used in the time of Abraham may have been of a fixed weight, which was
in some way indicated on them. The “pieces of silver” paid by Abimelech
to Abraham (Genesis 20:16), and those also for which Joseph was sold
(37:28), were proably in the form of rings. The shekel was the common
standard of weight and value among the Hebrews down to the time of the
Captivity. Only once is a shekel of gold mentioned (1 Chronicles 21:25).
The “six thousand of gold” mentioned in the transaction between Naaman
and Gehazi (2 Kings 5:5) were probably so many shekels of gold. The
“piece of money” mentioned in Job 42:11; Genesis 33:19 (marg., “lambs”)
was the Hebrew kesitah, probably an uncoined piece of silver of a certain
weight in the form of a sheep or lamb, or perhaps having on it such an
impression. The same Hebrew word is used in Joshua 24:32, which is
rendered by Wickliffe “an hundred yonge scheep.”
- COLLAR (Hebrews peh), means in Job 30:18 the mouth or opening of
the garment that closes round the neck in the same way as a tunic (Exodus
39:23). The “collars” (Hebrews netiphoth) among the spoils of the
Midianites (Judges 8:26; R.V., “pendants”) were ear-drops. The same
Hebrew word is rendered “chains” in Isaiah 3:19. - COLLECTION The Christians in Palestine, from various causes, suffered
from poverty. Paul awakened an interest in them among the Gentile
churches, and made pecuniary collections in their behalf (Acts 24:17;
Romans 15:25, 26; 1 Corinthians 16:1-3; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians
2:10). - COLLEGE Hebrews mishneh (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22),
rendered in Revised Version “second quarter”, the residence of the
prophetess Huldah. The Authorized Version followed the Jewish
commentators, who, following the Targum, gave the Hebrew word its
post-Biblical sense, as if it meant a place of instruction. It properly means
the “second,” and may therefore denote the lower city (Acra), which was
built after the portion of the city on Mount Zion, and was enclosed by a
second wall. - COLONY The city of Philippi was a Roman colony (Acts 16:12), i.e., a
military settlement of Roman soldiers and citizens, planted there to keep
in subjection a newly-conquered district. A colony was Rome in miniature,
under Roman municipal law, but governed by military officers (praetors