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 unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that were with thee and with everyone: thus she was reproved.
And when the Midianite merchantmen passed by, they took and lifted up Joseph out of the cistern and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Then Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.
and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them unto the father of the damsel because he has brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel; and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver and she shall be his wife; because he has humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.
And they gave him seventy shekels of silver out of the house of Baalberith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light men who followed him.
And the cardinals of the Philistines came up unto her and said unto her, Entice him and see what gives him his great strength and by what means we may overcome him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and each one of us will give thee eleven hundred pieces of silver.
And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were stolen from thee, about which thou didst curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had completely dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for thee, my son, to make thee a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will restore it unto thee. read more. After the money was restored unto her, his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image, which was set up in the house of Micah.
Then Micah said unto him, Dwell with me and be a father and a priest unto me, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year and the ordinary apparel and thy food. So the Levite went in.
Reprehend the company of spearmen, the multitude of the strong, with the lords of the peoples, trampling them underfoot with their pieces of silver; Destroy thou the peoples that delight in war.
So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and an homer and a half of barley:
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my wages; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my wages; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the treasury: a goodly price that I was appraised at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them in the house of the LORD unto the treasury.
And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the treasury: a goodly price that I was appraised at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them in the house of the LORD unto the treasury.
And, behold, Moses and Elijah appeared unto them talking with him.
While he yet spoke, behold, a cloud of light overshadowed them, and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and feared greatly.
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of man is risen from the dead.
and 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.
Or what woman having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.