זֶרֶת (zeret) — little finger; pinky

Etymology

In the Bible, זֶרֶת is a unit of measurement — specifically the span from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger of a spread hand (roughly half a cubit). It appears in Exodus 39:9 in the description of the High Priest's breastplate. The word also appears in Isaiah 40:12 ("Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or marked off the heavens with a span?"). This measurement unit is cognate to words in other Semitic languages for the span of a hand.

The transformation of זֶרֶת from a unit of measurement into the proper name of the little finger occurred in the Talmud. In tractate Ketubot (5b), the Amora Bar Kappara teaches that if a person hears something improper, he should plug his ears with his fingers. This leads the Talmud to explain why there are five fingers — each has a specific role in sacred service: the זֶרֶת (little finger) is used in measuring for the priestly breastplate; the קְמִיצָה (ring finger) for taking a handful from the meal-offering; the אַמָּה (middle finger) for measuring the cubit used in Tabernacle construction; the אֶצְבַּע (index finger) for sprinkling blood on the altar; and the אֲגוּדָל (thumb) for applying blood to a person being purified from skin disease.

Over time, rabbinic readers understood these as the proper names of the fingers rather than merely descriptive functional terms. By the seventeenth century the interpretation had solidified: Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz in his work Shenei Luhot ha-Berit (early 17th century) explicitly treats the finger names as names, using them in a mystical analysis of the hand. Modern Hebrew adopted this tradition wholesale. The column also surveys names for all five fingers across many languages, noting that Hebrew is unusual in having inherited distinct names from the Talmud for four of its five fingers: זֶרֶת, קְמִיצָה, אַמָּה, and אֲגוּדָל.

Key Quotes

"זו זרת, זו קמיצה, זו אמה, זו אצבע, זה גודל" — תלמוד בבלי, כתובות ה', ב'

"קח אמה, קמיצה, זרת תפשיטם כמו ש׳ ואחר כך תכוף אצבע כמו ד׳ אח״כ תכוף האגודל שהוא יותר קטן ואז כדמות י׳" — רבי ישעיה הלוי הורוויץ, שני לוחות הברית, 17th century

Timeline

• Biblical period: זֶרֶת used as unit of measurement (half-cubit, spread hand span)
• c. 200–500 CE: Talmud Ketubot 5b lists five finger names including זֶרֶת
• Early 17th century: Rabbi Horowitz treats finger names as proper names in kabbalistic analysis
• Modern Hebrew: All five Talmudic finger names adopted as standard anatomical terms

Related Words

• קְמִיצָה — ring finger; from the root meaning "to take a handful" (from meal-offering ritual)
• אַמָּה — middle finger; also the cubit unit of measurement
• אֶצְבַּע — index finger; the general word for "finger" in biblical Hebrew
• אֲגוּדָל — thumb; from גָּדוֹל ("large") with a prosthetic aleph; also forms גּוּדָל in rabbinic literature
• בֹּהֶן — big toe (or thumb in biblical usage); cognate with Arabic ibhām