The Hebrews probably first used coins in the Persian period (500-350 B.C.). However, minting began around 700 B.C. in other nations. Prior to this, precious metals were weighed, not counted as money. Some units appear as both measures of money and measures of weights. This comes from naming the coins after their weight. For example, the shekel was a weight long before it became the name of a coin. It is helpful to relate biblical monies to current values. But we cannot make exact equivalents. The fluctuating value of money’s purchasing power is difficult to determine in our own day. It is even harder to evaluate currencies used two- to three-thousand years ago.
The monies chart below takes a current day’s wage as thirty-two dollars. Though there are differences of economies and standards of living, this measure will help us apply meaningful values to the monetary units in the chart and in the biblical text.
Monies
| Units | Monetary Value | Equivalents | Translations |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Jewish) Talent | Gold- $5,760,000 Silver- $384,000 | 3000 shekels or 6000 bekas | Talents |
| (Jewish) Shekel | Gold – $1,920 Silver- $128 | 4 days’ wages; 2 bekas; or 20 gerahs | shekel |
| (Jewish) Beka | Gold – $960 Silver- $64 | 1/2 shekel or 10 gerahs | bekah |
| (Jewish) Gerah | Gold- $96 Silver- $6.40 | 1/20 shekel | gerah |
| (Persian Coins) Daric | Gold- $1280 Silver- $64 | 2 days wages or 1/2 Jewish shekel | dram |
| (Greek coins) Tetradrachma (stater) | $128 | 4 drachmas | piece of money |
| (Greek coins) Didrachma | $64 | 2 drachmas | tribute |
| (Greek Coins) Drachma | $32 | 1 day’s wage | piece of silver |
| (Greek coins) Lepton | $0.25 | 1/2 of a Roman kodrantes | mite |
| (Roman Coins) Aureus | $800 | 25 denarii | |
| (Roman Coins) Denarius | $32 | 1 day’s wage | pence or penny |
| (Roman Coins) Assarius | $2 | 1/16 of a denarius | farthing |
| Roman coins) kodrantes | $.50 | 1/4 of an assarius | farthing |
Weights
| Unit | Weight | Equivalents | Translations |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Jewish Weights) Talent | c. 75 pounds for common talent, c. 150 pounds for royal talent | 60 minas; 3,000 shekels talent | talent |
| (Jewish Weights) Mina | 1.25 pounds | 50 shekels | maneh, pound |
| (Jewish Weights) Shekel | c. .4 ounce (11.4 grams) for common shekel c. .8 ounce for royal shekel | 2 bekas; 20 gerahs | shekel |
| (Jewish Weights) Beka | c. .2 ounce (5.7 grams) | ½ shekel: 10 gerahs | half a shekel |
| (Jewish Weights) Gerah | c. .02 ounce (.57 grams) | 1/20 shekel | gerah |
| (Roman Weight) Litra | 12 ounces | pound |
Measures of Length
| Unit | Length | Equivalents | Translations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day’s journey | c. 20 miles | day’s journey | |
| Roman mile | 4,854 feet | 8 stadia | mile |
| Sabbath day’s journey | 3,637 feet | 6 Stadia | Sabbath day’s journey |
| Stadion | 606 feet | 1/8 Roman mile | furlong |
| Rod | 9 feet (10.5 feet in Ezekiel) | 3 paces; 6 cubits | measuring reed, reed |
| Fathom | 6 feet | 4 cubits | fathom |
| Pace | 3 feet | 1/3 rod; 2 cubits | pace |
| Cubit | 18 inches | 1/2 pace; 2 spans | cubit |
| Span | 9 inches | 1/2 cubit; 3 handbreadths | span |
| Handbreadth | 3 inches | 1/3 span; 4 fingers | handbreadth |
| Finger | .75 inches | 1/4 handbreadth | finger |
Dry Measures
| Unit | Measure | Equivalents | Translations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homer | 6.52 bushels | 10 ephahs | homer |
| Kor | 6.52 bushels | 1 homer; 10 ephahs | cor, measure |
| Lethech | 3.26 bushels | ½ kor | half homer |
| Ephah | .65 bushel, 20.8 quarts | 1/10 homer | ephah |
| Modius | 7.68 quarts | bushel | |
| Seah | 7 quarts | 1/3 ephah | measure |
| Omer | 2.08 quarts | 1/10 ephah ; 1 4/5 kab | omer |
| Kab | 1.16 quarts | 4 logs | cab |
| Choenix | 1 quart | measure | |
| Xestes | 1 1/16 pints | pot | |
| Log | .58 pint | 1/4 kab | log |
Liquid Measures
| Unit | Measure | Equivalents | Translations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kor | 60 gallons | 10 baths | cor |
| Metretes | 10.2 gallons | firkin | |
| Bath | 6 gallons | 6 hins | measure; bath |
| Hin | 1 gallon | 2 kabs | hin |
| Kab | 2 quarts | 4 logs | cab |
| Log | 1 pint | 1/4 kab | log |
articlesforchristians 
Comments on: "Comparing Ancient Weights and Measures" (1)
[…] Comparing Ancient Weights and Measures […]