Weights and measures in the original languages of the Bible are expressed in terms that are not easy for people today to visualize or understand. While every effort has been made to provide accurate modern equivalencies, it should be noted that the measurements listed here varied from one ancient country to another and from one era to another. Those measures that apply exclusively to the New Testament period are preceded by the letters “NT.”

WEIGHTS

Before the first coins were minted around 640 B.C., merchants measured out pieces of silver and gold according to weight. As a result terms of weight (such as shekels, minas, and talents) also were used to express amounts of money. In keeping with this practice, the translators of the Contemporary English Version (CEV) have sometimes expressed these weights using terms like “pieces of silver” rather than converting them to an equivalent metric weight. The fact that the biblical authors frequently warned against using dishonest scales and measurements is evidence that weights were not as precise then as they are now (see Deuteronomy 25.13,14; Amos 8.5, and Micah 6.11).

LENGTHS & DISTANCES

The standard measurement of length in the Bible is the cubit, which was based on the length of an adult’s forearm (from the tip of the fingers to the elbow). This standard varied from place to place throughout the biblical period. Because it is impossible to know when a New Testament author is intending the Greek, Roman, or Palestinian measure, the equivalence is best expressed as a range.

DRY MEASURES

The cor/homer was originally understood to be the maximum amount a donkey could carry. The standard upon which lesser measures are based is the ephah. Since the ephah varied between the cultures and periods of the ancient world, the dry measures below should be taken as approximations.

LIQUID MEASURES

The standard liquid measure in the Bible is the bath. The name “bath” is related to the Hebrew word for daughter and may represent the capacity of the jars young women used when carrying water from wells. Since the bath varied between cultures and periods of the ancient world, the liquid measures below should be taken as approximations.