The meaning of Stature in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
stat'-ur (madh, middah, "measure" (Numbers 13:32, etc.), qomah, "standing up" (I Samuel 16:7, etc.); helikia, "greatness"): This last word means "height of the body," "stature," in Luke 2:52; Luke 19:3; Ephesians 4:13, but it can mean "length of life" equally well and has this force in John 9:21, John 9:23; Hebrews 11:11. And this meaning, not "stature" (as in the King James Version), is fixed for Matthew 6:27 parallel Luke 12:25, for to add some 18 inches (see CUBIT) to one's "stature" would be a grotesque feat, while it is the smallness of the act that is emphasized. Hence, the translation "able to extend his long path of life by a single cubit" (the Revised Version (British and American) "measure of life"). Compare also "great of stature" Baruch 3:26 (eumegethes).
Burton Scott Easton
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