Almanac › Weights & measures

Seah

Hebrew סְאָה. Also called Measure.

A third of an ephah — the measure of flour in the parable of the leaven.

Volume (dry)
6.67–8 L (1.76–2.11 gal). Defined as 1/3 of a ephah. Inherits the disagreement over the ephah.

A seah is a third of an ephah, and it is the household baking measure: Abraham tells Sarah to take three seahs of fine flour for the visitors, and the woman in the parable hides leaven in the same three. Three seahs is an ephah, so both scenes are describing a full measure rather than a modest one — enough bread for a crowd.

The dry measures, drawn to scale Grain baskets at true volume beside a 6-foot man: a cab, an eighteenth of an ephah, 1.11–1.33 L; an omer, a tenth of an ephah and one person's daily manna, 2–2.4 L, beside a 2-litre bottle; a seah, a third of an ephah, 6.67–8 L; and an ephah, 20–24 L (5.28–6.34 gal), beside a 5-gallon bucket. Ten ephah baskets stacked four, three, two and one make a homer, 200–240 L, a donkey-load. a 6-ft (1.8 m) man a caban eighteenth1.11–1.33 L1.17–1.41 qtan omera tenth: a day’s manna2–2.4 L2.11–2.54 qta seaha third6.67–8 L1.76–2.11 galan ephahthe anchor20–24 L5.28–6.34 gal2-litre bottle5-gallon bucket12345678910a homer, ‘a donkey-load’ten ephahs200–240 L · 52.8–63.4 gal
Each basket holds its measure at the middle of the range above. The ephah is the anchor: a seah is a third of it, an omer a tenth and a cab an eighteenth, and ten ephahs make a homer, the word for a donkey’s load. An omer of manna, a day’s food for one person (Exodus 16:16), is about a 2-litre bottle’s worth.

Where it appears

See also

All 84 almanac entries