Weights, Measures and Money

Part I

How the Bible measures

Body, scale and honest weight.

Before there were rulers, scales from a store, or coins with a set value, people in Bible times still had to measure things. They had to measure land, build houses, sell grain and pay wages. They did it with what they had: their own hands and arms, stones of a set weight, and clay jars of a set size.

This first part explains how that worked. It shows why the Bible counts length in fingers and forearms, why money was weighed on a scale, and why the Law (Torah) and the Prophets speak so strongly about honest weights. It also explains why the modern numbers on this page are given as a range, from smallest to largest, and not as one exact figure.

Measures taken from the bodyThe finger, the hand, the span and the forearm.

The oldest way to measure is with your own body. Hold up one finger: that is a finger. Lay four fingers side by side: that is a handbreadth. Spread your hand wide, from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your little finger: that is a span. Bend your arm and measure from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger: that is a cubit.

These four measures fit together. Four fingers make a handbreadth. Three handbreadths make a span. Two spans make a cubit. So one cubit is six handbreadths, or twenty-four fingers.

Because every person’s arm is a little different, a cubit was never exactly the same everywhere. That is why the Bible sometimes says “the cubit of a man,” meaning an ordinary man’s forearm. Ezekiel, in a vision of a new temple, sees a longer cubit: an ordinary cubit plus one extra handbreadth.

Drawing: the forearm and the open hand, the body’s own measures — **Drawing:** the forearm and the open hand, the body’s own measures. An ink drawing made for Open Scroll, not a picture from the time.

What the verses show

The smallest measures of length are parts of the body: the finger, the handbreadth (the width of four fingers), the span (the stretched hand, thumb to little finger) and the cubit (the forearm, elbow to fingertip).
Moses describes the bed of Og king of Bashan in cubits “after the cubit of a man”: “nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man” (Deuteronomy 3:11). Open the verse
Revelation uses the same words for the wall of the new Jerusalem: “a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man” (Revelation 21:17). Open the verse
Isaiah uses the hand and the span as pictures of measuring: “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span” (Isaiah 40:12). Open the verse

How they fit together

4 fingers make 1 handbreadth. 3 handbreadths make 1 span. 2 spans make 1 cubit, so a cubit is 6 handbreadths. Source: Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), “Cubit.”
Ezekiel’s temple vision uses a longer cubit, one handbreadth more than the common one: “a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each” (Ezekiel 40:5). Open the verse

Money that was weighedBefore coins, silver was weighed on scales.

For most of the Old Testament there were no coins. When people paid for something, they paid in silver or gold by weight. The buyer put pieces of silver on one side of a balance scale. On the other side he put a stone weight of a known size. When the two sides were level, the price was paid.

That is why the Bible says Abraham “weighed” the silver when he bought a burial cave, and why Jeremiah “weighed” the money when he bought a field. The shekel was first a weight, about half an ounce, before it was ever a coin.

This also explains the writing on the wall in the book of Daniel. One of the words, “tekel,” comes from the same root as shekel. Daniel tells the king it means: you have been put on the scale, and you weigh too little.

Coins came later. In the books written after the return from Babylon, the ASV speaks of Persian “darics.” By the New Testament, people used Greek and Roman coins, and the Gospels name several of them (Part VI).

Drawing: silver weighed against a stone weight on a balance scale — **Drawing:** silver weighed against a stone weight on a balance scale. An ink drawing made for Open Scroll, not a picture from the time.

What the verses show

Abraham paid for the cave of Machpelah by weight: “Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant” (Genesis 23:16). Open the verse
Jeremiah bought a field the same way, before witnesses: “weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver” (Jeremiah 32:9). Open the verse and “weighed him the money in the balances” (Jeremiah 32:10). Open the verse
A shekel was first a weight, not a coin. The word comes from the Hebrew verb “to weigh” (Strong’s H8255, from H8254). The writing on the wall in Babylon plays on the same word: “tekel; thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). Open the verse
Coins appear later in the Bible: Persian darics in Ezra and Nehemiah, and Greek and Roman coins in the New Testament (Part VI).

Honest weights in the Law (Torah)The Law (Torah) and the Prophets on false scales.

Since every sale was done on a scale, it was easy to cheat. A seller could carry two sets of stone weights in his bag: a heavy set for buying and a light set for selling. He could use a small measuring basket when he sold grain and a big one when he bought it.

The Law (Torah) forbids this in plain words. It says to have one honest set of weights and measures, not two. Leviticus names every kind of measure: length, weight and amount.

The Prophets came back to this again and again. Amos describes merchants who could not wait for the holy days to end so they could get back to cheating: making the ephah (the grain measure) small and the shekel (the weight) heavy. Micah asks if a man can be pure while he carries a bag of false weights. Ezekiel repeats the command for honest scales in his vision of a restored land.

The Law (Torah)

“Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.” (Leviticus 19:35). Open the verse
“Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have” (Leviticus 19:36). Open the verse
“Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small.” (Deuteronomy 25:13). Open the verse
“A perfect and just weight shalt thou have; a perfect and just measure shalt thou have” (Deuteronomy 25:15). Open the verse

The Prophets

“making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit” (Amos 8:5). Open the verse
“Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?” (Micah 6:11). Open the verse
“Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.” (Ezekiel 45:10). Open the verse

Why this page gives rangesNo ancient unit had one fixed size.

You will see that this page almost never gives one exact modern number. It gives a range, like “about 44.5 to 52.5 centimetres.” Here is why.

The units changed over the centuries and from one country to another. Even the Bible names two kinds of shekel: the shekel of the sanctuary (the temple standard) and the king’s shekel. Scholars who study ancient weights and buildings also disagree on the exact sizes.

So for each unit this page gives the lowest and highest values from two reference works, and names them. Treat every modern number as a good estimate, not an exact fact.

The ASV, printed in 1901, put notes in its margin giving some coins’ value in English pence and American cents. Those notes are quoted here, but remember they are prices from 1901. A dollar bought far more then than it does today.

Facts

The size of a unit changed from one country and one century to another. The Bible itself names two standards for the shekel: “half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary” (Exodus 30:13). Open the verse and “after the king’s weight” (2 Samuel 14:26). Open the verse
The reference works do not agree. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) gives the Hebrew cubit as 49.5 or 52.5 centimetres. The Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway) gives a standard cubit of about 17.5 inches (44.5 centimetres), worked out from the Siloam tunnel in Jerusalem.
So this page shows the lowest and highest values those two works give, and names the work each time. Treat every modern figure as an estimate.
The ASV’s margin notes give the coins’ value in English pence and American cents of 1901, when the ASV was printed. Those are 1901 prices.

Part II

Length

From a finger to a furlong.

Length is the measure you will meet most often in the Bible. The ark Noah built, the tabernacle in the desert, Solomon’s temple, the height of Goliath, and the size of the city in Revelation are all given in cubits and other units of length.

The smallest units come from the hand. The middle one, the cubit, comes from the forearm. The long distances in the New Testament, such as the furlong and the mile, come from the Greek and Roman world. Each card shows what the unit was, how big it was, and what the Bible’s numbers come to in feet and metres.

FingerHebrew etsba · אֶצְבַּע · about 2 centimetres (¾ inch)

The finger is the width of one finger. It is the smallest measure of length in the Bible, about three quarters of an inch.

It is used for small, exact measurements. When the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s temple, Jeremiah records that the two great bronze pillars at its entrance were hollow, and their metal was four fingers thick. That is about one handbreadth: roughly three inches of solid bronze.

Size

A quarter of a handbreadth: about 1.9 to 2.2 centimetres (¾ inch), from the cubit ranges in Part I. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) gives 2.33 centimetres for the later Talmudic finger.

In the verses

The bronze pillars of the temple: “the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow” (Jeremiah 52:21). Open the verse Four fingers make a handbreadth, about 7.4 to 8.8 centimetres (3 to 3½ inches).

HandbreadthHebrew tefach · טֶפַח · about 7 to 9 centimetres (3 to 3½ inches)

A handbreadth is the width of four fingers laid side by side, about three inches. Six handbreadths make a cubit.

The Bible uses it for rims, borders and thickness. The table in the tabernacle that held the holy bread had a border one handbreadth wide. The great bronze basin in Solomon’s temple, called the sea, had walls one handbreadth thick.

Size

A sixth of a cubit: about 7.4 to 8.8 centimetres. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) gives 9.34 centimetres for the later Talmudic handbreadth.

In the verses

The table of the bread in the tabernacle: “a border of a handbreadth round about” (Exodus 25:25). Open the verse
The great bronze basin, the sea, in Solomon’s temple: “it was a handbreadth thick” (1 Kings 7:26). Open the verse

SpanHebrew zeret · זֶרֶת · about 22 to 26 centimetres (9 to 10 inches)

A span is the distance across your open hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger when the hand is stretched wide. It is half a cubit, about nine or ten inches.

The high priest wore a square pouch on his chest called the breastpiece, set with twelve stones for the twelve tribes. The Law (Torah) says it was one span long and one span wide. Goliath’s height is given as six cubits and a span.

Size

Half a cubit: about 22 to 26 centimetres.

In the verses

The high priest’s breastpiece: “a span shall be the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof” (Exodus 28:16). Open the verse About 22 to 26 centimetres square.
Goliath’s height is given in cubits and a span (see the cubit card).

CubitHebrew ammah · אַמָּה · about 44.5 to 52.5 centimetres (17½ to 20¾ inches)

The cubit is the most important measure of length in the Bible. It is the length of a man’s forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. In modern terms it was about 17½ to 20¾ inches, or 44.5 to 52.5 centimetres.

Almost every building in the Bible is measured in cubits. When you turn the cubits into feet, the stories become easier to picture. Noah’s ark was longer than a football field: about 438 to 517 feet. The ark of the covenant, the gold-covered chest kept in the Holy of Holies, was a little under four feet long and about two and a half feet wide and high. Solomon’s temple was about 88 to 103 feet long.

Goliath’s height in the Hebrew text is six cubits and a span: about nine and a half to eleven feet. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, made before the time of Yeshua (Jesus), gives a smaller number, four cubits and a span: about six and a half to seven and three quarter feet. Both are shown on this card.

Size

The forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.
About 44.5 centimetres (17.5 inches) in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway), from the Siloam tunnel; 49.5 or 52.5 centimetres in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).

What the numbers mean

Noah’s ark: “the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits” (Genesis 6:15). Open the verse About 134 to 158 metres long (438 to 517 feet), 22 to 26 metres wide (73 to 86 feet) and 13 to 16 metres high (44 to 52 feet).
The ark of the covenant: “two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof” (Exodus 25:10). Open the verse About 1.1 to 1.3 metres long (44 to 52 inches), 67 to 79 centimetres wide and high (26 to 31 inches).
Solomon’s temple: “the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits” (1 Kings 6:2). Open the verse About 27 to 32 metres long (88 to 103 feet), 9 to 10.5 metres wide (29 to 34 feet), 13 to 16 metres high (44 to 52 feet).
Goliath: “whose height was six cubits and a span” (1 Samuel 17:4). Open the verse Six and a half cubits: about 2.9 to 3.4 metres (9 feet 6 inches to 11 feet 2 inches).
Og’s bed: nine cubits by four, about 4 to 4.7 metres long (13 to 15½ feet) and 1.8 to 2.1 metres wide (5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 11 inches). Deuteronomy 3:11

The Greek Old Testament on Goliath

The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) gives Goliath’s height as four cubits and a span, not six: about 2 to 2.4 metres (6 feet 6 inches to 7 feet 9 inches). Brenton’s translation reads: “his height was four cubits and a span” (1 Kings 17:4 in his numbering, which is 1 Samuel 17:4). Open it in the Greek Old Testament Both readings are shown here; this page takes no side.

ReedHebrew qaneh · קָנֶה · about 3.1 to 3.7 metres (10 to 12 feet)

The reed was a measuring rod, like a long ruler. In Ezekiel’s vision a man with a measuring reed measures the whole temple, wall by wall. His reed is six long cubits, each one a cubit and a handbreadth. That makes it about ten to twelve feet long.

In Revelation, John sees an angel measure the new Jerusalem with a reed of gold.

Drawing: a measuring reed held against a temple wall — **Drawing:** a measuring reed held against a temple wall. An ink drawing made for Open Scroll, not a picture from the time.

Size

Ezekiel’s measuring reed is six long cubits, and each long cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth. That is seven common cubits: about 3.1 to 3.7 metres. Ezekiel 40:5

In the verses

The new Jerusalem is measured with a reed in Revelation: “he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs” (Revelation 21:16). Open the verse

FurlongGreek stadion · στάδιον · about 185 metres (202½ yards)

The furlong is the ASV’s word for the Greek stadion, a measure of distance. It was about 600 feet, roughly one eighth of a mile. A Greek running track was one stadion long, which is where the word “stadium” comes from.

Luke and John use it to tell how far apart places were. After the resurrection, two disciples walked to Emmaus, sixty furlongs from Jerusalem: about seven miles, a walk of two or three hours. Bethany, where Lazarus lived, was fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem: under two miles. On the night Yeshua walked on the water, the disciples had rowed twenty-five or thirty furlongs, about three miles, out into the Sea of Galilee.

Size

The Greek stadion. The Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway) gives it as 400 cubits, 202½ yards (about 185 metres), one eighth of a Roman mile.

What the numbers mean

Emmaus: “a village named Emmaus, which was threescore furlongs from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:13). Open the verse Sixty furlongs is about 11 kilometres (6.9 miles).
Bethany: “Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off” (John 11:18). Open the verse About 2.8 kilometres (1.7 miles).
On the Sea of Galilee: “When therefore they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs” (John 6:19). Open the verse About 4.6 to 5.6 kilometres (2.9 to 3.5 miles).
The new Jerusalem: twelve thousand furlongs is about 2,220 kilometres (1,380 miles). Revelation 21:16

Mile and sabbath day’s journeyGreek milion · μίλιον · about 1.5 kilometres

The Roman mile was a thousand paces of a marching soldier, about 1,620 yards, a little shorter than a modern mile.

In the Sermon on the Mount Yeshua says, “whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two.” The ASV’s margin says the Greek word for “compel” means to impress: to force someone into service.

A sabbath day’s journey was the distance a person could walk on the sabbath without breaking the rest. Acts says the Mount of Olives was a sabbath day’s journey from Jerusalem. The reference works give it as about two thousand cubits, a little over half a mile.

The Roman mile

1,620 yards (about 1,480 metres), a little shorter than an English mile, in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway).
“And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two.” (Matthew 5:41). Open the verse For “compel” the ASV’s margin reads “Greek impress.”

A sabbath day’s journey

“from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey off” (Acts 1:12). Open the verse
The Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway) gives three views of its length: six stadia (1,237.8 yards, about 1.1 kilometres) in Josephus; a little over half a mile in a rabbinical rule; and 2,000 cubits, assumed from Joshua: “about two thousand cubits by measure” (Joshua 3:4). Open the verse

FathomGreek orguia · ὀργυιά · about 1.8 metres (6 feet)

A fathom is the length of a man’s two arms stretched out wide, about six feet. Sailors used it to measure how deep the water was. They dropped a weighted rope over the side and counted the fathoms as it went down.

Acts 27 tells of Paul’s shipwreck on the way to Rome as a prisoner. In the dark, the sailors measured twenty fathoms, then fifteen. The water was getting shallower, so they knew they were close to land and in danger of hitting rocks.

Drawing: sailors sounding the depth with a weighted rope — **Drawing:** sailors sounding the depth with a weighted rope. An ink drawing made for Open Scroll, not a picture from the time.

Size

The reach of a man’s arms stretched out: about six feet in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway).

In the verses

Paul’s ship nearing Malta: “they sounded, and found twenty fathoms; and after a little space, they sounded again, and found fifteen fathoms” (Acts 27:28). Open the verse About 37 metres (120 feet), then 27 metres (90 feet): the water was getting shallower.

Part III

Weight

From the gerah to the talent.

Weights were used for two things: to weigh goods, such as wool, spices and metal, and to pay money. Until coins came in, silver and gold were simply weighed. A price of thirty shekels of silver meant thirty shekels’ weight of silver.

The weights in the Bible go from very small to very large: the gerah, the beka (half a shekel), the shekel, the mina and the talent. Exodus and Ezekiel give the math that ties them together, and this part shows it step by step.

GerahHebrew gerah · גֵּרָה · about 0.6 grams

The gerah is the smallest weight in the Bible, about a fiftieth of an ounce, or 0.6 grams. Twenty gerahs make one shekel.

Both the Law (Torah) and Ezekiel state this rule: the shekel is twenty gerahs. Setting it down in writing meant that everyone could check a weight against the same standard.

Size

The smallest weight. Twenty make a shekel: “(the shekel is twenty gerahs)” (Exodus 30:13). Open the verse and again in Ezekiel: “the shekel shall be twenty gerahs” (Ezekiel 45:12). Open the verse
About 0.6 grams in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) (0.5975 grams).

Beka (half shekel)Hebrew beqa · בֶּקַע · about 6 grams

A beka is half a shekel, about a fifth of an ounce.

Every man aged twenty and over paid one beka of silver when Israel was counted in the desert. That silver was used to build the tabernacle. Long before, when Abraham’s servant found a wife for Isaac, he gave Rebekah a gold ring weighing one beka.

In the verses

Every man counted in the census gave one: “a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary” (Exodus 38:26). Open the verse
The gold ring given to Rebekah was “a golden ring of half a shekel weight” (Genesis 24:22). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Hebrew a beka.”

ShekelHebrew sheqel · שֶׁקֶל · about 12 grams (½ ounce)

The shekel is the basic weight of the Bible, about 12 grams, or a little under half an ounce. Prices, taxes, fines and gifts are all counted in shekels.

Turning shekels into pounds makes some stories come alive. Goliath’s coat of armour weighed five thousand shekels: about 130 pounds, heavier than many grown men. The iron head of his spear alone weighed about 16 pounds. Absalom, David’s son, was famous for his long hair. When he cut it once a year, it weighed about five pounds.

When Ezekiel was told to act out the siege of Jerusalem, he was allowed twenty shekels of food a day: about eight ounces of food a day.

Size

11.95 grams for the shekel of twenty gerahs, in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), “Sela.” It says the Talmud later counts a larger sanctuary shekel of 14.34 grams.

What the numbers mean

Goliath’s armour: “the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass” (1 Samuel 17:5). Open the verse About 60 kilograms (132 pounds).
His spear: “his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron” (1 Samuel 17:7). Open the verse About 7.2 kilograms (16 pounds).
Absalom’s hair, cut once a year: “he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king’s weight” (2 Samuel 14:26). Open the verse About 2.4 kilograms (5 pounds).
Ezekiel’s siege ration: “thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day” (Ezekiel 4:10). Open the verse About 240 grams (8½ ounces) a day.
Each figure uses 11.95 grams a shekel. Different shekel weights give slightly different results.

Mina (maneh, pound)Hebrew maneh · מָנֶה · about 550 to 720 grams (1¼ to 1½ pounds)

The mina (in Hebrew, maneh) is a larger weight. Ezekiel sets it at sixty shekels, about a pound and a half. Other sources give fifty shekels for an older mina in Israel. The ASV often translates it as “pound.”

Solomon made three hundred shields of beaten gold, and each one used three minas of gold, about four pounds. When the exiles came back from Babylon to rebuild the temple, they gave five thousand minas of silver.

Size

Ezekiel sets it at sixty shekels: “twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh” (Ezekiel 45:12). Open the verse 20 + 25 + 15 = 60. Sixty shekels of 11.95 grams is about 720 grams.
The Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway) says the ancient mina probably weighed 550 to 600 grams, and counts 60 shekels in the Babylonian system and 50 in Israel before the exile.
The ASV often prints the word as “pound,” with the margin note “Hebrew maneh.”

In the verses

Solomon’s shields: “three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pounds of gold went to one shield” (1 Kings 10:17). Open the verse
Gifts for the temple after the exile: “threescore and one thousand darics of gold, and five thousand pounds of silver” (Ezra 2:69). Open the verse

TalentHebrew kikkar · כִּכָּר · about 30 to 36 kilograms (66 to 79 pounds)

The talent is the biggest weight in the Bible. It was about as much as one man could carry: roughly 66 to 79 pounds, or 30 to 36 kilograms.

Exodus lets us work out exactly how many shekels made a talent. When Israel was counted in the desert, 603,550 men each gave half a shekel. That is 301,775 shekels. Exodus says the total was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. Take away the 1,775, and 100 talents equal 300,000 shekels. So one talent is 3,000 shekels.

The numbers get very large. Solomon’s gold income for one year, 666 talents, comes to about 20 to 24 tons. When the Assyrians invaded Judah, King Hezekiah had to pay 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold, about ten tons of silver and one ton of gold.

In the New Testament the talent is used for money (Part VI).

How many shekels

Exodus counts the silver given by 603,550 men at half a shekel each: “a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels” (Exodus 38:25). Open the verse Half a shekel times 603,550 is 301,775 shekels. Take away 1,775, and 100 talents equal 300,000 shekels. So in Exodus a talent is 3,000 shekels.

Size

3,000 shekels of 11.95 grams is about 36 kilograms. The Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway) gives the Babylonian talent as 30.13 kilograms.
The Hebrew word kikkar also means a round loaf and a round plain (Strong’s H3603).

What the numbers mean

“the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold” (1 Kings 10:14). Open the verse About 20 to 24 tonnes.
The tribute Hezekiah paid to Assyria: “three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold” (2 Kings 18:14). Open the verse About 9 to 11 tonnes of silver and 0.9 to 1.1 tonnes of gold.
The gold of the tabernacle: “twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels” (Exodus 38:24). Open the verse About 1 tonne.

Pound (litra)Greek litra · λίτρα · about 330 to 340 grams (12 ounces)

In the Gospel of John, the “pound” is the Roman pound (in Greek, litra), about 12 ounces.

Mary of Bethany poured a pound of pure nard, a very costly perfume, on the feet of Yeshua, and the whole house was filled with the smell. After the crucifixion, Nicodemus brought about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes for the burial: about 75 pounds of spices.

Size

The Roman pound: twelve ounces in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway); about 341 grams in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).

In the verses

“Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious” (John 12:3). Open the verse About 340 grams (12 ounces).
At the burial of Yeshua: “bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds” (John 19:39). Open the verse About 34 kilograms (75 pounds).

Part IV

Dry measures

Grain and flour.

Dry measures were used for grain, flour and seed. They were baskets, bowls or jars of a set size. A sale of grain was not weighed; it was measured out by the basketful.

From smallest to largest, the Bible’s dry measures are the kab, the omer, the seah, the ephah and the homer (also called the cor). The ephah was the everyday measure, and the others are fractions or multiples of it.

KabHebrew qab · קַב · about 2 litres (2 quarts)

The kab was a small dry measure, about two quarts.

It appears in one of the worst famines in the Bible. When the Syrian army surrounded the city of Samaria, food ran out so badly that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a kab of dove’s dung, about a pint, sold for five shekels.

Size

2.024 litres in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906): a sixth of a seah.

In the verses

The siege of Samaria: “an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver” (2 Kings 6:25). Open the verse The ASV’s margin reads “shekels” for “pieces of silver”: five shekels for about half a litre.

OmerHebrew omer · עֹמֶר · about 2.3 to 3.6 litres (2 to 4 quarts)

The omer is one tenth of an ephah: about two to four quarts. Exodus explains it in one line: “an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.”

It was the daily share of manna, the bread from heaven that fed Israel in the desert. Each person gathered one omer a day. Those who gathered more found they had no extra, and those who gathered less found they had no lack.

Size

“Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.” (Exodus 16:36). Open the verse
2.3 litres in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway); a tenth of the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)’s ephah is 3.6 litres.

In the verses

The daily manna: “an omer a head, according to the number of your persons” (Exodus 16:16). Open the verse About 2.3 to 3.6 litres for each person each day.

Seah (measure)Hebrew seah · סְאָה · about 12 litres (a peck and a half)

The seah is a third of an ephah: about three gallons of grain, or, as the ASV’s margin puts it, “nearly a peck and a half.” The ASV usually translates it simply as “measure.”

When three visitors came to Abraham’s tent, he told Sarah to bake bread from three measures of fine flour: about nine gallons of flour, a huge amount for one meal. In Yeshua’s parable a woman hides leaven, or yeast, in three measures of meal until it is all leavened: the same amount Sarah used.

Size

The ASV’s margin: “The word in the Greek denotes the Hebrew seah, a measure containing nearly a peck and a half.” Matthew 13:33
12.15 litres in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906): a third of an ephah.

In the verses

Abraham’s guests: “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal” (Genesis 18:6). Open the verse
The parable of the leaven: “hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33). Open the verse Three seahs: about 36 litres of flour.

EphahHebrew eifah · אֵיפָה · about 21.5 to 36.4 litres (5½ to 9½ gallons)

The ephah was the main measure for grain, about five and a half to nine and a half gallons. Ezekiel says the ephah (for grain) and the bath (for oil and wine) were the same size.

In the book of Ruth, a poor widow gleaned in Boaz’s field all day, picking up the grain the reapers had left. In the evening she beat out what she had gathered, and it was about an ephah of barley: a big load for one woman, and a sign of how generous Boaz had been.

The cheating merchants in Amos made the ephah small, so their customers got less grain than they paid for.

Drawing: a woman beating out barley at evening, beside a full basket — **Drawing:** a woman beating out barley at evening, beside a full basket. An ink drawing made for Open Scroll, not a picture from the time.

Size

The same size as the bath, used for grain: “The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure” (Ezekiel 45:11). Open the verse
36.44 litres in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906); about 21.5 litres from Greek and Roman jars in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway).

In the verses

Ruth’s first day in the field of Boaz: “she gleaned in the field until even; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley” (Ruth 2:17). Open the verse About 21.5 to 36.4 litres of grain from one day’s gleaning.
A failed harvest in Isaiah: “a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah” (Isaiah 5:10). Open the verse One tenth of what was sown.

Homer and corHebrew chomer · חֹמֶר · about 215 to 364 litres

The homer, also called the cor, is the largest dry measure: ten ephahs. That is roughly 55 to 95 gallons.

Solomon’s palace used 30 cors of fine flour and 60 cors of meal every single day. The prophet Hosea bought back his wife for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley.

Size

Ten ephahs or ten baths: “the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer (for ten baths are a homer)” (Ezekiel 45:14). Open the verse
364.4 litres in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906); ten times the smaller ephah gives about 215 litres.

In the verses

“Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal” (1 Kings 4:22). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Hebrew cor.” Ninety cors: about 19,000 to 33,000 litres a day.
Hosea bought his wife back: “for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley” (Hosea 3:2). Open the verse The half-homer is, in the ASV’s margin, “Hebrew lethech.”
The unjust steward: “A hundred measures of wheat” (Luke 16:7). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Greek cors, the cor being a Hebrew measure.”

Measure (choenix)Greek choinix · χοῖνιξ · about a quart

The choenix was a Greek dry measure of about a quart: roughly one person’s daily ration of grain.

In Revelation 6, one of the four horsemen brings famine. A voice cries that a quart of wheat will cost a shilling, a whole day’s wages. The ASV’s margin explains that this means great scarcity: a man could work all day and earn only enough bread for himself.

In the verses

“A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley for a shilling” (Revelation 6:6). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “A choenix (i.e. about a quart) of wheat for a shilling—implying great scarcity.” A shilling was a day’s wage (Part VI).

Part V

Liquid measures

Oil, wine and water.

Liquid measures were used for oil, wine and water. They were jars of a set size. From smallest to largest, the Bible’s liquid measures are the log, the hin and the bath. In the New Testament we also meet the firkin, a Greek jar.

LogHebrew log · לֹג · about a third to a half of a litre

The log is the smallest liquid measure, about a pint or less.

It is named only in Leviticus 14, in the law for a person healed of leprosy. On the eighth day the healed person brought lambs, flour and one log of olive oil. The priest put some of the oil on the person’s right ear, right thumb and right big toe.

Size

0.506 litres in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906); probably 0.67 pint (about 0.32 litres) in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway).

In the verses

The offering for a healed leper: “three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour for a meal-offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil” (Leviticus 14:10). Open the verse

HinHebrew hin · הִין · about 3.5 to 6 litres (1 to 1½ gallons)

The hin was about one to one and a half gallons.

It was used for the daily offerings. Every morning and evening a lamb was offered, with a quarter of a hin of olive oil mixed into flour and a quarter of a hin of wine poured out: about one quart of each.

In Ezekiel’s acted-out siege, his water ration was a sixth of a hin a day: less than a quart.

Size

About 3.5 to 3.9 litres in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway); 6.07 litres in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).

In the verses

The daily offering: “a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink-offering” (Exodus 29:40). Open the verse A quarter hin: about 0.9 to 1.5 litres.
Ezekiel’s water ration: “thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin” (Ezekiel 4:11). Open the verse About 0.6 to 1 litre a day.

BathHebrew bat · בַּת · about 21.5 to 36.4 litres (5½ to 9½ gallons)

The bath was the main liquid measure, the same size as the ephah: about five and a half to nine and a half gallons.

The great bronze basin in front of Solomon’s temple, called the sea, was huge. 1 Kings says it held two thousand baths; 2 Chronicles says three thousand. Either way, it was more than ten thousand gallons of water.

In Yeshua’s parable of the unjust steward, a man owed a hundred baths of olive oil, about 550 to 950 gallons. The steward cut his bill to fifty.

Drawing: olive oil poured into a large storage jar — **Drawing:** olive oil poured into a large storage jar. An ink drawing made for Open Scroll, not a picture from the time.

Size

The same size as the ephah (Part IV), used for oil and wine. Ezekiel 45:11

What the numbers mean

The great basin in Solomon’s temple: “it held two thousand baths” (1 Kings 7:26). Open the verse About 43,000 to 73,000 litres. Chronicles gives a larger number: “it received and held three thousand baths” (2 Chronicles 4:5). Open the verse Both are shown here.
The unjust steward: “A hundred measures of oil” (Luke 16:6). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Greek baths.” About 2,150 to 3,640 litres of oil.
Isaiah’s failed vineyard: “ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath” (Isaiah 5:10). Open the verse

FirkinGreek metretes · μετρητής · about 39 litres (10 gallons)

The firkin is the ASV’s word for a Greek jar called a metretes, about ten gallons.

At the wedding at Cana, six stone water jars stood ready for washing, each holding two or three firkins. Yeshua had them filled with water to the brim, and the water became wine: about 120 to 180 gallons in all.

Drawing: six stone water jars filled to the brim at a wedding — **Drawing:** six stone water jars filled to the brim at a wedding. An ink drawing made for Open Scroll, not a picture from the time.

Size

About 39 litres (10.3 gallons) in the Encyclopedia of The Bible, “Weights and Measures” (Bible Gateway).

In the verses

The wedding at Cana: “six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews’ manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece” (John 2:6). Open the verse Twelve to eighteen firkins in all: about 470 to 700 litres (124 to 185 gallons).

Part VI

Money

From weighed silver to Roman coins.

In the Old Testament, money means silver weighed on a scale. Coins appear only near the end of the Old Testament, with the Persian daric. In the New Testament, the land of Israel was under Rome, and people used Roman coins, Greek coins and local coins side by side.

The most useful coin to know is the denarius, which the ASV calls a “shilling.” It was one day’s pay for a working man. Once you know that, the money in the Gospels makes sense: two denarii is two days’ pay, three hundred denarii is about a year’s pay.

Pieces of silverSilver by weight, usually shekels.

When the Bible says “pieces of silver,” it usually means shekels of silver by weight.

Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave for twenty pieces of silver. The Law (Torah) set thirty shekels of silver as the price to be paid if an ox killed a slave. Centuries later, Zechariah was paid thirty pieces of silver for his work, and threw it to the potter. Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver to hand over Yeshua, and Matthew connects that price to the prophets.

In the verses

Joseph was sold “to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver” (Genesis 37:28). Open the verse
The Law (Torah) sets the price of a servant killed by an ox: “thirty shekels of silver” (Exodus 21:32). Open the verse
Zechariah: “So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver” (Zechariah 11:12). Open the verse
Judas: “And they weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver” (Matthew 26:15). Open the verse Matthew connects this with the prophets: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was priced” (Matthew 27:9). Open the verse The ASV’s margin points to Zechariah 11:12, 13.
Saul’s servant offered a seer “the fourth part of a shekel of silver” (1 Samuel 9:8). Open the verse

DaricGold coins of the Persian period.

The daric was a gold coin of the kings of Persia. It appears in the books set after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon, when the land was ruled by Persia.

When the people came back to rebuild the temple, the leaders gave darics of gold for the work: sixty-one thousand of them, Ezra says.

A gold daric showing a running archer king — **A gold daric of Persia, about 505 to 480 B.C.** Photograph: Classical Numismatic Group (CNG), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

In the verses

The ASV prints “darics” in books set after the return from Babylon: “threescore and one thousand darics of gold” (Ezra 2:69). Open the verse
“The governor gave to the treasury a thousand darics of gold” (Nehemiah 7:70). Open the verse
Chronicles uses the same word for David’s gifts: “ten thousand darics” (1 Chronicles 29:7). Open the verse

Shilling (denarius)Greek denarion · δηνάριον · a day’s wage

The denarius was a small Roman silver coin. The ASV translates it as “shilling,” and its margin says it was worth about seventeen cents in 1901 money. What matters more is what it bought: in Yeshua’s parable, a landowner hired workers for a shilling a day. One denarius was one day’s pay for a labourer.

With that in mind, the Gospels’ numbers become clear. The good Samaritan gave the innkeeper two days’ pay to care for the beaten man. Philip said two hundred days’ pay would not buy enough bread to feed the crowd of five thousand. The perfume poured on Yeshua could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii: about a year’s wages.

When Yeshua was asked whether to pay tax to Caesar, he asked for a denarius and asked whose picture and name were on it. They answered: Caesar’s.

A silver denarius of Tiberius, front and back — **A silver denarius of the emperor Tiberius, the coin the ASV calls a “shilling.”** Photograph: Classical Numismatic Group (CNG), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What it was

A Roman silver coin. The ASV prints “shilling,” and its margin says: “The word in the Greek denotes a coin worth about eight pence half-penny, or nearly seventeen cents.” Matthew 18:28
The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) gives the denarius (in Hebrew, zuz) as 3.585 grams, a quarter of a sela.
One denarius was a day’s pay for a labourer: “he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a day” (Matthew 20:2). Open the verse

What the numbers mean

The good Samaritan paid the innkeeper “two shillings” (Luke 10:35). Open the verse Two days’ wages.
Feeding the five thousand: “Two hundred shillings’ worth of bread is not sufficient for them” (John 6:7). Open the verse About two hundred days’ wages.
The ointment poured on Yeshua: “this ointment might have been sold for above three hundred shillings” (Mark 14:5). Open the verse About a year’s wages.
The tax coin: “Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a denarius.” (Matthew 22:19). Open the verse “And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?” (Matthew 22:20). Open the verse

Drachma, half-shekel and shekel coinGreek drachme · δραχμή

The drachma was a Greek silver coin worth about the same as a denarius: a day’s pay. In the parable of the lost coin, a woman with ten drachmas loses one and sweeps the whole house until she finds it.

Every Jewish man paid a temple tax of half a shekel a year, as the Law (Torah) commanded. In Yeshua’s day it was paid with a Greek coin worth two drachmas. When the tax collectors asked Peter whether his teacher paid it, Yeshua sent Peter to catch a fish, and in its mouth he found a stater, a coin worth four drachmas: enough to pay the tax for both of them.

A silver half-shekel of Tyre, front and back — **A silver half-shekel of Tyre, 102 to 101 B.C., Bibliothèque nationale de France.** Photograph: BnF Gallica, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Drachma

“what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece” (Luke 15:8). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Greek drachma, a coin worth about eight pence, or sixteen cents.” Nearly the same as a denarius.

Half-shekel (didrachma)

The yearly temple tax of the Law (Torah), half a shekel a man (Exodus 30:13), paid in Greek coin: “Doth not your teacher pay the half-shekel?” (Matthew 17:24). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Greek didrachma,” two drachmas.

Shekel (stater)

“thou shalt find a shekel: that take, and give unto them for me and thee” (Matthew 17:27). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Greek stater.” One stater paid the tax for two men: four drachmas.

Mite, farthing and pennyThe smallest coins.

The smallest coin in the Gospels is the mite (in Greek, lepton), a tiny copper coin. Two mites made a farthing (the Roman quadrans).

Yeshua watched the rich putting large gifts into the temple treasury. Then a poor widow put in two mites. He said she had given more than all of them, because they gave out of their extra, and she gave everything she had to live on.

Another small coin was the penny (in Greek, assarion). Sparrows were sold two for a penny, or five for two pennies. Yeshua used the cheapest thing in the market to say that not one sparrow is forgotten by God.

Two small bronze coins of Alexander Jannaeus — **Small bronze coins of the Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus (103 to 76 B.C.), of the kind used in Judea for small change.** Photograph: Atzmonit, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mite and farthing

“And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing” (Mark 12:42). Open the verse The Greek words are lepton (the mite) and kodrantes, the Roman quadrans (the farthing).
“Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing” (Matthew 5:26). Open the verse

Penny (assarion)

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” (Matthew 10:29). Open the verse
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pence?” (Luke 12:6). Open the verse Two pennies bought five sparrows, not four: the fifth came free.

Pound (mina) and talentLarge sums.

The mina, which the ASV here calls a “pound,” was worth one hundred drachmas, about a hundred days’ pay. In Luke’s parable, a nobleman gives ten servants one pound each to trade with while he is away.

The talent was a huge sum. In Matthew’s parable of the talents, a master gives one servant five talents, another two, and another one. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, a man is forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents, then grabs a fellow servant by the throat over a hundred shillings. Using the ASV’s own 1901 figures, that is about ten million dollars forgiven, against seventeen dollars owed.

Pound (mina)

“gave them ten pounds, and said unto them, Trade ye herewith till I come” (Luke 19:13). Open the verse The ASV’s margin: “Mina, here translated a pound, is equal to one hundred drachmas.” About a hundred days’ wages.

Talent

“unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one” (Matthew 25:15). Open the verse
The ASV’s margin on the unforgiving servant: “This talent was probably worth about £200, or $1000.” Matthew 18:24
In that parable one servant owed “ten thousand talents” (Matthew 18:24). Open the verse and his fellow servant owed him “a hundred shillings” (Matthew 18:28). Open the verse By the ASV’s own 1901 figures, about $10,000,000 against about $17.