middot
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In Jewish biblical interpretation, the principles used to explicate the meaning of biblical words or passages. The middot are used especially to determine the bearing that a passage has on a new question or situation. The first known middot were compiled by Hillel in the 1st century ; others were compiled by Ishmael ben Elisha ( 100) and Eliezer ben Yose the Galilaean ( 150). Among the best-known are the kol wa-homer (how much more), in which the interpreter proceeds from a minor to a major premise, and the gezera shawa (comparison of similar expressions or laws), in which an inference is made by analogy.
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Middot
("Measurements"). Tenth tractate of Order Kodashim in the Mishnah. Its five chapters describe the Second Temple and give the dimensions of each of its parts. The Mishnah begins by enumerating all the places where the Priests stood watch and the location of all the Temple gates, followed by the dimensions of the Temple Mount, the walls, railing, steps, gates, doors, Inner Court, Altar, and Chambers of the Sanctuary. The tractate concludes with a description of the meeting hall of the Great Sanhedrin and the determination of the fitness of priests for service (according to the veracity of their purported descent from Aaron). Maimonides wrote that the dimensions of the Temple were included in the Mishnah as a reminder of the preciousness of the Temple and of its glory. There is no Talmud on this tractate.
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