Does the Bible say pi equals 3.0? In 1 Kings 7:23 there is an
intriguing statement: ‘And he [Hiram on behalf of King Solomon]
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.’ A similar account
is given in the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 4:2. From time
to time sceptics have used these verses to ridicule the accuracy
of the Bible by claiming that, if one uses the figures stated,
the circumference of the vessel divided by its diameter gives
3.0, instead of the value pi π, 3.14159…).1 Closer examination
shows there are at least two possible explanations. The first
concerns the meaning of the word cubit, and how it would have
been used in measuring the vessel. A cubit was the length of a
man’s forearm from the elbow to the extended fingertips. The
Hebrew cubit was about 45 centimetres (18 inches). It is obvious
that a man's forearm does not readily lend itself to the
measurement of fra