Trade and Currency in Biblical Times: What Did People Really Use?
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Trade and Currency in Biblical Times: What Did People Really Use?
The need for an organized, reliable way to trade existed before the modern financial systems we have today. However, trade and currency were rudimentary at best due to the lack of technology and existing financial frameworks. Despite this, such frameworks gradually began to appear, with some dating back thousands of years.
In this article, we’ll look at the trade, currency, and financial systems mentioned in the Bible. Investigating what systems were used to facilitate early trade, we’ll see how currencies and trade systems were developed over time to bring us the foundation of many of the financial systems we’re familiar with today.
Early Trade: The Barter System
Bartering is one of the earliest trade systems recorded, dating back to the Mesopotamian era. Back then, the system used to barter was primitive, as were the items bartered. Adopted by various cultures, the system relied on directly exchanging goods or services without using money as an intermediary.
Under this system, the value of goods was most commonly negotiated among the direct parties wanting to trade. Each would have something the other wanted, such as grain, animals, or land, and would attribute a worth to their holdings. A common agreement to exchange goods or services of equal value would then be struck, and the trade (or barter) would be made.
This system typically employed heavy negotiation, with disagreement often occurring over the perceived value of the trade. As such, the need for a more balanced system was felt and eventually considered by the Mesopotamians.
Under this system, clay tokens were often sent alongside the goods being bartered, which represented a specific worth tied to the items being bartered. Upon the items reaching the recipient, these clay tokens would be counted against the goods delivered to ensure they were equal, making it more challenging to skive off on delivering what was promised.
Although currency systems soon developed, history suggests that bartering continued to be used alongside monetary transactions for many more years. This was partly due to its simplicity, but also because it was a trusted form of trade among many nations.
Establishing Currency: Proto-Currencies
Although it is unclear whether proto-currencies were in use before bartering systems were developed, these forms of currency are mentioned in numerous places, including during Abraham’s time.
Proto-currencies refer to things like grain, livestock, and even metals that had not been minted but were given value according to their weight. These were often used in exchange and closely resembled bartering, except they usually had defined values that were more widely accepted and weren’t determined only by those involved in a particular trade.
Metals, in particular, were a favored form of pronto-currency as they often had a greater value-to-weight ratio, didn’t spoil as easily as grain, and could be transported over longer distances, which was challenging to achieve with livestock.
Early Currency: Metals and Coins
The earliest forms of currency comparable to modern variants date back to the Middle Bronze Age (1700 – 1600 B.C.). Known as levants, these were pieces of silver that were often offcuts of metal left behind after making jewelry, weapons, and ingots.
Each levant was valued according to its weight, with the Bible referencing them when Abraham bought a cave from Machpelah and weighed out 400 shekels of silver. At this point in history, the term shekel referred to the weight of a metal rather than a specific coin, which the term was later used in reference to.
Shekels of silver quickly became the new standard for trade, being used as a form of payment in regions stretching from Mesopotamia to Babylon. While the standard weight of a shekel varied across regions, the Mesopotamian shekel, weighing around 16.83 grams (0.59 of an ounce), is commonly regarded as the earliest form of established currency.
Coins, as we know them today, are said to originate from the 7th century B.C. and are believed to have come from regions within Asia Minor. Spreading into the areas of Babylon and Judea, these coins were rudimentary and used a stamped emblem on metal to denote their weight, value, and purity.
The first recorded imperial currency was established by Darius I around 522 to 486 B.C. His establishment of such a currency led to the coin bearing his name, the denarius, which is referenced repeatedly in the Bible. The name of the coin later began to refer more to its worth, which was equal to around ten donkeys.
Considered a Roman coin, the denarius was the most valuable among several coins that were ultimately minted and used across various regions to facilitate trade. Other coins included the assarion, quadran, and lepton (also known as the widow’s mite due to its reference in the famous recounting of the widow’s offering).
Uses of Coins and Currency
As they spread across regions, coins became a more pivotal part of everyday life. They quickly replaced most bartering as a means of trade and were also widely used as a form of payment for taxation to the regime of various regions. More than this, they were also used as the accepted form of sacrificial offering within the Temple and to maintain it.
Their use became so widespread that the Temple began hosting moneychangers, who would exchange foreign currencies for local ones that could be used to make sacrifices or pay Temple taxes. These moneychangers are widely known due to Jesus’ offense at their presence in the Temple and His act of chasing them out.
Although our modern financial systems seem a far cry from these simple coins due to the advanced technology that facilitates cashless transfers and payments, most currencies today are modeled on the coins and trade spoken about in Biblical times.
Currency in the Bible
The fast-paced evolution of currency and trade systems in the Bible is sometimes touted as one of the primary reasons that finance is referenced so often throughout the Old and New Testaments. Proper stewardship of finances is also a central Biblical theme necessary due to establishing these trade and currency frameworks and is still preached in churches today.
Biblical stewardship became particularly prominent in recent centuries, with many Christians applying its principles to financial management. While these practices don’t generally prohibit spending, some Christians refrain from using their money on certain forms of entertainment, such as gambling.
That said, modern options, like websites that allow Christians to explore what SC coins are, provide the thrills of gambling without needing to spend any real money—thereby allowing believers to continue in Godly stewardship while enjoying a form of entertainment that is even older than currency. In this way, Christians can engage with digital recreation responsibly, staying true to their values while participating in activities that reflect both historical tradition and contemporary innovation.
