{"id":71359,"date":"2020-03-08T14:11:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T12:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71359"},"modified":"2020-03-08T14:11:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-08T12:11:02","slug":"hannibal-rome-and-small-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hannibal-rome-and-small-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannibal, Rome, and Small Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"71359","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"432","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The price of optimism\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

An ostensibly straightforward verse in this chapter opens a window of opportunity to observe Shadal\u2019s ingenuity.<\/span><\/p>\n

God instructed Jeremiah – despite his being in lockup – to purchase the field that was to be offered to him by a cousin, Hanamel. Jeremiah complied, and purchased the field for\u00a0 \u201cseven shekels and ten silvers\u201d (<\/span>shiv`ah shekalim va`asarah hakasef<\/span><\/i>, 9). What purpose was the purchase to serve and how much did he pay for it?<\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose is reasonably clear from the context: It was a display of optimism; a sign that \u201cHouses, fields, and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land\u201d (15). How much he paid, however, is a matter in dispute. Our \u201cgo to\u201d translation (JPS <\/span>The Prophets<\/span><\/i>, used by Sefaria) rendered it as \u201cseventeen shekels of silver,\u201d combining the \u201cseven\u201d and the \u201cten\u201d and assuming that all shekels are silver. The Aramaic Targum Yonatan, however, treated each one separately, yielding \u201cseven <\/span>manah<\/span><\/i> [=shekels] <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> ten <\/span>sela<\/span><\/i>\u201d and was seconded by Radak.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, however, is what Shadal* had to say on both our subjects:<\/span><\/p>\n

I bought the field<\/span><\/i>: Grotius [17<\/span>th<\/span> century Dutch humanist] cited Florius [?] who said that when Hannibal besieged Rome, someone bought the field he encamped on, to show that they were not afraid of him. Here, it was to assure the people that they would be redeemed from Babylonia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seven shekels<\/span><\/i>: Some interpreted it as 17 shekels, but nowhere else have we found \u201cseven and ten\u201d rather than \u201cseventeen.\u201d Yonatan interpreted it as \u201cseven <\/span>manah<\/span><\/i> [=shekels] <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> ten <\/span>sela<\/span><\/i>\u201d but it is a stretch to say a <\/span>manah<\/span><\/i> is a <\/span>shekel<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It appears to me that \u201cseven shekel\u201d should be taken literally (<\/span>mashma`o<\/span><\/i>) and \u201cten silver\u201d are parts of a shekel, like a <\/span>gerah<\/span><\/i> [Exodus 30:13; a shekel has 20 <\/span>gerah<\/span><\/i>]\u2026 It is still customary today in some countries to mention small change without citing the denomination, as in [Italian] \u201cseven liters and ten,\u201d which means ten soldi.<\/span><\/p>\n

In American terms, \u201cseven dollars and ten\u201d will be well understood to mean ten cents, not an additional ten dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

*For an explanation of our objectives in studying Shadal\u2019s commentary, <\/span>see our introduction<\/span><\/a> in Jeremiah chapter 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: \u201cShekel of Israel\u201d (in Hebrew) around \/ Sprig of three pomegranates; \u201cJerusalem the holy\u201d in Hebrew around, c. 69-70 CE \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":71360,"id":71360,"title":"jer32-shekel","filename":"jer32-shekel.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hannibal-rome-and-small-change\/jer32-shekel\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer32-shekel","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71359,"date":"2020-03-08 12:10:50","modified":"2021-10-30 20:57:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":382,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel-300x143.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":143,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel-768x367.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":367,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":382,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":382,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":382,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":382,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","home_baner-width":800,"home_baner-height":382}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Hannibal, Rome, and Small Change","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The price of optimism\u00a0","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":71360,"id":71360,"title":"jer32-shekel","filename":"jer32-shekel.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hannibal-rome-and-small-change\/jer32-shekel\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer32-shekel","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71359,"date":"2020-03-08 12:10:50","modified":"2021-10-30 20:57:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":382,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel-300x143.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":143,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel-768x367.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":367,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":382,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":382,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":382,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":382,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer32-shekel.jpg","home_baner-width":800,"home_baner-height":382}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71361,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71359\/revisions\/71361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}