Biblical Units Converter

Convert ancient biblical units into modern units: cubit, span, handbreadth, ephah, homer, hin, omer, log, talent, mina, shekel, gerah. Includes modern equivalents (m, L, g) and notes on measurement ranges.

How to use this converter

Pick the category (Length, Volume, or Weight), choose the biblical source unit, choose the target modern unit, and enter the amount. Click Calculate to render the converted number with consistent six-decimal rounding. Swap the source/target selections when you want to reverse the conversion.

Methodology

This tool keeps every factor in the same base units (meters, liters, or grams) and applies the ratio input × factor(source) ÷ factor(target). The factors are drawn from common modern equivalents used in Bible reference tables and study resources, so conversions remain traceable to the same baselines.

About variability

Sources disagree because actual jars, weights and cubits from biblical periods differ slightly. We picked values close to many online converters and study Bibles (ephah ≈ 22 L, homer = 10 ephah = 220 L, cubit ≈ 45 cm, talent ≈ 34 kg) so you can stay consistent across your document.

Reference (our chosen baselines)

Length

UnitTo meters (m)
cubit0.45 m (common)
span0.23 m
handbreadth / palm0.08 m
finger / digit0.02 m

Volume

UnitTo liters (L)
homer / cor220 L
ephah / bath22 L
seah7.3 L
omer2 L
hin4 L
log0.3 L

Weight

UnitTo grams (g)
talent34272 g
mina571.2 g
shekel11.424 g
beka (½ shekel)5.712 g
gerah (1/20 shekel)0.5712 g

Notes for Bible students

  • If your commentary gives another value, just convert from that modern value back to biblical.
  • Many sources differ, especially for ephah and bath (≈22 L vs ≈39 L); here we use the 22 L line.
  • Use this page as an internal standard across your whole site or study.
Formulas

General conversion formula:

target = input × factor(source) ÷ factor(target)

All factors are anchored to the same base unit (m, L or g) so the ratio yields the modern equivalent.

Citations

NIST — Weights and measures — nist.gov · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://www.nist.gov/pml/weights-and-measures

NIST — SI units — nist.gov · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si/si-units

Changelog
  • 0.1.0-draft — 2026-01-19: Initial audit spec draft generated from HTML extraction (review required).
  • Verify formulas match the calculator engine and convert any text-only formulas to LaTeX.
  • Confirm sources are authoritative and relevant to the calculator methodology.
Verified by Ugo Candido on 2026-01-19 Last Updated: 2026-01-19 Version 0.1.0-draft
Version 1.5.0