and they gave for the service of God’s house of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, of silver ten thousand talents, of bronze eighteen thousand talents, and of iron one hundred thousand talents.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 7. Solids. Septuagint “pieces of gold;” χρυσους. Hebrew adarcnim, which Prot. render “drachms,” ( Bible.) after the Syr. and so forth Others think that the Darics, used in Persia, are meant, though they did not exist in David’s time. Esdras might reduce the money to correspond with the coin with which his countrymen were then acquainted. 2 Ezra 7:70. Pelletier.—The Daric was equivalent to the golden sicle, which was only half the weight of one of silver, though this is not certain. Calmet.—A solid was only the sixth part of an ounce, whereas the sicle weighed half an ounce, or four drachms.—Talents were always of the same weight, 125 Roman pounds. Menochius.
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 5000 talents is about 150 metric tons
a daric was a gold coin issued by a Persian king, weighing about 8.4 grams or about 0.27 troy ounces each.