ephah
e.phah is a standard quantity used for flour, grain, offerings, honest measures, and a visionary vessel.
The term most often marks a stated quantity in grain and flour offerings, where portions are assigned for animals or ritual use. It also occurs in rules and critiques concerning full or deficient measures, in reports of agricultural yield or provisions, and as the object carried and opened in Zechariah’s vision.
Senses in use
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Specified quantity for offerings and provisions · dominant
In Ezekiel 46:11 the form occurs repeatedly in assignments for each bullock and ram, with oil specified for each such quantity; the APB renders the clause "an ephah for each bullock, an ephah for each ram." Numbers 5:15 specifies a tenth portion of barley flour, while 1 Samuel 17:17 directs David to take a quantity of roasted grain for his brothers.
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Measure subject to standards or comparison · common
Deuteronomy 25:14 contrasts a large and a small measure in the house, and Deuteronomy 25:15 calls for a full and just measure. Ezekiel 45:11 compares the quantity with the bath and homer, while Amos 8:5 depicts making it small in deceitful trade.
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Quantity reported for produce or yield · occasional
Ruth 2:17 reports the amount of barley after gleaning and threshing; the APB renders it "about an ephah of barley." Isaiah 5:10 likewise sets a homer of seed against the smaller reported yield.
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Vessel in a prophetic vision · rare
In Zechariah 5:6 the object is described as coming out, and the following verses place a woman within it, close it with a lead stone, and carry it away. The APB consistently calls the visible object "the ephah,".
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the supplied verses, the APB usually retains the term "ephah" when stating an amount of flour, grain, or an offering and when describing the visionary object in Zechariah. In measure regulations it may render the surrounding clause more generally as "measure," so the translation alone does not isolate every occurrence.