The Quran Corrects the Bible? Then Explain Joseph’s Dirhams! In Quran 12:20, we read about Joseph being sold: “And they sold him for a reduced price-a few dirhams-and they were, concerning him, of those content with little.” There’s a serious historical problem here. Joseph is traditionally placed around the 18th–17th century BC, roughly 3,700 years ago. But the dirham derives from the Greek drachma, a coinage associated with a much later period. Coinage itself did not emerge until around the 7th century BC, roughly a thousand years after Joseph’s traditional lifetime. The dirham became a familiar currency in the Middle East centuries later, particularly under Persian and later Islamic monetary systems. Different time. Different geography. Wrong currency. Now compare that with the Bible, written long before the Quran. Genesis 37:28 says: “They sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.” Notice the difference. The Bible describes Joseph being sold for silver measured by weight, consistent with ancient Near Eastern commercial practices before the invention of coins. The Quran, however, introduces dirhams, a monetary term associated with a much later historical period. Muslims claim the Quran came to correct the Bible. Yet here we have a story in which the Bible preserves an ancient form of payment, while the Quran uses the name of a currency from centuries later. How does a supposedly perfect revelation get the currency wrong when the much older biblical account gets the historical setting right?