The shekel, or shiklum, was a unit of currency in ancient Israel. It is also mentioned frequently in the Bible. The word “shekel” comes from the Hebrew word shakal, meaning “to weigh.” The word “shekel” has been used since the time of King David (c. 1000 BCE) and was well-established by the time of King Solomon (c. 960 BCE).

The standard weight of a shekel was 10 gerahs, or about 1/60th of an ounce (about 4 grams). There were 20 gerahs to a prophet, which was about 1/30th of an ounce (about 2 grams). There were 100 prophets to a maneh, which was about 3/4 ounce (about 21 grams).

churchgist will give you all you ask on Shekel in the Bible and so much more.

The first mention of money in the Bible comes from Genesis 23:16: “And Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver.” In Leviticus 27:25-28 we read: “If anyone consecrates to Yahweh any part of his property by laying it up for Yahweh’s Service.

Shekel in the Bible

There were several shekels in the ancient world.

When the Bible refers to a shekel, it is referring to a specific weight of silver. However, there were several different types of shekels in the ancient world. A Babylonian shekel weighed around 0.9 grams and was worth about 5% more than an Israelite shekel (which weighed 1.2 grams). The Hittites used their own type of currency which was similar to an Israelite shekel except that the coins were heavier and contained less silver content. Assyrian coins were also made from silver but had different weights based on where they were minted; some coins weighed less than 0.5 grams while others could be as heavy as 1 gram or more depending on which city issued them.[1]

The Persian Empire had its own form of currency called “Darics” that used similar measurements as the Babylonian Shekels (about 0.9 grams) but had greater value due to their gold content.[2]

The Bible is an unusual source of data on ancient weights and measures because it reports them in both the official currency and local working units.

Because the Bible reports weights and measures in both the official currency and local working units, it is a valuable source for historical research. This level of detail is rare in other ancient sources, but examples do exist. For instance, three Egyptian pyramid texts record the number of stones and brick used to build a pyramid, along with the quantity of food used to feed the workers.

The simple shekel was a mina of 60 shekels (Ezekiel 45:12).

The simple shekel was a mina of 60 shekels (Ezekiel 45:12). The mina was a common unit of weight in the ancient world. It was used in ancient Israel and also in Mesopotamia, where it was equivalent to about 70 kilograms (150 pounds) or 1/10th of a talent—which is roughly 120 kg (264 lb).

The biblical writer Ezekiel referred to two kinds of weights: one for measuring precious metals like silver or gold and another for measuring less valuable substances such as barley or wheat.

The Old Testament also mentions other units, such as the gerah, half-shekel/gerah, bekah, maneh, talent and mina.

You may be wondering what these other units are and how they compare to the shekel. The Bible mentions them, but does not define them:

• Gerah – smallest unit mentioned
• Half-shekel/gerah – larger unit than gerah
• Bekah – larger unit than half-shekel/gerah
• Maneh – Largest unit mentioned in the Bible (about 12 ounces or 350 grams)

The Mishnah also lists several units related to the shekel: “the hundredth part of a maneh,” which was equal to either two shekels or four mites.[2] A later rabbinic text defines this as approximately 8 grams, though some scholars believe it might be closer to 10 grams.[3]

The Mishnah (Baba Batra 8b) suggests that the common standard for money exchanges was the biblical shekel of 250 grains (about 16 grams). This has been disputed, however.

The Mishnah was the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions. It was compiled in the late 2nd century CE and is considered to be a central text in Judaism.

The quote from Baba Batra 8b suggests that the common standard for money exchanges was the biblical shekel of 250 grains (about 16 grams). This has been disputed, however. The grain unit of measure refers to a seed that can be sown in fertile soil and harvested to yield an average crop every year for about seven years before it dies out (the actual amount varies depending on where you live).

The basic unit of weight in the Bible is the shekel, which is equivalent to 11.4 grams or 0.4 ounces.

The basic unit of weight in the Bible is the shekel, which is equivalent to 11.4 grams or 0.4 ounces. This was one of many standard units of measure used by people who lived in Biblical times and before, including ancient Egyptians and Babylonians.

The shekel was used as a standard unit of measure to weigh things like food and money. It could be used to measure coins if you counted them by weight rather than value (which would have been easier when coins were made out of precious metals). You might need some help figuring out how much your property was worth based on its size if it wasn’t just a number; this is where units like “cubits” came into play: they were standardized lengths that helped determine how many square feet or square meters something took up, in order for other people with expertise in construction work such as builders or plumbers to know what kind size materials are needed for building projects around town!

The biblical text does not specify which variety of shekel was meant.

The biblical text does not specify which variety of shekel was meant. The evidence suggests that the biblical text refers to the simple shekel, which in actuality was a mina (= 60) of shekels (Ezekiel 45:12).

Shekels are often mentioned indirectly in the Bible as payment for temple sacrifice, tithes, taxes and fines.

The shekel is mentioned in the Bible indirectly as payment for temple sacrifice, tithes, taxes and fines. It was also used as the currency of ancient Israel’s ancient neighbors.

The shekel was originally a weight of barley that had to be given to God as an offering. This offering became a fixed amount by Jacob’s time (Genesis 30:37-43). Later it became worth 20 gerahs (Exodus 30:13; Leviticus 5:15-16), which were then valued at 1/20th of a shekel (1 Samuel 18:25). The exact value of this monetary unit has been subject to debate since its inception because no direct reference has ever been made to it in any ancient documents besides Scripture itself. One theory suggests that there may have been several different types of coins being used throughout Israel during biblical times due to several factors such as political instability or economic fluctuations throughout history making it difficult for archaeologists today make sense out these numbers without knowing how much each denomination weighed exactly. However, there are some assumptions about what kind of coinage could have existed based on descriptions given about certain types like heavy bronze pieces with incised designs known as “shekels.”

So how much money is a shekel worth? About 2 dollars in today’s terms.

The shekel was a unit of weight, not currency. In fact, it only appeared in the Bible a few times as an ancient unit of measure.

The shekel was referenced many times in the Bible. The book of Genesis (and its first two chapters) records that Abraham weighed out 400 shekels from his flocks and herds to buy land for a burial ground for Sarah and himself (Genesis 23). Later, when Joseph became Pharaoh of Egypt, he used the same method to set commodity prices (Genesis 42). When David offered to pay Uriah’s wife Bathsheba as compensation for sleeping with her after killing him during battle (2 Samuel 11), he gave her husband 40 gold Batons weighing one talent each! This would come out to about 20 ounces or 600 grams per baton; assuming these were solid gold bars (they weren’t), we’re talking about approximately $60k worth today!