Dictionaries :: Pence, Penny, Pennyworth

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Pence, Penny, Pennyworth:

a Roman coin, a denarius, a little less than the value of the Greek drachme (see PIECE), now estimated as amounting to about 9 1/2d. in the time of our Lord, occurs in the singular, e.g., Mat 20:2; 22:19; Mar 12:15; Rev 6:6; in the plural, e.g., Mat 18:28; Mar 14:5; Luk 7:41; 10:35; Jhn 12:5; "pennyworth" in Mar 6:37; Jhn 6:7,lit., "(loaves of two hundred) pence." Considering the actual value, "shilling" would have been a more accurate translation, as proposed by the American translators, retaining "penny" for the as, and "farthing" for the quadrans.