Hebrew nouns can be singular, plural, or dual. The dual form is used throughout the biblical period to denote items that naturally come in pairs, such as hands or wings. Normally when two separate items are enumerated, as in “two sons,” the dual is not used, but rather the Hebrew number two is used along with a plural form of the noun. However, in earlier Hebrew, certain nouns, especially measurements, appear in dual form rather than the “two + plural” form. Examples are two cubits (Exod 25:10, 25:17, 25:23, 30:2, 37:1, 37:6 and 37:10), two years (Gen 11:10, 45:6, 1 Kgs 15:25, 1 Kgs 16:8, 2 Kgs 15:23, Jer 28:3, 28:11 and Amos 1:1), two weeks (Lev 12:5), two days (Exod 16:29, Num 9:22, 11:19 and Hos 6:2), two times (Gen 27:36, 41:32, 43:10, Num 20:11, 1 Sam 18:11 and 1 Kgs 11:9), two talents (1 Kgs 16:24 and 2 Kgs 5:23), two measures (2 Kgs 7:1, 7:16 and 7:18) and two kinds (Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9). This usage of the dual begins to drop out of Hebrew even in the pre-exilic era, as the “two + plural” form appears for “two years” in 1 Sam 13:1, 2 Sam 2:10, 2 Kgs 21:19 and 2 Chron 33:21. The two + plural form is used for “two days” in 2 Sam 1:1, Ezra 10:13 and Esth 9:27, and for “two cubits” in Ezek 40:9, 41:3, 41:22 and 43:14. The late passage Neh 13:20 also avoids the dual for “two times.”