Reference Tool
Weights, Measures & Money
The Bible is full of specific quantities that are opaque to modern readers. How much was 400 shekels? What is a talent worth? How long is a cubit? Convert any biblical unit to modern equivalents — and understand the purchasing power behind the numbers.
Convert
Amount
Unit
Purchasing Power Reference — OT Period (c. 1000–500 BC)
1 shekel
≈ 4 days wages for a day laborer
1 mina
≈ 200 days wages (8 months work)
1 talent
≈ 20 years wages — a fortune
30 shekels
Price of a slave (Exodus 21:32) — also Judas's payment
Weight Units — Old Testament
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Amount
Unit
Key Biblical Lengths in Context
Noah's Ark
300 × 50 × 30 cubits = 137m × 23m × 14m (using 45.7cm cubit)
Solomon's Temple
60 × 20 × 30 cubits = 27m × 9m × 13m interior
Goliath
"Six cubits and a span" = 2.9m tall (about 9'6")
Length Units
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Amount
Unit
Key Dry Measures in Context
1 omer
Manna per person per day (Exodus 16:16) — ~2.2 liters, about 2 days bread for one person
1 ephah
Standard commercial unit — about a bushel. Ruth gleaned "about an ephah" of barley (Ruth 2:17)
1 homer
A donkey load — the largest dry measure. Hosea buys his wife back for 15 shekels + 1.5 homers of barley (Hosea 3:2)
Dry Volume Units
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Amount
Unit
Key Liquid Measures in Context
1 hin
Oil and wine measure for offerings — about 3.67 liters (~a gallon)
6 stone jars
Wedding at Cana (John 2:6): "two or three baths each" = 120–180 liters of water turned to wine
1 bath = 1 ephah
The bath is the liquid equivalent of the ephah — the same volume for wet and dry
Liquid Volume Units
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Amount
Unit
Purchasing Power Reference — NT Period (1st Century AD)
1 denarius
1 day's wage for a laborer (Matthew 20:2) — the Parable of the Vineyard workers
2 denarii
The Good Samaritan's payment to the innkeeper — 2 days care for the injured man
30 silver pieces
Judas's payment (Matthew 26:15) — likely shekels, not denarii; the same amount as a slave's price in Exodus 21:32
1 talent
≈ 20 years wages. The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25) involves astronomical sums — intentionally so
New Testament Currency (Roman)
All conversions are scholarly estimates — ancient weights were not standardized and varied by region and era. Modern equivalents use widely accepted scholarly averages. Purchasing power comparisons are approximations based on comparative wage data from biblical and Egyptian records.