Page 403 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

MOLLIFY - MONEY

MOLLIFY. To soften or make tender; to assuage, as be shekels of the sanctuary. A homer of barley (six
pain or irritation; an old medical term (Is. 1:6). bushels) was worth 50 shekels (Le. 27:16). A war
MOLTEN. Melted; the old strong form of the past chariot was valued at 600 shekels and a horse at 150
participle of the verb ‘to melt,’ now used only as an shekels (1 Ki. 10:29).
adjective (The Bible Word-Book) (Job 28:2; Mic. 1:4). The “bekah” was worth half a shekel (Ex. 38:26),
MONEY. A portable medium of exchange generally roughly 1/5th of an ounce.
accepted in a society as a measure of value. In early The “gerah” was 1/10th of a bekah (Ex. 30:13; Le.
biblical times, wealth was measured in land, animals, or 27:25; Nu. 3:47; 18:16; Eze. 45:12).
crops (Ge. 12:16). Barter was common. Vassal nations The “dram” (daric), a Persian gold coin (1 Ch. 29:7;
paid tribute in sheep and rams (2 Ki. 3:4), and Ezr. 2:69; 8:27; Ne. 7:70-72), was possibly worth about
individuals paid tithes and taxes in grain, oil, or wine one British pound or two U.S. dollars.
(De. 14:22, 23). But as early as Abraham’s time, silver Money in the N.T.:
was the most common medium of exchange (Ge. 23:15,
16). In fact, “silver” frequently means “money” in both “Penny” and “pence” (denarion) (Mt. 18:28; 20:2-
the O.T. and N.T. Thus, De. 14:24, 25 suggests that if it 13; 22:19; Mk. 6:37; 14:5; Lk. 10:35; 20:24; Jn. 12:5;
is too difficult to transport a tenth of one’s crops to the Re. 6:6). The value of the penny was a laborer’s pay for
place of worship, the crops may be exchanged for silver. one day (Mt. 20:2,9). This is the same as the piece of
At first, silver and gold were weighed out on scales. The money in Mt. 17:24-27. The modern American penny,
different values of money we read about in the Bible— being one one-hundredth of a dollar and having
the talent, shekel, maneh, and gerah—refer to units of insignificant value, gives the wrong idea. The original
weight. But even these weight units were not Roman penny, the denarius, was a silver coin equal to
standardized in early times. Thus, the shekels Abraham ten brass coins. It was the common wage for a Roman
paid for Sarah’s burial field were computed “according soldier. The value of the penny helps us understand the
to the weight current among the merchants” (Ge. meaning of Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant (Mt.
23:16). And later, when government attempted to 18:21-35). The king, who represented God, had
standardize weights, there were still “heavy” and “light” forgiven the servant a debt of 10,000 talents, which
weight systems. Coins were not invented until about would be equal to 30 million days of labor. This servant,
600 B.C. ... their value was determined by the weight of in turn, refused to forgive the debt of 100 pennys, or
the metal they contained (Revell). Our knowledge of roughly 100 days’ wage. Though it was a significant
biblical weights and measures is not only incomplete, debt, it was as nothing when compared with the debt
but authorities differ as to values and quantities which had been forgiven the unmerciful servant. The
(Analytical). value of the penny also shows the value of the ointment
with which Martha anointed Jesus’ feet (Jn. 12:1-5). It
Money Values in the O.T.: was worth 300 pennys, roughly the amount a laborer
The “talent” (kikkar) was 75.558 pounds (Ex. 25:39; would earn in a full year.
37:24; 2 Sa. 12:30; 1 Ki. 9:14, 28; 10:10; 16:24; 2 Ki. The “talent” (Mt. 18:24; 25:15-28) (talanton)
5:5; 15:19; 18:14; 23:33; Ezr. 8:26; Es. 3:9; Ze. 5:7). It equaled roughly 200 British pounds or 400 U.S. dollars.
was equal to 60 manehs. The “mite” (lepton) was the smallest copper coin,
The “maneh was 20.148 ounces (Eze. 45:12). It was worth half a farthing (Mk. 12:42; Lk. 12:59; 21:2) It’s
equal to 50 shekels. The maneh is translated “pound” in value would be less than a U.S. penny. We see from Mt.
1 Ki. 10:17; Ezr. 2:69; Ne. 7:71, 72. 10:29 that the mite, as one-half a farthing, would be the
The “shekel” was 20 gerahs, 1/50th of a maneh, or price of one insignificant sparrow.
about four-tenths of an ounce (Ge. 24:22; Ex. 30:13; The “farthing (kodrantes) (Mt. 5:26) was worth two
Eze. 45:12). It must be noted that there are two shekels mites (Mk. 12:42) and had the value of two sparrows
mentioned in the O.T.: one according to ‘the king’s (Mt. 10:29).
weight,’ probably the standard shekel used for all
ordinary business (Ex. 38:29; Jos. 7:21; 2 Sa. 14:26; The “pound” (Lk. 19:13-25) was worth about 100
Am. 8:5); and another called the ‘shekel of the times the value of the penny.
sanctuary,’ of which it is said the shekel is 20 gerahs (Ex. The “piece of silver” (argurion) (Mt. 26:15; 27:3-9;
30:13; Le. 27:25; Nu. 3:47; 18:16). This seems Ac. 3:6; 19:19; 20:33; 1 Pe. 1:18) was worth about
confirmed by the word maneh in the following passages. three times the value of the penny.
By comparing 1 Ki. 10:17 with 2 Ch. 9:16 it will be seen The “piece of money” (Istater) (Mt. 17:27) was worth
that a maneh equals 100 skekels; whereas in Eze. 45:12 about three times the value of the penny. [Lack of
the maneh equals 60 shekels, because the latter would money as a trial see Suffering.] [See Brought on the
Way, Covet, Employment, Gold, Labor, Lucre, Offerings,

Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity 403