How Much is One Hundred Denarii?

* * *

In Jesus’ time (compare Matthew 20:2) the going rate for 12 hours’ labor was one denarius (the singular of denarii). If you worked 40 hours a week and all your leave (recreation, sick leave and public holidays) totaled only two weeks a year, and you managed to squirrel away ten percent of everything you grossed, it would take a full six years to save up one hundred denarii.

Back