Ezekiel 45:12

12 "Your weights are to be as follows: 20 [gerahs ]= 1 [shekel] 60 [shekels ]= 1 [mina]

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 "Everyone must use honest weights and measures:
11 "The [ephah ]for dry measure is to be equal to the [bath ]for liquid measure. The standard is the [homer.] The resulting measures are as follows: 1 [homer ]= 10 [ephahs ]= 10 [baths]
12 "Your weights are to be as follows: 20 [gerahs ]= 1 [shekel] 60 [shekels ]= 1 [mina]
13 "This is the basis on which you are to make your offerings: Wheat: 1/60th of your harvest Barley: 1/60th of your harvest Olive oil: 1/100th of the yield of your trees (Measure it by the [bath]: 10 [baths ]= 1 [homer ]= 1 [kor].) Sheep: 1 sheep out of every 200 from the meadows of Israel "You are to bring grain offerings, animals to be burned whole, and animals for fellowship offerings, so that your sins will be forgiven. I, the Sovereign Lord, command it.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. shekel: [In Ezekiel's time this unit of weight was about 0.4 ounce or 11.4 grams.]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.