the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Penny
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or The Greek drachma, or Roman denarious, equivalent to about fourteen cents. In reading the Scripture passage in which this word, occurs, we should consider that the real value of money, to purchase labor or commodities, was far greater then that now; and also that even the nominal value of the drachma would be better expressed by "shilling," or "franc," than by "penny." Thus, "two hundred shillings' worth of bread would not suffice," Mark 6:37; "he took out two francs and gave them to the host," Luke 10:35 . So in Revelation 6:6 , "a measure of wheat for a penny" expresses to the English reader the idea of great plenty; whereas the original indicates a distressing scarcity. A drachma in Christ's time was good wages for a day's labor in a vineyard, Matthew 20:2 .
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Penny'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/p/penny.html. 1859.
