Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) A piece of metal, or other hard material, thick at one end, and tapering to a thin edge at the other, used in splitting wood, rocks, etc., in raising heavy bodies, and the like. It is one of the six elementary machines called the mechanical powers. See Illust. of Mechanical powers, under Mechanical. 2. (n.) A solid of five sides, having a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends. 3. (n.) A mass of metal, especially when of a wedgelike form. 4. (n.) Anything in the form of a wedge, as a body of troops drawn up in such a form. 5. (n.) The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos; -- so called after a person (Wedgewood) who occupied this position on the first list of 1828. 6. (v. t.) To cleave or separate with a wedge or wedges, or as with a wedge; to rive. 7. (v. t.) To force or drive as a wedge is driven. 8. (v. t.) To force by crowding and pushing as a wedge does; as, to wedge one's way. 9. (v. t.) To press closely; to fix, or make fast, in the manner of a wedge that is driven into something. 10. (v. t.) To fasten with a wedge, or with wedges; as, to wedge a scythe on the snath; to wedge a rail or a piece of timber in its place. 11. (v. t.) To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia WEDGE, OF GOLD wej, (lashon zahabh, literally, "tongue of gold"): A piece of gold in the form of a wedge found by Achan in the sack of Jericho. It was in one of the forms in which gold was used for money and was probably stamped or marked to indicate its weight, which was 50 shekels, i.e. one maneh, according to the Hebrew standard, or nearly two pounds troy. Its value would be 102 British pounds 10 shillings or USD510.00 (in 1915). See MONEY; POUND. A wedge, or rather, oblong rectangular strip of gold, of similar weight has been found in the excavations of Gezer (Macalister, Bible Side-Lights, 121). Along with metal rings they were doubtless used as an early form of currency. In Isaiah 13:12 the King James Version, kethem, "pure gold" (so the Revised Version (British and American)), is translated as "golden wedge" on insufficient grounds. H. Porter

Multi-Version Concordance Wedge (3 Occurrences) Joshua 7:21 When I saw among the spoil a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it." (WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NIV) Joshua 7:24 Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. (WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NIV) Isaiah 13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. (KJV WBS)