View source for Cubit

As with the other measurements, each culture had their own [[Cubit|cubit]] ranging from about 11 inches to 26 inches. This is an example of a Babylonian &ldquo;yardstick&rdquo; with dimensions of what they called a &ldquo;[[Cubit|cubit]]&rdquo;, broken down into palms, feet, and fingers.

[[File:Cubit_stick.jpg|thumb|center|700px|[[Cubit|Cubit]] stick]]This [[Cubit|cubit]] stick is from 15<sup>th</sup> century BC Nippur (near Babylon), and shows a [[Cubit|cubit]] of 20.4&rdquo; (51.8 cm). But even in the Bible, it is acknowledged that there is more than one [[Cubit|cubit]]:

<strong>Deuteronomy 3:11</strong> <em>For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; ... nine [[Cubit|cubits]] was the length thereof, and four [[Cubit|cubits]] the breadth of it, <u><strong>after the [[Cubit|cubit]] of a man.</strong></u></em>

This &ldquo;[[Cubit|cubit]] of a man&rdquo; implies that there was another [[Cubit|cubit]] that was different in length, a &ldquo;[[Cubit|cubit]] of God&rdquo;.

<strong>2 Chronicles 3:3</strong> <em>This is the foundation which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty [[Cubit|cubits]] <strong>(by [[Cubit|cubits]] according to the former measure)</strong> and the width twenty [[Cubit|cubits]].</em>

Here again we see God emphasizing &ldquo;according to the former measure of the [[Cubit|cubit]]&rdquo;. Chronicles was revised under Ezra, after the Babylonian captivity. Kings was written much earlier, and makes no mention of a difference in [[Cubit|cubits]] when it tells the same story.

<strong>Ezekiel 40:5, 41:8</strong> <em>&hellip; and in the man&rsquo;s hand a measuring reed of six [[Cubit|cubits]] long <strong>by the [[Cubit|cubit]] and an hand breadth</strong>: &hellip; a full reed of <strong>six great [[Cubit|cubits]].</strong></em>

God said to find the true [[Cubit|cubit]], you took one &ldquo;common&rdquo; [[Cubit|cubit]], and added the width of a hand&nbsp;&ndash; and that was what God meant when He said &ldquo;[[Cubit|cubit]]&rdquo;. Ezekiel was writing from Babylon, so this would mean take the [[Cubit|cubit]] they knew&nbsp;&ndash; the Babylonian [[Cubit|cubit]] of about 21 inches&nbsp;&ndash; and add one [[Handbreadth|handbreadth]]. 

<strong>So clearly around the Babylonian captivity the [[Cubit|cubit]] Israel was familiar with changed.</strong> God&rsquo;s [[Cubit|cubit]] was the larger, &ldquo;great [[Cubit|cubit]]&rdquo;, one containing an additional [[Handbreadth|handbreadth]]. 

==See Also==
[[The_Meanings_of_the_Measures|The Meanings of the Measures]]