Greek word · G3355

μετρητής

metrētēs

measure

'Measurer'. A standard liquid measure, the Attic (Athenian) amphora-measure of about 39 litres (72 xestai, each roughly half a litre).

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

μετρητής, -οῦ, ὁ

(μετρέω), [in LXX: 1 Kings 18:32 (סְאָה), 2 Chronicles 4:5, (בַּת), etc. ;]

1. a measurer (Plat.).

2. = ἀμφορεύς, an Attic measure, = 11⁄2 Roman amphoræ or about 9 Eng. gallons: John 2:6.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 2:6

Range of meaning

'Measurer'. A standard liquid measure, the Attic (Athenian) amphora-measure of about 39 litres (72 xestai, each roughly half a litre).

Against the English

KJV's 'firkins' is an old English cask of about 9 gallons, which by chance is close to the real size but means nothing to most readers today. WEB keeps 'metretes' and YLT has 'measures'; both are accurate but leave the size unclear. BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB and NLT convert to '20–30 gallons', which is clear but hides the fact that this is an estimate.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament, μετρητής translates the Hebrew bath (2 Chron 4:5, where Solomon's bronze 'sea' 'held [χωροῦσαν] three thousand measures'; see also 1 Kgs 18:32). Josephus (Ant. 8.57) gives the bath as 72 xestai, which matches the Attic metrētēs. Some archaeological estimates of the Israelite bath are smaller (about 22 litres), so the totals here could be lower. Polybius (2.15.1) prices wine by the metrētēs.

Where it appears

John · 1

  1. John 2:6 μετρητὰς metretae

    Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons.

    Here: A standard liquid measure, usually reckoned at about 39 litres (roughly 9–10 US gallons) on the Greek standard. Two or three of them come to about 20–30 gallons per jar.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.