בַּת (bat)
bat
bath
H:NQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 4 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N
Word Overview
The noun bath refers to a standard unit of liquid measure in ancient Israel, roughly equivalent to forty liters or nine imperial gallons. Lexical sources note that it was equal in volume to the dry measure known as the ephah, creating a consistent system for both liquids and grains. This specific entry appears in only four verses, primarily within historical and prophetic texts like I Kings, II Chronicles, and Isaiah.
While rabbinic tradition later suggested smaller sizes for this unit, the biblical data points to this larger capacity. The word highlights the practical administration of resources in the temple and royal economies. Its limited occurrence suggests it was a familiar term to the original audience, requiring no further explanation beyond its use as a precise measure for oil, grain, or water.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word bat represents a standard unit of liquid measure in ancient Israel, holding roughly forty liters or nine gallons. It was equal in volume to the dry measure known as the ephah, creating a consistent system for both liquids and grains. This specific entry appears in only four verses, primarily within historical and prophetic texts like I Kings, II Chronicles, and Isaiah.
While rabbinic tradition later suggested smaller sizes for this unit, the biblical data points to this larger capacity. The word highlights the practical administration of resources in the temple and royal economies. Its limited occurrence suggests it was a familiar term to the original audience, requiring no further explanation beyond its use as a precise measure for oil, grain, or water.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 4 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- bath[s]2×
- baths1×
- a bath1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- בַּתִּ֔ים1×
- בַּ֣ת1×
- בַּ֜ת1×
- בַּ֖ת1×
Key Verses
-
I Kings 7:26
It was a hand width thick. Its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.
This verse describes the large bronze basin in Solomon's temple holding two thousand baths, demonstrating the scale of resources dedicated to worship.
-
Isaiah 5:10
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah.”
Here the prophet uses the bath as a measure of curse, showing how a small yield from a large vineyard indicates divine judgment on the land.
-
II Chronicles 4:5
It was a handbreadth thick. Its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It received and held three thousand baths.
This parallel account to Kings specifies three thousand baths for the same basin, emphasizing the abundance provided for temple services.