What is…
kesitah

also known as: qesitah

Hebrew: קְשִׂיטָה —transliteration: qesitah or kesitah —meaning: unit of value, perhaps piece

This is an ancient Biblical form of monetary measurement of which the value or weight is no longer known.

He [Jacob] bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. —Gen. 33:19 NASB

The translation “pieces of money” above is from the Hebrew word kesitah.

The same word appears in Joshua 24:32…

Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons. —Joshua 24:32 NASB

Then all his [Job’s] brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him… consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money —Job 42:11 NASB excerpt

Some suggest the kesitah was a piece of money of a particular weight, cast in the form of a lamb. The monuments of Egypt show that such weights were used.

More information

Article Version: April 11, 2024