in bags: Sir J. Chardin informs us, "it is a custom of Persia always to seal up bags of money; and the money of the king's treasure is not told, but is received by bags sealed up." These are what are called in the East purses; each of which, as Maillet informs us, contains money to the amount of 1,500 livres, or about 63£. of our money. The money thus collected for the reparation of the temple, seems, in like manner, to have been reckoned in bags of equal value to each other; as we can scarcely imagine the placing it in bags would otherwise have been mentioned. The value of a Jewish purse is unknown; but the bags mentioned in 2Ki 5:23, amounted to a talent.