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hin

הִין

HebrewH1969hin

Appears 22 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 29:40 (2×)Exo 30:24Lev 19:36Lev 23:13Num 15:4Num 15:5Num 15:6Num 15:7Num 15:9Num 15:10Num 28:5Num 28:7Num 28:14
Word studyHEENnoun

What hin means

a hin: a unit of liquid measure (about three and a half liters, a sixth of a bath), used for oil, wine, and water

TranslatabilityUntranslatableCertaintyStrong

The hin is a container-sized measure of liquid, holding roughly three and a half liters, a little under a gallon. It sits in the middle of Israel's system of liquid measures: six hin make one bath (the largest liquid measure), and one hin divides into twelve of the smallest unit, the log. The word itself was almost certainly borrowed from Egyptian, where a similar term named a standard jar.

Almost every time the hin appears, it is measuring out an ingredient for worship. The instructions for the daily and festival offerings call for set fractions of a hin of oil to be mixed into grain offerings and matching amounts of wine poured out as drink offerings: a quarter of a hin, a third, or a half, scaled to the size of the animal being offered. A full hin of finely pressed olive oil goes into the sacred anointing oil in Exodus 30:24. In Ezekiel's vision of a restored temple, the prophet drinks his rationed water by the sixth of a hin, and the same measure sets the oil for the offerings there.

One appearance stands apart from the altar. In the command to use honest weights and measures, a "just hin" is named alongside honest scales and an honest dry measure, making the hin a benchmark of fair dealing as well as a tool of the sanctuary.

Because it is a fixed unit rather than a describable object, English Bibles simply carry the word over as "hin" rather than translating it.

Exo 29:40 (2×)Exo 30:24Lev 19:36Lev 23:13Num 15:4Num 15:5Num 15:6Num 15:7Num 15:9Num 15:10Num 28:5Num 28:7

What scholars say about hin

The lexica (HALOT, BDB) treat הִין as a loanword from Egyptian hnw, a standard measuring jar, and define it as a liquid measure equal to one sixth of a bath and twelve log. Reconstructions of its absolute volume vary with the estimate adopted for the bath: de Vaux (Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions) puts the hin near 3.6 liters, while others allow a somewhat larger figure. The term is confined to priestly and cultic contexts (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Ezekiel's temple vision), where it quantifies oil and wine for offerings and the anointing oil, plus its single appearance among the standards of honest measure in Leviticus 19:36. There is no dispute over its sense as a liquid measure; the uncertainty is confined to its precise capacity.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. הִיןlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. הִיןlexicon
  • Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions, Part 1, ch. 13 (Weights and Measures)monograph

All attested forms of הִין

m s absolute

הִין

Exo 29:40, Exo 30:24, Lev 23:13, Num 15:4, Num 15:5, Num 15:6, Num 15:7, Num 15:9

m s construct

הִין

Exo 29:40, Lev 19:36