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MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN(PARSIN)
The prophecy is found in Daniel chapter 5 and the surface meaning of the
handwriting of God incident is provided in the verses Daniel 5:25-28.
Dan 5:25 And this is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
:26 This is the interpretation of each word.
MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished
it;
:27 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and
found wanting;
:28 PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to
the Medes and Persians.
Most prophetic scriptures clearly portray a time dimension. This prophecy
cleverly hides its prophetic nature behind the narrative.
To fully understand this prophecy it is necessary to look at the meanings
of the words.
MENE - 'numbered' or 'mina'
(Mina is a measure of weight and money weight)
TEKEL - 'weighed' or 'weight' or 'shekel'
(Shekel is a unit of weight and money)
UPHARSIN - ie 'Parsin' (singular Peres (verse 28)),
Parsin - 'to divide (into many pieces)'
Peres - 'to divide (once)'
As can be seen the words 'mene' and 'tekel' carry meanings which indicate
weight and monetary value.
(As a result of this observation many have felt the word 'upharsin' should
likewise be understood as 'half mene' or 'half shekel'.)
To determine the time periods it is necessary to follow the instructions
of the prophecy.
NUMBER 
NUMBER
WEIGH 
DIVIDE 
Number, number by weight and divide!
In other words: Number the 'mene' twice by shekel weight
and then divide into many pieces.
So a mene (or mina) is composed of how many shekels?
EZEKIEL 45:12 - SHEKELS IN A MINA
A text found in Ezekiel provides the critical information.
Ezek 45:10 You shall have just balances, ...
:12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;
twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels,
and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
This verse is commonly thought to be suggesting the mina of the sanctuary
was composed of 60 shekels. However, this view fails to explain why the
verse breaks the apparent 60 shekels into twenty, twenty-five and fifteen
shekels.
(In addition, it has also been commonly thought that fifty shekels may
compose a biblical mina.)
Some theories have attempted to explain the text and different renderings
have been suggested. As none of these commonly encountered alternate views
show any merit we will not discuss them any further.
Nevertheless, to better understand Ezek 45:12 we need to consider a more
literal rendering of this verse:
Ezek 45:12 And the shekel twenty gerah: twenty shekels five
and twenty shekels ten and five shekel the mina
shall become for you.
This can provide the renderings.
Ezek 45:12 And the shekel twenty gerah: twenty shekels by five
and twenty shekels by ten and five, shekel to the
mina shall become to you.
or
Ezek 45:12 And the shekel twenty gerah: twenty weights of five
and twenty weights of fifteen, shekel to the mina
shall become to you.
or
Ezek 45:12 And the shekel twenty gerah: twenty weights of five
and twenty weights of fifteen, weight to the mina
shall become to you.
[ NB: The problem with the word 'shekel' is that is can
refer to a specific weight or simply a weight in
general. So great care has to be taken. ]
What the verse appears to be saying is:
And the shekel (or weight) twenty gerah,
'100'(20 of 5) and '300'(20 of 15),
shekel (or weight) shall be to your mina.
NB: Many have just not considered this
perspective.
In the Old Testament the weight 'mina' (or 'maneh'), Strong's 4488, is
also sometimes translated as 'pound'.
Now, notice how the New Testament presents its comparable mina weight.
(The translation 'pound' is a rendering of the Greek 'litra' or 'libra',
which is Strong's 3046.)
1) John 19:39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night,
also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about a hundred pound.
2) John 12:3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of
spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, ...
:5 "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for
three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"
In both these New Testament verses we encounter a 'pound' like weight,
the first reference is associated with the number 100 and the second
with the number 300.
Notice, the second reference is also linked to coinage - the denarii.
What these New Testament verses are indicating, along with
Ezekiel 45:12, is;
for WEIGHT purposes 100 weights composed the mina, and
for MONETARY purposes 300 weights composed the mina.
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[NB: Translations of John 19:39 suggest Nicodemus brought forth
a very large quantity of myrrh and aloes, a 100 pounds,
but it is more likely this was just one pound. The number
'hundred' being present to define this pound as being the
weight equivalent to 100 shekels. ]
The following Old Testament example confirms the 100 shekels per mina
ratio.
100 SHEKELS OF GOLD PER MINA - The Shields
The following verses suggest a mina of gold was the equivalent of
100 shekels of gold. (Note, the word 'shekels' in 2 Chr 9:16 is not
actually present in the original Hebrew.)
1 Kin 10:17 He also made three hundred shields of hammered
gold; three mina of gold went into each shield.
And the king put them in the House of the Forest
of Lebanon.
2 Chr 9:16 He also made three hundred shields of hammered
gold; three hundred shekels {or weights} of gold
went into each shield. The king put them in the
House of the Forest of Lebanon.
200 WEIGHTS OF SILVER PER MINA - Solomon's Vineyards
The following two references, when cross referenced, initially suggest
200 pieces of silver equalled one mina.
Song 8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
He leased the vineyard to keepers;
Everyone was to bring for its fruit
A thousand silver coins.
:12 My own vineyard is before me.
You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,
And those who tend its fruit two hundred.
[In the Hebrew the word 'coins' is
not present.]
Isa 7:23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand
vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
It will be for briers and thorns.
[In the Hebrew text the word 'shekels' is
not actually present - the most likely
measure being indicated is 'mina'. ]
Explanation: Song 8:11-12.
Verse 11 is saying that Solomon has a vineyard in Baal
Hamon and he leased it to vineyard keepers for 1,000
pieces of silver each.
Verse 12 goes on to tell us Solomon has a 1,000 such
vineyards and there are 200 vinedressers tending the
fruit in each vineyard.
So, we have one thousand vineyards each generating a
rental income of 200,000 silver pieces each.
Isaiah 7:23 - indicates that a 1,000 vineyards would
be generating a rental income of 1,000 mina each.
Therefore, we are being told 200,000 silver pieces
equals 1,000 mina. That is, 200 silver pieces equals
1 silver mina.
This is indicating that the actual silver weight being
discussed in the text of Song 8:11-12 is the half shekel
weight - known as the 'bekah' (refer Exod 38:26, Exod
30:13,15 - the bekah was also the contribution for the
general census).
So the teaching, that a 100 shekel weights compose a mina, appears
to be further confirmed.
POSSIBLE TEACHING OF THE PROPHECY
To be able to determine the suggested periods of time it is necessary
to determine how the 100 shekel and 300 shekel counts are to be broken
down into smaller units.
With the 100 shekels to the mina we know each shekel is comprised
of 20 gerahs.
With the 300 shekels to the mina the issue is less apparent, but
appears to be comprised of 10 units. Refer,
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| THE BIBLE'S WEIGHTS AND COINS |
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With this understanding it is now possible to derive the periods of time
being prophesied by the handwriting on the wall.
NUMBER ONCE
- 100 shekels divided into gerahs(20 per shekel) = 2,000 gerahs
ie 2,000 years!
NUMBER TWICE
- 300 shekels divided into units(10 per shekel) = 3,000 units
ie 3,000 years!
These periods would be counted backwards from the critical end-time
focus points of prophecy.
** 100 Shekels ** ** 300 Shekels **
- 3,010 yrs
| (Completion
| of the Temple)
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|
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- 2.010 yrs |
- 2,000 yrs | (NT Gospel |
| (Gospel to | to Jews) |
| Non-Jews) | |
| and | |
| /or | |
| - 10 yrs - 10 yrs
- 0 yrs (Great Trib) (Great Trib)
(Fall of
Corrupted
Christian
Leaderships)
These periods of time, being predetermined warnings for Judaism and
Christianity!
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