Ephah (אֵיפָה, eyphah', rarely אֵפָה, ephah'), a measure of grain, containing "three seahs or ten omers," and equivalent in capacity to the bath for liquids (Ex 16:36; 1Sa 17:17; Zec 5:6; Jg 6:19; Ru 2:17; the "double ephah," Pr 20:10; De 25:14; Am 8:5, means two ephahs, the one just, the other false). According to Josephus (Ant. 8:2, 9), the ephah contained 72 sextarii, equal to the Attic (liquid) metretes, or 1933.95 Paris cubic inches, about 1 and one-twelfth bushels English (see Bockh, Metrolog. Untersuch. pages 259, 278). This is also confirmed by other testimony; so that there is doubtless an error in another passage of Josephus (Ant. 15:9, 2), where the ephah seems to be equal to 96 sextarii, or the Attic medimnus. The origin of this word is to be sought in the Egyptian language, where it signifies a measure, especially of corn, from which comes the Sept. rendering οἰφί (see Rediger, in Allg. Encyklop. s.v.; Gesenius, Thes. Ling. Hebrews in Append.). SEE MEASURES.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More