2 Kings 12:10
royal <04428> [the king's.]
secretary <05608> [scribe. or, secretary. put up. Heb. bound up.]
bagged <06696> [in bags.]
Sir J. Chardin informs us, "it is a custom of Persia always to seal up bags of money; and the money of the king's treasure is not told, but is received by bags sealed up." These are what are called in the East purses; each of which, as Maillet informs us, contains money to the amount of 1,500 livres, or about 63Å“. of our money. The money thus collected for the reparation of the temple, seems, in like manner, to have been reckoned in bags of equal value to each other; as we can scarcely imagine the placing it in bags would otherwise have been mentioned. The value of a Jewish purse is unknown; but the bags mentioned in ch. 5:23, amounted to a talent.
