Bible Dictionaries
Talent

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

As a translation of the adjectival ταλαντιαία (fem. sing. [Note: singular.] ), ‘weighing a talent,’ this word is found only in Revelation 16:21. The reference is to weight, and not to money. Even with the recovery of a supposed actual specimen (see article ‘Weights and Measures’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) iv. 906) we are still dependent on an average estimate of the weight of a talent. This may be given as a little over 90 lb. avoirdupois (= 125 librae, Roman). This means that each hailstone was about as much as a man of average strength can lift. It is usual to compare Josephus, Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) V. vi. 3, where stones cast by engines of war are spoken of in similar terms.

W. Cruickshank.

Bibliography Information
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Talent'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hdn/​t/talent.html. 1906-1918.