koma · height

What it means

koma (קוֹמָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “height”.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. How tall something is from bottom to top.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Height: how tall something is, a building or a tree, and in persons, stature.

• The height measurements of the ark, the dwelling and the temple Genesis 6:15Exodus 25:101 Kings 6:2
• “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature” 1 Samuel 16:7
• Tall trees: the image of pride Ezekiel 31:3Isaiah 37:24
• Saul fell “full length” 1 Samuel 28:20

Historical and cultural background

When Samuel looks for a king among Jesse’s sons, YHWH tells him: “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature”, because “YHWH sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

How we translate it

In measurements, “height” (33 times: “its height thirty cubits”, Genesis 6:15); of persons, “stature” (9). In Isaiah 37:24, “its tall cedars”, and in 1 Samuel 28:20, “full length”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• height ×33
• stature ×9
• tall ×2
• length ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×1
• Exodus×10
• 1 Samuel×2
• 1 Kings×13
• 2 Kings×3
• 2 Chronicles×3
• Song of Songs×1
• Isaiah×2
• Jeremiah×2
• Ezekiel×8

• Genesis 6:15

  And this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

• Exodus 25:10

  They shall make an ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

• Exodus 25:23

  You shall make a table of acacia wood: two cubits its length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

• Exodus 27:1

  You shall make the altar of acacia wood: five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and three cubits its height.

• Exodus 27:18

  The length of the courtyard shall be a hundred cubits, the width fifty all along, and the height five cubits, of fine twisted linen, and their bases of bronze.

• Exodus 30:2

  A cubit its length and a cubit its width; it shall be square, and two cubits its height; its horns shall be of one piece with it.

• Exodus 37:1

  And Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

• Exodus 37:10

  And he made the table of acacia wood; two cubits was its length, and a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

• Exodus 37:25

  And he made the altar of incense of acacia wood; a cubit was its length, and a cubit its width, square, and two cubits its height; of one piece with it were its horns.

• Exodus 38:1

  And he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood; five cubits was its length, and five cubits its width, square, and three cubits its height.

• Exodus 38:18

  And the screen of the gate of the courtyard was the work of an embroiderer, of blue and purple and scarlet and twisted fine linen; and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in width five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the courtyard.

• 1 Samuel 16:7

  YHWH said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have despised him; for it is not what the human being sees: the human being sees what is before the eyes, but YHWH sees the heart.”

• 1 Samuel 28:20

  At once Saul fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was also no strength in him, for he had not eaten bread all day and all night.

• 1 Kings 6:2

  And the house that King Solomon built for YHWH — sixty cubits was its length, and twenty its width, and thirty cubits its height.

• 1 Kings 6:10

  And he built the annex against all the house, five cubits its height, and it fastened onto the house with timbers of cedar.

• 1 Kings 6:20

  And the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits its height; and he overlaid it with fine gold; and he overlaid an altar of cedar.

• 1 Kings 6:23

  And he made in the inner sanctuary two cherubim of olive wood, ten cubits was its height.

• 1 Kings 6:26

  The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the second cherub.

• 1 Kings 7:2

  And he built the house of the Forest of Lebanon: a hundred cubits its length, and fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height, on four rows of pillars of cedar, with beams of cedar on the pillars.

• 1 Kings 7:15

  And he formed the two pillars of bronze: eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a thread of twelve cubits went around the second pillar.

• 1 Kings 7:16

  And two capitals he made to put on the heads of the pillars, of cast bronze; five cubits was the height of the one capital, and five cubits the height of the second capital.

• 1 Kings 7:23

  And he made the Sea of cast metal, ten cubits from its rim to its rim, round all around, and five cubits its height; and a line of thirty cubits went around it all around.

• 1 Kings 7:27

  And he made the ten bases of bronze: four cubits was the length of the one base, and four cubits its width, and three cubits its height.

• 1 Kings 7:32

  And the four wheels were below the panels, and the axles of the wheels were in the base; and the height of the one wheel was a cubit and a half.

• 1 Kings 7:35

  And on the top of the base was a piece half a cubit in height, round all around; and on the top of the base its handles and its panels were of it.

• 2 Kings 19:23

  Through your messengers you have taunted Adonai, and you have said, ‘With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars, its choicest cypresses; I will enter its farthest lodging, the forest of its orchard.

• 2 Kings 25:17

  Eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a capital of bronze was on it, and the height of the capital was three cubits, with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze; and like these was the second pillar, with the network.

• 2 Chronicles 4:1

  He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

• 2 Chronicles 4:2

  He made the Sea of cast metal, ten cubits from its rim to its rim, round all around, and five cubits its height, and a line of thirty cubits went around it all around.

• 2 Chronicles 6:13

  For Solomon had made a platform of bronze and set it in the middle of the enclosure, five cubits its length, five cubits its width, and three cubits its height; he stood on it, knelt on his knees in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward the heavens,

• Song of Songs 7:7

  This stature of yours is like a palm tree, and your breasts like clusters.

• Isaiah 10:33

  Look, the Lord, YHWH Tsevaot, lops the boughs with terror; and the high of stature are hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low.

• Isaiah 37:24

  Through your servants you have taunted Adonai, and you have said, ‘With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars, its choicest cypresses; I will enter the height of its farthest end, the forest of its orchard.

• Jeremiah 52:21

  As for the pillars, eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a thread of twelve cubits went around it, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow.

• Jeremiah 52:22

  And a capital of bronze was on it, and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze; and like these was the second pillar, with pomegranates.

• Ezekiel 13:18

  and say, ‘Thus says Adonai YHWH: Woe to the women who sew pads on all the wrists of my hands, and make the veils for the head of every stature to hunt souls! The souls of my people you hunt, and souls for yourselves you keep alive!

• Ezekiel 17:6

  And it sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in stature, so that its branches turned toward it, and its roots were under it; and it became a vine, and produced shoots and sent out foliage.

• Ezekiel 19:11

  And she had strong rods for scepters of rulers; and its stature rose high up among the thick foliage, and it was seen in its height, with the multitude of its branches.

• Ezekiel 31:3

  Look, Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, beautiful of branches, and a thicket giving shade, and tall of stature, and among the thick foliage was its top.

• Ezekiel 31:5

  Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and its boughs multiplied, and its foliage grew long from many waters as it spread out.

And 5 more times.