Greek word · G5006

ταλαντιαῖος

talantiaios

weighing a talent

'Of a talent's weight' or 'talent-sized'. A talent (talanton) was the largest common unit of weight. Its size depended on the standard: the Attic (Greek) talent was about 26 kg (≈57 lb), and the Hebrew talent of 3,000 shekels about 34 kg (≈75 lb). Heavier 'royal' standards were higher still.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament.

What it means

ταλαντιαῖος, -α, -ον

(τάλαντον),

(a) worth a talent;

(b) of a talent's weight: Revelation 16:21.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 16:21

Range of meaning: 'Of a talent's weight' or 'talent-sized'. A talent (talanton) was the largest common unit of weight. Its size depended on the standard: the Attic (Greek) talent was about 26 kg (≈57 lb), and the Hebrew talent of 3,000 shekels about 34 kg (≈75 lb). Heavier 'royal' standards were higher still.
Against the English: KJV, WEB and YLT keep 'talent'. BSB says 'almost a hundred pounds', NIV/ESV/NASB 'about a hundred pounds', and NLT gives a lower figure following the Hebrew talent. A modern figure helps readers feel the weight, but it gives a false precision the Greek ('as if talent-weight') does not have, and 'a hundred pounds' sits at the high end of the possible range.
How it drifted: Translators turn ancient units into modern ones for readability. Readers then take the converted figure as an exact measurement.
Used elsewhere in the period: Hapax: the word occurs only here in the NT, and not in the Septuagint. Josephus (Jewish War 5.270) says the stones Roman siege engines threw at Jerusalem in AD 70 'were of a talent's weight' and travelled two furlongs or more. Military writers likewise classed heavy catapults by the talent-weight of their shot. So the word suggested siege artillery.

Similar words

τάλαντον talanton · talent

Where it appears

Revelation · 1

Revelation 16:21 ταλαντιαία a talent weight

And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.

Here: 'Talent-sized', meaning the weight of a talent, the largest standard unit of weight in the ancient world (roughly 26–45 kg depending on the standard). This is the only time it appears in the NT. Josephus uses the same idea for the stones Roman catapults hurled.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.