Hosea 3:2

So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, a shekel being worth about 62 cents, and for an homer of barley and an half homer of barley, a total of some twelve bushels of grain. This was dowry-money, but the amount was that paid for a slave, Cf Exodus 21:32; Zechariah 11:12. The transaction undoubtedly pointed to the fact that the Lord had chosen Israel as His people while they were still in bondage in the land of Egypt, and the fact that half of the amount was paid in common grain indicated the lowly condition of the bride at this time.