a "handbreadth" is a biblical length

This was the width of the four fingers closely pressed together, between three and four inches.

The Lion and the Pit (De leone quite erat in puteo) -

A pit was 50 handbreadths in depth: A lion climbed up the pit 1/7 handbreadth every day and fell back 1/9 handbreadth. How long would it take him to get out of the pit?

A hand (or handbreadth) is a unit of length measurement, originally based on the breadth of a male human hand and now standardized at 4 inches (about 10 cm).