kesef · silver, money

What it means

kesef (כֶּסֶף) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “silver, money”.

Silver. Since payment was made by weighing silver, the word also means "money".

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A white, valuable metal, the one most used after gold.
2. What is paid and received in exchange, weighed out in silver.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Silver. BDB notes that from there it also means “money”, because payment was made in silver. There were no coins: the silver was weighed.

• Silver as wealth Genesis 13:2
• Silver weighed out as payment Genesis 23:16
• The price of a sale Genesis 37:28
• The silver each one carries to buy with Genesis 42:25

Historical and cultural background

In Genesis 23:16 Abraham buys a field and “weighed out for Ephron” four hundred shekels of silver, “current among the merchants”: payment was made by the weight of metal.

How we translate it

“Silver” 398 times. This edition translates כֶּסֶף “silver” almost everywhere in the Old Testament: the text speaks of a metal that was weighed (Genesis 23:16), and “silver” lets the reader see that. Only in a few verses does it say “money” (“The bag of money”, Proverbs 7:20) or “the full price” (1 Chronicles 21:22).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• silver ×398
• full price ×2
• money ×2
• property ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×41
• Exodus×41
• Leviticus×12
• Numbers×37
• Deuteronomy×15
• Joshua×7
• Judges×11
• 1 Samuel×2
• 2 Samuel×6
• 1 Kings×17
• 2 Kings×40
• 1 Chronicles×19
• 2 Chronicles×28
• Ezra×13
• Nehemiah×6
• Esther×5
• Job×7
• Psalms×9
• Proverbs×13
• Ecclesiastes×6
• Song of Songs×4
• Isaiah×18
• Jeremiah×10
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×10
• Daniel×3
• Hosea×5
• Joel×1
• Amos×2
• Micah×1
• Nahum×1
• Habakkuk×1
• Zephaniah×2
• Haggai×1
• Zechariah×6
• Malachi×2

• Genesis 13:2

  Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

• Genesis 17:12

  At the age of eight days every male among you shall be circumcised throughout your generations, the one born in the house and the one bought with silver from any foreigner who is not of your offspring.

• Genesis 17:13

  He must surely be circumcised, the one born in your house and the one bought with your silver; and my covenant will be in your flesh as an eternal covenant.

• Genesis 17:23

  Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house and all those bought with his silver, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, as Elohim had told him.

• Genesis 17:27

  and all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with silver from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

• Genesis 20:16

  And to Sarah he said, “Look, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; look, it is for you a covering for the eyes for all who are with you; and before everyone you are vindicated.”

• Genesis 23:9

  that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field. For the full amount of silver let him give it to me among you as a possession for a grave.”

• Genesis 23:13

  and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If only you would hear me! I give the silver for the field; take it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”

• Genesis 23:15

  “My lord, hear me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, between me and you, what is that? So bury your dead.”

• Genesis 23:16

  Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current among the merchants.

• Genesis 24:35

  YHWH has blessed my lord greatly, and he has become great. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male slaves and female slaves, camels and donkeys.

• Genesis 24:53

  The servant brought out objects of silver and objects of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; and costly gifts he gave to her brother and to her mother.

• Genesis 31:15

  Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he sold us, and he has also completely eaten up our silver.

• Genesis 37:28

  Then Midianite men, traders, passed by; and they drew and lifted Joseph out of the cistern and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver; and they brought Joseph to Egypt.

• Genesis 42:25

  Joseph gave orders to fill their containers with grain, and to return their silver, each into his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And so it was done for them.

• Genesis 42:27

  One of them opened his sack to give fodder to his donkey at the lodging place, and he saw his silver, and look, it was in the mouth of his bag.

• Genesis 42:28

  He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned; and look, it is even in my bag!” Their hearts failed, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that Elohim has done to us?”

• Genesis 42:35

  As they were emptying their sacks, look, each man’s bundle of silver was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of silver, they were afraid.

• Genesis 43:12

  Take double the silver in your hand, and the silver that was returned in the mouth of your bags carry back in your hand; perhaps it was a mistake.

• Genesis 43:15

  The men took this gift, and they took double silver in their hand, and Benjamin; and they got up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

• Genesis 43:18

  The men were afraid because they were brought into the house of Joseph, and they said, “Because of the matter of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time we are being brought in, so that he may assail us, fall upon us, and take us as slaves, and our donkeys.”

• Genesis 43:21

  And when we came to the lodging place and opened our bags, look, each man’s silver was in the mouth of his bag, our silver in its full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand.

• Genesis 43:22

  And other silver we have brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our bags.”

• Genesis 43:23

  He said, “Peace to you; do not be afraid. Your Elohim and the Elohim of your father has given you treasure in your bags; your silver came to me.” Then he brought out Simeon to them.

• Genesis 44:1

  He commanded the one over his house, saying, “Fill the bags of the men with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his bag.

• Genesis 44:2

  And my cup, the silver cup, put in the mouth of the bag of the youngest, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did according to the word of Joseph that he had spoken.

• Genesis 44:8

  Look, the silver that we found in the mouth of our bags we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal from the house of your lord silver or gold?

• Genesis 45:22

  To each he gave changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

• Genesis 47:14

  Joseph gathered up all the silver that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain that they were buying; and Joseph brought the silver into the house of Pharaoh.

• Genesis 47:15

  When the silver was gone from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread! Why should we die before you? For our silver is gone.”

• Genesis 47:16

  Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if your silver is gone.”

• Genesis 47:18

  That year ended, and they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that the silver is spent and the herds of animals belong to my lord; nothing is left before my lord except our bodies and our land.

• Exodus 3:22

  Each woman shall ask of her neighbor and of the woman who resides in her house articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; and so you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

• Exodus 11:2

  Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let them ask, each man from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.”

• Exodus 12:35

  The sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses: they asked of the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing.

• Exodus 12:44

  But any man’s slave bought with silver, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.

• Exodus 20:23

  You shall not make beside me gods of silver, and gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.

• Exodus 21:11

  And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out without payment, without silver.

• Exodus 21:21

  But if he survives a day or two days, he shall not be avenged, for he is his property.

• Exodus 21:32

  If the ox gores a male slave or a female slave, he shall give thirty shekels of silver to his master, and the ox shall be stoned.

And 363 more times.