PIECE

pes: In the King James Version the word (singular and plural) represents a large number of different Hebrew words, many of which have more or less the same significance, e.g. piece of meat or flesh (Genesis 15:10 2 Samuel 6:19 Ezekiel 24:4); of bread or cake (1 Samuel 2:36; 1 Samuel 30:12 Jeremiah 37:21); of ground or land (2 Samuel 23:11); of wall (Nehemiah 3:11, 19); of an ear (Amos 3:12); of cloth or garment (1 Kings 11:30); of millstone (Judges 9:53). It is used frequently in paraphrastic renderings of various Hebrew verbs: "break," "tear," "cut," etc., in pieces (Genesis 44:28, etc.).

In the New Testament "piece" renders epiblema, "piece" or "patch of cloth" (Matthew 9:16 Mark 2:21 Luke 5:36). It is also found in paraphrastic renderings-broken in pieces (Mark 5:4), pulled in pieces (Acts 23:10).

T. Lewis

PIECE OF GOLD

The word "pieces" is supplied in 2 Kings 5:5 (story of Naaman), "6,000 pieces of gold," where the Revised Version margin more correctly suggests "shekels" (compare 1 Kings 10:16).

See MONEY.

PIECE OF MONEY

Two words are thus rendered in the King James Version (qesiTah; stater). the Revised Version (British and American) gives only the first this rendering (Job 42:11). It is supposed to be from Arabic qassaT, "to divide equally by weight," and hence, something weighed; a piece of silver weighed for money, and perhaps stamped with its weight. The stater is the well-known Greek weight and coin (Matthew 17:27 the King James Version, margin, "stater," the Revised Version (British and American) "shekel"). In gold it was equal to about a guinea or five dollars, but in silver only to about 66 cents (in 1915).

PIECE OF SILVER

Two words are thus rendered in the Old Testament (ratstse-khaceph, and qesiTah) and two in the New Testament argurion, and drachme). The first expression means pieces of silver broken off from bars or larger pieces (Psalm 68:30). The second is used for money in Joshua 24:32, and is so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). The pieces were not coins, but perhaps bore a stamp. See MONEY. In other passages of the Old Testament where pieces of silver are mentioned, the Hebrew has simply a numeral joined with keTeph, "silver," as in the account of the selling of Joseph (Genesis 37:28). In Isaiah 7:23 the word silverlings means small pieces of silver, and they were no doubt shekels. In the New Testament the Greek arguria (Matthew 26:15; Matthew 27:3-9), is translated as pieces of silver, but probably means shekels. In Acts 19:19 the same word occurs, but in this case the reference is probably to the denarius or drachma (compare Luke 15:8). Thus, the 30 pieces of Matthew would be equal to about 4 British pounds or USD20 (in 1915), and the 50,000 of Acts to about 2,000 British pounds or USD10,000 (in 1915).

H. Porter