'Half' in the Bible

So Abram brought all these to Him and cut them down the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold,

Now Joseph was the ruler over the land, and he was the one who sold [grain] to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s [half] brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

Now, therefore, please let your servant (Judah) remain here instead of the youth [to be] a slave to my lord, and let the young man go home with his brothers.

Moses took half of the blood and put it in large basins, and [the other] half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

So Moses took the blood [which had been placed in the large basins] and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

“They shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.

“You shall make a mercy seat (cover) of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.

“You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one and a half cubits high.

The overlapping part that is left over from the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle.

The length of each board shall be ten cubits and the width of each board shall be one and a half cubits.

This is what everyone who is counted shall give [as he joins those already counted]: a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel (the shekel is twenty gerahs); a half shekel as a contribution to the Lord.

The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give this contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.

“Take for yourself the best spices: five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much—two hundred and fifty—of sweet-scented cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty of fragrant cane,

Each board was ten cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.

Bezalel made the ark [of the covenant] of acacia wood—it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.

Bezalel made the mercy seat of pure gold; it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide.

Bezalel made the table [for the bread] of acacia wood; it was two cubits long, a cubit wide, and one and a half cubits high.

a beka for each man (that is, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary) for everyone who was counted, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.

“This is the offering which Aaron and his sons are to present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: the tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.

Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother’s womb.”

then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;

and you shall bring as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year.

Take this tribute from the warriors’ half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.

From the Israelites’ half [of the spoil] you shall take one out of every fifty of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, the flocks, and of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who are in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

The half share, the portion of those who went to war, was 337,500 sheep in number,

As for the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from that of the warriors—

now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep,

and from the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of persons and animals, and gave them to the Levites, who were in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities and territories, the cities of the surrounding land.

The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan [River] opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”

“So we took possession of this land at that time. I gave the territory from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, along with half of the hill country of Gilead and its cities to the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

“It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has served you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

‘Cursed is he who is intimate with his [half] sister, whether his father’s or his mother’s daughter.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest (peace) and will give you this land [east of the Jordan].’

The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed for battle before the [other] sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;

All Israel, the stranger as well as the native born [among them], with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on either side of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.

Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the [river] Arnon, both the middle of the valley and half of Gilead, and as far as the brook Jabbok, [which is] the border of the sons of Ammon;

and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all of Bashan to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead, as far as the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer east of Rabbah;

also half of Gilead, with Ashtaroth and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; these were for the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir according to their families (clans).

because the daughters of [Zelophehad, a descendant of] Manasseh had received an inheritance among his [other] sons [whose inheritance went to their male descendants]. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

But the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

Now to the one-half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave a possession on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,

That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a [plow] furrow in a plot of land [the area of which a yoke of oxen could plow in a day].

Three sons of Zeruiah [the half sister of David] were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as light and swift-footed as one of the [wild] gazelles in the field.

So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half their beards, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away.

It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon [her half brother] the son of David was in love with her.

Amnon was so frustrated because of his [half-] sister Tamar that he made himself sick, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.

He said to Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” And Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, my [half-] brother Absalom’s sister.”

Absalom put Amasa in command of the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash, [the half sister of David and] the sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

But the men said, “You should not go out [to battle with us]. For if in fact we retreat, they will not care about us; even if half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. So now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city [of Mahanaim].”

Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also half the people of Israel accompanied the king.

He had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him.

Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one [woman] and half to the other.”

Its opening inside the crown at the top measured a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. Also on its opening were carvings, and their borders were square, not round.

Underneath the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.

On the top of the stand there was a circular piece half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its supports and borders were part of it.

I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of it was not told to me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.

But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your house (wealth), I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.

His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against Elah. Now Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the [king’s] household in Tirzah.

Then the people of Israel were divided in half. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and the other half followed Omri.

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram [of Judah and half] sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and abducted him from among the king’s sons who were to be killed, and hid him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.

Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had [other] sons (descendants): Haroeh, half of the Manahathites [in Judah],

The sons (descendants) of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.

Then to the rest of the sons of Kohath were given ten cities by lot from the family of the tribe [of Ephraim and of Dan and], from the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh.

Now David said, “Whoever strikes down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander.” Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] went up first, and so he was made chief.

Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister],

Joab the son of Zeruiah was in command of the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;

but I did not believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told to me; you have surpassed the report that I heard.

Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, official of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired [the wall] as far as [a point] in front of the tombs of David, and as far as the artificial pool and the house of the guards.

After him the Levites carried out repairs under Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, official of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district.

After him their brothers carried out repairs under Bavvai the son of Henadad, official of [the other] half of the district of Keilah.

So we built the wall and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a heart to work.

From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.

So we carried on with the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars came out.

Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them,

The second choir went to the left; I followed with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of the Furnaces, to the Broad Wall,

Then the two choirs stood in the house of God. So did I, and half of the officials with me;

As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak [Hebrew] the language of Judah, but only the language of his own people.

Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you, up to half of the kingdom.”

Then Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this:

And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom, it shall be done.”

But You, O God, will bring down the wicked to the pit of destruction;Men of blood and treachery will not live out half their days.But I will [boldly and unwaveringly] trust in You.

The food you eat each day shall be [measured] by weight, twenty shekels, to be eaten daily at a set time.

Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, but you have greatly increased your repulsive acts more than they. So you have made your [wicked] sisters [Samaria and Sodom] appear righteous and justified by [comparison to] all the disgusting things which you have done.

Moreover, there were four tables of hewn stone (ashlar) for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high, on which they lay the instruments with which they slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice.

The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide on its four sides, and the border around it shall be half a cubit; and its base shall be a cubit all around, and its steps shall face the east.”

He will speak words against the Most High [God] and wear down the saints of the Most High, and he will intend to change the times and the law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, [two] times, and half a time [three and one-half years].

And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he held up his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and a half a time (three and a half years); and as soon as they finish shattering and crushing the power of the holy people, all these things will be finished.

So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley [the price of a common slave].

For Tyre built herself an [impregnable] stronghold [on an island offshore],And she has heaped up silver like dustAnd gold like the mire of the streets.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured and the houses plundered and the women ravished; and half of the city will be exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

In that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from the east to the west by a very large valley, and half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south.

And in that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea (Dead Sea) and half of them to the western sea (the Mediterranean); it will be in summer as well as in winter.

When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel [temple tax] went up to Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the half-shekel?”

And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.”