Omer

The omer (Hebrew 'omer, 'sheaf') was the smallest of the named dry measures in the Hebrew Bible, about 2.2 litres, equal to one-tenth of an ephah (Exodus 16:36). It first appears as the precise daily allowance of manna gathered by each Israelite household in the wilderness: 'an omer for each person, according to the number of your persons; each of you shall take for those in his tent' (Exodus 16:16). One omer-jar of manna was later sealed in front of the Ark as a perpetual reminder of God's provision (Exodus 16:33). On the morning after Passover, the priest waved an omer of the first barley harvest before the LORD — the start of the seven-week count to Pentecost (Leviticus 23:10–16). The continuing Jewish practice of 'counting the omer' from Passover to Shavuot still reckons the days by this measure. The same word also denotes the sheaf itself — the bundle of cut stalks the gleaner could lawfully gather in another's field (Ruth 2:7, 'omarim).