Reference: Piece of silver
Smith
Piece of silver.
I. In the Old Testament the word "pieces" is used in the Authorized Version for a word understood in the Hebrew (if we except)
The phrase is always "a thousand," or the like, "of silver."
Ge 20:16; 37:28; 45:28; Jg 9:4; 16:5; 2Ki 6:25; Ho 3:2; Zec 11:12-13
In similar passages the word "shekels" occurs in the Hebrew. There are other passages in which the Authorized Version supplies the word "shekels" instead of "pieces,"
De 22:19,29; Jg 17:2-3,4,10; 2Sa 18:11-12
and of these the first two require this to be done. The shekel, be it remembered, was the common weight for money, and therefore most likely to be understood in an elliptical phrase. The "piece" or shekel of silver weighed 220 grains, or about half an ounce, and was worth a little more than half a dollar (55 cents). II. In the New Testament two words are rendered by the phrase "piece of silver:"
1. Drachma,
Lu 15:8-9
which was a Greek silver coin, equivalent, at the time of St. Luke, to the Roman denarias (15 or 16 cents).
2. Silver occurs only in the account of the betrayal of our Lord for "thirty pieces of silver."
It is difficult to ascertain what coins are here intended. If the most common silver pieces be meant, they would be denarii. The parallel passage in Zachariah,
must, however, be taken into consideration where shekels (worth about 55 cents) must be understood. It is more probable that the thirty pieces of silver were tetradrachms than that they were denarii (80 cents).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And to Sarah, he said, Lo! I have given a thousand of silver unto thy brother: Lo! that is for thee as a covering of eyes, to all who are with thee, - And so in every way, hath right been done.
And there passed by certain Midianites travelling merchants, so they drew forth and uplifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, for twenty pieces of silver, - and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
And Israel said, Enough! Joseph my son is, yet alive, I must go and see him before I die!
and fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel, and she shall remain his wife, he may not put her away, all his days.
then shall the man who lay with her give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, - and she shall be, his, wife, because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away, all his days.
So they gave him seventy pieces of silver, out of the house of Baal-berith, - and Abimelech hired therewith, loose and unstable men, and they followed him.
So the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said to her - Entice him, and see wherein lieth his great strength, and wherewith we may prevail against him, and bind him, to humble him, - and, we, will give thee, every man, eleven hundred pieces of silver.
And he said unto his mother - The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken by thee, when, thou, didst utter a curse, and didst also say in my hearing, Lo! the silver, is with me! I took it. Then said his mother, Blessed, be my son by Yahweh. And, when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said - I had, hallowed, the silver unto Yahweh out of mine own hand, for my son, to make a graved (molten) image, now, therefore, I will restore it unto thee. read more. But he restored the silver to his mother, - so his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made thereof a graved (molten) image, and it was in the house of Micah.
And Micah said unto him - Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and, I, will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy sustenance. So the Levite went.
Rebuke thou, The wild beast of the reeds, The herd of mighty oxen among the calves of the peoples - Each one bowing down with bars of silver, - Scatter thou the peoples, who in wars take delight.
So I secured n her to me, for fifteen pieces of silver, - and a homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley;
Then said I unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my wage, and, if not, forbear. So they weighed out my wage, thirty pieces of silver.
Then said I unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my wage, and, if not, forbear. So they weighed out my wage, thirty pieces of silver. Then said Yahweh unto me, Cast it into the treasury, the magnificent price at which I had been valued by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them, in the house of Yahweh, into the treasury.
Then said Yahweh unto me, Cast it into the treasury, the magnificent price at which I had been valued by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them, in the house of Yahweh, into the treasury.
And lo! there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, conversing with him.
While yet he was speaking, lo! a brightly shining cloud, overshadowed them, and lo! a voice, out of the cloud, saying - This, is, my Son, the Beloved, in whom I delight, - Be hearkening to him. And, hearing it, the disciples fell upon their face, and were caused to fear exceedingly.
And, as they were coming down out of the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying - Unto no one, may ye tell the vision, until the Son of Man, from among the dead shall arise.
and said - What are ye willing to give unto me? and, I, unto you, will deliver him up. And they appointed him thirty pieces of silver.
Or, what woman, having, ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek carefully, until she find it? And, having found it, she calleth together her female friends and neighbours, saying - Rejoice with me! because I have found the piece of silver which I had lost.