Length and Distance
The original measures of length were clearly derived from the human body — the finger, hand, arm, span, foot, and pace — but since these measures differ between individuals, they are reduced to a certain standard for general use. The Israelite system thus used divisions of the fingerbreadth(Hebrew: אצבע, Etzba; plural etzba'ot), palm (Hebrew: טפח, Tefah/Tefach; plural Tefahim/Tefachim), span (Hebrew: זרת, Zeret), ell (Hebrew: אמה, Amah, plural Amot), mile (Hebrew: מיל, Mil; plural milin), and parsa (Hebrew: פרסה, Parasa). The latter two are loan words into the Hebrew language, and borrowed measurements - the Latin mile, and Persian Parasang, respectively; the Persian Parasang was approximately (but not exactly) equal to 4 Roman miles.
The Israelite measurements were related as follows:
- 1 palm (Tefah) = 4 fingerbreadths (Etzba'ot)
- 1 span (Zeret) = 3 palms (Tefahim)
- 1 ell (Amah) = 2 spans (Zeret)
- 1 mil (Mil) = 2000 ells (Amot)
- 1 parasang (Parasa) = 4 mils (Milin)
Read more about this topic: Biblical And Talmudic Units Of Measurement
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