Bath
“A liquid measure, possibly from a root meaning 'to contain'”
Summary
A Hebrew unit of liquid measure equal to approximately eight to nine gallons, used for measuring wine and oil.
☩Measurement Standard
The bath was the standard Hebrew liquid measure, equivalent to the ephah for dry goods. Both were the tenth part of a homer. According to Josephus, one bath contained 72 sextarii, calculating to approximately 8-9 gallons in English measure. The prophet Ezekiel presents the bath as the standard measure alongside other units when discussing the reformed system of weights and measures.
☩Biblical Uses
The bath is mentioned in connection with Solomon's temple, where the molten sea held two thousand baths and each laver held forty baths. Oil and wine were measured in baths, as when Solomon paid Hiram with twenty thousand baths of oil. The bath also appears in Isaiah's prophecy of judgment, where ten acres of vineyard would yield only one bath of wine.
Related Verses22 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Bath," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. I (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Bath," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).