CUBIT. – A linear measure used by the ancient Hebrews, as by other Eastern peoples, corresponding to the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. The common Hebrew cubit (*ammah*) was 6 palms and 24 digits (458 mm.), but for sacred constructions the great cubit of 7 palms was used, equal to the Egyptian royal cubit, from which it may derive, corresponding to 525–30 mm. (Ez. 40:5; 43:13).
The common or short Egyptian cubit also has an exact counterpart in the Hebrew. After the exile the Hebrews adopted Babylonian measures (2 Chron. 3:3), namely the royal cubit of 556 mm. and the ordinary or short cubit of 495 mm.