How much?

The biblical terms “shekels” and “talents” may be unfamiliar, but their uses in ancient times are perfectly up-to-date even today: public-works funding, purchases, fees and bribes. Originally shekels and talents were units of weight. Stone weights in multiples or fractions of a shekel were used to weight quantities of gold or silver. The shekel in Israelite times averaged about 11.4 grams (0.4 ounce); a talent equaled 3,000 shekels.