Weights

Reduced to English troy-weight, the Hebrew weights were: (1.) The 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.

(2.) Bekah (Ex. 38:26), meaning "a half" i.e., "half a shekel," equal to 5 pennyweight.

(3.) 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.

(4.) Ma'neh, "a part" or "portion" (Ezek. 45:12), equal to 60 shekels, i.e., to 2 lbs. 6 oz.

(5.) Talent of silver (2 Kings 5:22), equal to 3,000 shekels, i.e., 125 lbs.

(6.) Talent of gold (Ex. 25:39), double the preceding, i.e., 250 lbs.

The important requirement of the Israelite law was that weights and measures be honest (Lev 19:5-36; Deut 25:13-16). This was a requirement that greedy and dishonest merchants ignored. When selling grain they used undersized measures, and when weighing the buyer’s money they used extra heavy weights (Amos 8:4-5). But God saw their dishonesty and announced his judgment upon them (Prov 11:1; Micah 6:11).

The heaviest weight in use in Israel was the talent, which probably weighed about 50 kilograms (1 Chron 29:7; Rev 16:21; see TALENT). A talent was divided into sixty minas (1 Kings 10:17), and a mina into fifty shekels. Thus a shekel, which was the basic weight, weighed between sixteen and seventeen grams (Ezek 4:10; see SHEKEL). Half a shekel was called a beka (Exod 38:26), and a twentieth of a shekel a gerah (Exod 30:13).