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, Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, he is to you a covering of the eyes, to all that are with you, and with all this, you are reproved.
And men, Midianites traders, came by. And they drew up Joseph and took him out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.
And Israel said, It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.
And they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the girl, because he has brought an evil name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not put her away all his days.
then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl'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 pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless persons who followed him.
And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Lure him and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, so that we may tie him to afflict him. And each one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.
And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you cursed, and spoke of also in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. Behold, I took it. And his mother said, Be blessed of Jehovah, my son. And when he had given back the eleven hundred of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly given the silver to Jehovah from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image. And now I am giving it to you. read more. And he gave the money back to his mother. And his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a refiner, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image. And they were in the house of Micah.
And Micah said to him, Live with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of clothes, and your food. And the Levite went in.
Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, the herd of bulls, with the calves of the peoples, trampling down with the pieces of silver. He scatters the people who delight in war.
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley and a half homer of barley.
And I said to them, If it is good, give My price; and if not, let it go. So they weighed My price thirty pieces of silver.
And I said to them, If it is good, give My price; and if not, let it go. So they weighed My price thirty pieces of silver. And Jehovah said to me, Throw it to the potter, the magnificent price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of Jehovah.
And Jehovah said to me, Throw it to the potter, the magnificent price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of Jehovah.
While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold a voice out of the cloud which said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him. And when the disciples heard, they fell on their face and were greatly terrified.
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.
And he said to them, What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you? And they appointed to him thirty pieces of silver.
Or what woman having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does she not light a lamp and sweep the house, and seek carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.