μόδιος

From the study of Luke 11:33

Range of meaning

Borrowed from the Latin modius: a standard Roman dry measure of about 8.5–9 litres (roughly two gallons, about a quarter of an English bushel), and the vessel used to measure grain.

Against the English

KJV says "bushel," which is about four times too large and today suggests a big farm basket. BSB, WEB and ESV say "basket" and NIV says "bowl." Both are fair everyday equivalents, but they lose the fact that this is a measuring vessel. YLT keeps it: "the measure."

How it drifted

"Bushel" was the nearest standard English dry measure in 1611. Through Matthew 5:15 the phrase "hide your light under a bushel" became an English idiom about false modesty, which pulls the image away from its setting.

Used elsewhere in the period

A common Roman measure throughout the empire. It appears in the Greek of Matthew 5:15, Mark 4:21 and here. Rabbinic texts know a related grain measure.

From the study of Mark 4:21

Range of meaning

A Latin loanword (modius): a standard Roman dry measure for grain, about 16 sextarii, roughly 8.6–8.75 litres (about 2 US dry gallons, a peck). It also meant the vessel used for that measure (BDAG s.v. μόδιος).

Against the English

KJV “bushel” overstates the size: an English bushel is about four times larger (about 35 litres). Modern “basket” (BSB, WEB, ESV, NLT) or “bowl” (NIV) gives the idea of a covering vessel but loses its specific identity as a household measuring container, which may have been wood or pottery rather than woven.

How it drifted

Tyndale and the KJV used the closest familiar English measure. Later versions chose a general container word so that readers would not be thrown by an unfamiliar unit.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in Greek of the Roman period as the word for the Latin unit. It is one of a cluster of Latin loanwords in Mark (legion, denarius, centurion, praetorium, quadrans, speculator), often taken as a sign of a Roman-influenced audience. Matthew 5:15 and Luke 11:33 also use it.

From the study of Matthew 5:15

Range of meaning

A Greek form of the Latin modius, the standard Roman dry measure (16 sextarii, about 8.7 liters, roughly a peck or a quarter of a US bushel). It also meant the container used to measure that amount: a wooden or earthenware tub or bowl kept in the house for grain or flour.

Against the English

KJV 'bushel' (following earlier English Bibles) names a measure about four times larger and is now just an idiom to most readers. 'Basket' (BSB, ESV, NASB) and 'bowl' (NIV) give the shape of the thing but lose the fact that it was a measuring vessel. WEB's 'measuring basket' and YLT's 'the measure' keep that sense.

How it drifted

Early English translators swapped in a familiar English measure for the Roman one. Later the phrase 'hide one's light under a bushel' broke away from the Bible and came to mean being too modest about one's own talents.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same word appears in the parallel sayings in Mark 4:21 and Luke 11:33 (Luke 8:16 has 'a jar' instead). It is a Latin loanword that spread through Greek in the Roman East along with Roman measures. A Greek borrowing of the word, mōdyā, is also used in rabbinic Hebrew.