We turn to the statements of Josephus and other early writers. The former states that the bath equals 72 xesicB (Ant. viii, 2, 9); that the hin equals 2 Attic choes (^ibid. iii, 8, 3 ; 9, 4) ; that the seah equals U Ital- ian modii (ibid, ix, 4, 5); that the cor equals 10 Attic medimni (ibid, xv, 9, 2) ; and that the issaron or omer equals 7 Attic cotylce (ibid, iii, 6, 6). It may further be implied from A nt. ix, 4, 4, as compared with 2 Kings vi, 25, that he regarded the cab as etpial to 4 xestai.
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Xow, in order to reduce these statements to consistency, I it must be assumed that in Ant. xv, 9, 2, he has con- fused the medimnus with the metrites, and in A nt. iii, G, ] G, the cotylk with the xest'es. Such errors throw doubt on his other statements, and tend to the conclusion that Josephus was not really familiar with the Greek measures. This impression is supported by his apparent ignorance of the term metret'es, which he should have used not only in the passage above noticed, but also in viii, 2, 9, where he would naturally have substituted it for 72 xestoe, assuming that these were Attic xesta. Nev- ertheless, his testimony must be taken as decisively in favor of the essential identity of the Hebrew bath with the Attic metret'es. Jerome {in Matt, xiii, 33) nfRrms that the seah equals li modii, and {in Ezek. xlv, 11) that the ccr t(iuals 30 modii: statements that are glaringly iiuonsi.suiit, inasmuch as there were 30 seahs in the cor. The statements of Epiphanius, in his treatise iJe Jilensuris, are equally remarkable for inconsistency. He states (ii, 177) that the cor equals 30 modii. On this assumption the bath would eciual 51 sexiarii, but he gives only 50 (p. 178) ; the seah would equal 1 modiiis, but he gives 1^ modii (p. 178), or, according to his esti- mate of 17 sexiarii to the modius, 21^ sexiarii ; though elsewhere he assigns 56 sextarii as its value (p. 182) ; the omer would be b^^ sextarii, but he gives 7i (p. 182), implying 45 modii to the cor; and, lastly, the ephah is identified with the Egyptian artabe (p. 182), which was either 4i or 3^ modii, according as it was in the old or the new measure, though, according to his es- timate of the cor, it would only equal 3 modii. Little reliance can be placed on statements so looselj-^ made, and the question arises whether the identification of the bath with the metret'es did not arise out of the circum- stance that the two measures held the same relative position in the scales, each being subdivided into 72 parts; and, again, whether the assignment of 30 modii to the cor did not arise out of there being 30 seahs in it. The discrepancies can only be explained on the as- sumption that a wide margin was allowed for a long measure, amounting to an increase of fifty percent. This appears to have been the case from the definition of the seah or gutov given by Ilesychius (^looiog yf/iwv, iiyovv '(V i'ljiiav fioSiov 'ItoXikuv), and again by Suidas {fiMiov v7npir(Tr\r]ptoi.uvoi>, ojc tlvai fiociov 'ipa ica'i i'lfttavv). Assuming, however, that Josephus was right in identifying the bath with the metretes, its value would be, according to Bcickh's estimate of the latter (p. 2G1, 278), 1993.95 Paris cubic inches, or 8.7053 Eng- lish gallons; but, according to the estimate of Bertheau (Cwc//. p. 73), 1985.77 Paris cubic inches, or 8.6G96 Eng- lish gallons.
The rabbinists furnish data of a different kind for calculating the value of the Hebrew measures. They estimated the log to be equal to six hen eggs, the cubic contents of which were ascertained by measuring the amount of water they displaced (Jfaimonides. zh Cel. 17, § 10). On this basis, Thenius estimated the log at 14.088 Paris cubic inches, or .0G147 English gallon, and the bath at 1014.39 Paris cubic inches, or 4.428G gal- lons (W. II. Kr. p. 101, 121). Again, the log of water is said to have weighed 108 Egyptian drachma^ each equalling Gl barleycorns (Maimoniiles, in Penh, 3, § G. ed. (iuisius). Thenius linds that G588 barleycorns fill about the same space as G hen eggs (-S7. v. Kr. p. 112). Again, a log is said to fill a vessel 4 digits long, 4 broad, and "l^^j high (^laimonides, in I'raf. Menaclmlli). This vessel would contain 21.G cubic inches, or .07754 gallon. The conclusion arrived at from these data would agree tolerably well with the first estimate formed on the notices of the molten sea.
In the New Testament we have notices of the fol- lowing foreign measures: (a) The metret'es, /ifTp»jr//(,- (Johii ii, 6; A. V. "firkin"), for liquids. (6) The cha- nix, xoii'i^ (Kev. vi, G ; A.V. " measure"), for dry things, (c) The xf'stes, ^irrrrjr, applied, however, not to the i)ar- ticidar nieasiure so named bv the tireeks, but to any
small vessel, such as a cup (Mark vii, 4, 8 ; A.V. " pot"), ((/) The modius, similarly applied to describe any ves- sel of moderate dimensions (Matt, v, 15; Mark iv, 21; Luke xi, 33; A.V. "bushel") ; though properly mean- ing a lioman measure, amounting to about a peck.