And is a transition, rendered by some as “So,” although Good News Translation finds it unnecessary in English.

My cousin: On translational grounds Good News Translation omits this definition, since it is stated earlier.

Weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver: More literally this is “weighed out to him the silver seven shekels and ten the silver.” However, an overly literal rendering of the text would be very awkward for English readers. As this passage indicates, a shekel was originally a weight (about 11.5 grams or 0.4 of an ounce), so Jeremiah paid about 200 grams or seven ounces of silver for the field. Coins did not come into general use until after the exile. Moreover, we have no way of determining the comparative value of the silver in Jeremiah’s day or the size of the field, whether large or small. For this reason, it is best not to try to translate in terms of modern currencies. Good News Translation renders “Seventeen pieces of silver.” Weighed out will be difficult for many readers, and translators may say instead “paid.” Bible en français courant has “paid the price: seventeen pieces of silver.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• So I bought the field [at Anathoth] from him, paying him seventeen pieces of silver.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .