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To: Junior
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: [it was] round all about, and his height [was] five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. [1 Kings 7:23]

How would you have him describe it? Their units of measurement were usually in whole numbers. He was talking in cubits. Should he have said "...thirty cubits and a small fraction that I'm not going to describe"?

1,506 posted on 02/22/2006 8:57:31 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce

Thirty-one and a half would've been closer. Once again, something the Almighty would not have overlooked (being the detail-oriented fellow He is).


1,507 posted on 02/22/2006 9:01:56 AM PST by Junior (Identical fecal matter, alternate diurnal period)
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To: ShadowAce
How would you have him describe it?

It would have been sufficient to simply say that it was 10 cubits across. Then, anyone who knew about pi would have automatically known the circumference. By going on to describe the circumference (incorrectly, given the diameter), it's obvious that the author didn't realize that the diameter alone is all that was needed.

1,510 posted on 02/22/2006 9:07:09 AM PST by PatrickHenry (Virtual Ignore for trolls, lunatics, dotards, scolds, & incurable ignoramuses.)
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To: ShadowAce
How would you have him describe it? Their units of measurement were usually in whole numbers. He was talking in cubits. Should he have said "...thirty cubits and a small fraction that I'm not going to describe"?

Better to not mention the circumference than to give a wrong value for it.

1,511 posted on 02/22/2006 9:07:45 AM PST by Thatcherite (More abrasive blackguard than SeaLion or ModernMan)
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To: ShadowAce; Junior; Elsie
Problem solved.
1,629 posted on 02/22/2006 3:07:35 PM PST by P-Marlowe
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