Silver

כספּ , Gen 20:16; αργυριον, 1Pe 1:15; Act 3:4; Act 20:33; a well known metal, of a white shining colour; next in value to gold. It does not appear to have been in use before the deluge; at least Moses says nothing of it; he speaks only of the metals brass and iron, Gen 4:22. But in Abraham’s time it was become common, and traffic was carried on with it, Gen 23:2; Gen 23:15. Yet it was not then coined, but was only in bars or ingots; and in commerce was always weighed.

Silver. There is no mention of this metal in Scripture until the time of Abraham. Before that time brass and iron appear to have been the only metals in use (Gen 4:22). Abraham was rich in gold and silver, as well as in flocks and herds, and silver in his day was in general circulation as money. It was uncoined, and estimated always by weight. Coined money was not in use among the Israelites until an advanced period of their history. The Romans are said to have had only copper money until within five years of the first Punic war, when they began to coin silver. Their coins were extensively introduced into Judea after it became a Roman province.

Silver, as well as gold, is frequently mentioned in Scripture. They were both largely used by the Jews in the manufacture of articles of ornament, and of various vessels for domestic purposes, and also for the service of the temple. Many of the idols, and other objects belonging to the idolatrous nations, are stated to have been of silver. This metal was so abundant as to be little thought of in the days of Solomon, although it was at that time, and both before and long afterwards, the principal medium of exchange among the Jews—the only recognized standard or measure of value.

One of the precious metals and the one most commonly used as coin among all nations. It is first mentioned in Scripture in the history of Abraham, Gen 13:2 20:16 23:16, and was used in constricting the tabernacle, Exo 26:19,32, and afterwards the temple, 1Ch 29:4 . In employing it as a medium of trade, the ancient Hebrews weighed it out, instead of having coins. In the times of the New Testament there were coins. See SHEKEL, and MONEY.\par

Silver. In very early times, silver was used for ornaments, Gen 24:53, and for vessels of various kinds. Images for idolatrous worship were made of silver, or overlaid with it, Exo 20:23; Hos 13:2; Hab 2:19; Bar 6:39, and the manufacture of silver shrines for Diana was a trade in Ephesus. Act 19:24. But its chief use was as a medium of exchange, and throughout the Old Testament, we find "silver" used for money, like the French, argent.

Silver was brought to Solomon from Arabia, 2Ch 9:14, and from Tarshish, 2Ch 9:21, which supplied the markets of Tyre. Eze 27:12. From Tarshish, it came in the form of plates, Jer 10:9, like those on which the sacred books of the Singhalese are written to this day. Spain appears to have been the chief source whence silver was obtained by the ancients. Possibly, the hills of Palestine may have afforded some supply of this metal. Silvers mixed with alloy is referred to in Jer 6:30, and a finer kind, either purer in itself or more thoroughly purified, is mentioned in Pro 8:19.

Hebrew keceph, Greek arguros. The only one of the four metals, gold, silver, brass, and iron, not mentioned until after the deluge. Abraham paid Ephron for the cave of Machpelah "400 shekels of silver, current money with the merchant" (Gen 23:16). By this time it had become a recognized standard of value and medium of exchange. It probably was not coined, but bars of silver were probably formed in conventional shapes and marked with some sign to note their weight. The thousand ("pieces" is not in the Hebrew) of silver given by Abimelech to Abraham probably indicate the value of the "sheep and oxen," etc., which he gave (Gen 20:14-16). (See MONEY.) Silver was brought to Solomon in lavish abundance from Arabia and Tarshish (in plates like the Cingalese sacred writing tablets). 2Ch 9:14; 2Ch 9:21; 1Ki 10:21-27. Idols were generally wood inside, plated over with silver (Jer 10:9; Isa 30:22; Isa 40:19; Hos 13:2; Hab 2:19).

It was used for women’s ornaments, Gen 24:53; cups, Gen 44:2; sockets and chapiters of the pillars of the tabernacle, Exo 26:19; Exo 27:10; Exo 38:17; the two trumpets, Num 10:2; the temple candlesticks, etc., 1Ch 28:15-17; the model shrines of Diana, Act 19:24. There being mines ("vein") of silver and "dust of gold" is accurately noted in Job 28:1 (See METALS.) The Lord, with perfect wisdom and love, leaves His people in affliction till, their dross being purified, He sees them reflecting His holy image; just as a "refiner of silver" sits watching the melting silver until he sees his own image reflected, when he knows the silver has been long enough in the furnace and withdraws it (Mal 3:3). (See MINES; LEAD.) Captain Burton’s discovery of silver and gold and other metals in great abundance in the land of Midian, as well as the remains of ancient mine workings, remarkably confirms the Scripture account of Midian’s wealth in the metals (Num 31:9; Num 31:22; Num 31:50-54; Jdg 8:24-26). A forger would never have ascribed this kind of wealth to a nomadic people. (See MIDIAN; PARAN.)

This was a source of wealth from early days. Abraham was rich in silver, Gen 13:2; but with Solomon gold was so plentiful that silver was ’nothing accounted of.’ 1Ki 10:21. The silver and gold which he had amassed were, alas, afterwards carried away to enrich their enemies because of the sins of Israel. 2Ch 12:9. Silver was also the common specie of commerce, ’pieces of silver’ being weighed long before money was coined. Gen 23:16. Silver was used for the sockets, hooks, etc., in the tabernacle, the money paid for the redemption of the Israelites being applied to this purpose. Exo 30:11-16; Exo 38:25-28. The house of God is founded on redemption. Exo 36:24-36; Exo 38:10-17.

Silver is found in the earth (Job 28:1), and before it can be compared to ’the words of the Lord’ it must be purified seven times. Psa 12:6; Pro 25:4.

THE SILVER CORD in Ecc 12:6 seems to refer to ’the thread of life,’ which is loosed, or removed, when death ensues.

SILVER.—See Money.

See METALS:

SILVER.—See Mining and Metals.

sil´vẽr (כּסף, keṣeph; ἀργύριον, argúrion, ἄργυρος, árguros): Silver was known in the earliest historic times. Specimens of early Egyptian and Babylonian silver work testify to the skill of the ancient silversmiths. In Palestine, silver objects have been found antedating the occupation of the land by the Hebrews. This metal was used for making all kinds of ornamental objects. In the mound of Gezer were found bowls, vases, ladles, hairpins, rings and bracelets of silver. The rings and settings for scarabs or seals were commonly of this metal. The first mention of silver in the Bible is in Gen 13:2, where it says that Abraham was rich in cattle, in silver and gold. At that time it was commonly used in exchange in the form of bars or other shapes. Coins of that metal were of a much later date (Gen 20:16; Gen 23:15; Gen 24:53; Gen 37:28, etc.). Booty was collected in silver (Jos 6:19); tribute was paid in the same (1Ki 15:19). It was also used for jewelry (Gen 44:2). The Children of Israel systematically despoiled the Egyptians of their silver before the exodus (Exo 3:22; Exo 11:2; Exo 12:35, etc.). Exo 20:23 implies that idols were made of it. It was largely used in the fittings of the tabernacle (Ex 26 ff) and later of the temple (2 Ch 2 ff).

It is likely that the ancient supply of silver came from the mountains of Asia Minor where it is still found in abundance associated with lead as argentiferous galena, and with copper sulfide. The Turkish government mines this silver on shares with the natives. The Sinaitic peninsula probably also furnished some silver. Later Phoenician ships brought quantities of it from Greece and Spain. The Arabian sources are doubtful (2Ch 9:14). Although silver does not tarnish readily in the air, it does corrode badly in the limestone soil of Palestine and Syria. This probably partly accounts for the small number of objects of this metal found. On the site of the ancient jewelers’ shops of Tyre the writer found objects of gold, bronze, lead, iron, but none of silver.

Figurative:

Silver to be as stones in Jerusalem (1Ki 10:27) typified great abundance (compare Job 3:15; Job 22:25; Job 27:16; also Isa 60:17; Zec 9:3). The trying of men’s hearts was compared to the refining of silver (Psa 66:10; Isa 48:10). Yahweh’s words were as pure as silver refined seven times (Psa 12:6). The gaining of understanding is better than the gaining of silver (Pro 3:14; compare Pro 8:19; Pro 10:20; Pro 16:16; Pro 22:1; Pro 25:11). Silver become dross denoted deterioration (Isa 1:22; Jer 6:30). Breast and arms of silver was interpreted by Daniel to mean the inferior kingdom to follow Nebuchadnezzar’s (Dan 2:32, Dan 2:39).

In the New Testament, reference should be made especially to Act 19:24; Jas 5:3; Rev 18:12.

(ἄñãõñïò, ἀñãýñéïí, Lat. argentum; from ἀñãüò, ‘shining’)

Silver is one of the precious or ‘noble’ metals, used from the earliest times as a means of exchange and adornment. With the exception of gold, it is the most malleable and ductile of all substances. Gold was ‘estimated at thirteen times the value of silver’ (Herod. iii. 95), but the proportion varied considerably at different periods.

1. Articles of silver are mentioned among the costly wares sold in the market of the apocalyptic Babylon-Imperial Rome (Rev_18:12). As this metal has a perfect metallic lustre and takes a very high polish, it was often used for mirrors. The aquila, or standard of the Roman legion, was of silver (Cic. in Cat. i. ix. 24). ‘Milites argentati’ were soldiers whose shields were covered or plated with silver (Livy, ix. 40). In a great house there were many ‘vasa argentea’ (2Ti_2:20, Vulg. [Note: Vulgate.] ; cf. Hor. Sat. ii. 7, 72 f.). Rome’s principal supply of silver came from southern Spain. The Maccabees heard what the conquering race ‘did in the land of Spain, that they might become masters of the mines of silver and gold which were there’ (1Ma_8:3). Strabo (iii. ii. 10), quoting Polybius, says that 40,000 men were regularly employed in the silver mines of New Carthage (Carthagena), which yielded daily to the Roman people a revenue of 25,000 drachmae.

2. As silver was the everyday medium of exchange in the ancient world, the Gr. ἀñãýñéïí, like the Heb. ëֶּñֶó, frequently denoted money (cf. Fr. argent). When Simon the Magian offered Peter money (÷ñÞìáôá) for the power to work miracles by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle answered, in horror of this ‘simony,’ or trafficking in sacred things, ‘Thy money (ἀñãýñéïí, Revised Version ‘silver’) perish with thee.’ Xenophon (Cyrop. iii. i. 33) has the phrase åἰò ἀñãýñéïí ëïãéóèÝíôá, ‘calculated in our money,’ and ἀñãýñéïí êáèáñüí (Theocritus, xv. 36) meant ‘hard cash.’

3. The magical books which were publicly burned in Ephesus during St. Paul’s great mission there were priced at 50,000 [pieces] of silver (ἀñãõñßïí ìõñéÜäáò ðÝíôå, Act_19:19). The coin understood is the drachma or denarius. When Rome became mistress of the Hellenic world, she allowed the Attic coinage to be continued along with her own monetary system. Since the äñá÷ìÞ and the denarius were practically equal in value, they became convertible terms. As the denarius-drachma (translated ‘shilling’ in the American Revised Version ) was about 9½d., the books destroyed were worth nearly £2000. Many silver shrines, or miniatures of the temple of Diana, were made and sold in the same city. A gild of silversmiths (ἀñãõñïêüðïé, cf. Septuagint Jdg_17:4, Jer_6:29), of which Demetrius was probably the president during the last year of St. Paul’s residence at Ephesus, made their living largely by this lucrative business.

4. In depicting the fate of rich men, James (Jam_5:3) says that their gold and silver are ‘rusted’ (êáôßùôáé). This is not strictly accurate, as both of these metals have the property of resisting corrosion; but silver is readily blackened or tarnished in an atmosphere of sulphuretted hydrogen.

Literature.-Article ‘Argentum’ in W. Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1848; W. Jacob, Inquiry into Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals, 1831.

James Strahan.

Exo 36:24 (c) This precious metal is often used as a type of redemption. In this passage it refers probably to redemption as the foundation of the sinner’s safety and his standing. The boards represent the Christians, while the silver sockets represent redemption. In the sandy desert, as well as in this wicked world, the sinner needs a sure foundation, a safe resting place. These sockets perhaps weighed one hundred pounds each. The board therefore rested on a solid foundation in the sand. So we "stand on redemption ground." We do not read of silver being in Heaven. No one in Heaven needs to be redeemed. (See also Exo 30:15, and other places).