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Your portion of the weekly portion - and this week we will discuss "VaYekhel-Pekudey". our Biblical Hebrew newsletter is happy to present you the Jewish weekly portion of the week, which is read during prayer services on the Sabbath.
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Dear friends,
As citizens of the modern world, we are well aware of the differences in weight standards, measurement standards and temperature scales between different countries. Many of us can convert inches to centimeters, Celsius to Fahrenheit or pounds to stones without much effort.
Naturally, while the modern standards are a relatively new invention, and while standards such as temperatures are something only made possible by modern science, weight, measurement and volume standards were always necessary in every-day life. We will start today with weight standards, and continue to discuss the different standards in future newsletters.
Weight standards are important both for the administrative management of a kingdom - in taxes and trade, for example: how much gold was given by a tribe for the building of the Temple, as well as in everyday life - especially at the market place. Most weight standards were used throughout the Ancient Near East, and most of the measurements we find in the Bible have identical names to their Acadian parallels.
The method of weighing
Weight standards were generally made of stone, and this is why they receive the general name אֶבֶן, "even", meaning stone, in the Bible. The different stones were of different weights, with a certain relationship between them. These weights were used while weighing on scales, on which they were compared to something else in order to determine its quantity and therefore its worth - whether gold brought to the temple or vegetables bought at the market.
The great importance of the stones and their affect on everyday life is emphasized on numerous occasions when the Israelites are commanded that their stones must be just. What would be easier for a merchant than to create a stone weighing less than he claims it does when selling, and more than he claims it does when buying? The Hebrew Bible warns against this and commands a just weighing system. Thus, in Deuteronomy 25:13, the Israelites are specifically commanded:
לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ בְּכִיסְךָ אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן גְּדוֹלָה וּקְטַנָּה
You shall not have in your pocket a stone and another stone, one large and one small.
And not only are they commanded not to cheat - the next verse makes very clear exactly how just their trading must be, saying (there, verse 15) "You shall have only a full and honest weight".
The different weights
The most important weight in biblical times is the שֶקֶל, shekel, while the rest of the major weights are described in relationship to it. The shekel is thus named from the root שק"ל meaning "to weigh", because it is the standard weight. Incidentally, the fact that the shekel then became the name of a coin is due to the fact that during the Persian rule over the region, weights were made into coins of metal bearing the appropriate weight. Shekel is the name of the Israeli currency to this day, in commemoration of the biblical measurement.
One of the most explicit reports of injustice committed concerning weight measurements is given by the prophet Amos, who criticizes the people of being supposedly pious and keeping the Sabbath, while all they do all day on the Sabbath is wait for it to end so that they can go cheat:
"When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat? We will make the Ephah small and the Shekel large, and distort the scales of injustice" (Amos 8:5) [Ephah is a volume measurement]
This is part of an important theme in the prophets, emphasizing that true piousness includes the proper conduct of society on the basis of justice, and not only strict observance of cultic rituals.
The prophet Amos, Gustave Doré
Other important measurements are the כִּכָּר, kikar, which is worth 3000 shekels; the מָנֶה, maneh, which is worth either 50 or 60 shekels; and the בֶּקַע, beka, which is worth half a shekel.
A special ritual concerning the (half a) shekel
While in the desert, Moses is commanded to take a census of the people. However, according to biblical beliefs, it is problematic to simply count the people, because that could bring a plague upon them. Therefore, in Exodus 30:11-16, Moses is told to take half a shekel from every male 20 years old or more. The shekel collected will be a donation to God and his Temple, while the total amount of half shekels will indicate just how many Israelites of the relevant age participated in the census.
Have a great week!
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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