Omer (volume)

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Main article: Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement

The Omer, is an ancient Israelite unit of measure used in the era of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is used in the Bible as an ancient unit of volume for grains and dry commodities, and the Torah mentions as being equal to one tenth of an Ephah[1]. The Ephah was defined as being 72 Logs, and the Log was equal to the Sumerian Mina, which was itself defined as 1 sixtieth of a Maris[2]; the Omer was thus equal to about 12 hundreths of a Maris. The Maris was defined as being the quantity of water equal in weight to a light royal Talent[3], and was thus equal to about 30.3 litres[4], making the Omer equal to about 3.64 litres.

The Omer is not easy to fit into the remainder of the ancient Israelite measurement system, as it constitutes 1.8 Kabs and 0.3 Se'ah. It is evident that it wasn't originally present, but is instead a result of the sexagesimal[5] system being decimalised, perhaps under the influence of Egypt or Assyria, which both had decimal systems[6][7]. In the Torah, it is the Priestly Code which refers to the Omer, rather than to the Se'ah or Kab[8]; textual scholars view the Priestly Code as one of the later sources of the Torah, dating from a period when Egypt and Assyria had much more direct influence over Israel[9].

The word omer is sometimes translated as sheaf — specifically, an amount of grain large enough to require bundling. The biblical episode of the manna describes God as instructing the Israelites to collect an omer for each person in your tent. In Judaism, the main significance of the omer is the traditional offering of an omer of barley on the second day of Passover (during the period of Temple sacrifice) as well as the tradition of the Counting of the Omer (sefirat ha'omer) - the 49 days between this sacrifice and the two loaves of wheat offered on the holiday of Shavuot.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Exodus 16:36
  2. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  3. ^ there were two types of talent - royal and common, and each type came in a light form and a heavy form, with the heavy form being exactly twice the weight of the light form
  4. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  5. ^ 60-based
  6. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  7. ^ Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica
  8. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  9. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who wrote the Bible?
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