Exploring the Meaning of Argurion in Greek

ἀργύριον refers to money as a tangible, handled means of exchange. In the passages where it appears, it moves through hands, is measured out, stored, hidden, returned, and even treated as morally compromised because of how it was obtained.

Occurrences

Matthew 25:18 — “But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.”

Here ἀργύριον is the lord’s money entrusted to a servant, yet removed from circulation. The servant treats the money as something to secure by concealment—buried in the ground—rather than something to put to work. The word functions as a concrete deposit of value that can be physically hidden and later recovered.

Matthew 25:27 — “You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest.”

In the same parable, ἀργύριον is money that should have been placed with bankers so that it could yield a return. The emphasis falls on the money’s expected productivity: it is “my own,” something that should come back increased. The word thus sits naturally in the world of lending, custody, and interest, highlighting money’s role in measured gain.

Matthew 26:15 — “and said, “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?” They weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver.”

Here ἀργύριον appears as a quantified payment—“thirty pieces”—produced in response to negotiation. Money becomes the agreed instrument by which a person is “delivered” to others. The verb “weighed out” makes the transaction feel concrete and transactional: payment is not just promised; it is measured and handed over.

Matthew 27:3 — “Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,”

In this scene ἀργύριον is the same “thirty pieces,” now carried back by Judas as an attempted reversal of what has been done. Money is portable and returnable, yet the narrative tension shows that giving it back does not automatically undo the betrayal. The word highlights money’s movement in and out of possession, tracking responsibility through a physical object.

Matthew 27:5 — “He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.”

ἀργύριον is treated violently and contemptuously—“threw down”—and its location is striking: “in the sanctuary.” The money becomes something to cast away rather than keep, as if it cannot remain with its holder. The word here carries the weight of a transaction that cannot be comfortably possessed, even when it is literally dropped in a sacred space.

Matthew 27:6 — “The chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, “It’s not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.””

In the priests’ hands ἀργύριον is evaluated not only as money but as money with a history: “the price of blood.” The statement “not lawful to put them into the treasury” shows money being treated as unfit for a particular communal, religious use because of the circumstances of its acquisition. The word thus participates in a distinction between mere possession and acceptable deposition.

Matthew 27:9 — “Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced,”

ἀργύριον is again “thirty pieces,” now framed as “the price” of a person—money functioning as an assigned valuation. The repetition of “price” and “priced” turns money into an instrument of appraisal: it is not just currency but a way of putting a number on someone. The word contributes the hard concreteness of a fixed sum set against the gravity of what is being valued.

Matthew 28:12 — “When they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers,”

Here ἀργύριον is “a large amount,” used as an inducement in a coordinated decision (“assembled,” “taken counsel”). Money is deployed strategically to influence those who can spread an account of events. The word underscores the capacity of money to be used as persuasive power when transferred to the right recipients.

Matthew 28:15 — “So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.”

ἀργύριον is received (“they took the money”) and directly linked to compliance (“did as they were told”). The verse places money at the hinge between instruction and action: it enables a commissioned behavior that then produces wide social results (“spread abroad”). The word thus marks money as a catalyst—something that can translate counsel into conduct.

Mark 14:11 — “They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. He sought how he might conveniently deliver him.”

In Mark the money is promised rather than immediately counted out, yet it still functions as the motivating consideration tied to “deliver him.” The sequence joins emotion (“were glad”), commitment (“promised”), and subsequent plotting (“He sought how…”). ἀργύριον here is the promised payment that accompanies and incentivizes the search for an opportune moment.

Luke 9:3 — “He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey—no staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money. Don’t have two coats each.”

Here ἀργύριον is placed among basic travel provisions and explicitly excluded. Money is treated as a normal item one might carry for a journey, but the instruction forbids it, aligning with a broader renunciation of self-provision (“Take nothing”). The word contributes the practical sense of money as ordinary support for travel—precisely what is to be set aside.

Luke 19:15 — ““When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business.”

In this parable ἀργύριον is money entrusted to servants as capital for “conducting business.” It is given, then later audited: the ruler wants to know “what they had gained.” The word highlights money’s role as an assignable resource under authority, capable of producing measurable outcomes that can be examined on return.

Sense and Usage

Across these scenes ἀργύριον consistently behaves like money in the most concrete sense: it can be weighed out, carried back, thrown down, taken up, deposited, withheld, or refused for travel. The contexts cluster into two main domains.

First, ἀργύριον appears as entrusted capital within parables about stewardship and accountability (Matthew 25:18, 25:27; Luke 19:15). In these passages money belongs to a “lord” or ruler and is given to servants, with the expectation that it will either be safeguarded rightly or increased through legitimate activity (“deposit…with the bankers,” “gained by conducting business”). Money here is not portrayed as abstract wealth; it is a concrete trust that measures a servant’s response to authority. Its physicality—buried in earth or placed with bankers—serves the parable’s moral logic: what is done with money reveals what sort of servant stands before the master on his return.

Second, ἀργύριον appears as transactional payment tied to betrayal, counsel, and influence (Matthew 26:15; 27:3, 27:5, 27:6, 27:9; 28:12, 28:15; Mark 14:11). Here money is the instrument by which plans move forward: it is negotiated (“What are you willing to give me…?”), quantified (“thirty pieces”), and used to secure cooperation (“gave a large amount…,” “took the money and did as they were told”). Yet the same material object can become intolerable to hold (“felt remorse,” “threw down”) and even restricted in its use (“not lawful…since it is the price of blood”). In these narratives, money remains money—countable and transferable—while also carrying the trace of the purpose for which it was given. The word’s contribution is often to make motives and outcomes visible through a sum that can be handled and traced from one party to another.

Luke 9:3 places ἀργύριον in a different frame: money as normal travel support. By forbidding it alongside staff, wallet, bread, and extra clothing, the instruction treats money as a standard means of preparedness. Its exclusion thus sharpens the demanded posture of dependence and simplicity for the journey, because money is precisely the portable resource by which many ordinary needs could be met.

Imagery in Context

The passages repeatedly picture money as something that moves: buried and unburied, paid out and brought back, taken and spent for a purpose, withheld or refused. Because ἀργύριον can be handled—“weighed out,” “threw down,” “took the money”—it becomes a visible thread tying together hidden intentions, public counsel, and accountable outcomes.

At the same time, the narratives show that money is never isolated from the setting in which it changes hands. In Matthew, the same kind of money that can be deposited for interest can also be “the price of blood,” making it unsuitable for the “treasury” (Matthew 27:6). In the parables, money tests whether servants act prudently and faithfully; in the betrayal scenes, it exposes how easily a plan can be financed and how heavy that payment can become for the one who took it.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).