כִּבְרָה
kiv.rah
distance
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Kivrā: A Measure of Distance in Ancient Hebrew The Hebrew word *kivrā* (כִּבְרָה) denotes a discrete unit or span of distance. With only three occurrences in the biblical text, this term represents a specialized vocabulary item rather than a common everyday word. Its limited frequency suggests it was used in specific contexts where precise spatial measurement or description was needed, rather than as a general term for distance that would appear throughout biblical literature. The scarcity of *kivrā* in the biblical corpus—appearing just three times—makes it difficult to establish a comprehensive understanding of its exact magnitude or technical application. However, its consistent designation as a distance measure across all attestations indicates it held a recognized and standardized meaning within ancient Hebrew. The word would have communicated spatial information to an audience familiar with such measurements, though modern readers must infer its precise significance from contextual clues in those three biblical passages rather than from the term's frequency or varied usage patterns elsewhere in scripture.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
3 total occurrences across the text
They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.
Genesis 48:7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).”
2 Kings 5:19He said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a little way.