Weights and Measures

Narrator: Chris Genthree
 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 10
In the Old Testament money was weighed. The first recorded transaction in scripture is that of Abraham buying the field of Ephron the Hittite for four hundred shekels of silver, which Abraham “weighed” to Ephron (Gen. 23:15-1615My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. 16And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. (Genesis 23:15‑16)). The shekel here was a weight. Judas Maccabaeus, about B. C. 141, was the first to coin Jewish money, though there existed doubtless from of old pieces of silver of known value, which passed from hand to hand without being always weighed. Herod the Great coined money with his name on it; and Herod Agrippa had some coins; but after that the coins in Palestine were Roman.
The following tables must be taken approximately only: the authorities differ.
WEIGHTS.
The principal weights in use were as follows with their approximate equivalents:—
 
 
Avoirdupois
 
 
Pounds
Ounces
Drams
 
Gerah (1/20 of a shekel)
 
 
0.439
 
Bekah (½ of a shekel)
 
 
4.390
 
Shekel
 
 
8.780
 
Maneh or pound (60 shekels)
2
0
14.800
 
Talent, kikkah (50 maneh)
102
14
4.000
 
Talent of lead (Zech. 5:7), "weighty piece" (margin)
 
Talent (Rev. 16:21): if Attic = about 55 lbs.
 
Pound, λίτρα (John 12:3; 19:39): about 12 oz. avoirdupois
900006
It must be noted that there are two shekels mentioned in the Old Testament: one according to the “king’s weight,” probably the standard shekel used for all ordinary business (Ex. 38:2929And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. (Exodus 38:29); Josh. 7:2121When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. (Joshua 7:21); 2 Sam. 14:2626And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight. (2 Samuel 14:26); Amos 8:55Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? (Amos 8:5)); and another called the “shekel of the sanctuary,” of which it is said in Exodus 30:1313This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. (Exodus 30:13); Leviticus 27:2525And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. (Leviticus 27:25); Numbers 3:4747Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) (Numbers 3:47) and Numbers 18:1616And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. (Numbers 18:16), “the shekel is 20 gerahs,” implying perhaps that the common shekel was different. Michaelis says that the proportion was as 5 to 3, the business shekel being the smaller.
This seems confirmed by the word maneh in the following passages. By comparing 1 Kings 10:1717And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. (1 Kings 10:17) with 2 Chronicles 9:1616And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. (2 Chronicles 9:16) it will be seen that a maneh equals 100 shekels (probably, for the word “shekels” has been added by the translators); whereas in Ezekiel 45:11Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the Lord, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. (Ezekiel 45:1)2 The maneh equals 60 shekels, because the latter would be shekels of the sanctuary. The passage in Ezekiel is obscure, but the sense appears to be that three weights (20, 25, and 15 shekels) should be their maneh, which makes, as in the above table, a maneh = 60 shekels. Some modern tables give the maneh as equal to 50 shekels, from the supposition that this is what is meant in Ezekiel 45:1212And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh. (Ezekiel 45:12) in the LXX. The maneh is translated “pound” “1 Kings 10:1717And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. (1 Kings 10:17); Ezra 2:6969They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests' garments. (Ezra 2:69); Neh. 7:71-7271And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver. 72And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priests' garments. (Nehemiah 7:71‑72)).
MONEY.
If the weights in the foregoing list be approximately correct, and silver be taken at 5/- per ounce, and gold at £4 per ounce Troy, the money value will be about
 
 
£
s.
d.
 
 
Gerah (1/20 of a shekel)
0
0
1.5
Ex. 30:13
 
Bekah, beqa (½ of a shekel)
0
1
3
Gen. 24:22
 
Shekel
0
2
6
Gen. 23:15
 
Dram (daric, a Persian gold coin) about
1
2
0
1 Chron. 29:7
 
Maneh or pound, 60 shekels
7
10
0
Ezek. 45:12
 
Talent of Silver
375
0
0
Ezra 7:22
 
Talent of Gold
6000
0
0
Ex. 25:39
900007
 
 
£
s.
d.
 
 
Mite, λεπτόν
0
0
3/32
Mark 12:42
 
Farthing, κοδράντης
0
0
3/16
Matt. 5:26
 
Farthing, άσσάριον
0
0
¾
Matt. 10:29
 
Penny, δηνάριον
0
0
7¾
Matt. 20:2
 
Piece of silver, δραχμή
0
0
7¾
Luke 15:8-9
 
Tribute money, δίδραχμον
0
1
3½
Matt. 17:24
 
Piece of money, στατήρ
0
2
7
Matt. 17:27
 
Pound, μνά
3
4
7
Luke 19:13-25
 
Talent (Roman), τάλαντον
193
15
0
Matt. 18:24
 
Piece of silver, άργύριον
0
2
6
Matt. 26:15
 
Money, άργύριον
indefinite
Matt. 25:18
900008
The above gives no idea of the purchasing value of these sums, which often varied. A penny (δννάριον) was the usual daily wages of a working man: its purchasing value then must have been considerably more than it is now.
Liquid Measure
 
Measure
Conversion
Example
 
Caph
0.552
 
pints
 
 
Log (1.3 caphs)
0.718
 
pints
Lev. 14:10-24
 
Cab (4 logs)
2.872
 
pints
2 Kings 6:25
 
Hin (12 logs)
1.077
 
gallons
Ex. 29:40
 
Bath, Ephah (72 logs)
6.462
 
gallons
1 Kings 7:26
 
Cor, Homer (720 logs)
64.620
 
gallons
Ezek. 45:14
 
 
 
Pot, ξέστης
0.960
 
pints
Mark 7:4,8
 
Measure, βάτος
7.500
 
gallons
Luke 16:6
 
Firkin, μετρητής
8.625
 
gallons
John 2:6
 
Measure, κόρος
64.133
 
gallons
Luke 16:7
900009
Dry Measure
 
Measure
Conversion
Example
 
Log
0.718
 
pints
 
 
Cab (4 logs)
2.872
 
pints
2 Kings 6:25
 
Omer (1.8 cabs)
5.169
 
pints
Ex. 16:16,36
 
Tenth deal (tenth of an Ephah)
5.169
 
pints
Ex. 29:40
 
Measure, seah (6 cabs)
2.154
 
gallons
1 Sam. 25:18
 
Ephah (18 cabs)
6.462
 
gallons
Lev. 5:11
 
Half Homer, lethek (90 cabs)
4.040
 
bushels
Hos. 3:2
 
Homer, chomer (180 cabs)
8.081
 
bushels
Lev. 27:16
 
 
 
Measure, χõινιξ
2.000
 
pints
Rev. 6:6
 
Bushel, μόδιος
2.000
 
gallons
Matt. 5:15
 
Measure, σάτον
2.875
 
gallons
Matt. 13:33
900010
Long Measure
 
Measure
Conversion
Example
 
Finger or Digit, etsba
0.7584
 
inches
Jer. 52:21
 
Handbreadth or Palm (4 digits), tephach
3.0337
 
inches
1 Kings 7:26
 
Span, zereth (3 palms)
9.1012
 
inches
Ex. 28:16
 
Cubit, ammah, πήχυς (2 spans)
18.2025
 
inches
Gen. 6:15
 
Fathom, όρυιά (4 cubits)
6.0675
 
feet
Acts 27:28
 
Reed, qaneh (6 cubits)
9.1012
 
feet
Ezek. 40:3-8
 
Furlong, στάδιον (400 cubits)
606.7500
 
feet
Luke 24:13
 
Sabbath-day's journey (2000 cubits)
3033.7500
 
feet
Acts 1:12
 
Mile, μίλιον (3200 cubits)
4854.0000
 
feet
Matt. 5:41
 
Acre: as much land as a yoke of oxen would plow in a day
1 Sam. 14:14
900011
The above measures are calculated from the cubit being the same as the Hebrew ammah and the Greek πῆχυς, which latter is found in Matthew 6:2727Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (Matthew 6:27); Luke 12:2525And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? (Luke 12:25): John 21:88And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. (John 21:8); Revelation 21:1717And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. (Revelation 21:17). This may be called the short cubit (perhaps not the shortest: See CUBIT). In Ezekiel 41:88I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. (Ezekiel 41:8) is the expression, “a full reed of six great cubits.” The “great cubit” is supposed to be a cubit and a handbreadth. This would make Ezekiel’s reed to be about 10.618 feet. By adding a sixth to any of the above measurements they will correspond to the great cubit. There can be no doubt, however, that the “furlong” and the “mile” were Greek measures.
Though all these reckonings are only approximate, they help to throw light upon many passages of scripture. Thus Isaiah 5:1010Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. (Isaiah 5:10) shows that there is a curse resting upon the fields of a covetous man. In Revelation 6:66And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:6) the quantities prove that the time then spoken of will be one of great scarcity.