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Span

Hebrew זֶרֶת. Literally "a spread hand". Also called Zeret.

Thumb-tip to little-finger-tip on a spread hand: half a cubit.

Length
22.2–22.9 cm (8.75–9 in). Defined as 1/2 of a cubit. Inherits the disagreement over the cubit.

The span is the width of an outstretched hand, and it is exactly half a cubit. It is the measure the high priest's breastpiece is given in — a span square — and it is the second half of Goliath's height, which the text gives as six cubits and a span rather than rounding.

Goliath’s height, drawn to scale Goliath as the Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 17:4 gives him, six cubits and a span, which is 9.48–9.75 ft (2.89–2.97 m): taller than an 8-foot ceiling, in a bronze helmet and a coat of mail, holding a spear. Beside him in dashed outline is the reading of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Greek, four cubits and a span, 6.56–6.75 ft (2–2.06 m), and a 6-foot man for comparison. A stack of blocks counts out the six cubits and the span. an 8-ft (2.4 m) ceiling 123456+ a spancubits a 6-ft (1.8 m) man four cubits and a span6.56–6.75 ft · 2–2.06 mDead Sea Scrolls and Greek six cubits and a span9.48–9.75 ft · 2.89–2.97 mHebrew text, 1 Samuel 17:4 a spear-head of 600 shekels of iron6.6–6.9 kg · 14.6–15.2 lba helmet of bronzea coat of mail, 5,000 shekels of bronze55–57.5 kg · 121–127 lb“the staff of his spear waslike a weaver’s beam” (17:7)
The Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 17:4 gives Goliath’s height as six cubits and a span, and a span is half a cubit. It is drawn here with an 18-inch cubit. A Hebrew copy of Samuel among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the ancient Greek translation, read four cubits and a span instead: a very tall man rather than a giant. The weights use this Almanac’s shekel.

Where it appears

See also

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