ta-taille"]·heb["ב-קומה","ב-קומתם","ה-קומה","קומה","קומת","קומת-ו","קומתו","קומתך"]·HI["उस्कि-कअय-कि","उस्कि-लम्बै-भर","ऊँचाई","ऊँचाई-उसकी","ऊँचाई-की","ऊंचाई-उसकी","ऊंचाई-की","ऊंचाई-में","कद-वाले","तेरी-काठी","में-ऊंचाई","में-ऊंचाई-अपनी"]·ID["-perawakannya","-tinggi","dalam-tinggi,","dalam-tingginya","ketinggian","perawakannya","tinggi","tinggimu","tingginya","tingginya;"]·IT["altezza","statura","statura-di","statura-suo","suo-statura","tuo-stature-tua"]·jav["awak-nipun","dedegipun","dhuwur","dhuwuripun","dhuwuripun-panjenengan","ing-dhuwur","ing-dhuwuripun","pawakan"]·KO["그것의-키가","그의-키","그의-키를","네-키-가","키","키가-그의","키에서-","키에서-그들의","키의"]·PT["altura-de","em-estatura","em-estatura-deles","estatura","estatura-dele","sua-estatura","tua-estatura"]·RU["в-росте","в-росте-своём","высоту","рост-его","рост-её","рост-свой","рост-твой","роста","роста-его","ростом"]·ES["altura-de","en-estatura","en-su-estatura","estatura","estatura-suya","su-estatura","tu-estatura"]·SW["katika-kimo","katika-kimo-chao","kimo","kimo-chake","kimo-chako","urefu","urefu-wake","wa-kimo","wa-kimo-chake"]·TR["boy","boyda","boylarında","boyu","boyun","boyunu-","boyunun"]·urd["اُس-کا-قد","اُس-کی-قد","اُس-کے-قد-کی","اپنے-قد-میں","بلندی","تیرا-قد","قامت-اپنی","قد-میں","قد-والے","قد-کے"]
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
קוֹמָה, קֹמָה n.f. height;—abs. קוֹמָה Ex 38:18 +, קֹמָה 27:18; cstr. קוֹמַת 1 K 6:26 +; sf. קוֹמָתוֹ 7:23 +, קֹמָתוֹ Ex 25:10 +, etc.;— 1. height, of pers., stature 1 S 16:7 Ez 13:18; Ct 7:8; מְלֹא־קוֹמָתוֹ 1 S 28:20 his full length. 2. of tree 2 K 19:23 = Is 37:24; in fig. Is 10:33; Ez 31:3, 5, 10, 14; of vine (fig.) Ez 19:11 and שִׁפְלַת ק׳ 17:6 low of height. 3. of artificial structures:…