Encyclopedia > Ancient Hebrew weights and measures
Weight
Reduced to English troy-weight, the Hebrew weights were: This article is about the Hebrew people. ...
Gerah (Lev. 27:25; Num. 3:47), a Hebrew word, meaning a grain or kernel, and hence a small weight. It was the twentieth part of a shekel, and equal to 12 grains (778 mg).
Bekah (Ex. 38:26), meaning "a half" i.e., "half a shekel," equal to 5 pennyweight (7.8 g).
Shekel, "a weight," only in the Old Testament, and frequently in its original form (Gen. 23:15, 16; Ex. 21:32; 30:13, 15; 38:24-29, etc.). It was equal to 10 pennyweight (15.6 g).
Ma'neh, "a part" or "portion" (Ezek. 45:12), equal to 60 shekels (933 g), i.e., to 2 lb 6 oz (1,077 g).
Talent of silver (2 Kings 5:22), equal to 3,000 shekels (46.7 kg), i.e., 125 lb (56.7 kg).
Talent of gold (Ex. 25:39), double the preceding, i.e., 250 lb (113 kg).
Mesures usuelles (French for customary measurements) were a system of measurement introduced to act as compromise between the metric system and traditional measurements.
Atomic units (au) are a convenient system of units of measurement used in atomic physics, particularly for describing the properties of electrons.
In the History of measurement many of the units that we have records of, or at least the ones that have been used in Europe and around the Mediterranean are variations on older systems originating in the Ancient Near East and Egypt.
Measures of length were initially based on parts of the human body in both the Hebrew and the Greek systems.
The concept of measuring was a well-known prophetic function in the Old Testament and usually involved the concept of preservation of or destruction of something.
A reed was being used to measure and this implies that the measurement was to be in cubits.
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