Mammon, a biblical term for wealth, is often used to describe the degrading influence of material possessions. This term was used by Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount and also appears in The Gospel According to Luke. The Herodians also adopted this practice. In their monetary system, they used talent, mine, selah, shekel, dinar, prutah and lepton. The talent was worth 60 minae, the mine 50 shekels and the shekel two dinars.
As expected, a dinar had the same value as a denarius. The dina was worth 20 prutahs and the prutah was worth 2 leptas. Archaeological excavations have revealed hordes of coins which reflect how money is often buried in the Bible as a way to protect it. Another issue with money arises when it is used to make more money at the expense of others in need, such as charging interest on monetary loans. The power of money is most evident when it is used to buy another human being.
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