[Avodah] Sheqel Kesef

[Akiva Miller]

I am working on trying to understand when the root k-s-f refers to the
metal silver, and when it refers to generic money. At the same time, I'm
working on when sh-q-l involves weights and weighing, and when it refers to
a specific coin.

Bereshis 23:16 tells of when Avraham Avinu purchased land from Efron for a
burial plot. This pasuk ought to be a good source of information on these
questions, as it contains each of those roots twice. Unfortunately, I am
puzzled by this pasuk.

Rashi explains that these shekalim were large ones, so it seems to me that
they must have been coins, even though he doesn't actually use that word.
Even without that Rashi, the words "oveir lasocher" would clearly imply
some sort of standard coinage. But if so, then how do we understand the
verb "vayishkol"? It is usually translated "weigh", but that's not what one
does with coins. Coins are *counted*. If Avraham gave coins to Efron, then
the pasuk should have said that he counted them out, not that he weighed
them. Weighing them contradicts the idea that they were universally
accepted.

One idea that occurred to me is that these coins were larger than normal,
but Avraham did not give 400 of them to Efron. Instead he gave Efron a
smaller number, but he weighed them out to show Efron that he was indeed
getting his full 400 sheqel *weight* of silver. But I don't like that
answer, because weighing was still unnecessary. He still could have counted
them and calculated the weight that was marked on each coin. Maybe Efron
was bad at arithmetic?

Most likely, I'm simply unfamiliar with the idiom. Maybe the verb "to
weigh" *IS* how they speak about counting coins. Anyone else have a guess?

NOTE: I am aware of a claim that coins were not yet invented in Avraham's
time, or even in Moshe Rabenu's time. (Wikipedia, "coin") For those who
lean in that direction, please feel free to interpret this post along the
lines of "How did Rashi understand this pasuk?" or "How did Moshe
understand this pasuk?

Akiva Miller
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20220919/ec7b60ef/attachment-0002.htm>