Dictionary of Bible Themes: 5615 weights and measures, weights

5615 weights and measures, weights

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Dictionary of Bible Themes » 5000 Humanity » 5200 Human civilisation » 5613 weights and measures » 5615 weights and measures, weights

Ancient weights were usually made of stone or metal, often inscribed with their weight and standard, the shekel being the basic weight of all Semitic nations. Weights of gold and silver served as currency, since coinage was not invented until the seventh century B.C. Weights are given in ascending order, with their approximate imperial and metric equivalents.

Gerah (1/20 shekel): about 1/50 ounce (about 0.6 gram)

Leviticus 27:25 See also Exodus 30:13; Numbers 3:47; Numbers 18:16; Ezekiel 45:12

Beka (10 gerahs): about 1/5 ounce (about 5.8 grams)

2 Chronicles 9:15-16 pp 1 Kings 10:16-17 See also Genesis 24:22; Exodus 38:25-26

Pim (2/3 shekel): about 1/4 ounce (about 7.7 grams)

1 Samuel 13:21 The Hebrew word translated “two thirds of a shekel” is “pim”, its only mention in Scripture.

Shekel (2 bekas): about 2/5 ounce (about 11.5 grams)

The shekel in relation to other weights

Ezekiel 45:12

The shekel as a weight of metal objects

1 Samuel 17:5 See also 1 Samuel 17:7; 2 Samuel 21:16

The shekel as a weight of food

Ezekiel 4:10

The shekel as a weight of gold or silver objects

2 Chronicles 3:9 See also Genesis 24:22; Numbers 7:13-14; Judges 8:26

The shekel as a weight of gold or silver

Genesis 23:14-16 The phrase “the weight current among the merchants” reflects the local variation in standards. See also Genesis 37:28; Deuteronomy 22:28-29; Joshua 7:20-21; Judges 17:1-4; 2 Samuel 18:11-12; 1 Kings 10:29 pp 2 Chronicles 1:17; 2 Kings 5:4-5; Nehemiah 5:15; Jeremiah 32:9; Daniel 5:25-27 “Tekel” can mean “weighed” or “shekel”.

The royal shekel

2 Samuel 14:26 The royal shekel, also known in Babylonia, was slightly heavier (at about 13 grams) than the standard shekel and reflects David's attempts to bring some standardisation to this weight.

The sanctuary shekel

Numbers 18:15-16 The sanctuary shekel was more precisely regulated than the common shekel, weighing exactly 20 gerahs. The common shekel may have weighed slightly less as a result of greater handling and wider circulation. See also Exodus 30:13-15,22-25; Exodus 38:24-26; Leviticus 5:15; Leviticus 27:1-7; Numbers 3:46-50

Mina (50 shekels): about 1 1/4 pounds (about 0.6 kilogram)

Ezekiel 45:12 Although the mina is valued here at 60 shekels, there is some evidence that in the pre-exilic period it was valued at 50 shekels. See also 1 Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69; Nehemiah 7:71-72; Daniel 5:25-26 “Mene” can mean both “numbered” and “mina”; Luke 19:11-27 By NT times the mina had become coinage rather than simply a weight of silver, and was worth about three months' wages.

Talent (3,000 shekels, 60 minas): about 75 pounds (about 34 kilograms)

1 Chronicles 29:7 See also Exodus 25:39; 2 Samuel 12:30 pp 1 Chronicles 20:2; 1 Kings 10:14 pp 2 Chronicles 9:13; 1 Kings 16:24; 2 Kings 18:14; Ezra 8:26; Esther 3:9; Matthew 18:24-25 By NT times the talent had become coinage, and ten thousand talents would have been the equivalent of millions of pounds sterling; Matthew 25:14-30

Other minor weights

Kesitah

Genesis 33:19 The price in the original Hebrew is “one hundred kesitahs”, a unit of unknown weight and value.

Litra

The word translated “pint” in Jn 12:3 and “pound” in 19:39 is “litra”, a loanword from the Latin “libra”, meaning “pound” and weighing 12 ounces (327 grams):

John 12:3; John 19:39

Peres

Daniel 5:28 “Peres” means “division” and denotes a half-shekel.