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Bible Dictionaries
Talent
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or This was a weight used among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, but varying exceedingly in different countries and in different parts of the same country. The Jewish talent is usually estimated at about 125 pounds troy weight, though others estimate it a little less then 114 pounds troy. The common Attic talent was equal, on the usual estimate, to about 56 lbs. 11 oz. troy. In the New Testament, a talent is a denomination of money, which was anciently reckoned by weight. The value of the talent, therefore, varied in different countries, in proportion to the different weights of the talent. The Jewish talent appear, from Exodus 38:25,26 , to have been equal to 3,000 shekels; and as the shekel is estimated at about fifty cents, the value of the talent would be about 1,5000 dollars. The Attic talent is usually reckoned at about 225 pounds sterling, or 1,000 dollars, though others make it only about 860 dollars. The talent spoken of in the New Testament is probably the Jewish, and is used only of an indefinitely large sum, Matthew 18:24; 25:14-30 .
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 'Talent'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/t/talent.html. 1859.
