Gerah

/ˈɡɛrə/ noun

Definition

An ancient Hebrew unit of weight or currency, equal to about 1/20 of a shekel, used in biblical times for precious metals and trade.

Etymology

From Hebrew 'gerah' meaning literally to scrape or divide. This biblical and archaeological term refers to a specific monetary denomination mentioned in ancient Jewish texts and commercial records.

Kelly Says

The gerah shows how ancient people divided wealth into precise units—imagine if we still talked about trading in tiny fractions like this! It appears in the Bible and ancient coins, connecting words directly to money history.

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