Talent

The largest unit of weight in the Bible was a talent, usually specified as a talent of gold or a talent of silver. Everyone in ancient history had their own talent – Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, and of course each was different, ranging between 57-130 pounds (26-58.9kg). So how heavy was God’s talent?

I’ll use the word “talent” to describe God’s unit in the remainder of this article, because it’s what everyone else uses, even all the English Bibles; but the actual Hebrew word is kikkar which means “round”, and by extension “a round loaf (of bread), a round weight, talent” (Strong’s).

Exodus 29:23 And one loaf [kikkar] of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD:

Exodus 37:17, 24 And he made the candlestick of pure gold… Of a talent [kikkar] of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.

Do you see the obvious connection there? God’s word for talent has two meanings – a lump of gold, and a loaf of bread. Remember how the same word chomer had different meanings, all of which contributed to the same definition? So does kikkar!

One omer is one daily portion of bread, one loaf of bread that comes from one bowl of an omer. Kikkar means both the loaf of bread measured in that omer, AND the loaf of gold measured in that same omer! And the weight of that volume of gold is called a talent!

Why would God use the same word for both a loaf of bread, and a “loaf” of gold unless they were defined the same way – the amount that will fit in one omer-bowl! But there’s an ever stronger connection!

Remember, kikkar means “round” – and loaves of bread are usually round by nature – and so, curiously, is melted gold. Due to gold’s extremely high surface tension when melted, it naturally forms a recognizable “loaf” shape, identical to the way a round loaf of bread looks. The color is similar enough to be striking as well.

Gold and Bread

This is huge! Because if you were to define a unit of weight, what better way to start than with a basic unit everyone knows – the size of the bowl used to measure the grain for a loaf of bread!

Judges 8:5 And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves [kikkar] of bread unto the people that follow me…

Now if an omer is 0.575 gallons, it will hold 132.83 cubic inches in volume. If filled level with the top, it would contain 92.53 pounds of gold. That, of course, assumes a perfectly level bowl; but is that likely to be what God gave Israel? A level bowl of manna?

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

So the weight could easily be a bit more for the standard measurement of an omer “running over” with gold. If God expects us to “mete to Him” a rounded measure of obedience, surely He first “meted to us” a rounded bowl of the spirit!

As it happens, the talent really weighed almost exactly 96 pounds, which we will prove later two different ways. That’s the amount of gold that fits in a slightly-rounded omer!

See Also

The Meanings of the Measures