μνᾶ G3414
Mina; an ancient unit of weight and currency equivalent to about 100 drachmas, used in Jesus' parable of the talents.
A Semitic loanword (Hebrew maneh) denoting a unit of weight and monetary value equal to roughly 100 drachmas or about four months' wages for a laborer. In the NT, it appears only in Jesus' Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:11-27), where a nobleman distributes ten minas among ten servants before departing. Unlike the larger 'talents' in Matthew 25, the mina is a more modest sum, making the servants' faithfulness with small amounts all the more pointed. Spanish 'mina' and French 'mine' preserve the Semitic term unchanged.
Senses
1. sense 1 — An ancient monetary unit of considerable but not extraordinary value, roughly 100 drachmas or about four months of a laborer's wages. The word is a Semitic borrowing (cf. Hebrew maneh), and translations across languages simply transliterate it: Spanish 'mina,' French 'mine,' German 'Mine.' It appears exclusively in Luke 19:13-25 in Jesus' parable where ten servants each receive one mina to invest during their master's absence. The relatively modest sum -- compared to the enormous 'talent' of Matthew 25 -- underscores that faithfulness in small things reveals fitness for greater responsibility. 9×
AR["أَمناءٍ", "مَناَ", "مَناُ"]·ben["মিনা"]·DE["Mine"]·EN["mina", "minas"]·FR["mine"]·heb["הַ-מָּנֶה", "מָנִים", "מָנֶה"]·HI["मिना"]·ID["Mina", "mina"]·IT["mina"]·jav["Mina", "mina", "mina,", "mina-punika,", "mina."]·KO["미나가", "미나를"]·PT["mina", "minas"]·RU["мин", "мина", "мину"]·ES["mina", "minas"]·SW["mina"]·TR["mina", "minalar"]·urd["منا", "منائیں"]
Related Senses
H4325 1. water, waters (582×)H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)H5178a 1. bronze/copper as metal (131×)H6083 1. dust, dry earth, soil (108×)H8313 1. burn, set fire to (94×)H2734 1. anger was kindled (82×)G5204 1. water (80×)H2822 1. darkness, absence of light (80×)G5457 1. light (illumination) (71×)G0450 1. rise, stand up (physical) (69×)H6965b 2. Qal: to stand firm, endure, be valid (50×)H6999a 2. burn sacrifice on altar (Hifil) (45×)H5553 1. rock, cliff (physical feature) (43×)H6965b 4. Hifil: to establish, confirm (covenant/kingdom/word) (40×)H1197a 1. burn, be on fire (39×)H4306 1. rain, showers (38×)H1653 1. rain, precipitation (34×)G4655 1. darkness (30×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
μνᾶ, ἡ, genitive μνᾶς, nominative plural μναῖ, etc., always contracted in Attic dialect, as Refs; Ionic dialect nominative plural μνέαι Refs 6th c.BC+; accusative plural μνέας Refs 5th c.BC+; but accusative singular μνῆν Refs 3rd c.BC+; nominative plural μνέες falsa lectio for{μνέαι} in Refs 2nd c.AD+:—mina, __I as a weight, = Refs 4th c.BC+ __II as a sum of money, also = Refs 5th c.BC+ (Semitic word, cf. Hebrew māneh.)