Mark xii. 15. Luke xx. 24. Matth. xxii.19.DENARIUS, a sort of Roman money, generally valued at seven pence three farthings English, and was worth four Sesterces1. We do not read the word Denarius any where in the Old Testament, but we frequently meet with it in the New, where it is taken for a piece of money in general; that is to say, for a Shekel, which was the most common coin among the Hebrews, before they were made subject to the Greeks and Romans. St. Mark and St. Luke call that Denarius, which St. Matthew calls numisma census, the piece of money which was paid in Judæa to the Romans in the way of Capitation. But the true value of it is not known to us. The Rabbins by the word Maimon. Halac. Siclim.c.1. §. 3.Denarius generally understand a quarter of a shekel, that is to say, about seven pence of our money.
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Footnotes
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Translators’ note. See Dr. Arbuthnot of the Denarius, who discourses of it more at large, and with his usual accuracy and lear- ning. Tables of Ancient Coins, &c. p. 15. ↩