Genesis 23:15-16

23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth ¹  400 pieces of silver, ²  but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price ³  and weighed ⁴  out for him ⁵  the price ⁶  that Ephron had quoted ⁷  in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. ⁸ 

Genesis 23:1

The Death of Sarah

23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. ⁹ 

Genesis 20:1

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ¹⁰  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ¹¹  in Gerar,

Esther 3:9

3:9 If the king is so inclined, ¹²  let an edict be issued ¹³  to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver ¹⁴  to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”

Isaiah 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ¹⁵ 

Why spend ¹⁶  your hard-earned money ¹⁷  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ¹⁸  to me and eat what is nourishing! ¹⁹ 

Enjoy fine food! ²⁰ 

[23:15]  ¹ tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:15]  ² sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).

[23:16]  ³ tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”

[23:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”

[23:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.

[23:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “And the years of Sarah were one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.”

[20:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[3:9]  ¹² tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”

[3:9]  ¹⁴ sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.

[55:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ¹⁶ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ¹⁸ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”