Money in the New Testament

Although the New Testament covers a relatively short time period, compared to the OT, coinage was complex because Hebrews used coins issued by many different countries.

The table below is an attempt to assemble some approximate equivalents.

Greek	Roman	Hebrew	Value
Talent *	600 Denarii
Mina *	100 Denarii		Ezekiel 45:12 (60 shekels) Luke 19:
argurion argurion		30 Shekels	Compensation for accidentally slain servant, Judas' bribe for betraying Jesus Exod. 21:32, Matt 26:15
Tetradrachma 17.5 g silver	Stater	Shekel	4 Denarii Matt 17:27
Two-Drachma	2 Denarii	half-shekel	Temple Tax Exod. 30:13,16, Matt. 17:24
Drachma	Denarius		Laborer's Day's Wages Matt. 20:9-10 Civil tribute to Caesar Matt 22:21 Drachma, Luke 15:8
Assarius	1/4 Denarius		Cost of two sparrows. Matt 10:29
Dilepton 1.5-3 g bronze	Quadrans		1/16 Denarius
Lepton 0.5-1 g bronze			1/32 Denarius Widow's offering Mark 12:42
		Daric 8.4 g gold	Prussian coin mentioned in Ezra 2:69, Neh. 7:70, and others

* A sum of money, not an actual coin

Ezekiel 45:12 The shekel is to consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina.

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny (Assarius)? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

Matt 17:24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?" 25 "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes— from their own sons or from others?" 26 "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. 27 "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin (Stater). Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

Matt 27:3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins (argurion argurion) to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That’s your responsibility." 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests picked up the coins (argurion argurion) and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins (argurion argurion), the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me."

Zech 11: 12 I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver (Pok keceph). 13 And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"— the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver (Pok keceph) and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.

Mark 12:42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins (Lepton), worth only a fraction of a penny.

Luke 15:8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins (Drachma) and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Luke 19:12 Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 "So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ 14 "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’ 15 "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 "Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ 17 "And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ 18 "And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ 19 "Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’ 20 "Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.21 ‘For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 "And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 23 ‘Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 "And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ 25 ("But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) 26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 27 ‘But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’"

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Created 05/12/02

Last updated 1/18/2003