In contrast to the tenant worker, the central figure of this story is a merchant, a man with capital, hence of greater means. Ancient reports tell of pearls worth tens of millions of dollars in modern currency (Jeremias 1972:199). This merchant, uniquely sensitive to the value of the pearl, wisely invests all he has to purchase it. Other Jewish accounts of finding expensive pearls typically emphasized the finder's piety; thus a Jewish tailor pays an outrageous price for a fish because he needs it to keep the sabbath, yet finds in it a pearl that supplies his needs the rest of his life (Pes. Rab. 23:6). Jesus, however, emphasizes only the value of the pearl and the joy of finding it (Jeremias 1972:199).