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talents
Talent (Heb. kikkar, "circle"; Gk. talanton, a "balance").
The name given to this weight, perhaps from its having been taken as "a round
number" or sum total. It was the largest weight among the Hebrews, being used
for metals, whether
gold (1 Ki 9:14; 10:10),
silver (2 Ki 5:22),
bronze (Ex 38:29), or
iron (1 Chr 29:7).
The talent was used by various nations and differed considerably. It is
perhaps impossible to determine whether the Hebrews had one talent only or several of
different weights. From (Ex 38:24-29) we infer that the talent of gold,
silver, and bronze was a talent of the same weight, and the evidence favors but one
weight of that denomination, which contained 3,000 shekels. Probably almost 100
pounds or a full weight for an able man to carry (2 Ki 5:23).
In the NT the talent occurs in a parable (Mt 25:15) and as the estimate of a stone's weight, "about one hundred pounds
each" (Rev. 16:21).