shekel

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“
But it was not wrong to pay the half-shekel, and Jesus never vexed people if He could possibly help it, so He said to Peter, 'Go thou to the sea and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun Any of several ancient units of weight, especially a Hebrew unit equal to about a half ounce.
  2. noun A gold or silver coin equal in weight to one of these units, especially the chief silver coin of the ancient Hebrews.
  3. noun Slang A coin.
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Examples (50)

  • The Israeli shekel is a widely used currency in the Gaza Strip, and the territory needs at least 400 million shekels, or about $100 million each month in new currency to replace aging notes and to pay salaries. —  Formae Mentis NGO™
  • Some hotels did lower their notoriously high Pesach prices, but apparently not enough to induce worried Israelis to shell out thousands of shekels, especially now, when the shekel is weaker than it was a year ago.
  • El Al posted a 126 million-shekel ($29.3 million) loss in the first half because of rising fuel prices and then saw tourism to Israel plunge during the monthlong Lebanon war, which broke out a the height of the tourism season in July. —  IAGblog
  • He [God] showed him [Moses] a sort of coin of fire weighing half a shekel, and He said to him, —  Chabad.org Weekly Magazine [ Korach 5769 - June 26, 2009 ]
  • [For this offering] everyone gave a half-shekel, [the total of] which was [earmarked] for the purchase of communal sacrifices for every year. —  Chabad.org Weekly Magazine [ Korach 5769 - June 26, 2009 ]
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Hebrew šeqel, from šāqal, to weigh; see ṯql in Semitic roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also sicle (from F.); = Dutch sikkel = G. Swedish Danish sekel = Icelandic sikill, from Old French sicle, cicle, French sicle = Spanish Portuguese Italian siclo, from Late Latin siclus, from Greek σίκλος,σίγλος, a Hebrew shekel, a weight and a coin (expressed by δίδραχμον in the Septuagint, but equal to 4 Attic δραχμαί in Josephus; the Persian σίγλος was one three-thousandth part of the Babylonian talent), from Hebrew sheqel, a shekel (weight), from shāqal, Assyrian shāqual = Arabic thaqal, weigh.
 

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/ˈʃɛkɛl/
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