shek ´' 50 , shek´el , shē´kel , shē´kul ( שׁקל , sheḳel ): A weight and a coin. The Hebrew shekel was the 50th part of a mina, and as a weight about 224 grains, and as money (silver) was worth about 2 shillings 9d., or 66 cents (in 1915). No gold shekel has been found, and hence, it is inferred that such a coin was not used; but as a certain amount of gold, by weight, it is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 3:9 and is probably intended to be supplied in 2 Kings 5:5 . The gold shekel was 1/60 of the heavy Babylonian mina and weighed about 252 grains. In value it was about equal to 2 British pounds and 1 shilling, or about .00 (in 1915). See MONEY; WEIGHTS AND MEASURES . In the Revised Version (British and American) of Matthew 17:27 "shekel" replaces "piece of money" of the King James Version, the translation of στατήρ , statḗr . See STATER .
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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