Bible reference tools
Convert ancient Bible units without hiding the uncertainty.
Enter an amount to calculate a modern metric and US customary or imperial range. The converter covers 30 named units and links to 76 verse-specific explanations. Ancient standards varied by period and place, so every result is a reading aid—not an exact archaeological measurement.
Interactive reference
Convert a biblical measurement
Choose a unit and enter an amount to see a modern metric and labeled US customary or Imperial range.
finger — A finger was a small body-based length, roughly the width of a finger.
This is a reconstructed subdivision of the handbreadth, not a surviving universal ruler.
Choose a unit
Each page keeps its formula, biblical ratios, examples, and uncertainty note together. Omer and homer are separate units; the common and long cubits are also kept separate.
Length
Body-based and architectural measures such as the span and cubit.
finger
A finger was a small body-based length, roughly the width of a finger.
handbreadth
A handbreadth was about the breadth of four fingers and one sixth of a common cubit.
span
A span measured the spread from thumb to little finger, about three handbreadths.
common cubit
A common cubit was a forearm-length measure, usually represented as about 45 cm or 18 inches.
long cubit
Ezekiel's long cubit is explicitly a cubit plus one handbreadth, about 52 cm or 20.4 inches.
Ezekiel measuring reed
Ezekiel 40:5 defines its reed as six long cubits, making it a little over 3.1 metres.
fathom
A fathom was approximately the reach of two outstretched arms and was used for depth soundings.
Distance
Travel and geographic measures such as the stadion and Roman mile.
stadion
A stadion was a Greek distance associated with a stadium course, commonly estimated at about 185 metres.
Roman mile
The mile behind Matthew 5:41 is normally understood as the Roman mile, shorter than a modern statute mile.
Sabbath day's journey
A Sabbath day's journey was a conventional limited travel distance, often related to about 2,000 cubits.
day's journey
A day's journey describes travel achieved in a day, not a calibrated ancient ruler.
Weight
Ancient weights and weight-based money terms, from the gerah to the talent.
gerah
A gerah was one twentieth of a sanctuary shekel in passages that state the relationship.
beka
A beka was half a shekel, the per-person amount named in Exodus 38:26.
shekel by weight
Before it was a modern currency name, the biblical shekel was fundamentally a unit of weight.
pim
A pim was an Iron Age weight of roughly two thirds of a shekel, reflected as payim in the WEB text of 1 Samuel 13:21.
mina (50-shekel estimate)
The common reference estimate treats a mina as about fifty shekels or roughly 0.6 kilogram.
Ezekiel mina (60 shekels)
Ezekiel 45:12 defines its mina by adding twenty, twenty-five, and fifteen shekels: sixty in all.
talent by weight
A talent was a very large weight and accounting unit, commonly represented as about 34 kilograms or 75 pounds.
gold daric
A Persian daric was a gold coin whose physical mass was about 8.4 grams.
Dry volume
Measures used for grain, flour, and other dry goods.
kab
A kab was a small dry-capacity measure, approximately one litre in the default reference system.
omer
An omer was one tenth of an ephah, the daily manna measure named in Exodus 16.
seah
A seah was a dry measure of roughly 7.3 litres; three seahs made an ephah.
ephah
An ephah was a major Hebrew dry measure, represented here as about 22 litres.
lethech
A lethech was a large dry measure, commonly taken as five ephahs or half a homer.
homer
A homer was a very large capacity measure of ten ephahs, about 220 litres in the default system.
cor
A cor was a large capacity measure commonly aligned with the homer at about ten ephahs.
choenix
A choenix was a small Greek dry measure, often treated as roughly a daily grain ration.
Liquid volume
Measures used for oil, wine, and water.
How the estimates work
The representative system begins with the ESV Global Study Bible table. The American Bible Society and Encyclopedia of the Bible sources are used to keep long-cubit and historical variation visible. We do not mix a 50-shekel mina with Ezekiel's explicit 60-shekel mina, and we never turn an ancient metal weight into a present-day cash value.
The endpoints shown here are editorial reading ranges centered on the cited representative estimates. They are not statistical confidence intervals and should not be attributed to a source as exact bounds. For liquid volume, US and Imperial measures are labeled separately.
- ESV Global Study Bible · Table of Weights and Measures ↗ — The default system used for the representative estimates. The table says all equivalents are approximate and varied by time and place. Accessed October 10, 2026.
- American Bible Society · Weights and Measures in Ancient Israel ↗ — Used especially for the distinction between an ordinary cubit and Ezekiel's longer cubit-and-handbreadth standard. Accessed October 10, 2026.
- Encyclopedia of the Bible · Weights and Measures ↗ — Used for historical variation, the fathom, and the warning that biblical metrology is not an exact modern system. Accessed October 10, 2026.
- World English Bible Protestant Edition ↗ — Public-domain Scripture source. Unit conversions are editorial aids and do not alter the biblical text. Accessed October 10, 2026.