Weighing
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary [1]
I should not have thought it needful to have called the reader's attention to this article of weighing, but for a particular circumstance, and which I am inclined to think serves to elucidate to an English reader, a very interesting passage in Scripture. It is too well known to need my pointing out that in the article of money among the Hebrews, their estimate of gold and silver, was by weight and not by any standard of coin. Thus Abraham when he bought ground of the sons of Heth, weighed the money agreed upon, four hundred shekels of silver,"current money with the merchant." ( Genesis 23:16) In like manner, when at the appointment of the Lord, Jeremiah bought the field of his uncle's son, he weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. ( Jeremiah 32:8-9) From hence it appears that the real value of money was ascertained by weighing. And this gives a beautiful explanation concerning the Lord's declaration of Belshazzar, by the hand writing on the wall, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting." ( Daniel 5:27) With us in our English customs, base coin becomes for the most part the cause of its not passing. But the want of weight with the eastern manners was the sad prevention, and it serves to shew the solemn doctrine of rejection most strikingly. I shall be forgiven I hope, if on the credit of one of the eastern writers, I relate that it is the custom with them to weigh their monarch once in every year, and generally on his birth-day. It should seem to be more than probable that the custom, however it was derived, was taken from Daniel's history of Belshazzar. But, that the eastern prince of those modern days might never come into the condemnation, or even the apprehension of such an event as took place to the Chaldean monarch, the eastern prince is put into one of the scales for trial, and his weight is made out by sliver in the other, which afterwards is distributed to the poor. What a sweet thought is it to the believer in Jesus that he is weighed only in person of his Lord, where can be found no lightness or deficiency! Jesus's righteousness is indeed "current money with the merchant." ( Song of Song of Solomon 3:6)
King James Dictionary [2]
WEIGHING, ppr. Examining by scales considering.
WEIGHING, n.
1. The act of ascertaining weight. 2. As much as is weighed at once as a weighing of beef.
Webster's Dictionary [3]
(1): a. & n. from Weigh, v.
(2): ( p. pr. & vb. n.) of Weigh
