Biblical mile

Biblical mile (Hebrew: מיל, romanized: mīl) is a unit of distance on land, or linear measure, principally used by Jews during the Herodian dynasty to ascertain distances between cities and to mark the Sabbath limit, equivalent to about ⅔ of an English statute mile, or what was about four furlongs (four stadia).^[1] The basic Jewish traditional unit of distance was the cubit (Hebrew: אמה), each cubit being roughly between 46–60 centimetres (18–24 in)^[2] The standard measurement of the biblical mile, or what is sometimes called tǝḥūm šabbat^[3] (Sabbath limit; Sabbath boundary), was 2,000 cubits.^[4]^[5]

^ Although a furlong (stadion) is an obsolete measure of length, according to the historian Josephus there were about four furlongs to a biblical mile. The Southern Wall of Jerusalem's Temple Mount is 922 feet (281 m) in length, and which Josephus equates as being equal to the length of one furlong (Greek: stadion). See: Josephus, Antiquities (15.11.3; XV.415–416), who described the dimensions of the Temple Mount in the following terms (apparently not including the extension made to the Temple Mount): “This hill was walled all round, and in compass four furlongs; [the distance of] each angle containing in length a furlong (Gr. stadion).” Compare Mishnah Middot 2:1 which states that the Temple Mount measured five-hundred cubits (Heb. amah) by five-hundred cubits. If it can be ascertained that Josephus' stadion is equivalent to the 500 cubits mentioned in the Mishnah, and being that the Southern Wall measured 281 meters, this would place each cubit (Heb. amah) at 56.205 cm. Rabbi Saadia Gaon, on the other hand, holds that a stadion was equivalent to only 470 cubits (v. Uziel Fuchs, "Millot HaMishnah" by R. Saadia Gaon — the First Commentary to the Mishnah, Sidra: A Journal for the Study of Rabbinic Literature, pub. Bar-Ilan University Press (2014), p. 66), in which case, each cubit was 59.792 cm, close to the 60 cm. cubit espoused by the Chazon-Ish.
^ Depending on the standards given by Rabbi Avraham Chaim Naeh and the Chazon-Ish.
^ Shulhan Arukh (Orach Chaim §297:2)
^ Mishnah - with a Commentary of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (ed. Yosef Qafih), vol. 1, Mossad Harav Kook: Jerusalem 1963, s.v. Kippurim 6:4
^ Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin 51a

[1] Although a furlong (stadion) is an obsolete measure of length, according to the historian Josephus there were about four furlongs to a biblical mile. The Southern Wall of Jerusalem's Temple Mount is 922 feet (281 m) in length, and which Josephus equates as being equal to the length of one furlong (Greek: stadion). See: Josephus, Antiquities (15.11.3; XV.415–416), who described the dimensions of the Temple Mount in the following terms (apparently not including the extension made to the Temple Mount): “This hill was walled all round, and in compass four furlongs; [the distance of] each angle containing in length a furlong (Gr. stadion).” Compare Mishnah Middot 2:1 which states that the Temple Mount measured five-hundred cubits (Heb. amah) by five-hundred cubits. If it can be ascertained that Josephus' stadion is equivalent to the 500 cubits mentioned in the Mishnah, and being that the Southern Wall measured 281 meters, this would place each cubit (Heb. amah) at 56.205 cm. Rabbi Saadia Gaon, on the other hand, holds that a stadion was equivalent to only 470 cubits (v. Uziel Fuchs, "Millot HaMishnah" by R. Saadia Gaon — the First Commentary to the Mishnah, Sidra: A Journal for the Study of Rabbinic Literature, pub. Bar-Ilan University Press (2014), p. 66), in which case, each cubit was 59.792 cm, close to the 60 cm. cubit espoused by the Chazon-Ish.

[2] Depending on the standards given by Rabbi Avraham Chaim Naeh and the Chazon-Ish.

[3] Shulhan Arukh (Orach Chaim §297:2)

[4] Mishnah - with a Commentary of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (ed. Yosef Qafih), vol. 1, Mossad Harav Kook: Jerusalem 1963, s.v. Kippurim 6:4

[5] Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin 51a

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