Shekels (biblical) to Ounces (shekel to oz)
1 shekel (biblical) equals 0.4056505624 ounces (rounded).
How to convert shekels (biblical) to ounces
To convert shekels (biblical) to ounces, multiply the number of shekels (biblical) by 0.4056505624. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply ounces by 2.465175924 (rounded).
ounces = shekels (biblical) × 0.4056505624
Example: 10 shekels (biblical) = 4.056505624 ounces.
Approximate value. Standards for the shekel (biblical) varied by place and period, so this converter uses the most commonly cited value. Treat results as estimates, not exact figures.
About these units
Shekel (biblical) (shekel)
About 11.5 g. The usual biblical weight for silver and gold; the name later became a currency.
Long before it meant a modern currency, the shekel was a weight. The word comes from a Proto-Semitic root and matches Akkadian siqlu, and it is attested as early as about 2150 BC under Naram-Sin of Akkad. English acquired it through the Hebrew Bible, where it first turns up in Genesis 23. Israelites, Moabites, Edomites and Phoenicians all weighed metal in shekels long before coinage took hold in the region.
Ancient shekels ranged from about 7 to 17 grams across the region. A two-shekel weight from the First Temple period weighs 23 grams, or about 11.5 grams each, which is the figure used here, though it is one estimate and not a certainty. A separate Shekel of the Sanctuary served the Temple. Later, Jews paid an annual half-shekel to the Temple, and the Tyrian shekel was the coin preferred for that tax. The modern Israeli shekel is a fiat currency and carries no fixed weight of metal. The biblical weight is roughly that of two nickels, or about 0.4 ounce.
1 shekel (biblical) = 0.0115 kilograms (approximately).
Sources: Wikipedia: Shekel; Wikipedia: Mina (unit); Wikipedia: Talent (measurement)
Ounce (oz)
One sixteenth of a pound, exactly 28.349523125 g. Used for food, mail and consumer goods in the US and UK.
A twelfth part is what ounce originally meant. It comes from the Roman uncia, one twelfth of the Roman pound, a word that also gave English the inch. The abbreviation oz does not come from English at all but from the Italian onza or oncia. Over the centuries many regions and trades used different ounces: the English Tower ounce of 29.16 g was abolished by Henry VIII in 1527, and the Dutch ons was redefined as exactly 100 g in 1820.
The avoirdupois ounce used for everyday goods is one sixteenth of a pound, exactly 28.349523125 g or 437.5 grains, the standard in the US and under the UK imperial system. It is not the same as the troy ounce for precious metals, and neither is the fluid ounce, which measures volume. Ounces still describe portions such as steaks and burgers, and they show up in unexpected places: fabric is graded by weight per area, so a 16 oz denim is a heavy cloth, and the copper on a circuit board is specified in ounces, where 1 oz is roughly 34.7 micrometres thick.
1 ounce = 0.02834952313 kilograms (approximately).
Sources: Wikipedia: Ounce; NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 (mass conversions)
Related conversions
- Ounces to shekels (biblical) (reverse)
- Shekels (biblical) to kilograms
- Shekels (biblical) to grams
- Shekels (biblical) to metric tons
- Shekels (biblical) to pounds
- Kilograms to ounces
- Grams to ounces
- Metric tons to ounces
- Pounds to ounces
- Milligrams to ounces
- Micrograms to ounces
- Carats to ounces
- Stone to ounces
- Short tons to ounces
- Long tons to ounces
- Troy ounces to ounces
- Daltons to ounces
See all weight & mass units.