Bible Dictionary
Bushel
A bushel was a dry measure, approximately a peck. In Jesus’ teaching, the word chiefly pictures a container placed over a lamp to hide its light rather than a precise measurement.
Definition
A bushel was a dry measure, approximately a peck. In the New Testament passages where it occurs, however, the word is used chiefly to describe a container or covering rather than to emphasize a precise capacity.
Biblical Usage
Jesus uses the bushel in the image of a vessel placed over a lamp, concealing its light. The point of the figure concerns covering or hiding the light, not measurement.
Historical Background
The term represents the Greek modios, a dry measure containing about a peck.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
[Weights And Measures AND Measures]
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>boosh'-el (modios): A dry measure containing about a peck, but as it is used in the New Testament (Mt 5:15; Mr 4:21; Lu 11:33) it does not refer to capacity but is used only to indicate a covering to conceal the light.</p>