Pim weights were polished stones about 15 mm (5/8
inch
Measuring tape with inches
The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth") ...
) diameter, equal to about two-thirds of a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
shekel
Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...
. Many specimens have been found since their initial discovery early in the 20th century, and each one weighs about 7.6
gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...
s, compared to 11.5
gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...
s of a
shekel
Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...
. Its name comes from the inscription seen across the top of its dome shape: the
Phoenician letters 𐤐𐤉𐤌 (Hebrew , transliterated pym).
Impact
Prior to the discovery of the weights by archaeologists, scholars did not know how to translate the word (''pîm'') in
1 Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...
13:21.
Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister
Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister (8 July 1870 – 26 April 1950) was an Irish archaeologist.
Biography
Macalister was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Alexander Macalister, then Professor of Zoology, University of Dublin. His father w ...
's excavations at
Gezer
Gezer, or Tel Gezer ( he, גֶּזֶר), in ar, تل الجزر – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (eithe ...
(1902-1905 and 1907-1909) were published in 1912 with an illustration showing one such weight, which Macalister compared to another published in 1907 by
Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau
Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau (19 February 1846 – 15 February 1923) was a noted French Orientalist and archaeologist.
Biography
Clermont-Ganneau was born in Paris, the son of Simon Ganneau, a sculptor and mystic who died in 1851 when Clermo ...
.
Here is the 1611 translation of the
King James Version of the Bible
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
:
:''Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.''
The 1982
New King James Version
The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...
rendered it:
:''And the charge for a sharpening was a
pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads.''
[Its appearance in an English translation occurs as early as the ]Jewish Publication Society
The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...
's 1917 version, '' The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text''; 'And the price for the filing was a pim for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks with three teeth, and for the axes, and to set the goads." With the footnote to pim* "That is, two-thirds of a shekel."
Photos
See also
*
Ancient Hebrew units of measurement
Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement were used primarily by ancient Israelites and appear frequently within the Hebrew Bible as well as in later rabbinic writings, such as the Mishnah and Talmud. These units of measurement continue to be used ...
*
Biblical archaeology
Biblical archaeology is an academic school and a subset of Biblical studies and Levantine archaeology. Biblical archaeology studies archaeological sites from the Ancient Near East and especially the Holy Land (also known as Palestine, Land o ...
*
List of artifacts significant to the Bible
The following is a list of inscribed artifacts, items made or given shape by humans, that are significant to biblical archaeology.
Selected artifacts significant to biblical chronology
These table lists inscriptions which are of particular sign ...
References
Sources
*
* {{cite book , editor=Avraham Negev , editor2=Shimon Gibson , date=2003 , title=Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land , publisher=The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc , location=New York , pages=537–9
Archaeological artefact types
Mass