V. =Measures of Weight.= (From the Oxford Teacher's Bible.) 1. The Gerah, "a bean," weighed a little less than half of a dram avoirdupois (.439 dram). 2. The Bekah, 10 gerahs, weighed about a quarter of an ounce (4.39 drams). The word means "half," _i. e._, of a shekel. 3. The Shekel, "weight," used as a silver coin, 2 bekahs, weighed 8.9 drams. 4. The Maneh (Greek, Mina), 60 shekels (Conder says 50 shekels, which would agree with paragraph VI., below), 2 lbs. 1 oz. 5. The Talent, "circle," meaning "an aggregate sum," 50 manehs, weighing 102 lbs. 14 ozs. The weights are of lower degree than those in common use at present, because in the early times money was weighed, and not counted, and exact weighing was necessary with gold and silver. VI. =Measures of Value.= Two systems of money are referred to in the Bible: the Hebrew, or that in use in Old Testament times and lands; and the Roman, which was used during the New Testament period. In the Hebrew system the weights referred to in paragraph V. were used in silver as measures of value. 1. The Gerah (Exod. 30:13) was the lowest, and was worth 2-3/4 cents. 2. The Bekah, 10 gerahs (Exod. 38:26), was worth 27-37/100 cents, or about 2 cents more than our quarter of a dollar. 3. The Shekel, 2 bekahs, was worth 54-3/4 cents, or about 5 cents more than half a dollar. 4. The Maneh, or Mina, 50 shekels (Luke 19:13, "pound"), $27.37-1/2. 5. The Talent of Silver, 60 manehs, $1,642.50. 6. The Talent of Gold was nearly twenty times as valuable, being estimated at $26,280. 7. So the Shekel of Gold was worth, in the same proportion of weight with the ordinary shekel of silver, $8.75. It is to be remembered that a given amount of coin in those times would purchase ten times as much as now. [Illustration: This is a copper coin, a quarter-gerah, worth about half a cent; was made about the time of Alexander the Great, B.C. 325.] [Illustration: A silver coin, three-quarters of a shekel, called a _righia_, used especially for paying the temple tax. It was worth about 40 cents.] The Greek and Roman coins are chiefly referred to in the New Testament. The smallest was the Lepton (Mark 12:42, "mite"), worth a fifth of a cent. 2. The Quadrans (Mark 12:42, "farthing"), 2 mites, or less than half a cent. 3. The Assarion (Matt, 10:29, "farthing"), four times the quadrans, or 1-3/5 cents. Notice that two coins, one worth four times as much as the other, are both translated "farthing" in our version. 4. The Denarius (Matt, 22:19, "penny"), 10 times the assarion, or 16 cents. It was the latter which in Christ's time bore the face of the Roman emperor. [Illustration: No. 1 The smallest copper coin in use among the Jews, the _lepton_, called in Hebrew _chalcous_, "copper money." The widow's mite was of this coin.] [Illustration: No. 2 The denarius, or penny, bearing the face of the emperor Tiberius.] [Illustration: BETHANY.] INDEX TO MAP OF PALESTINE. (SURROUNDING COUNTRY INCLUDED.)