Furlong

Furlong in the New Testament translates the Greek stadion (plural stadia), the standard Greek unit of distance equal to approximately 606 feet and 9 inches, or roughly one-eighth of a Roman mile (185 meters). The word derives from the length of the Greek athletic stadium, which was laid out at this standard measurement. Luke 24:13 states that Emmaus was sixty stadia from Jerusalem — approximately seven miles; John 6:19 gives the disciples' distance from shore as twenty-five or thirty stadia; John 11:18 notes that Bethany was fifteen stadia from Jerusalem; and Revelation 14:20 and 21:16 use stadia in apocalyptic measurement.

The King James Version renders stadion as "furlong" — the traditional English unit of one-eighth of a mile — which is a close equivalent (660 feet versus 606 feet). Modern translations typically use "miles," "stadia," or metric equivalents. The unit appears seven times in the New Testament and provides geographically precise details that help locate key events in relation to Jerusalem and other known sites.