StrongerBible

argurion

ἀργύριον

GreekG0694money, silver, ...

Appears 20 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 25:18Mat 25:27Mat 26:15Mat 27:3Mat 27:5Mat 27:6Mat 27:9Mat 28:12Mat 28:15Mrk 14:11Luk 9:3Luk 19:15Luk 19:23Luk 22:5Act 3:6Act 7:16Act 8:20Act 19:19Act 20:331Pe 1:18
Root family
Word studyar-GOO-ree-onnoun

What argurion means

silver: the precious metal, and the money and coins made from it

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

The word names silver, the precious white metal, and everything valuable that is made from it. Because silver was the ordinary medium of exchange in the ancient world, the same word slides naturally from the metal itself, to money in general, to a single coin. Which shade is in view is settled by the context, not by the word.

Sometimes it is raw silver set beside gold as a picture of wealth or costliness, as when Peter says he has no silver or gold to give (Acts 3:6) or reminds his readers they were not redeemed with silver and gold (1 Peter 1:18). More often it is simply money: funds a person keeps, lends, entrusts to a servant, or hands over as a bribe. In the plural it can mean individual coins, most famously the thirty silver pieces paid to betray Jesus.

The metal itself is ἄργυρος, and this word is its close relative, leaning toward silver as currency; its constant partner in the wealth pairing is gold, χρυσίον. The Hebrew word that behaves almost identically, covering both the metal and money, is כֶּסֶף.

Nuances

1asilver as a precious metal, usually named alongside gold as a picture of wealth or costliness
TranslatabilityDirect
Act 3:6Act 20:331Pe 1:18
1bmoney: silver used as the means of payment, whether funds a person keeps, lends, entrusts to a servant, or offers as a bribe
Mat 25:18Mat 25:27Mat 28:12Mat 28:15Mrk 14:11Luk 9:3Luk 19:15Luk 19:23Luk 22:5Act 7:16Act 8:20
1ca silver coin; in the plural, pieces of silver, most famously the thirty paid to betray Jesus
Mat 26:15Mat 27:3Mat 27:5Mat 27:6Mat 27:9Act 19:19

What scholars say about argurion

ἀργύριον is the diminutive-form noun built on ἄργυρος "silver"; in Koine Greek it commonly denotes coined silver, hence money, and an individual silver coin. BDAG and LSJ distinguish three uses: the metal itself, money or cash, and a coin (especially the plural ἀργύρια). In the Septuagint it standardly renders Hebrew כֶּסֶף, which carries the same metal/money range. Matthew 26-27 uses the plural for the thirty silver pieces paid for Jesus' betrayal; Matthew 27:9 links the sum to Zechariah 11:12-13 (in an attribution naming Jeremiah), and the amount recalls the compensation set for a slave in Exodus 21:32. In the parables of the talents (Matthew 25) and the pounds (Luke 19), ἀργύριον is the entrusted capital a servant is to put to use.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. ἀργύριονlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ἀργύριονlexicon
  • H. Balz, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. ἀργύριονdictionary

All attested forms of ἀργύριον

accusative n p

ἀργύρια, ἀργύριά

Mat 26:15, Mat 27:3, Mat 27:5, Mat 27:6, Mat 27:9, Mat 28:12, Mat 28:15, Mat 25:27

accusative n s

ἀργύριον

Mat 25:18, Mrk 14:11, Luk 9:3, Luk 19:15, Luk 19:23, Luk 22:5

genitive n s

ἀργυρίου

Act 7:16, Act 19:19, Act 20:33

nominative n s

ἀργύριον, ἀργύριόν

Act 3:6, Act 8:20

dative n s

ἀργυρίῳ

1Pe 1:18