אַמָּה (am.mah)
am.mah
cubit
A:NQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- A:N
Word Overview
The word ammah denotes a cubit, an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. This forearm measurement provided a practical standard for daily life and construction, typically equating to roughly eighteen inches or half a meter.
In the Hebrew Bible this term appears frequently, but it is rare in Aramaic. The form ammah occurs only twice, both in the Aramaic sections of Ezra and Daniel. These passages use the measure to describe physical dimensions, such as the size of architectural elements or objects within the royal courts.
Its presence in these books highlights the international nature of the Persian-era narratives, where Aramaic served as the common language of administration. The consistency of this measurement across cultures underscores how standardized practical units facilitated trade and building projects in the ancient Near East.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word ammah refers to a cubit, an ancient unit of measurement based on the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. This practical standard, roughly eighteen inches long, was used for daily life and construction in the ancient Near East. Its appearance in the Aramaic sections of Ezra and Daniel highlights the international context of these Persian-era narratives.
In these texts, the cubit measures significant structures like the temple foundations and Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. These precise dimensions remind us that God cares about the physical details of our world. Whether building a house of worship or navigating royal courts, the material realm matters to Him. This grounding in reality invites us to see faith not as abstract theory, but as lived experience.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- cubits2×
- [was] cubits2×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- אַמִּ֣ין3×
- אַמִּ֥ין1×
Key Verses
-
Ezra 6:3
In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid, with its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits;
This verse uses the cubit to specify the exact dimensions of the temple foundation, showing God's concern for precise order in worship.
-
Daniel 3:1
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Here the cubit measures the height of a golden idol, contrasting human pride with the true God who remains sovereign over all structures.