Matthew 10:9

μὴ κτήσησθε. ‘Do not get, acquire,’ εἰς τὰς ζώνας ὑμῶν ‘for your girdles.’ The disciples must not furnish themselves with the ordinary equipment of an Eastern traveller.

χρυσὸν … ἄργυρον … χαλκόν. Of the three metals named the brass or copper represents the native currency. The coinage of Herod the Great was copper only. But Greek and Roman money was also current. The Roman denarius, a silver coin, is frequently mentioned (ch. Matthew 18:28; Matthew 20:2). The farthing, Matthew 10:29, is the Roman as, the 16th part of a denarius; the Greek drachma of nearly the same value as a denarius, and the stater (ch. Matthew 17:27), were also in circulation.

ζώνας. Literally, girdles or money-belts, cp. ‘Ibit eo quo vis qui zonam perdidit,’ Hor. Ep. II. 2. 40. Sometimes a fold of the tunic held up by the girdle served for a purse, ‘quando | major avaritiæ patuit sinus?’ Juv. Sat. I. 88.