The Life of Jesus in Harmony | Index

denarii

Denarius (Gk. denarion, <Mt. 18:28>). The denarius was the daily wage of a laborer.

This was a Roman silver coin, in the time of Jesus and the apostles. It took its name from its being first equal to ten "donkeys," a number afterward increased to sixteen.

The earliest specimens are from approximately the start of the second century B.C. From this time it was the principal silver coin of the commonwealth.

In the time of Augustus eighty-four denarii were struck from a pound of silver, which would make the standard weight about sixty grains. This Nero reduced by striking ninety-six from the pound, which would give a standard weight of about fifty-two grains, results confirmed by the coins of the periods, which are, however, not exactly true to the standard.

In Palestine, in the NT period, evidence points to the denarii as mainly forming the silver currency. The denarius was the daily wage of a laborer. The only way to compute the value of NT coins in current values is to consider what a laborer might earn in a day in various countries of the world