Q: I was recently reading a book, and it mentioned a monetary value of 400 zuzim.  I had also noticed this currency in the song Chad Gadya, where one sings about two zuzim.  I was wondering approximately how much a zuzim  would be worth, nowadays, in US dollars. 

A: A zuz was a fourth of a silver shekel, so two zuzim was half a shekel. This
was the value of the Temple Tax mentioned in Matthew 17:24.  According to
the NIV Study Bible footnote on this verse, half a shekel was approximately
two days' wages, if that helps. In the Greek New Testament, a zuz is called
a drachma and a shekel is called a stater, so there are four words you could
use for further searching, if you want.


David Brown
AMF International
http://www.amfi.org

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