# How much gold was given to Jesus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2024, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876 "2024-01-10T06:42:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/61 "2024-01-19T10:10:30Z")
I used to have a little lump of frankincense someone gave me, don’t remember if I still have it somewhere or not. But I see that similar lumps are dirt cheap. > **[Frankincense Resin Tears - 1 oz.](https://www.13moons.com/products/frankincense-tears)** > > Frankincense TearsBoswellia carteri 1 ounce of Frankincense Tears in a resealable bag. Also known as Oblibans, Olibanum, Olibanus Magickal Uses: Planet: Sun, Moon, Jupiter Element: Fire, Air Sabbat: Beltane, Lammas/Lughnasadh, Yule/Winter Solstice... ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/62 "2024-01-19T12:55:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But I see that similar lumps are dirt cheap. Sure, today they are. But in the past, frankincense was expensive. That was not so much owing to the cost of production, but because, in pre-modern times, it was difficult to transport it from the site of production to the purchaser. Same as with spices, which are mostly dirt cheap today (with some exceptions, such as saffron, which really is difficult to produce in meaningful quantities). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/63 "2024-01-20T14:00:01Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Frankincense Resin Tears - 1 oz.](https://www.13moons.com/products/frankincense-tears) They can’t have been all that Wise, that’s a choking hazard for a baby. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/64 "2024-01-20T21:03:59Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Take this with a basketball-sized grain of salt, but there are stories of a “white” man traipsing all over the Americas preaching I-don’t-know-what to the Native Americans of both continents. Johnny Appleseed did exactly that… but only in parts of North America. Or do you mean pre-columbus? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/65 "2024-01-20T21:11:19Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > > [@md-2000](#): > > > > For your spending - know when to cut… > > Thanks for the tip. …and watch the budget? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/66 "2024-01-20T21:59:30Z")
“Legend” has it that Jesus spent a portion of his twenties preaching in the Americas (in the flesh, so to speak). Supposedly, he is the inspiration for Quetzalcoatl (even though Q is represented as a feathered serpent). Again, the von Däniken folks may have been playing fast and loose with the legends so some of the “facts” may be skewed. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/67 "2024-01-20T22:01:35Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > “Legend” has it that Jesus spent a portion of his twenties preaching in the Americas (in the flesh, so to speak). Just to clarify- this isn’t even hinted at in any book of the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/68 "2024-01-20T22:04:07Z")
Just to clarify, the OP states a willingness to consider sources other than the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/69 "2024-01-20T22:53:39Z")
And I think that the scare quotes around “legend” make it clear that @burpo_the_wonder_mutt is referring to very ill-reputed sources. I think it’s also part of Latter-Day Saint doctrine that Jesus came to the Americas at some point, though I’m not sure if that was supposed to be before or after his time in the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/70 "2024-01-20T22:59:40Z")
From what I remember of my Catholic upbringing, we were told repeatedly that not much was known of Jesus’s life between the ages of 12 and 30 (so, don’t ask?). And I apologize for going so far afield from the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/71 "2024-01-21T00:21:45Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > > [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > > > > [@md-2000](#): > > > > > > For your spending - know when to cut… > > > > Thanks for the tip. > > …and watch the budget? Actually, I was thinking of this: > **[Holy Prepuce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Prepuce)** > > The Holy Prepuce, or Holy Foreskin (Latin præputium or prepucium), is one of several relics attributed to Jesus, consisting of the foreskin removed during the circumcision of Jesus. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to possess the Prepuce, sometimes at the same time. Various miraculous powers have been ascribed to it. > All Jewish boys are required by Jewish religious law to be circumcised on the eighth day following their birth; the Feast of the Circumcisio... ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/72 "2024-01-21T17:51:30Z")
When I was in Catholic grade school the nuns made a point of how poor Jesus was in order to make us feel sorry for him. One bright student pointed out the wise men gave him a gift of gold! Poor Sister Mary hesitated of a moment then responded, well it wasn’t a lot of gold. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/73 "2024-01-21T20:03:00Z")
In his exhaustive work _The Birth of the Messiah_, Raymond C. Brown notes that: > “It has been suggested that in some instances (especially those dealing > with Sheba in Arabia) where the Bible seems to speak of gold. the translation is > an error. The Hebrew word for gold is zahiib, reflecting a proto-Semitic root > rjM, “gold.” However, South Arabic has a word from the root rjhb referring to > an aromatic substance. Therefore, there may have been a word rjahab (Hebrew > zahiib) referring both to gold and to a type of incense. In most Semitic lan- > guages the more common usage as “gold” would have eventually drowned out > the usage as “incense,” Ryckmans, “De 1’0r,” suggests that in Isa 60:6 (“The > young camels from Midian and Ephah. all those from Sheba will come; they > will bring gold and frankincense”) Hebrew ziihab may refer to incense rather > than to gold. since it is yoked to frankincense. Obviously, by the time Matthew > wrote, the meaning “gold” was accepted,” So, maybe no gold at all. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/74 "2024-01-21T20:28:08Z")
But why would Matthew list frankincense twice in the same account? Or is the incense which “gold” supposedly refers to something different from frankincense? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/75 "2024-01-21T20:38:06Z")
Myrrh is a type of incense. Frankincense is a different type of incense. “Gold” would have been a third type. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/76 "2024-01-21T20:54:14Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Supposedly, he is the inspiration for Quetzalcoatl (even though Q is represented as a feathered serpent). I thought Quetzalcoatl was an Irish monk. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/77 "2024-01-21T20:55:15Z")
Whether it was gold or incense, though, the point remains that it was something valuable. And likewise in Isaiah 60:6 : The point there is that the riches of the world are coming to the Israelites. > [@SCAdian](#): > > I thought Quetzalcoatl was an Irish monk. No, no, that’s Quetzal O’Cottle. Easy to get them mixed up, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/78 "2024-01-21T20:57:34Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > But why would Matthew list frankincense twice in the same account? He liked frankincense. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/79 "2024-01-22T00:46:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@SCAdian](#): > > > > I thought Quetzalcoatl was an Irish monk. > > No, no, that’s Quetzal O’Cottle. Easy to get them mixed up, I know. A cursory examination of [the “Quetzalcoatl” main Google page](https://www.google.com/search?q=quetzalcoatl&oq=quetz&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i131i433i512j46i340i433i512j46i131i433i512j0i433i512j0i131i433i512i650j46i131i433i512j0i131i433i512j0i433i512.6978j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1) will confuse you big time. ---
**Author:** ![Texikid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/texikid/32/17036_2.png) [@Texikid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Texikid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876/80 "2024-01-22T01:26:38Z")
It never specified exactly how much gold was given, but early art usually shows the gifts in fancy cups. One of these cups I’ve estimated to be about 6 fluid ounces of volume in the full cup. I don’t think the magi filling the entire thing with gold so let’s say half of the cup was full of gold. That works out to a VERY ESTIMATED guess of about 3.777 pounds of gold or 171.004323 kilograms.(Feel free to correct the math ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gold-was-given-to-jesus/995876.md?page=5)