Biblical weights and measures

Conversions

Bible American/British Metric
Weight
talent 75 pounds 34 kilograms
mina 1.25 pounds 0.6 kilogram
shekel (2 bekas) 2/5 ounce 11.5 grams
pim (2/3 shekel) 1/3 ounce 7.6 grams
bekah (10 gerahs) 1/5 ounce 5.5 grams
gerah 1/50 ounce 0.6 gram
Dry Capacity
cor (homer) (10 ephahs) 6 bushels 220 liters
lethek (5 ephahs) 3 bushels 110 liters
ephah (10 omers) 3/5 bushel 22 liters
seah (1/3 ephah) 7 quarts 7.3 liters
omer (1/10 ephah) 2 quarts 2 liters
cab (1/18 ephah) 1 quart 1 liter
Liquid Capacity
bath (1 ephah) about 6 gallons about 22 liters
hin (1/6 bath) 4 quarts 4 liters
log (1/72 bath) 1/3 quart 0.3 liter
Greek: μετρητής (metrétés), meaning: a measure
About 72 Roman sextarii
Mentioned in John 2:6 only — see: firkin
about 8.75 gallons 39.39 litres
Length
Common cubit 18 inches 0.5 meter
Hebrew short cubit 17.5 44.5 cm
Egyptian cubit 17.6 44.7 cm
Hebrew long cubit 20.4 inches 51.8 cm
Babylonian long cubit 19.8 inches 50.3 cm
Egyptian long cubit 20.6 inches 52.3 cm
Royal cubit 19.8 to 20.6 inches approx. 52 cm
span 9 inches 23 centimeters
handbreadth 3 inches 8 centimeters
measure varies varies
mile (Roman) 1,618 yards 1,479.4992 meters

Note: These conversions of weights and measures are based upon the best, conservative information available to us from ancient sources. It is not possible to be precise and some ancient measures definitely vary.

SEE:

Article Version: April 27, 2022