Ezekiel 45:12

12 And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.

Ezekiel 45:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 45:12

And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs
This is a rule for money or coin; the shekel was a silver coin, and is generally reckoned about the value of two shillings and six pence of our money, so a gerah about three half pennies: Bishop Cumberland reckons the shekel more exactly at two shillings and four pence farthing, and a little more, and the gerah at eleven grains of silver; see ( Leviticus 27:25 ) : twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your
maneh;
these were several pieces of money; one was a twenty shekel piece, which according to the common account was fifty shillings of our money; another was a five and twenty shekel piece, which was three pounds, two shillings, and sixpence; and a third was a fifteen shekel piece, which was one pound thirteen and sixpence; and together made a maneh or pound, which consisted of sixty shekels, or seven pounds, ten shillings; by which the other pieces should be tried, whether they were of just weight: the sense of the whole is, that no adulteration of coin should be made, which is very prejudicial in civil affairs.

Ezekiel 45:12 In-Context

10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
11 The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, so that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: the measure thereof shall be according to the homer.
12 And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.
13 This is the heave-offering which ye shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah out of a homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah out of a homer of barley;
14 and the set portion of oil, by the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of a cor, [which is] a homer of ten baths, for ten baths are a homer;

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. i.e. the mina, the sixtieth part of a talent. * It is the weight measure here, and equalled 60 shekels -- 20 + 25 + 15. As a gold coin it was valued at 50 shekels: see 1Kings 10.17; Ezra 2.69; Luke 19.13.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.