Gen 23:15-16 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 15. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver ] Though the words is worth are not in the text, yet they are necessarily expressed here to adapt the Hebrew to the idiom of our tongue. A shekel, according to the general opinion, was equal to two shillings and sixpence; but according to Dr. Prideaux, whose estimate I shall follow, three shillings English, four hundred of which are equal to sixty pounds sterling; but it is evident that a certain weight is intended, and not a coin , for in it is said, And Abraham weighed vaiyishkol , the silver, and hence it appears that this weight itself passed afterwards as a current coin, for the word is not only used to express a coin or piece of silver, but also to weigh ; .

‏ Genesis 23:15-16

Verse 15. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver] Though the words is worth are not in the text, yet they are necessarily expressed here to adapt the Hebrew to the idiom of our tongue. A shekel, according to the general opinion, was equal to two shillings and sixpence; but according to Dr. Prideaux, whose estimate I shall follow, three shillings English, four hundred of which are equal to sixty pounds sterling; but it is evident that a certain weight is intended, and not a coin, for in Ge 23:16 it is said, And Abraham weighed vaiyishkol, the silver, and hence it appears that this weight itself passed afterwards as a current coin, for the word is not only used to express a coin or piece of silver, but also to weigh; See Clarke on Ge 20:16.

Verse 16. Current with the merchant] ober lassocher, passing to or with the traveller-such as was commonly used by those who travelled about with merchandise of any sort. The word signifies the same as hawker or pedlar among us.