πῆχυς

πῆχυς — pēchys

πῆχυς, genitive πηχεως (not found in the N. T.), genitive plural πηχῶν contracted from Ionic πήχεων (Joh 21:8; Rev 21:17; 1Ki 7:3 (15), 39 (2); Est 7:9; Eze 40:5) according to later usage, for the earlier and Attic πήχεων, which is common in the Sept. (cf. Lob. ad Phryn., p. 245f; (WHs Appendix, p. 157); Winer's Grammar, § 9, 2 e.), ὁ, the forearm i. e. that part of the arm between the hand and the elbow-joint (Homer, Odyssey 17, 38; Iliad 21, 166, etc.); hence, a cubit (ell, Latinulna), a measure of length equal to the distance from the joint of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger (i. e. about one foot and a half, but its precise length varied and is disputed; see B. D., under the phrase, Weights and Measures, II. 1): Mat 6:27; Luk 12:25 (on these passages, cf. ἡλικία, 1 a.); Joh 21:8; Rev 21:17. (The Sept. very often for אַמָּה.)