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Jan 14, 2024 · Though the silver weight is uncertain, biblical texts give us an idea of a shekel’s purchasing power. A shekel was about a month’s wage for a common laborer. The Book of Exodus suggests a shekel was worth about 20 gerahs. It could buy one or two sheep, or purchase about 7 kilograms of flour.
Sep 29, 2023 · Experts estimate the weight of a silver shekel to be around 11-12 grams. At today’s silver prices, that means that the conversion rate of a silver shekel to dollar is approximately $6-7. For example, in the book of Exodus, God instructs that a half shekel (around 6 grams of silver) should be donated for a census offering.
- History of The Shekel
- The Shekel Coin
- Shekel Metals
- Sources
Hebrew weights were never a precise system of measurement. Weights were used on a balance scale to weigh out silver, gold, and other goods. These weights varied from region to region and often according to the type of goods for sale. Before BC 700, the system of weights in ancient Judea was based on the Egyptian system. Sometime around BC 700, the ...
Eventually, the shekel became a coined piece of money. According to the later Jewish system, six gold shekels were equal in value to 50 silver ones. In Jesus’ day, the mina and the talent were considered huge sums of money. According to New Nave's Topical Bible, one who possessed five talents of gold or silver was a multimillionaire by today's stan...
The Biblementions shekels of various metals: 1. In 1 Chronicles 21:25, shekels of gold: “So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site” (ESV). 2. In 1 Samuel9:8, a silver shekel: “The servant answered Saul again, ‘Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way’ ” (ESV)....
“The Enigma of the Shekel Weights of the Judean Kingdom.” Biblical Archaeologist: Volume 59 1-4, (p. 85).“Weights and Measures.” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 1665).“Weights and Measures.” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 2137).Manners and Customs of the Bible (p. 162).The Hebrew shekel was the 50th part of a mina, and as a weight about 224 grains, and as money (silver) was worth about 2 shillings 9d., or 66 cents (in 1915). No gold shekel has been found, and hence, it is inferred that such a coin was not used; but as a certain amount of gold, by weight, it is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 3:9 and is probably intended to be supplied in 2 Kings 5:5 .
Jan 14, 2024 · Silver held an integral role economically and spiritually in biblical history. A silver shekel could buy a decent amount of typical goods and represented a fair wage for average labor. Beyond purely economic value, silver carried symbolic importance and religious meaning thanks to its preciousness and purifying nature.
Jan 4, 2022 · This is the reason the shekel in Exodus 30:13 is defined as a particular kind of shekel called “the shekel of the sanctuary.”. This shekel was defined by weights kept in the tabernacle as the standard. A standard shekel weighed 11.5 grams. Later, a “shekel” would also refer to a coin. In Amos 8:5, God condemns the use of a false shekel ...
In establishing the value of the shekel there is an additional complication in that the Bible mentions at least three kinds of shekels: in Genesis 23:16, a shekel of silver "at the going merchant's rate [over la-socher]; in Exodus 30:13, "shekel by the sanctuary weight [ha-kodesh]"; and in II Samuel 14:26, "shekels by the king's stone [b'even ha-melech]," that is, shekels stamped by the royal ...
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