Would You Sell Out For Thirty Pieces Of Silver?

Greetings,

As I thought this was interesting both as a numismatic and as a spiritual topic I copied this post from my coin blog to this one verbatim.

Peace in Christ,

Jim

Greetings,

Recently there has been a lively discussion going on at Moneta-L, a Yahoo Group for ancient coin collecting. It has been over the value of the 30 pieces of silver given for Jesus' life to Judas Iscariot by the 'Chief Priests' of the Jewish Temple. Here are the relevant passages:

Matthew 26:14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. King James Version (KJV)

and

Matthew 27:1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. King James Version (KJV)

The post started off here, you might have to be logged in as a member (free to join) to read the posts so I will copy the better posts here minus the author's names and with a few minor spelling and grammar changes:

1st Post

Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

Dear List,

I was at my local coin store today when the owner, who knows I'm a pastor, asked me if I knew what the infamous thirty pieces of silver from Jesus' betrayal might possibly be worth in today's currency - not in numismatic value, but in real earnings. In other words, how much would thirty shekels be in 2008 dollars.

I didn't have a good answer for him so I said I'd ask.

I know this is a vague and difficult question to answer, but are there educated guesses out there?

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Re: [Moneta-L] Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

I think we are all in agreement that a denarius/drachma was about a days pay for a skilled laborer, so 30 pieces of Silver is equal to about 120 days pay, but I believe this was based on a low standard of living - more like the 3rd world today.

A good point for value reference is in 1st century AD (outside Rome) it would have cost about 100 Denari (200 Denari in Rome) to buy a years supply of wheat, oil and wine (basics) for a family of 4.

Here are some actual rates in 1st century Rome (before Nero)

Secretary =15 Denari/month
Lecturer =12 Denari/month
Messenger = 9 Denari/month
Fortune Teller = 10 Denari/month
Legionary = 20 Denari/month
Praetorian = 60 Denari/month

Prices in Rome

A Modius (6.67 kg) of wheat cost 32 AS (Rome), in the provinces about 1/2 that and 1/4 in rural areas
Loaf of Bread = 2 AS
Sextarius (1/2 liter of table wine) = 1 - 5 AS
Sextarius of fine wine = up to 30 AS
Public Bath = 1/4 AS
1 cloth tunic = 15 Sestersi
1 donkey = 500 Sestersi
1 slave = 500 denari
1 morgan(?) of land 250 denari

Prices as posted in Pompey

1 modium rye = 3 Sestersi
1 litra (1/3 kg oil) = 1 Sestersi
1 loaf of bread (+/- 1 lb)= 1 AS
1/2 liter of table wine = 1 AS
1 pot = 1 AS
1 dish = 1 AS
1 Oil Lamp = 1 AS
1 tunic cloth = 15 Sestersi
1 bucket = 8 AS
Criminal Fine = 25 Sestersi

I believe when talking about a denarius or drachma a day we must consider that this is a society where you could buy a slave for 500 Denarius so labor wages had to be competitive with slave labor. In Rome if it cost 200 Denarius a year just for basic food - a Denarius a day would not have been a very high standard of living.

One Roman writer (I forget who it was) says he would need 2500 denarii a year to maintain a middle class life style in Rome.

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Re:Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

On Passover night, the Jews have a long elaborate meal combined with narrative about the exodus from Egypt. At the very end, there is a song, the refrain for which is "one kid (i.e. a small goat used for the Passover sacrifice) which my father bought for two zuzim". A zuz is ~ to a denarius (in the time of Bar Kochva, ~131-135 ce) the zuzim were overstruck on Roman denarii. It's denomination is 1/4 shekel. So a shekel would buy 2 goats with a maximum age of one year old. I never bought a goat, but a 55kg (121 pound) sheep/lamb cost me in Israel ~$250 US. I think that they are cheaper in the United States.

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Re:Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

Afaik the legend tells us not what became of the proceeds, but 14oz of silver would provide Thanksgiving dinner for dozens of our destitute brethren, those said to be first in the heart of the hero betrayed.

Relating this tale of ancient coins to our own lives has been thought-provoking and fun.

Today we count blessings that can't be equaled in silver.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

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The coin in question is most likely the Shekel of Tyre, I have a very corroded one in my own collection which I recieved from a British dealer who mistook it for a tetradrachm of Elagabalus for a mere £5 GBPs ($10 USD at the time) :



Here is a better one from the lifetime of Christ (4/5 A.D.) :



Here is what 30 (mixed dates) would have looked like:


Full Lot Description here.

More profound than the coins themselves, the price seems related to the cost of living in real terms. It is folly to translate the value of something like 30 tetradrachms into 2008 dollars as if we could just crank it through a currency converter or tabulate the value of silver or gold then and now. But a skilled laborer, someone like today's Nurse or Tool and Die Maker, take what they make per day, times 4, times 30 and you begin to get a handle on it. I did some of my own calculations based upon when my wife was a nurse and it came out to about a 1/2 a years wages.

Would you kill a close, faithful friend or sell your soul for 6 months of what you earn?

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy a holiday favorite!

I know there is nothing 'Lutheran' about it except perhaps that Charles M. Schulz was raised Lutheran - still, enjoy!







TTFN,

Jim

It's Mourning In America

Greetings,

I know there is one significant upside to last nights election, it is that African-American / Black citizens of this country can now have the hope of breaking clean with the past, breaking the final bonds of slavery by having a sense of pride and enjoying a moment of vicarious accomplishment through the successful Presidential campaign of Barack Obama. I just feel it is coming at a high price.

No, I am not talking about Barack Obama's tax policies or spending ambitions, I am talking about the fact we have just elected the most pro-abortion candidate for President ever according to NARAL. We can expect the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA) to become law and for 1 to 3 Supreme Court Justices to be appointed by a President who does have a litmus test.

America is in trouble, the Word of The LORD says,

Genesis 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yes, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Ezekiel 23:37 They have committed adultery. Their hands are covered with blood. They commit adultery with their idols. They have sacrificed the children they gave birth to for me as burnt offerings to idols.

Roe -Vs- Wade has been the law of the land since 1973, but there has long been a sustained effort to overturn it or at least chip away at it ever since. Is the overwhelming landslide won by the Democratic Party in 2008 a rejection of that? Has our love grown cold? Have we the Church lost our zeal and conformed to the world rather than the mercy of our Saviour?

Only God knows and only time can tell.

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us.

Jim

Coins And Medals Of The Reformation

Greetings and salutations,

Tis been a long time since I posted to this blog, I thought I would post some coin pics of some coins from my Reformation Era & related collection.

1504 Silver 3 Grossus Albertine Saxony

Note crossed swords forming letter 'A', this is a recurrent theme for Albertine coinage, you will see more below.

1532 Albert George AR Groschen

Kind of cool that it says, "The Just Shall Live By Faith" in Latin on the obverse around Albert's bust.

1539 AR Denar Hungary - Madonna & Child - Ferdinand I

1540 Uniface Pfennig - Salzburg

The coin has one of those funky Cardinal
hats on it near the top.

Albertine Saxony AR Hohlpfennig - Uniface 1540

Crossed swords 'A' again at left.

1543 Albert George Silver Groschen

Same as the 1532 coin above only a different style portrait.

1580 Thaler of August of Saxony

Bought it because that was the year the Book of Concord was compiled.
Crossed swords 'A' at center.

1630 Augsburg Confession Centennial Thaler - Ioannes George

The Augsburg Confession was publicly displayed for a festival and these coins were minted as circulating commemoratives. Many (like this one) were made
into medals or jewelry. This coin has an old 'mount mark' at the top of the obverse. Crossed swords forming a capital letter 'A' on both sides.

TTFN,

Jim

We Are God's Frozen Chosen - Scientifically Confirmed!

Greetings,

Lutherans have often been tagged as 'God's Frozen Chosen' because of our staid German & Scandinavian ways, our highly formalized liturgy and our slow, reverent hymns. A recent scientific study reported on Fox News' website confirms this:

— People of the Jewish faith and agnostics are 20 percent more sexually active than Christians. On the average, Protestants are less sexually active than Catholics. Presbyterians and Lutherans report less sex than Baptists.

and if that isn't bad enough -

Is your sex life a bit busier than most? If you’re a “25-year-old, high school-educated, married, Catholic jazz fan who earns $10,000 a year and who smokes and drinks regularly,” than you are probably having more sex than a college-educated, non-smoking, non-drinking Protestant.

Brings new meaning to 'cold orthodoxy' doesn't it? As a 42-year-old, college-educated, married, Lutheran who doesn't listen to jazz, makes $_ a year and rarely smokes (cigars two to four times a year) and barely drinks anymore - I plead the 5th.

Full story here

TTFN,

Jim

Nice Observation!

Thoughtful Conservative said,

My “What?” moment for the day

August 27, 2008 — thoughtfulconservative

The Journal Sentinel’s NewsWatch reports,

Joel and Victoria Osteen, pastors of the largest church in America, will hold a worship event at the Bradley Center on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.

“A Night of Hope” is an outreach of Joel Osteen Ministries. Also scheduled to appear are Dove Award winner Cindy Cruse Ratcliff and the Lakewood Band and Ensemble.

More than 45,000 members strong, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, is the largest and most diverse congregation in America. According to Nielsen Media Research, Joel Osteen is the most watched minister in America and reaches 95% of all U.S. television households.

Tickets went on sale Saturday through www.ticketmaster.com, all
Ticketmaster locations and the Bradley Center Box Office. Tickets are $17 plus applicable fees.

Tickets? $17.50? Methinks Pastor Osteen should recheck his New Testament.

------------

COMMENTARY:

Reminds me of when pop icon Bono of U2 said his God is never out of cash in response to the 1980s televangelist scandals. It also reminds me of an early Church father (Irenaeus or Ignatius?) who cautioned about false prophets who ask for money 'while in the spirit'.

Peace in Christ,

Jim

Revelation Commentary Reading Update

7 Headed Beast by Albrecht Durer

Greetings,

Maybe I feel this way because I'm not a lettered clergyman, maybe I am getting dumber as I get older but I just shoveled my way through another chapter. I always end with the Lenski commentary because it is the most challenging. I used to read it and think 'scholarly' and now I am getting to think 'pedantic'.

It would be sufficient for him to have said that a certain word or words is nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, aorist, participle, etc - but he has a tendency to use terminology like 'punctilliar aorist' and so on which is fine if you are a scholar of language but a bit heavy handed if you are not. I find I generally agree with his theological conclusions thus far but feel a bit like the soldier who is dragged over barbed wire by a comrade on his way to the field medic.

When my purse affords it, I am hoping the new Revelation commentary recently published by the LCMS bridges the gap between the People's Bible commentary with it's entry level simplicity and Lenski's with its overdetailed treatment. Lenski (IMHO) does great when he waxes more devotional and theological but gets mired in the details when he handles the Greek.

TTFN,

Jim

Reading Through Revelation - The Lutheran Way - Part 1

Greetings and salutations,

Over the last few months I have been methodically (and admittedly sporadically) reading through Revelation (also called the Apocalypse of Saint John the Divine) and unlocking it verse by verse or passage by passage depending upon the commentator.

I have employed several Bibles:

• Concordia Self Study NIV (Of Course!)
• The Lamsa Bible (an English translation of the Aramaic Peshitta)
• The King James Version
• The Webster Bible (A very respectful re-edit of the KJV that sheds archaic English words)
• A KJV/Greek Interlinear (w/Strongs NT Dictionary in the back)
• The Archaeological Study Bible NIV

I highly recommend the Archaeological Study Bible, it is the most non-denominational study Bible on the market as far as new Bibles go. Most study Bibles today are from some Reformed point of view - be it Arminian or Calvinist. This Bible is not, it sticks to the facts of archaeology but without caving in to so-called 'higher critical' thinking. Matter of fact, it does not pick any doctrinally controversial bones. Not on Baptism, the Creation, Communion, the Millennium or any pet topics of either conservative or liberal preachers. It sticks to the historical context as we know it through the archaeology of the Holy Land. Very refreshing indeed!

The commentaries have been these:

• Revelation: The People's Bible Commentary by Rev. Wayne D. Mueller
• The Revelation To John: A Commentary by Martin H. Franzmann
• Revelation: New Testament Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture edited by William C. Weinrich
  
• The interpretation of St. John's Revelation by R. C. H. Lenski
• Revelation: The last book in the Bible by Luther Poellot

I have finished Mueller's and Poellot's commentaries and found Mueller's easy to follow but not very deep. Mueller occasionally starts to rhapsodize and get off track - as if he got a little excited and began to write a sermon and then got back to the task of writing a commentary - but that is OK. It would be a good introduction for a layperson who feels overpowered by quotes in Latin, Greek or German, Mueller keeps his work down to earth. Poellot's was in depth but was a bit dry to read. Revelation is supposed to be at turns fRiGhTeNiNg and comforting and when Poellot did show any excitement in the text it was a rare surprise.

I am currently reading Franzmann, Lenski and the ACCS (Ancient Christian Commentary Series) edition which is edited by William Weinrich, a conservative Lutheran Patristics scholar. Franzmann is hard to put down. Franzmann as a hymn writer and a recognized poet writes well and while he does refer to Latin and German occasionally, he does not bog you down with it. He clearly grasps the excitement of the text while explaining the doctrinal content.

Lenski covers all bases, he gets into technical aspects of the Greek grammar and how that brings you to certain doctrinal conclusions (rather than reading Revelation through the newspaper as millenialists do!) and he also captures the historical, devotional and prophetic / apocalyptic aspects of the text. So far I like Weinrich's the best of the ones I am currently reading. He quotes and summarizes both Eastern and Western Church Fathers and commentators from the 2nd through 6th centuries.All of it is translated into English so anyone willing to take the time to read it can do so. This is a good text for a Pastor, professor or even a curious layman. It is all very straight up and non-technical and there are historical diagrams and biographical sketches of all the people quoted throughout the work.

The ACCS volume would also be enjoyed by any serious Roman Catholic or Anglican / Episcopalian - this is not a strictly Lutheran commentary at all, it was just edited by one who is a patristics scholar. The person who would not enjoy it is someone who is looking to justify a liberal or higher critical theory of interpretation or is interested in a book like this because of the fictional writings of Dan Brown, Henry Lincoln, et al. No proof for secret societies or conspiracy theories here. What you will find is a well rounded representation of the various schools of thought held by the early Church about the book of Revelation. You will also see the growth of Tradition. I have ran across quotes about the ever-virginity of Mary and how there is no salvation outside the Church, etc. The book also contains an indirect history of heresy and some fathers and commentators often read Revelation through the lens of whatever heresy the Church was facing at that moment in time.

Thats all for now.

Peace,

Jim

WELS Going Pietist?

Greetings and salutations,

Pushing the envelope of adiaphora - I have a hard time imagining the 'old German corner' of the Wisconsin Synod likes this much. I know it would probably be 'too pietist' for my own LC-MS congregation that insists on 'contemporary worship' (= smile and shake hands), but as Dick Clark would say, "It has a beat you can dance to".



What is more shocking than the style is the substance of the song. On it's face there is nothing objectionable but what few may realize is that the song was a plea for ecumenism by a pentecostal CCM artist which is certainly out of step from the WELS I knew when I was a WELS member and any unionism great or small was strictly verboten.

Later,

Jim

NIV - Satanic Bible (Another KJV Controversy!)

OK, here's one I did not see coming. I was doing some searching online, doing research about differences in Bible translations and I came across a website by some folks in the "KJV-only" movement and they asserted the NIV was a Satanic translation. OK, ok, I've heard this sort of stuff before but they further asserted that the NIV (New International Version) and the Satanic Bible were published by the same company. Now this I HAD TO SEE! Yeah, right!

Well...

So Zondervan's parent company is Harper-Collins...

Harper-Collins prints the Satanic Bible, they even say, "We'd love you to buy this book" !!!

Zondervan (Owned by Harper-Collins) also owns the copyright to the NIV

I'll allow you to draw your own conclusions but I bet that has to make some of the folks who work for Zondervan really, really happy! (NOT!)

Peace,

Jim