You may believe in the bible, or not at all.
You may believe that its more "recent" passages correspond with a known reality — you may even cite suggestive archaeological proof of David’s kingdom.
How you figure out what a silver shekel was worth 4,000 years ago and what it’s worth today — that’s entering the realm of, shall we say, the delusional.
Is there something I’m missing? Comparative data? An unearthed Sears catalogue featuring a sale on red heifers? ("Two for the price of one — twice the purification, twice the fun!")
From the Hebron Jewish Community newsletter:
This past Saturday over 20,000 people compressed themselves into one huge body of Am Yisrael, in the holy city of Hebron, to take part in ‘Shabbat Hebron,’ when we read in the Torah how Abraham paid Efron the Hittite 400 silver shekels ($750,000 today) for a field and a cave at the edge of that field.
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