the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Gerah
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (גֵּרָה, gerah', a berry or granule [compare English "barley-corn" and "grain" as measure and weight]; Sept. ὄβολος, Vulgate obolus), the smallest weight, and likewise the smallest piece of money among the Hebrews, equivalent to the twentieth part of a shekel (Exodus 30:13; Leviticus 27:25; Numbers 3:47; Numbers 18:16; Ezekiel 45:12). It would therefore weigh 13.5 Paris grains, and be worth about 3 cents. The same Hebrew word also signifies cud, as being a round mass. It has been supposed by many that the gerah was so called from the fact that some kernel, as of pepper or barley, or perhaps the seeds of the carobtree (κεράτιον) may have been originally used for this weight, but it would be equal in weight to 4 or 5 beans of the carob, and, according to the Rabbins, it weighed as much as 16 grains of barley. (See METROLOGY).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Gerah'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/g/gerah.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
