James Bejon 🇮🇱 Profile picture
Sep 29, 2020 21 tweets 4 min read Read on X
THREAD: Gold & Silver.

This morning at @Tyndale_House, we read a 2nd mill. BC text from Alalakh (Syria).

The text doesn’t pull its punches.

It details a bequeathment,

and says anyone who challenges its contents must fork out 1,000 shekels of silver and 100 of gold: Image
In the ancient Near East, the rate of exchange between silver and gold fluctuated considerably over time and space.

In Mesopotamia, it was generally between 6:1 and 15:1.

At Ugarit, I’ve seen it as low as 4:1.
The ratio of 10:1 attested in our text seems likely to have been close to the then-present exchange rate (cp. Zaccagnini 1991),

...which would make sense.
It would have provided a kind of hedging mechanism (in case one of the metals became particularly cheap/expensive in relation to the other).

Against that backdrop, let’s consider some of the payments recorded in the Biblical narrative.
In 2 Kgs. 5, the king of Syria sends a gift to the king of Israel. He sends 10 talents of silver and 6,000 (shekels) of gold. Image
Note: Like our text from Alalakh, the unit attached to the first figure (‘talents’) is explicitly supplied. The second is left for the reader to infer (on the basis it designates a similar sum to the first).
Given the Syrian definition of a talent (60 minas x 50 shekels), these 6,000 shekels would have amounted to 2 talents. (It would make sense for the king to have sent a round number of shekels.) Image
As such, the king of Syria sent a gift/payment of silver and gold in the ratio 5 to 1.

That’s towards the lower end of the range we noted above.
Other payments in Scripture typically involve higher silver-to-gold ratios (in roughly the range noted above).

For instance, the ratio of silver to gold in the exiles’ contributions to the Temple is 6.5 to 1 (cp. Ezra 8.26, though the text is difficult).
David’s contribution to the Temple is in the ratio 10 to 1 (cp. 1 Chr. 22).

And the ratio of gold to silver bowls in the Temple was over 20 to 1 (cp. Ezra 1.9-10), though that wasn’t really a *payment* as such.

Of particular interest is the payment recorded in 2 Kgs. 18.
In the days of Hezekiah, Sennacherib (the king of Assyria) marched against Judah.

Sennacherib is said to have captured a number of ‘fortified cities’ and to have demanded a payment of 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold.
Sennacherib’s Prism mentions Sennacherib’s demand too. Image
But the records of 2 Kgs. 18 and Sennacherib’s Prism don’t seem to cohere.

2 Kgs. 18 says Sennacherib demanded 300 talents of silver from Hezekiah,

while Sennacherib’s Prism says Hezekiah paid him *800* talents of silver (rather than 300), Image
...which makes the ratio of silver to gold recorded on Sennacherib’s Prism rather odd, viz. 26⅔ to 1.
(For a king to have such a ratio of silver to gold in their possession would not, of course, be odd; what would be odd is for someone to have demanded a payment of silver and gold in such a ratio.)
The text of 2 Kgs. 18.15, however, provides us with a clue as to what might have transpired. Image
Apparently, then, Hezekiah didn’t (just) give Sennacherib the ‘round number’ of talents he initially demanded. He gave him all the silver he could lay his hands on.
What initially, therefore, looks like an inconsistency between the texts of 2 Kgs. 18 and Sennacherib’s Prism is consistent with a more detailed consideration of their contents.

The text of 2 Kgs. 18 records Sennacherib’s demand,
which involves the kind of round/hedged ratio we might expect it to,

while Sennacherib’s Prism records what Hezekiah actually paid him--namely as much silver as he could find--,

which accounts for the unusual ratio recorded on the prism.
Or least so my hypothesis goes.

Ultimately, however, my hypothesis is only a *possible* way to explain/reconcile the texts mentioned above.
Whether it’s what actually happened I can’t say.

What I *can* say, however, is that the careful study of Scripture is always worth the effort.

THE END.

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More from @JamesBejon

Oct 10
THREAD: Daniel, Fun with Numbers, & Podcasts

Daniel is a man with a keen interest in names & numbers, so the number of times he uses certain names is significant.

He connects Babylon’s rulers with the number four, and Israel’s nobility with the number five, as shown below, Image
…which is no coincidence.

For Daniel, the future of the Gentile world can be summed up in the reigns of four distinct kingdoms, in which Babylon’s rulers are bound up.

And these kingdoms, Daniel says, will ultimately be replaced by a fifth kingdom—a heavenly kingdom—,…
in whose victory Daniel and his people will participate and rejoice.
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Aug 18
THREAD: Theology in Syntax (🧵)

Ephesians 1.3–10 is a majestic statement. It opens in the heavenly realms, before the foundation of the world, and concludes in the fulness of time, with all things in heaven and earth united in Christ—a grand sweep of divine history. Image
It is an awesome and extraordinary declaration of God’s plans. And its syntax matches its message.
Scattered throughout its sweep of history are references to what God has done for us—“blessed us”, “chosen us”, “predestined us”, etc.

Just as we find ourselves caught up in the syntax of Ephesian 1, so we find ourselves caught up in God’s plans.
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Jul 20
THREAD: Job 28—A Journey into the Mines

The text of Job 28 is a beautiful composition. It reveals important truths about the nature of wisdom and at the same time paints an exquisite picture of the book of Job’s central theme. Image
For a brief intro to the book, see below:

Back in chapter 13, Job made an important statement. “If you would only be silent for a while”, he told his friends, “it would result in your wisdom” (Job 13.5).

Well, here in chapter 28, that statement takes on a prophetic character.
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Jul 19
THREAD: Job the Righteous Sufferer

The Biblical narrative contains numerous examples of ‘righteous sufferers’—men who suffer not as a result of their own sin, but because of and to some extent *for* the benefit of others.

Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah—the list goes on. Image
The most dramatic OT example of a righteous sufferer, however, is surely Job.
— Job was not merely a good man; he was the most blameless and upright man on earth (Job 1.8).

— Job was not merely a rich man; he was the richest man in the east (1.3).

— And Job did not merely come upon hard times; he lost *everything* (aside from his integrity),…
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May 17
THREAD: The Trinity in Creation

Scripture opens with an account of a triune God who creates the heavens and earth over the course of a seven-day week.

What’s the connection between these numbers? Could a triune God have created the world over any period of time he chose? Image
No doubt he could. But a sevenfold week seems particularly apt. Here’s why.
Given three conceptual entities, seven sets naturally emerge, or eight if we include the empty set. Image
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Apr 18
<SCARLET THREAD>
Blood in the Biblical Narrative

As Christians, it’s natural for us to associate bloodshed with redemption. In light of the Gospel, the idea seems intuitive.

That bloodshed can bring about redemption, however, is an unusual idea,… Image
…which is revealed to us *gradually* as the Biblical narrative unfolds.
Blood is first mentioned in Scripture in the story of Cain and Abel, where (as we’d expect) it’s connected with judgment.
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