Exodus 38:21-31

The raw materials 38:21-31

Moses also recorded an estimate of the amount of metal used (Exodus 38:21-31). Coined money did not exist until the eighth century B.C. when the Lydians in Anatolia (modern Turkey) invented it. [Note: The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v. "Money," by A. F. Walls.] Consequently the shekel Moses referred to was a measure of weight (not quite half an ounce). [Note: Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed., s.v. "Metrology," by E. McChesney, revised by Merrill F. Unger, pp. 720-25.] The materials included slightly over a ton of gold (Exodus 38:24), almost four tons of silver (Exodus 38:25-28), and about two and a half tons of bronze (Exodus 38:29-31).