quantity
coins
At a glance
In short
Shekel does not mean the same thing in Tanach and in the Mishnah. In Tanach the shekel is the full weighed coin. The Mishnah calls that coin a sela and uses shekel for the half-shekel of the annual donation (Ramban to Shemos 30:13; Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano). Beka, from the root for splitting, is half a shekel.
Distinctions
Shekel (שקל)
Root ש-ק-ל, "to weigh": a metal coin of a fixed weight, twenty geirah to the shekel (Shemos 30:13). Ramban (there) explains the shift: because of the annual half-shekel, people began calling the coin they actually handed over "the shekel," until the word attached so firmly to the mitzvah that it lost its full-weight sense. Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano says the same. Hence the Mishnah in Shevuos 6:7 can stage a dispute in which a shekel is worth less than a sela: the lender lent a sela, the lost pledge was worth a shekel. Rabbi Klein also floats, without pursuing it, whether the name of the Pelishti coastal city Ashkelon is somehow related to shekel or to the root it comes from.
Sela (סלע)
In Mishnaic Hebrew the word carries two senses, the coin (Peah 8:7, Shekalim 1:6, Bava Metzia 4:3, Bechoros 8:2-8, and many more) and the Biblical "rock, bedrock" (Kilayim 2:8, Shabbos 6:6, Bava Basra 2:1, and many more). That the coin is the Torah's shekel is stated by Rabbi Chanina in Yerushalmi Kiddushin 1:3, "all the shekalim in the Torah are selaim," and in Bechoros 50a, where Rava defines the sela d'oraisa from Shemos 30:13 and Rabbi Chanina is cited as saying that all unspecified kesef in the Torah is a sela. It shows in how the Mishnah cites pesukim: the five shekalim of pidyon haben (Bamidbar 18:16) are five selaim in Bechoros, the two shekalim of the asham (Vayikra 5:15) two selaim in Kerisos. Rashi (to Bechoros 5a), Rambam (Hilchos Arachin 4:3, Hilchos Shekalim 1:2), and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 355) state the equation plainly; Onkelos and Targum Yonasan render every shekel of the parashah sila, the Aramaic form.
Beka (בקע)
Twice only in Tanach: the golden nose-ring Eliezer gave Rivkah (Bereishis 24:22), and "a beka per skull, half a shekel by the holy shekel" in the Mishkan's silver count (Shemos 38:26). Root ב-ק-ע, "to break" or "to split," hence half. (On the head tax there: the English capital is cognate with cap, hat and head, all of them said to go back to the Proto-Indo-European kaput.)
Onkelos's tikla for beka is the Aramaicized shekel, the Hebrew shin turning to an Aramaic tav as it often does. The word appears in the writing on the wall in Daniel, mene mene tekel u'farsin, count, count, weigh and split (Daniel 5:25), and the Mishnah (Shekalim 6:5) speaks of taklin chaditin, new shekalim, meaning those donated for that year's tax. Rabbi Klein suggests that the name "New Israeli Shekel" may have been coined as a play on that Mishnaic expression.
Darkemon (דרכמון)
Four times in Tanach (Ezra 2:69; Nechemiah 7:69-71), with adarchon twice (Divrei HaYamim I 29:7; Ezra 8:27) and darkon once in the Mishnah (Shekalim 2:1). Rambam (to Shekalim 2:1): one darkon is two selaim. That is four times a half-shekel, so, Rabbi Klein reasons, it does not make much sense to identify a beka with the darkemon coin; that is why he presumes that Targum Yonasan used the word only in the general sense of "coin." Modern Hebrew darkon, "passport," is from derech, the documentation for travel on the road, and seems unrelated to the Mishnaic darkon. As for the coins themselves, scholars are unsure which are meant, but typically associate these words with the Persian daric and the Greek drachma; the latter name was taken into Arabic as the dirham, which is still in use, and which, Rabbi Klein adds, may somehow be related to the surname of Rabbi David Abudraham.
Where the authorities disagree
Does Onkelos hold that a beka is a full shekel? He renders beka as tikla (Bereishis 24:22, Shemos 38:26), the Aramaic of shekel with shin turning to tav. Rashi (to Shemos 38:26), Rashbam (to Bereishis 24:22), Ibn Ezra (both places), and Radak (Sefer HaShorashim) say beka is half a shekel. Rabbi Yaakov Zev Lev (Me'at Tzari) dissolves the clash: they speak two dialects. Onkelos's shekel is the Rabbinic one, already equal to the Biblical half-shekel; Rashi, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra mean the Biblical shekel. This leaves every source saying the same amount.
Why the piyut on Shabbos Shekalim says "a shekel I will bear." The piyut, ascribed to Rabbi Elazar HaKallir and said customarily on Shabbos Shekalim, reads "a shekel I will bear in the prepared and exalted house," which on its face is somewhat inaccurate, since the mitzvah is a half-shekel. Barring poetic license, the wording needs accounting for. Rabbi David Schlussel of Munkatch: the paytan used shekel in the Rabbinic sense, so he means exactly the half-shekel the mitzvah requires; Rabbi David Cohen applies the same to the name of Maseches Shekalim. Rabbi Elazar Rokach of Amsterdam reads it esoterically: in at-bash the letters of שקל come to twenty-six, the gematria of the Shem HaMeforash, and since Hashem's Name is incomplete until Amalek is wiped out (Rashi to Shemos 17:16), the shekel is halved now and will be whole in the days of Mashiach.
Why the Rabbis chose sela. Rabbi Klein has found no source that addresses it explicitly. Rabbi Asher Gvirer of Beitar Illit suggests it is because sela means a strong rock, marking the stronger, more valuable coin. That is a suggestion, not a ruling. A related explanation is also given: a sela, the rock, is so hard that it cannot easily be chipped, so it became the accepted standard for weights and currencies, and by the time of the Mishnah a sela was the name of a specific coin.
Also discussed in
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Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ב-ק-ע
To split or cleave open. From this sense בֶּקַע, the half shekel, split from the shekel; and בִּקְעָה, level ground as against the mountains, is of the same sense.
Splitting, and breaking through
בָּקַע יָם וַיַּעֲבִירֵם (Tehillim 78:13), He split the sea and brought them across; יְבַקַּע צֻרִים בַּמִּדְבָּר (Tehillim 78:15), He splits rocks in the wilderness. Of men breaking into a camp or a city, וַיִּבְקְעוּ שְׁלשֶׁת הַגִּבֹּרִים בְּמַחֲנֵה פְלִשְׁתִּים (Shmuel II 23:16), the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Pelishtim, and in the passive הָבְקְעָה הָעִיר (Yirmiyahu 39:2), the city was breached. The noun is in וְהַבַּיִת הַקָּטֹן בְּקִעִֽים (Amos 6:11), and the small house into cracks, and וְאֵת בְּקִיעֵי עִיר־דָּוִד (Yeshayahu 22:9), and the breaches of the city of David; all of these are the sense of splitting.
Waters and ground breaking open
נִבְקְעוּ כָּל מַעְיְנוֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה (Bereishis 7:11), all the springs of the great deep were split open; כִּי נִבְקְעוּ בַמִּדְבָּר מַיִם (Yeshayahu 35:6), waters broke open in the wilderness; אָז יִבָּקַע כַּשַּׁחַר אוֹרֶךָ (Yeshayahu 58:8), then your light will break open like the dawn.
The egg
In וּבָֽקְעָה וְדָֽגְרָה בְצִלָּהּ (Yeshayahu 34:15), and she hatches and broods in her shade, the splitting is the chick's coming out of the egg, and likewise בֵּיצֵי צִפְעוֹנִי בִּקֵּעוּ (Yeshayahu 59:5), they hatched adders' eggs.
The half shekel
בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת (Shemos 38:26), a beka a head, is half a shekel, and carries the name because it is split off from the shekel.
The plain
יֹֽצְאִים בַּבִּקְעָה וּבָהָֽר (Devarim 8:7), going out in plain and hill; וְהָֽרְכָסִים לְבִקְעָֽה (Yeshayahu 40:4), the ridges made a plain; וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה (Bereishis 11:2), they found a plain. It is a level place, as against the mountains, and these too are of the first sense.
בָּקַֽע יָם וַיַּֽעֲבִירֵם (תהלים עח, יג), וּבָֽקַעְתָּ לָהֶם כָּל־כָּתֵף (יחזקאל כט, ז), וּבָֽקְעָה וְדָֽגְרָה בְצִלָּהּ (ישעיה לד, טו), וַיִּבְקַע אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הַמַּכְתֵּשׁ אֲשֶׁר־בַּלֶּחִי (שופטים טו, יט) וַיִּבְקְעוּ שְׁלשֶׁת הַגִּבֹּרִים בְּמַֽחֲנֵה פְלִשְׁתִּים (שמואל ב' כג, טז), וַיֹּאמֶר לְבִקְעָם אֵלָֽיו (דברי הימים ב' לב, א), עַל־בִּקְעָם הָרוֹת הַגִּלְעָד (עמוס א, יג), כְּמוֹ פֹלֵחַ וּבֹקֵעַ בָּאָרֶץ (תהלים קמא, ז). והפועל הנוסף [הִפְעִיל] וְנַבְקִעֶנָּה אֵלֵינוּ (ישעיה ז, ו), לְהַבְקִיעַ אֶל־מֶלֶךְ אֱדוֹם (מלכים ב' ג, כו). ושלא נזכר פועלו ממנו [הָפְעַל] הָבְקְעָה הָעִֽיר (ירמיה לט, ב). והנפעל נִבְקְעוּ כָּל־מַעְיְנוֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה (בראשית ז, יא), כִּֽי־נִבְקְעוּ בַמִּדְבָּר מַיִם (ישעיה לה, ו), אָז יִבָּקַע כַּשַּׁחַר אוֹרֶךָ (ישעיה נח, ח), וַתִּבָּקַע הָאָרֶץ בְּקוֹלָֽם (מלכים א' א, מ), וְהַזּוּרֶה תִּבָּקַע אֶפְעֶֽה (ישעיה נט, ה), וְנֹא תִּֽהְיֶה לְהִבָּקֵעַ (יחזקאל ל, טז). וההתפעל וְהִנֵּה הִתְבַּקָּעוּ (יהושע ט, יג), וְהָֽעֲמָקִים יִתְבַּקָּעוּ (מיכה א, ד). והדגוש [פִּעֵל] בֵּיצֵי צִפְעוֹנִי בִּקֵּעוּ (ישעיה נט, ה), וְרוּחַ סְעָרוֹת תְּבַקֵּֽעַ (יחזקאל יג, יא). כִּמְבוֹאֵי עִיר מְבֻקָּעָֽה (יחזקאל כו, י), וּמְבֻקָּעִים וּמְצֹֽרָרִֽים (יהושע ט, ד), יְבַקַּע צֻרִים בַּמִּדְבָּר (תהלים עח, טו). והיוצא לשלישי וּבִקַּעְתִּי רֽוּחַ־סְעָרוֹת (יחזקאל יג, יג). והשם וְהַבַּיִת הַקָּטֹן בְּקִעִֽים (עמוס ו, יא), וְאֵת בְּקִיעֵי עִיר־דָּוִד (ישעיה כי, ט), כולם ענין ביקוע. ומן הענין הזה בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת (שמות לח, כו), בסגול והוא מחצית השקל לפי שנבקע מהשקל. ופירוש וּבָֽקְעָה וְדָֽגְרָה (ישעיה לד, טו), הבקוע הוא יציאת האפרוח מן הביצה וכן בֵּיצֵי צִפְעוֹנִי בִּקֵּעוּ (ישעיה נט, ה). יֹֽצְאִים בַּבִּקְעָה וּבָהָֽר (דברים ח, ז), וְהָֽרְכָסִים לְבִקְעָֽה (ישעיה מ, ד), וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה (בראשית יא, ב), מקום מישור מן ההרים וגם הם מענין הראשון.
ס-ל-ע
A rock; high fortresses are called so too, since most of them are built on rock; and figuratively, Hashem as a rock.
The rock
וְדִבַּרְתֶּם אֶל־ הַסֶּלַע (Bamidbar 20:8), speak to the rock, and סְלָעִים מַחְסֶה לַֽשְׁפַנִּֽים (Tehillim 104:18), the rocks are a refuge for the shefanim: the sense of rock is known.
A stronghold
High fortresses are called סלע because most of them are built on rock, as it says וְשִׂים בַּסֶּלַע קִנֶּֽךָ (Bamidbar 24:21), and set your nest in the rock, which the Targum renders וְשַׁוִּי בִכְרַךְ תַּקִּיף מְדוֹרָךְ, and set your dwelling in a strong city. So too וְתָפַשׂ אֶת־ הַסֶּלַע בַּמִּלְחָמָה (Melachim II 14:6 in his edition), and he seized the stronghold in battle, which the Targum renders וּכְבַשׁ יַת כְּרַכָּא, and he conquered the city.
The rock as a figure
Figuratively, י"י סַלְעִי וּמְצוּדָתִי (Tehillim 18:3), Hashem is my rock and my fortress, after the manner of מִגְדַּל־עֹז שֵׁם י"י (Mishlei 18:10), the name of Hashem is a tower of strength. וְסַלְעוֹ מִמָּגוֹר יַֽעֲבוֹר (Yeshayahu 31:9) the Targum explains as his king, rendering וְשִׁלְטוֹנוֹהִי מִן קֳדָם דַחֲלָא יֶעְדוּן, and his rulers shall pass away before fear. It can also be taken as it sounds, with a lamed understood: to his rock he will pass for terror, that is, he will flee to his rock and his strong towers from great terror. Radak's father explains that the way of the world is that a man who flees his enemy and reaches his stronghold fears no more; but before the waving of Hashem's hand he will pass beyond even his rock and his fortresses in terror and dread, and fear still, and not trust that he will live.
וְשִׂים בַּסֶּלַע קִנֶּֽךָ (במדבר כד, כא), בסגול הסמ"ך. וְדִבַּרְתֶּם אֶל־הַסֶּלַע (במדבר כ, ח), סְלָעִים מַחְסֶה לַֽשְׁפַנִּֽים (תהלים קד, יח) ענין סלע ידוע. וכנו המבצרים הגבוהים לסלע לפי שרובם נבנים על סלע כמו שאמר וְשִׂים בַּסֶּלַע קִנֶּֽךָ, והתרגום וְשַׁוִּי בִכְרַךְ תַּקִּיף מְדוֹרָךְ. וכן וְתָפַשׂ אֶת־הַסֶּלַע בַּמִּלְחָמָה וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמָהּ יָקְתְאֵל (מלכים ב' יד, ו), תרגום וּכְבַשׁ יַת כְּרַכָּא. ועל דרך משל י"י סַלְעִי וּמְצוּדָתִי (תהלים יח, ג), על דרך מִגְדַּל־עֹז שֵׁם י"י (משלי יח, י), וְסַלְעוֹ מִמָּגוֹר יַֽעֲבוֹר (ישעיה לא, ט), פירש בו התרגום כמו מַלְכּוֹ, וְשִׁלְטוֹנוֹהִי מִן קֳדָם דַחֲלָא יֶעְדוּן. ואפשר לפרשו כמשמעו ויהיה למ"ד מסתתר רוצה לומר וְסַלְעוֹ מִמָּגוֹר יַֽעֲבוֹר כלומר שינוס אל סלעו ואל מגדליו החזקים מרוב מגור. ואדוני אבי ז"ל פירש כי דרך העולם כשיברח אדם מפני אויבו ויבא למבצר מעוזו לא יפחד, אך מפני תנופת יד י"י אפילו סלעו ומבצריו ממנור ומפחד יעבור ויפחד עוד ולא יאמין בחיים.
ש-ק-ל
To weigh: the mountains in a balance, silver weighed out, a man's vexation weighed; מִשְׁקָל, weight, in several forms; and the שֶׁקֶל, the shekel.
Weighing
וְשָׁקַל בַּפֶּלֶס הָרִים (Yeshayahu 40:12), and weighed the mountains in a balance; כֶּסֶף יִשְׁקֹל (Shemos 22:16), he shall weigh out silver; וָאֶשְׁקֲלָה לּוֹ אֶת הַכֶּסֶף (Yirmiyahu 32:9), and I weighed out the silver to him. In the passive, נִשְׁקַל הַכֶּסֶף (Ezra 8:33), the silver was weighed; וְלֹא יִשָּׁקֵל כֶּסֶף מְחִירָהּ (Iyov 28:15), and silver shall not be weighed out as her price; and לוּ שָׁקוֹל יִשָּׁקֵל כַּעְשִׂי (Iyov 6:2), if only my vexation were weighed.
The kuf pointed two ways
וָאֶשְׁקֲלָה לּוֹ (Yirmiyahu 32:9), and I weighed out to him, and וָאֶשְׁקֲלָה עַל יָדָם (Ezra 8:26), and I weighed out into their hand, both carry a shva and a pasach under the kuf; וָאֶשְׁקֳלָה לָהֶם אֶת הַכֶּסֶף (Ezra 8:25), and I weighed out the silver to them, carries a kamatz chatuf instead.
Weight, and the שֶׁקֶל
מֹאזְנֵי מִשְׁקָל (Yechezkel 5:1), scales for weighing; בֶּקַע מִשְׁקָלוֹ (Bereishis 24:22), a beka in weight. Another form, with a tav, וּצְדָקָה לְמִשְׁקָלֶת (Yeshayahu 28:17), and righteousness for a weight; with a cholam, בְּמִשְׁקוֹל עֶשְׂרִים שֶׁקֶל לַיּוֹם (Yechezkel 4:10), by weight, twenty shekels a day; and with the tav, וְאֶת־ מִשְׁקֹלֶת בֵּית אַחְאָב (Melachim II 21:13), and the weight of the house of Achav. Then the שֶׁקֶל, with six points, two segols: בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ (Shemos 30:13), by the holy shekel, and עֶשְׂרִים גֵּרָה הַשֶּׁקֶל (Shemos 30:13), the shekel is twenty gerah.
וְשָׁקַל בַּפֶּלֶס הָרִים (ישעיה מ, יב), כֶּסֶף יִשְׁקֹל (שמות כב, טז), וָֽאֶשְֽׁקֲלָה־לּוֹ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף (ירמיה לב, ט), וָֽאֶשְֽׁקֲלָה עַל־יָדָם (עזרא ח, כו), שניהם הקו"ף בשוא ופתח. וָֽאֶשְׁקֳולָה [וָֽאֶשְׁקֳלָה] לָהֶם אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף (עזרא ח, כה) בקמץ חטף. והנפעל נִשְׁקַל הַכֶּסֶף (עזרא ח, לג), וְלֹא יִשָּׁקֵל כֶּסֶף מְחִירָֽהּ (איוב כח, טו), לוּ שָׁקוֹל יִשָּׁקֵל כַּעְשִׂי (איוב ו, ב). והשם וְלָֽקַחְתָּ לְךָ מֹאזְנֵי מִשְׁקָל (יחזקאל ה, א), בֶּקַע מִשְׁקָלוֹ (בראשית כד, כב). ומשקל אחר עם התי"ו וּצְדָקָה לְמִשְׁקָלֶת (ישעיה כח, יז). ובחולם בְּמִשְׁקוֹל עֶשְׂרִים שֶׁקֶל לַיּוֹם (יחזקאל ד, י). ועם התי"ו וְאֶת־מִשְׁקֹלֶת בֵּית אַחְאָב (מלכים ב, כא, יג). ומשקל אחד בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ (שמות ל, יג), בשש נקודות. עֶשְׂרִים גֵּרָה הַשֶּׁקֶל (שם).
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Vayakhel (Shabbat Shekalim)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 26 February 2022.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Like a Rock (Part 1)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 17 November 2018.
Cited in the essay: Shemos 30:13 with Ramban, 38:26 with Rashi and Ibn Ezra, 17:16 with Rashi; Bereishis 24:22 with Rashbam, Ibn Ezra and Targum Onkelos; Vayikra 5:15; Bamidbar 18:16; Bechoros 50a and Rashi to Bechoros 5a; Yerushalmi Kiddushin 1:3; Mishnah Peah 8:7, Kilayim 2:8, Shabbos 6:6, Shekalim 1:6, 2:1 and 6:5, Bava Metzia 4:3, Bava Basra 2:1, Shevuos 6:7, Bechoros 8:2-8; Rambam, Hilchos Arachin 4:3, Hilchos Shekalim 1:2, and to Shekalim 2:1; Sefer HaChinuch mitzvah 355; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim; Me'at Tzari to Bereishis 24:22; Daniel 5:25; Ezra 2:69, 8:27; Nechemiah 7:69-71; Divrei HaYamim I 29:7; Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano; the piyut ascribed to Rabbi Elazar HaKallir; Rabbi David Schlussel of Munkatch; Rabbi David Cohen; Rabbi Elazar Rokach of Amsterdam; Rabbi Asher Gvirer.