1 Samuel 13:21 · measurement explained
One pim sharpening charge
The WEB renders the plural form as payim in the list of Philistine sharpening charges for Israelite farm tools.
Read the verse first
The price was one payim each to sharpen mattocks, plowshares, pitchforks, axes, and goads.
World English Bible · engwebp-source-2026-09-12
Modern measurement range
One pim
7.5–7.8 g
0.26–0.28 oz
Using the pim estimate. Surviving inscribed weights make this estimate narrower than several other biblical weights.
Calculate another amount →Archaeological pim weights make the mass fairly tangible, but a weight of metal is not automatically a modern service-price equivalent.
What this conversion does—and does not—show
It gives a defensible modern scale for the amount stated in the verse. Ancient standards varied by time and place, so the endpoints are deliberately approximate. A volume is not a food mass, a metal weight is not a modern cash value, and a conversion does not settle a textual, archaeological, or theological debate.
Conversion references: ESV weights and measures ↗, American Bible Society ↗, and Encyclopedia of the Bible ↗. Reference pages accessed October 10, 2026.