Moses and Aaron

Δενάριον, Denarius, a peny. This was their tribute money, Mat. 22. 19. There were two sorts of pence788 in use among them: the common peny, which valued of ours 7 d. ob. And the peny of the Sanctuary, which valued 1 s. 3 d. For it was answerable to their Didrachmum; and of this last we must understand S. Matthew in this place, for their tribute mony was Didrachmum, as before hath been noted out of Mat. 17. 24. This Didrachmum or half shekel was formerly paid by the Isrælites every year after they were 20 years old;789 towards their Temple, Exod. 30. 13. Cæsar by taking away this money from the Temple, and changing it into a tribute for his own Coffers, did in truth take away from God that which was God’s. Hence in that question proposed unto Christ, Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? Christ answereth, Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s. This very tribute afterward was paid by the Jews790 toward the Roman capital, by vertue of a Decree made by Vespasian.

‎‏זוז‏‎ Zuz, It was the fourth part of a shekel of silver:791 it valued therefore of ours, 7 d. ob.

‎‏שקל‏‎ Shekel, Siclus, a shekel: it was twofold; Siclus regius, the Kings shekel, of common use in buying and selling, it valued 1 s. 3 d. And Siclus Sanctuarii; the shekel of the Sanctuary, it valued 2 s. 6 d.

The shekels of the Sanctuary were of two stamps. The one was always in use among the Jews: the thirty pieces of silver which Judas received, are thought to be 30 shekels of the Sanctuary. It had stampt on the one side, the pot of Manna, or as others think, Aarons censer or Incense-cup: the inscription on this side was ‎‏שקל ישראל‏‎ Shekel Israel, The shekel of Israel: on the reverse side was stampt Aarons Rod budding, with this inscription about the Coyn ‎‏ירושלים הקדושה‏‎ Jeruschalaiim hakeduscha. After the coming of our Saviour, the Jews which were converted to the Christian Faith, changed their shekel,792 and on the first side stampt the Image of Christ, with ‎‏יש‏‎ at the mouth of the Image, and ‎‏ו‏‎ in the pole, which three letters made his name Jesu. On the reverse side there was no picture, but the whole rundle was filled with this inscription, ‎‏משיח מלך בא בשלום ואור מאדם עשוי חי‏‎ (i.) Messias rex venit cum pace, & lux de homine facta est vita. In some Coyns, for the latter clause of that inscription is read ‎‏אדם עשוי אלהים‏‎ (i.) Deus homo est factus.

The King’s shekel, in David and Solomon’s time, had stampt on the one side, a kind of a Tower standing between ‎‏ירו‏‎ and ‎‏שלם‏‎, and underneath was ‎‏עיר הקדש‏‎. The whole inscription was, Jerusalem urbs sanctitatis: On the reverse side, the rundle was filled with this Hebrew, ‎‏דוד המלך ובנו שלמה המלך‏‎ (i.) David rex, & filius ejus Solomon rex.

The shekel again was divided into lesser Coyns, which had their denomination from the parts thereof. Thus we read of the half shekels, Exod. 30. 13. The third part of a shekel, Nehem. 10. 32. The quarter of a shekel, 1 Sam. 9. 8.

Their Gold Coyns.

‎‏זהב‏‎ Zahab. The English reads it, a piece of gold, 2 Kin. 5. 5. By it is meant, that which elsewhere is called Siclus auri, a shekel of gold, 1 Chron. 21. 25. Hence the one thousand seven hundred pieces of gold mentioned, Judg. 8. 26. the Greek renders 1700, shekels of gold.793 The weight of this Coyn was two attick drams,794 the value 15 s.

‎‏אדרכון‏‎ Adarcon, of this we read, Esra 8. 27. It was also called ‎‏דרכמון‏‎ Drachmon, of which we read Esra 2. 69. Both these names seem to denote the same coyn; if not, yet both were of the same weight. The Greek interprets them both by δραχμὴ, and our English accordingly renders both, a dram, which must be understood of the drams in use among the Hebrews, weighing two Attick drams. From the Greek δραχμὴ, Drachmon seemeth to have had its name. He conjectureth not amiss, who thinketh795 that Adarcon was so called, quasi Daricon, which was a certain coyn of gold in use among the Persians and from King Darius (whose Image one side thereof bore) was named Daricon, and ‎‏א‏‎ amongst the Chaldæans, is often prefixed before a word, as ‎‏ה‏‎ is amongst the Hebrews. The value of this Coyn was of ours 15 s.

Their sums.

Their sums were two ‎‏מנה‏‎ Maneh, μνᾶ Mina, a Pound. In gold it weighed one hundred shekels. This appeareth by comparing these Texts, 1 Kin. 10. 17. Tres ‎‏מנים‏‎ Manim three pound of gold went to one shield. Now we read, 2 Chron. 9. 16. Three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. The name shekels is not expressed in the Original, but necessarily understood, as appeareth in that which was spoken of Zahab. For it is a received rule, that in Scripture, Aurum being put with a numeral signifieth so many shekels of gold; and so Argentum in like manner. The weight thereof then being 100 shekels, it followeth, that the value was 75 l. In silver, their Maneh weighed 60 shekels, Ezek. 45. 12. so that it valued 7 l. 10 s. Note, that Sheindler796 was deceived, in saying, that the price or value of the Maneh was changed in Ezekiels time, because it then valued 60 shekels: for the difference is not between the sacred & profane Maneh, as Sheindler conceives, but between the Maneh of gold, which was valued at 100 shekels always, and the Maneh of silver, which weighed 60 shekels, according to the forequoted place in Ezekiel.

The second sum was ‎‏ככר‏‎ Cicar, Talentum, A Talent. This, if it were of silver, it contained in weight 3000 shekels. For, those two verses being compared together, Exod. 38. 25, 26. sheweth, that six hundred thousand men paying every man half a shekel, the whole sum amounted to an hundred talents; whence it followeth, that a talent of silver amongst the Hebrews was 375 l. But a talent of gold (the proportion of gold to silver being observed) was twelve times as much, so that it valued of ours 4500 l.

In this tract of their Coyns we are to know three things. First, that as the Romans, in the former ages, used Æs grave, Bullion money, unstampt, which in the Mass or Billot they weighed out in their payments, and afterward Æs signatum, coyned metals: so the Hebrews though at last they used, coyned money, yet at first they weighed their mony uncoyned; Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, Gen. 23. 6. Hence the shekel had its name from ‎‏שקל‏‎ Shakal, ponderare, librare, to weigh, or put in the ballance. Secondly, as the coyned shekel was twofold, one for the use of the Sanctuary; the other for the use of the Commonwealth; and that of the Sanctuary was double the price of the other; so the weight of the shekel to be distinguisht after the same manner; the shekel of the Sanctuary weighed half an ounce Troy weight; the common shekel weighed a quarter of an ounce. For example, Goliahs spears head weighed 600 shekels of the Sanctuary 1 Sam. 17. 7. that is, twenty five pound weight: Absalom’s hair weighed two hundred shekels after the Kings weight, 2 Sam. 14. 26. that is, four pound weight and two ounces. Yea, the sums which I have reckoned only according to the Sanctuary, in common use, according to the King’s weight, they abate half their value.

3. The lesser coyns were in general termed κέρματα or in the singular number κέρμα, Joh. 2. 15. The word signifieth properly a small quantity or little piece of metal, such as may be clipt off from coyns. Upon the first of the mon. Adar, Procla. was made throughout Israel, that the people shold provide their half shekels, wch were yearly paid toward the service of the Temple, according to the commandment of God, Ex. 30. 13.797 On the 25. of Adar,798 then they brought tables into the Temple (that is, into the outward Court where the people stood) on these tables lay these κέρματα, or lesser coyns, to furnish those who wanted half shekels for their offrings, or that wanted lesser pieces of mony in their payment for oxen, sheep, or doves, which likewise stood there in a readiness in the same court to be sold for sacrifices: but this supply of lesser coynes was not without an exchange for other mony or other things in lieu of mony, and that upon advantage. Hence those that sat at these tables, as chief bankers or masters of the exchange, they were termed Κερματισταὶ, in respect of the lesser coyns which they exchanged: in respect of the exchange it self, they were termed Κολλυβισταὶ, for Κόλλυβος signifieth the same in Greek as Cambium in Latine,799 whence those Letters of exchange, which the Latines call Literas Cambii, the Greek call σύμβολα κολλυβιστικὰ, Tickets of exchange: in respect of the Tables at which they sate, they are termed by the Talmudists ‎‏שולחנים‏‎, Schulcanim from ‎‏שולחן‏‎ Schulchan Mensa; for the same reason they are sometimes termed by the Greeks τραπεζίται, and by the Latines Mensarii. These are those changers of money which our Saviour drove out of the Temple.

FINIS.‎‏תהלה לאל חי‏‎

The Names of Authors cited in this BOOK

A

• Aben Esra.

• Aboth. vid. Pirke Aboth.

• Æschines.

• Alexander Neopol.

• Alstedius.

• Ambrosius.

• Aquinas.

• Aristoteles.

• Arias Montanus.

• Aristophanes, Aureliæ Allobrogum, 1607

• Artemidorus.

• Athenæus.

• Augustinus, Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1616

B

• Baalturim.

• Beda.

• Bellarminus.

• Bertramus.

• Beza.

• Bodinus.

• Breerwood.

• Buxtorfius.

• Budæus.

C

• Caninius.

• Capnio, vi. Reuchlin.

• Carion.

• Casaubonus.

• Cœlius Rhodiginus.

• Chazkuni.

• Chemnitius.

• Chimchi, alias, R. David Kimchi.

• Chrysostomus.

• Clem. Alexandrinus.

• Cicero.

• Concilium quintum, sextum.

• Cyrillus.

• Cyprianus.

• Cunæus, Lugduni Batavorum, 1617

D

• Demosthenes, Venitiis, 1554

• Diodorus Siculus.

• Dionysius Halicarnas.

• Drusius, de tribus sectis, Franekeræ, 1619.

E

• Elias Thisbites.

• Epiphanius.

• Erasmus.

• Euripides.

• Eustathius.

• Eusebius.

F

• Funccius.

• Fagius.

• Firmicus.

G

• Galatinus, Francofurti, 1612

• Gellius.

• Genebrardus.

• Gorionides.

• Gregor. Nazianzen.

• Gyraldus.

H

• Herodianus.

• Herodotus.

• Hesiodus.

• Hieronymus, Basileæ, 1516

• Homerus.

• Horatius.

• Hospinianus, Tiguri, 1611

I

• Jalcut, Cracoviæ, 1595

• Jansenius.

• Josephus, Aureliæ Allobrog., 1611

• Jonathan.

• Junius.

• Justin Martyr.

• Justin, histor.

• Juvenalis.

• Ilmedenu.

K

• Kimchi. vid. Chimchi.

L

• Lactantius.

• Laertius.

• Levi ben Gersom.

• Lipsius.

• Livius.

• Lucanus.

• Lucianus.

• Lyranus.

M

• Macrobius.

• Magius.

• Maimonides, lib. Jad. Venetiis, 1574

• Masius.

• Maximus Tirius.

• Montacutius.

• Moses Kotsensis. Venetiis, 1557

• Munsterus.

• Musar.

• Modestus.

O

• Oecumenius.

• Onkelos.

• Origines.

• Ovidius.

P

• Philo Judæus, Coloniæ Allobrog., 1613

• Pirke Aboth.

• Plautus.

• Plinius.

• Pierius, Basileæ, 1575

• Plutarchus.

• Procopius.

• Prudentius.

R

• Reuchlinus (pro quo citatur Capnio perperam) Francofurti, 1612

• Rosinus.

• Ruffinus.

S

• Seder-olam minus.

• Septuaginta interpretes.

• Serarius.

• Scaliger, De emend. temp. Lutetiæ, 1583

• Trihæres. Franekeræ, 1619

• Sheindler.

• Sigonius.

• Scholiastes Aristophanis.

• Solomon Jarchi.

• Solinus.

• Sozomenus.

• Statius.

• Stukius.

• Suetonius.

• Suidas.

• Syrius interpres.

T

• Talmud Babylonicum.

• Talmud Hierosolymitanum.

• Targum Uzielidis sive Jonathanis.

• Targum Onkelos.

• Targum Hierosolymitanum.

• Tertullianus, 1609

• Theophylactus.

• Theodoretus.

• Theophrastus.

• Tholosanus.

• Thisbites.

• Tiraquellus.

• Toletus.

• Tremelius.

V

• Vatablus.

• Valerius Max.

• Varro.

• Virgilius.

X

• Xenophon, Basileæ, 1569

Z

• Zepperus.

• Zohar.

1

Zepper lib. 3. leg. Mos. cap. 6.

2

Aug. de Civ. Dei, l. 18 c. 22.

3

Zepper. leg. Mosaic. l. 3. c. 6.

4

Vide Funcii Chronol.

5

Maimon. in Iad. lib. vit. tract. Sanedr. in c. 4. sect. 13.

6

Seder Olam minus.

7

Carion chron. lib. 2. p. 144.

8

Targum Uziel. eadem pæne verba habet Targum Jerosolym.

9

Origen. hom. 17. in Genes. Epiphan. contra Ebionæos, &c. maxima Hebræorum pars.

10

Cunæus de rep. Hebr. lib. 1. cap. 5. p. 81.

11

Euseb. demon. lib. 8. cap. 1. Montacut. in Analect. p. 72. Casaub. contra Baron. pag. 16.

12

Patres plerique omnes.

13

Casaubon advers. Baron. p. 19. It. p. 23. Justinus Mart. in Dialog. cum Tryphone. Cunæus lib. 1. de rep. Heb. c. 9. p. 82.

14

Cunæus lib. 1. de rep. Heb. cap. 11. pag. 96.

15

Joseph. Scal. ex quo Casaub. advers. Baron. p. 19. It. p. 39.

16

Montacut. in Analect. p. 74.

17

Augustin. contra Manich. lib. 12. cap. 47. Euseb. demonst. l. 8 Carion. Chron. pag. 143.

18

P. Galatin. l. 4. cap. 6. p. 203. ex. Talmud. Jerusol.

19

Joseph Locutus de Pompeio l. 1. de bello Jud. c. 5. p. 720.

20

Harum societatum frequens mentio facta est apud Ciceron. in orat. pro. Sex. Ros. Muræna, in Cn. Plancio.

21

Sigon. de Antiq. jure civium Rom. lib. 2. c. 4.

22

Is. Casaubon exercit. 13. 37.

23

Suet. in Flav. Vespas. cap. 1.

24

Tertul. de pudic. c. 9.

25

Jeronym. epist. ad Damasum.

26

Fraudi fuit acutissimo Pœno Hebraicæ linguæ ignoratio, nusquam enim occurrit in fonte spurius ille textus, quo Tertullianus potissimum nititur, non erit vectigal, pendens ex filiis Israel. Deut. 23.

27

Magni quidam nominis Rabbi apud Judæos fuit, quem ex Paganismo ad Judaismum conversum ‎‏בגבג‏‎ per sigla appellarunt. i. filiis Proselyti, filius proselytæ, Pirk. Aboth. cap. 5.

28

De Judæis Græciensib. vid. Scal. animad. Euseb. 124. 1. & in Can. Isag. 278.

29

Euseb. Eccles. hist. li. 1. cap. 8.

30

Rabbi Solomon, Deut. 23. 14.

31

Sheindler in pentaglot. p. 1530.

32

Ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς.

33

Moses Kotsen. fol. 40. col. 2.

34

‎‏במילה ובטבילה ובהוצאת דמים של קרבן‏‎.

35

Drusius de trib. sect. 2. p. 102.

36

Moses Ægyptius, in Assurebiah, Perek. 13. fol. 137. vide Serarium trihæres, l. 2. c. 1.

37

P. Fag. Exod. 22. 21.

38

Moses Ægypt. lib. ult. Iad. tract. Sanhedr. c. 2.

39

Casaub. advers. Baron. 27.

40

Rex Anius, Rex idem hominum, Phœbique Sacerdos. Virg. Æneid, lib. 3.

41

Alex. Neopolit. lib. 2. Cap. 6.

42

Valer. Max. lib. 1. cap. 6.

43

Alex. ab. Alex. lib. 1. cap. 20.

44

Hinc Sacerdos summus in fonte legitur Sacerdos unctus, Levit. 4. 5. Jonathan habet, Sacerdos magnus vel summus. Desertè Aben Esra, Sacerdos magnus ipse est Sacerdos unctus. Lyranus adhuc clarius Sacerdos unctus est Sacerdos magnus, quia inferiores Sacerdotes non ungebantur, &c.

45

Cunæus lib. 2. de rep. Heb. cap. 7. pag. 222.

46

Moses Kotsensis. præcept. affir. 173. f. 212. col. 3.

47

Vide Cunæum de rep. Heb. lib. 2. cap. 3.

48

Elias Thisbit.

49

Casaub. adver. Baron. p. 242. It. Joseph. Scaliger in Proleg. ad Eus.

50

Ἀφοριεῖ ἀαρὼν.

51

Ἀφορίσατε.

52

Francisc. Jun. Analyt. Expos. Numb. 8.

53

Dionys. Halycarnass. lib. 2.

54

Æschines contra Ctesiphont.

55

Herodian, p. 45.

56

Moses Kotsen. fol. 211. col. 4.

57

‎‏ראש מעמד‏‎

58

Bertram. Polit. Jud. c. 2. p. 17.

59

Eodem sensu Græci appellant artis medica candidatos ἰατρῶν παῖδας Eras. Ep. dedicatoria Hilario præfix.

60

Targum. 2 Reg. 2. 12.

61

Kimchi in præfat. ad Hoscham.

62

Gorionid. lib. 4. cap. 20.

63

Drus. de trib. sect. 86.

64

Buxtorf. Recens. operis Talmud, p. 155.

65

Hieronym. ad Algasiam. quæst. 10.

66

Elias Thisbit.

67

Solom. Jarchi. Gen. 49. Vide Ambros. Tom. 4. cap. 2. & Targum Hierosol.

68

Drus. de tribus sectis, l. 2. c. 12. ex Chald. Paraphast.

69

Augustin. in Psal. 40.

70

Drusius de trib. sectis l. 20. cap. 13.

71

Vide Thisbit. in ‎‏דרש‏‎

72

Targum, Ps. 84. 7.

73

Aruch in voce ‎‏אביי‏‎

74

‎‏אני סומך אותך תהיה סמוך‏‎ Id est Scaligero interprete: Ego tibi impono manum & manus tibi imposita esto. Trihær. c. 5. p. 264. vide etiam Cunæum de Rep. Heb. cap. 12.

75

Vide P. Fagium in Scholiis suis ad cap. 4. Pirke Aboth.

76

Philo Jud. Quod omnis probus, p. 679.

77

Scaliger in Trihæres. cap. 5. Ex. c. 1. Beracoth.

78

Pirke Aboth. cap. 4.

79

Ambros. 1 Cor. 14.

80

Pirke Aboth. cap. 5.

81

Sheindler, in Pentaglot.

82

Hieronym. Isai. 8. Idem refert Epiphanius. l. 1. Tom. 2. hær. 29.

83

Francisc. Jun. paral. lib. 1. 8.

84

August. l. 19. contra Faustum Manichæum. c. 4.

85

Epiphan. l. 1. Tom. 2. hæres. 29.

86

Epiphan. l. 1. Tom. 1. hæres. 18.

87

D. Kimchi. Psal. 103. 17.