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Greek
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Authorized Version
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Approximate. Value
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£ s. d.
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$
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λεπτόν
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mite
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0 0 0 3/32
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0.0005
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Mark 12:42; Luke 12:59; 21:2
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κοδρύντης
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farthing
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0 0 0 3/16
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0.0007
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Matt. 5:26; Mark 12:42
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ὰσσάριον
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farthing
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0 0 0 3/4
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0.0039
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Matt. 10:29; Luke 12:6
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δηνάριον
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penny
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0 0 7 3/4
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0.03
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Matt. 20:2; Rev. 6:6
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δραχμή
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piece of silver
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0 0 7 3/4
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0.03
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Luke 15:8-9
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δίδραχμον
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tribute (money)
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0 1 3 1/2
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0.06
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Matt. 17:24
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στατήρ
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piece of money
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0 2 7
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0.12
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Matt. 17:27
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μνᾶ
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pound
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3 4 7
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4
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Luke 19:13-25
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τάλαντον
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talent (Roman)
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193 5 0
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242
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Matt. 18:24; 25:14-30
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ὰργύριον
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piece of silver
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indefinite
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Matt. 26:15; Acts 19:19
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ὰργύριον
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money
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--
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Matt. 25:18; Acts 7:16
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The last-named is the common word for ‘silver’ and ‘money,’ as l’argent in French. ‘Piece of silver’ is always ὰργύριον, except in Luke 15:8-9,8Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. (Luke 15:8‑9) where it is δραχμή, as above.
The value of the words employed is at times meant to be instructive. For instance, in Matthew 18:24,24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. (Matthew 18:24) a forcible point in the parable is the immensity of the debt forgiven by the lord, nearly two million pounds of our money (£1,937,500, $2,421,875), in comparison with the few pounds owing by the fellow-servant (£3. 4s. 7d., $4.00).
Then as to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25), we are apt to regard the one talent as a small gift, whereas we find that it represents nearly £200 ($250), and money was of much more value then, for a man’s daily wages were but 7¾d. ($.04).l
Matthew 20 gives the wages for a full day’s work (apparently from 6 o’clock to 6 o’clock), as 7¾d. Was this fair wages for a day’s work? Tacitus (Annal i. 17) says that a denarius was the pay of a Roman soldier in the time of Tiberius, a few years previous. Polybius (ii. 15-16) mentions that the charge for a day’s entertainment at the inns in Cisalpine Gaul was half an as, which equals one-twentieth of a denarius. This shows that a penny (denarius) a day was liberal pay, the country being fertile, and food cheap.
Revelation 6:66And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:6) names the same sum (7¾d.) as purchasing a measure (choenix) of wheat, equalling one quart; or three quarts of barley for the same sum. Now as 7¾d. was the wages for a day’s work, the above shows that great scarcity is alluded to.
By comparing Matthew 17:2424And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? (Matthew 17:24) and 27 it will be seen by the tables given that the tribute to the temple was 1S. 3½ d. ($.08)and that the exact sum for the Lord and Peter was found in the fish’s mouth. It was a stater, worth 2S. 7d. ($.14)
Matthew 26:1515And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. (Matthew 26:15). The price paid for the betrayal of our Lord Jesus is stated as ‘thirty pieces of silver.’ These are supposed to be shekels of the sanctuary, and were heavier than ordinary shekels. Josephus puts them as equal to four Attic drachmas (Ant. iii. 8, 2. The LXX has ἀργυροῦς in Zechariah 11:12-1312And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. (Zechariah 11:12‑13).); Jerome as 3⅓ drachmas. This latter agrees with some existing specimens, and would be about 2S. 6d. in value. Thirty of these would be £3. 15s. 0d. ($ 4.65) the price of a man or maid-servant (Ex. 21:3232If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. (Exodus 21:32)). Alas! for the man that would betray his Lord — and such a Lord — for so paltry a sum!
Acts 19:1919Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. (Acts 19:19). The books burned were valued at fifty thousand (pieces) of silver. There is no means of telling definitely what the value really was; but it is generally supposed that the coin drachma is alluded to (as in Luke 15:88Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? (Luke 15:8)). The Vulgate has denarius, which is the same value as the drachma. The total would then be about £1,615 ($2020). When books were copied by hand their cost was great, and these magical books may have had an additional value set on them, being used to deceive the people for gain.