Properly, to stretch ; by implication, to measure (as if by stretching a line); figuratively, to be extended
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
The Hebrew verb madad means to measure, stretch out a line, determine dimensions, or apportion a quantity. It appears in ordinary and legal measurement, sanctuary and city visions, territorial descriptions, food distribution, poetic claims about God's incomparable knowledge, and actions in narratives of life and war.
Reader summary
Full entry for מָדַד (H4058) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew verb madad means to measure, stretch out a line, determine dimensions, or apportion a quantity. It appears in ordinary and legal measurement, sanctuary and city visions, territorial descriptions, food distribution, poetic claims about God's incomparable knowledge, and actions in narratives of life and war.
The BSB source-word alignment has 51 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and he measured (5), He measured (5), Then he measured (5), and measured (4), Next he measured (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 16:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (35), 2 Samuel (2), Isaiah (2), Jeremiah (2).
The Hebrew verb madad means to measure, stretch out a line, determine dimensions, or apportion a quantity. It appears in ordinary and legal measurement, sanctuary and city visions, territorial descriptions, food distribution, poetic claims about God's incomparable knowledge, and actions in narratives of life and war. Exodus says those who gathered manna found neither excess nor lack when it was measured, while Deuteronomy directs elders to measure distances during an unresolved killing.
Ezekiel's visionary guide repeatedly measures structures and flowing water, and Isaiah asks who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand to emphasize God's incomparable wisdom. Other passages use measuring in severe judgment or military contexts that must not become models for modern violence. Madad does not make numbers infallible or authorize numerology.
A measurement can support fairness, design, investigation, allocation, or description, but its moral value depends on honest standards, competent method, and the passage's purpose. Responsible teaching values accuracy and accountability while resisting manipulation of data, false precision, body measurement shame, and attempts to calculate God's limits or hidden plans.
Madad describes measuring dimensions, distances, quantities, territory, structures, or portions across provision, investigation, vision, worship, judgment, and poetic confession of God's immeasurable wisdom.
When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.
When gathered manna is measured, those with much have no excess and those with little have no shortage.
Your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.
Elders and judges measure distance to surrounding cities during a covenant procedure for an unresolved killing.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?
Isaiah asks who measured waters, heavens, dust, and mountains to proclaim the Creator's incomparable wisdom and power.
As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan,
Ezekiel is told to describe the temple so Israel may consider the measured plan and be ashamed of iniquity.
Then he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through knee-deep water. Again he measured a thousand cubits and led me through waist-deep water.
The visionary guide measures successive distances as water deepens from the temple toward a life-giving river.
“Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “and to determine its width and length.”
The man with the measuring line goes to measure Jerusalem's width and length within a restoration vision.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Stretching establishes measure—the root metaphor connects physical extension to quantification and assessment.
Stretching establishes measure—the root metaphor connects physical extension to quantification and assessment.
properly, to stretch; by implication, to measure (as if by stretching a line); figuratively, to be extended BDB: measure Usage: measure, mete, stretch self.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 51 lexical occurrence verses.
מָדַד is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Madad shows that measurement is a servant, not a master. Exodus uses measured manna to portray sufficient provision rather than competitive accumulation. Deuteronomy places distance measurement within communal responsibility for an unresolved death, illustrating that public action requires evidence and procedure even though measurement alone cannot reveal every fact.
Isaiah 40 turns measurement into a rhetorical confession: the Creator's knowledge and power exceed human comparison. Ezekiel records extensive visionary dimensions that communicate ordered holiness and restoration within the prophet's own symbolic world. The measured river deepens beyond easy crossing and brings life, so numbers serve the vision rather than become a code detached from it.
Zechariah's line likewise belongs to promised restoration. Faithful application values accurate scales, transparent data, fair allocation, competent planning, and careful investigation. It also asks who selected the measure, what it excludes, and how conclusions are justified. Numbers should never reduce a person's worth, hide uncertainty, manipulate giving, or transform symbolic visions into confident dates and property claims.
God is not mastered by a metric, and truthful stewardship remains accountable to people affected by measurement.
Exod.16.18
Madad is a Hebrew verb for stretching or extending and, by implication, measuring with a line or standard. The object may be quantity, distance, architecture, territory, water, or a portion, while figurative and poetic settings can use measurement rhetorically.
The New Testament uses measurement in teaching, temple imagery, judgment sayings, and the New Jerusalem through Greek vocabulary. Canonical parallels should preserve the purpose of each measure instead of combining every number into one hidden prophetic system.