Hebrew noun (masculine) · H8255
שֶׁקֶל
sheqelsheh'-kel
shekel
88 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H8255is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 14 of 39Old Testament books
- 31spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H8255
probably a weight; used as a commercial standard
The King James renders it: shekel.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
sheqel is rendered "shekel". It stands 88 times in the Hebrew text, across fourteen books.
- Thirty-three of the uses stand in Numbers, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 23:15“Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
- The Greek text spells it thirty-one different ways.
The first use
“Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
Genesis 23:15שֶֽׁקֶל־
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
Thirty-three of the word's eighty-eight uses are in Numbers.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- by shekel of25
- shekel21
- shekels20
- the shekel8
- for a shekel6
- shekel of3
- a shekel1
- a shekel of1
- and the shekel1
- shekels of1
- to shekels1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
The words it stands beside
All 88, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
31 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶל18
- שֶׁ֖קֶל15
- שְׁקָלִ֖ים8
- בְּשֶׁ֥קֶל5
- בְּשֶׁ֗קֶל3
- הַשֶּׁ֖קֶל3
- בְּשֶׁ֖קֶל2
- הַשֶּׁ֔קֶל2
- שֶׁ֣קֶל2
- שֶׁ֥קֶל2
- שֶׁ֔קֶל2
- שָׁ֑קֶל2
and 19 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- preposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)25HR/Ncmsc
- noun · masculine singular22HNcmsa
- noun · masculine plural20HNcmpa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular8HTd/Ncmsa
- preposition + noun · masculine singular6HR/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)4HNcmsc
- conjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular1HC/Td/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)1HNcmpc
- preposition + noun · masculine plural1HR/Ncmpa
Genesis
two uses
“Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
- שֶֽׁקֶל־shekel-noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: shekel of
Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.
- שֶׁ֣קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: shekel of
Exodus
fourteen uses
If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned.
- שְׁקָלִ֗יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
- הַשֶּׁ֖קֶלhashekelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
- הַשֶּׁ֔קֶלhashekelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
- הַשֶּׁ֔קֶלhashekelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.
- הַשָּׁ֑קֶלhashakelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil.
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
All the gold from the wave offering used for the work on the sanctuary totaled 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֥קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
The silver from those numbered among the congregation totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel—
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֥קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years of age or older who had crossed over to be numbered, a total of 603,550 men.
- הַשֶּׁ֖קֶלhashekelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
The bronze from the wave offering totaled 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
- שָֽׁקֶל׃shakelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
Leviticus
fourteen uses
“If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.
- שְׁקָלִ֥יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- בְּשֶֽׁקֶל־beshekel-preposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.
- שֶׁ֥קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֥קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
- שָֽׁקֶל׃shakelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
- שְׁקָלִ֑יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- שְׁקָלִֽים׃shekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver.
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female.
- שָׁ֑קֶלshakelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- שְׁקָלִֽים׃shekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.
- שֶׁ֥קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: shekel of
Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
- הַשָּֽׁקֶל׃ סhashakelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
Numbers
thirty-three uses
you are to collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel of twenty gerahs.
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- בְּשֶׁ֤קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
- הַשָּֽׁקֶל׃hashakelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
He collected the money from the firstborn of the Israelites: 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
- בְּשֶׁ֥קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
The offering he presented was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
Each silver platter weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each silver bowl seventy shekels. The total weight of the silver articles was two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
- בְּשֶׁ֥קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
The twelve gold dishes filled with incense weighed ten shekels each, according to the sanctuary shekel. The total weight of the gold dishes was a hundred and twenty shekels.
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- בְּשֶׁ֣קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: by shekel of
All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.
- שָׁ֑קֶלshakelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
Joshua
two uses
When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
- שְׁקָלִ֣יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- שְׁקָלִים֙shekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
1 Samuel
three uses
The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have here in my hand a quarter shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.”
- שֶׁ֣קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: a shekel of
and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
2 Samuel
two uses
And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard.
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
“No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
- שְׁקָלִ֥יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
2 Kings
seven uses
Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”
- בְּשֶׁ֗קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: for a shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֖קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: for a shekel
Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. It was then that a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
- בְּשֶׁ֗קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: for a shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֖קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: for a shekel
It happened just as the man of God had told the king: “About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel.”
- בְּשֶׁ֗קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: for a shekel
- בְּשֶׁ֔קֶלbeshekelpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: for a shekel
Menahem exacted this money from each of the wealthy men of Israel—fifty shekels of silver from each man—to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and did not remain in the land.
- שְׁקָלִ֛יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
1 Chronicles
one use
So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site.
- שִׁקְלֵ֣יshikleinoun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: shekels of
2 Chronicles
one use
The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper area with gold.
- לִשְׁקָלִ֖יםlishkalimpreposition + noun · masculine pluraltagged: to shekels
Nehemiah
two uses
The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do this because of my fear of God.
- שְׁקָלִ֣יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
We also place ourselves under the obligation to contribute a third of a shekel yearly for the service of the house of our God:
- הַשֶּׁ֖קֶלhashekelthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the shekel
Jeremiah
one use
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver.
- שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
Ezekiel
five uses
You are to weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.
- שֶׁ֖קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
The shekel will consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels will equal one mina.
- וְהַשֶּׁ֖קֶלvehashekelconjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and the shekel
- שְׁקָלִ֜יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- שְׁקָלִ֗יםshekalimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: shekels
- שֶׁ֔קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: shekel
Amos
one use
asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.
- שֶׁ֔קֶלshekelnoun · masculine singulartagged: a shekel
Where it leads
Studies that open this word1
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.
The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.