People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1893 — SILVER IN THE BIBLE. [ARTICLE]

SILVER IN THE BIBLE.

The Sliver Discussion Has Put Some People to Searching the Scriptures. The Express has received the following rather curious communication: In the ninth chapter of IL Chronicles, 20th verse, please read: “And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of stiver; it was not anything accounted of In the days of Solomon ” Also in the ?7th verse: “And the king made silver In Jerusalem as stones.” The object of the above is not clear, but it is perhaps an attempt to show that in the days of Solomon silver was accounted of little worth. The writer of the communication, if he holds this idea, is very much mistaken. The money of the Hebrews was chiefly, or almost entirely, silver. The passages above quoted were designed to illustrate the royal magnificence of Solomon, and not to discredit silver. The Bible has many references to the uses of silver as money. Here are some of them from the Old Testament: Gen. 28, 15: “The land is worth four hundred shekels. ” Gen. 13, 2: “And Abram was very rich in cattle, in Bilver and in gold.” Ex. 88, 25: “And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents. ” Lev. 5, 15: "He shall bring for his trespass * * * a ram without blemish with thy estimation by shekels of silver after the shekel of the sanotuary.” Lev. 27, 8: “Thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver.” Deut. 22, 19: “And they shall amerce him in a hundred shekels of silver.” Josh. 7, 21: “I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and two hundred shekels of silver.” Judges 17, 2: “The eleven hundred shekels of silver. ” I. Kings 20, 39: “Then shall thy life he for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver." 11. Kings 5, 22: “Give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver.” I. Kings 10, 24: “And he bought the hill of iShemer for two talents of silver. ” IL Kings 15, 20: “Menahera exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of sliver.” Neh. 5, 15: “Bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver.” Jeremiah 82, 9: “And I bought tho field of Hanameel, * * # an^ weighed him tho money, even seventeen shekels of silver.” I. Chron. 19, 0:. “The children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen." I. Chron. 22, 14: “A thousand talents of silver.” I. Chron. 19, 4: “Seyen thousand talents of refined silver.” 11. Chron. 25, 0:' “He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver. ” The ancient Jews, up to 185 B. C. coined no money. The shekel was both a weight and a denomination of money. All payments were made by weight, either of gold or silver. The weight of a shekel was about half that of our standard silver dollar. A talent of silver was equal to about 3,000 shekels, or about 98 pounds avoirdupois. The references indicate that the use of silver in Old Testament days was very much mor6 general than that of gold, and that silver was practically the money of the Jews. The truth is that silver has from the dawn of history been accounted a precious metal and been used as money. And it is practically certain that the monetary use of silver will never be abandoned, no matter what the standard of value may be. Gold cannot be advantageously used for coins of value as low as a dollar in our money; still less for subsidiary coins.—Los Angeles Express.