Cubit is a word derived immediately from the Latin cubitus, the lower arm. The length of the cubit has varied in different nations, and at different times. Derived as the measure is from a part of the human body, and as the human stature has been of very dissimilar length, the cubit must of necessity have been various. That the cubit among the Hebrews was derived as a measure from the human body is clear from —'after the cubit of a man.' But it is difficult to determine whether this cubit was understood as extending to the wrist or the end of the third finger. As, however, the latter seems most natural, since men, when ignorant of anatomy, and seeking in their own frames standards of measure, were likely to take both the entire foot and the entire fore-arm, the probability is that the longer was the original cubit, namely, the length from the elbow to the extremity of the longest finger.
The hand-breadth is found as a measure in , comp. . In the latter passage the finger-breadth is another measure. The span also occurs, . So that, it appears, measures of length were, for the most part, borrowed by the Hebrews from members of the human body. Still no absolute and invariable standard presents itself. If the question, What is a hand or a finger-breadth? be asked, the answer can be only an approximation to fact. If, however, the palm or hand-breadth is taken at 3½ inches, then the cubit will amount to 21 inches. In addition to the common cubit, the Egyptians had a longer one of 6 palms 4 inches. The Hebrews also have been thought to have had a longer cubit; for, in , we read of a cubit which seems to be an ordinary 'cubit and an hand-breadth;' see also , where it is expressly said 'the cubit is a cubit and an hand-breadth.' The prophet has been supposed to refer here to the then current Babylonian cubit—a measure which it is thought the Jews borrowed during the period of their captivity. In the New Testament our Lord characteristically employs the term cubit (; ) for the enforcement of a moral and spiritual lesson. The term also occurs in , and in . In justice in measures, as well as in weights, is strictly enjoined.
This Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature is a 6 volume set in 1 book. It has over 2Read More
John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
Wikipedia