שֶׁ֫קֶל

From the study of 2 Kings 7:1

Range of meaning

From shaqal, "to weigh." It was a unit of weight, used above all for weighing silver in payment. Inscribed Judahite weights from the 8th–7th centuries BCE put it at about 11.3–11.5 g. Stamped coins did not reach the region until the Persian period, centuries after Elisha.

Against the English

Every major version keeps "shekel." Modern readers, used to the Israeli shekel or to the coins of the Gospels, tend to picture a coin.

How it drifted

The term was reused for later coins (the Tyrian shekel of Jesus' day, the modern Israeli currency). That coin picture gets read back into the 9th century BCE.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 23:16 (silver "weighed out" at merchant standard); Jer 32:9–10; inscribed shekel weights (Kletter's study of the Judahite weight system).

From the study of Amos 8:5

Range of meaning

From shāqal, 'to weigh'. A unit of weight (in Judah about 11.3–11.5 grams), used above all for weighing silver in payment. Before coins came in (Persian period and later in this region), 'paying' meant weighing out silver pieces on a balance against stone weights.

Against the English

KJV/BSB/WEB 'shekel' is correct but easily misread as a coin. NIV's 'boosting the price' gives the economic effect and hides the method: a weight-stone heavier than standard.

How it drifted

Because the modern Israeli currency is called the shekel, and because of the coins in the Gospels, readers picture a coin. In Amos's day the shekel was a weight on a scale.

Used elsewhere in the period

Abraham 'weighed out' 400 shekels of silver (Genesis 23:16). Inscribed limestone shekel weights found in Judah (8th–7th centuries BC) vary noticeably in mass, which shows that standards were loose and open to abuse. Deuteronomy 25:13: 'You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small.'

From the study of Genesis 23:16

Range of meaning

A unit of weight (“a weighing”), used mainly for precious metals. In Iron Age Judah inscribed stone weights show a shekel of about 11.3–11.4 g. Other standards existed, such as the “sanctuary shekel” and the “royal” weight (2 Sam 14:26). Coins called shekels appear only much later (Persian period onward, and above all the Tyrian and Jewish shekels of the Roman era).

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as “shekels”, which is correct. But many readers picture coins, either from the modern Israeli currency or from New Testament-era “shekels”. NLT and similar paraphrases sometimes avoid the word altogether.

How it drifted

In Hebrew the word moved from a weight to a coin only after coinage was adopted (from the 6th–5th centuries BC in the Persian empire, and Jewish shekel coins later still). The modern Israeli currency revived the name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Weight sets with shekel marks are known from Judah (8th–7th centuries BC); Mesopotamian šiqlu is the same word and the same kind of unit. For price comparison: Jer 32:9, a field for 17 shekels; Exod 21:32, a slave valued at 30 shekels; Lev 27:3, the highest personal valuation at 50 shekels; 2 Sam 24:24, David buys a threshing floor and oxen for 50 shekels; 1 Kgs 16:24, Omri buys the whole hill of Samaria for two talents (about 6,000 shekels).