Bible Dictionary
Day’s journey
A day’s journey was the distance ordinarily traveled in one day, commonly estimated at about twenty-five to thirty miles by camel or horseback. Biblical references use the expression as a practical measure of travel time.
Definition
A day’s journey is the distance ordinarily traveled in one day. In the East, travel by camel or horseback commonly covered about twenty-five or thirty miles in six to eight hours.
Biblical Usage
The expression is used as a practical measure of travel. The three days’ journey mentioned in Exodus is explained as a journey occupying three days in going and returning.
Historical Background
The estimate concerns ordinary eastern travel by camel or horseback and therefore describes distance through expected travel time rather than a fixed geographical measurement.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
The usual length of a day’s journey in the East, on camel or horseback, in six or eight hours, is about 25 or 30 miles. The “three days’ journey” mentioned in Ex. 3:18 is simply a journey which would occupy three days in going and returning.