Nehemiah 7:71

71 Now some of the heads of the {families} gave to the storehouse of the work twenty thousand gold darics and two thousand two hundred silver minas.

Nehemiah 7:71 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 7:71

And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of
the work
To be put into the treasure, out of which the expenses of the temple, and service of it were defrayed:

twenty thousand drachms of gold;
which were so many pounds of our money, and somewhat more: for, according to Bishop Cumberland ^F6, a drachm of gold was of the value of twenty shillings and four pence: and 2200 pounds of silver; "the maneh", or pound, with the Jews, was of the value of sixty shekels, ( Ezekiel 45:12 ) and so is reckoned by our Brerewood ^F7 to be of our money seven pounds and ten shillings; he reckoning a shekel at half a crown, whereas it was little more than two shillings and four pence; and so sixty of them, or a "maneh", came to about seven pounds; wherefore this sum here was seven times so many pounds of silver.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 115.
F7 De Ponder & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4.

Nehemiah 7:71 In-Context

69 [there were] four hundred and thirty-five camels and six thousand seven hundred and twenty male donkeys.

70 Now some from the heads of the {families} gave to the work. The governor gave to the storehouse one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priestly tunics.

71 Now some of the heads of the {families} gave to the storehouse of the work twenty thousand gold darics and two thousand two hundred silver minas.

72 And what the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priestly tunics.

73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel settled in their cities. When the seventh month came, the {Israelites} [were] in their cities.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "fathers"