1 Kings 6:2

And the house [ i.e; not the whole structure, but the main building, exclusive of porch ( 1 Kings 6:3 ) and side chambers ( 1 Kings 6:5 )] which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits [But what was the length of the cubit? ( אָמָהֹ ) This unfortunately is by no means certain, as the Jews would seem to have had three different cubits. All the ancient measures, both Jewish and Gentile, were taken from parts of the body. Thus we find a "finger-breadth" ( Jeremiah 52:21 ), " hand-breadth " ( 1 Kings 7:26 ), "span" ( 1 Samuel 17:24 ), and the Greeks had their δάκτυλος πούς and τῆχυς , and the Romans their cubitus, pes, digitus, etc. אָמָה is used in its proper sense ( ulna ) Deuteronomy 3:11 . Probably at first it signified, like πῆχυς , the length from point of elbow to tip of little or middle finger. But it is obvious that this was an uncertain measure, and hence perhaps arose cubits of different length. According to Gesen. the cubit here mentioned, which was the older or sacred Mosaic cubit ( 2 Chronicles 3:3 ), was six palms, while that of Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 40:5 ; Ezekiel 43:13 ), the royal Babylonian cubit, was seven, but on this as well as other points the authorities are very far from agreed. "The length of the cubit is one of the most knotty points of Hebrew archaeology". There is a general consensus of opinion, however in favour of understanding the cubit here mentioned as measuring 18 inches. Fergusson considers this to be beyond question. It is certainly noteworthy that the measurements of Kings and Chronicles, of Ezra and Ezekiel, of Josephus and the Talmud, all agree, and we know that Josephus always uses the Greek cubit of 18 inches. Mr. Conder, however, maintains that the Hebrew cubit amounts to no more than sixteen inches. He says, "Maimonides tells us that the temple cubit was of 48 barleycorns, and any one who will take the trouble to measure barleycorns, will find that three go to the inch"—which gives 16 inches for the cubit. To this argument, which is not perhaps of much weight, he adds, what is of much greater moment, that "the Galilean synagogues, measured by it, give round numbers"] and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. [It thus appears that the temple was but a small—compared with many churches, a very small—building. But its purpose and object must be considered. It was not for assemblies of the people. The congregation never met within it, but the worship was offered towards it. It was a place for the Holy Presence, and for the priests who ministered before it.]