What is a…
cor

also known as: kor

This Hebrew word, untranslated, denotes a round vessel used as a measure both for liquids and solids.

It was equal to one homer, and contained ten ephahs in dry and ten baths in liquid measure (Ezek. 45:14).

The Rabbis estimated the cor at 45 gallons, while Josephus estimated it at about 87 gallons. (The ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus—born Yosef ben Matityahu—was the author of Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War—chronicling the Great Jewish Revolt of 66–70 AD.)

In the King James Version, the word cor/kor is translated as “measure”: 1 Kings 4:22 KJV; 1 Kings 5:11 KJV; 2 Chronicles 2:10 KJV; 2 Chr. 27:5 KJV.

More recent translations such as the New American Standand Bible, leave the word untranslated as kor. Example:

Solomon then gave Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year. —1 Kings 5:11 NASB

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Article Version: July 29, 2021