They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
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Exodus 30:13-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you count them; that there be no plague among them when you count them. They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
Parallel Translations
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They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh.
Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh.
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.
You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
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This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.
Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
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This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary — the shekel is twenty gerahs — half a shekel for an offering to the LORD.
Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering of the LORD.
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of the LORD, to make atonement for your souls.
And thou shalt take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for your souls.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (25)
- Leviticus 27:25 (v13) All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
- Numbers 3:47 (v13) you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs);
- Numbers 16:40 (v16) to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn…
- Numbers 31:50 (v15) We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make…
- Nehemiah 10:32-33 (v16) Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;…
Show all 25 cross-references
- Ezekiel 45:12 (v13) The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
- Exodus 12:14 (v16) This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by…
- Exodus 30:12 (v15) “When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his…
- Exodus 38:25-31 (v16) The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels,…
- Exodus 38:26 (v13) a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were counted,…
- Leviticus 17:11 (v15) For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that…
- Numbers 1:20 (v14) The children of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the…
- Job 34:19 (v15) He doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.
- Matthew 17:24 (v13) When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the didrachma?”
- Ephesians 6:9 (v15) You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and…
- Numbers 1:3 (v14) from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their divisions.
- Numbers 1:18 (v14) They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by…
- Numbers 14:29 (v14) Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and…
- Numbers 26:2 (v14) “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are…
- Numbers 32:11 (v14) ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac,…
- 2 Samuel 21:3 (v15) and David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And with what should I make atonement, that you may bless Yahweh’s…
- Proverbs 22:2 (v15) The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
- Matthew 27:24 (v13) So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was starting, he took water, and washed his hands before…
- Luke 22:19 (v16) He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in…
- Colossians 3:25 (v15) But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 This shekel valued two common shekels: and the gerah…
This shekel valued two common shekels: and the gerah valued about 12 pence after five shillings sterling the ounce of silver.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Exo 30:13 This they shall give, every one that…
Exo 30:13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel [is] twenty gerahs:) an half shekel [shall be] the offering of the LORD.
Ver. 13. Half a shekel.] Towards the making of the tabernacle; and as an amercing himself for his sin, that subjected him to utter destruction. {Exo 30:15}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–16 The shekel of the sanctuary hath been commonly conceived…
The shekel of the sanctuary hath been commonly conceived to be double to the common shekel, yet divers late learned men seem more truly to judge that it was no more than the common shekel, consisting of half a crown of English money; which is called the shekel of the sanctuary, because the standard by which all shekels were to be examined was kept in the sanctuary, as afterwards the just weights and measures were kept in Christian temples, or other public places. See Lev 27:25; Num 3:47; Eze 45:10-12. Add to this, that it was a part of the priest’s office to look to the weights and measures, as plainly appears from 1Ch 23:29.
An half shekel shall be the offering; not less, lest it should be contemptible; nor more, lest it should be too burdensome for the poor.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–16 This they shall give, everyone that passeth among them…
This they shall give, everyone that passeth among them that are numbered,.... And their number, according to Jarchi, was known by what was paid; for he says the sum was taken not by heads, but everyone gave the half shekel, and by counting them the number was known, as follows:
half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; that is, after the standard of a shekel kept in the sanctuary as a rule for all; and so Jarchi paraphrases it,"according to the weight of a shekel, which I have fixed for thee to weigh, the shekel of the sanctuary.''It was about fourteen pence: a shekel is twenty gerahs; a gerah being the twentieth part of a shekel, it was not quite three halfpence of our money:
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an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord; which was to be offered to him for the ransom of souls, whose lives were forfeited by sin; and of the redemption of which this was an acknowledgment; and was typical of the ransom price of souls by Christ, which is not silver or gold, but his precious blood, his life, himself, which is given as an offering and sacrifice to God, in the room and stead of his people; and which is given to God, against whom sin is committed, the lawgiver, whose law is broken, the Judge, whose justice must be satisfied, and the creditor, to whom the price must be paid.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v13 Verse 13. Half a shekel] Each of the Israelites…
Verse 13. Half a shekel] Each of the Israelites was ordered to give as a ransom for his soul (i.e., for his life) half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. From this we may learn,
1. That the life of every man was considered as being forfeited to Divine justice.
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2. That the redemption money given, which was doubtless used in the service of the sanctuary, was ultimately devoted to the use and profit of those who gave it.
3. That the standard by which the value of coin was ascertained, was kept in the sanctuary; for this appears to be the meaning of the words, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
4. The shekel is here said to be twenty gerahs. A gerah, according to Maimonides, weighed sixteen barleycorns, a shekel three hundred and twenty of pure silver. The shekel is generally considered to be equal in value to three shillings English; the redemption money, therefore, must be about one shilling and sixpence.
5. The rich were not to give more, the poor not to give less; to signify that all souls were equally precious in the sight of God, and that no difference of outward circumstances could affect the state of the soul; all had sinned, and all must be redeemed by the same price.
6. This atonement must be made that there might be no plague among them, intimating that a plague or curse from God must light on those souls for whom the atonement was not made.
7. This was to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, Ex 30:16, to bring to their remembrance their past deliverance, and to keep in view their future redemption.
8. St. Peter seems to allude to this, and to intimate that this mode of atonement was ineffectual in itself, and only pointed out the great sacrifice which, in the fulness of time, should be made for the sin of the world. "Ye know," says he, "that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world," c.; 1Pe 1:18-20.
9. Therefore all these things seem to refer to Christ alone, and to the atonement made by his blood; and upon him who is not interested in this atonement, God's plagues must be expected to fall. Reader, acquaint now thyself with God and be at peace, and thereby good shall come unto thee.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 Half a sicle. A sicle or shekel of silver,…
Half a sicle. A sicle or shekel of silver, (which was also called a stater) according to the standard or weight of the sanctuary, which was the most just and exact, was half an ounce of silver; that is, about half a crown of English money. The obol, or gerah, was about three halfpence. (Challoner) --- A priest kept the weights and measures, 1 Paralipomenon xxiii. 29. The Egyptians and Romans took the like precaution to prevent any fraud; and Justinian required that such things should be kept in churches. Some have supposed, that the royal or common sicle was less than that of the sanctuary. But Moses admits of no distinction. (Leviticus xxvii. 25.; Ezechiel xiv. 12.) Perhaps the weights of the Egyptians, &c., might differ from this, which Moses therefore particularizes so well. (Calmet) --- Arbuthnot makes the weight of the sicle equal to 9 dwt. 2,57 gr. English Troy weight; and he values that of silver at 2s. 3,375d. sterling. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 16 13. Half a shekel — No large amount; perhaps…
13. Half a shekel — No large amount; perhaps about fifty cents of our currency. The exact weight of the silver shekel is no longer known. The shekel of the sanctuary is commonly supposed to have been larger and heavier than the common shekel. Gerah is the Hebrew name of a bean or berry, and like our word grain came to be used for a small weight.
Offering — תרומה, heave offering. See Exo_29:27.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13. passeth over, &c.] viz. before the officer who…
13. passeth over, &c.] viz. before the officer who took the census, to those that are numbered, and who stand on the other side. Cf. to ‘pass over’ (of sheep being numbered) Lev_27:32, Jer_33:13; and in 2Sa_2:15 Heb.
half] not the usual Heb. word for ‘half’; in the Hex, found only in P (11 times), and only 4 times elsewhere. So Exo_30:15; Exo_30:23, Exo_38:26.
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the shekel of the sanctuary] Exo_38:24-26, Lev_5:15; Lev_27:3; Lev_27:25, Num_3:47; Num_3:50; Num_3:7 (14 times), Exo_18:16† (all P). Some standard (silver) ‘shekel’ is plainly alluded to: it is not known certainly what. A standard (silver) shekel, of full weight (as opposed to worn shekels in common use), preserved in the sanctuary, has been thought of. Or, as the expression may be rendered with equal, not to say, greater propriety, the sacred shekel (LXX. σίκλος ὁ ἅγιος), and as moreover the Mishnah (Bekhôrôth viii. 7) expressly enjoins that ‘all payments according to the sacred shekel are to be made in Tyrian (i.e. Phoenician) money,’ in which the silver shekel weighed 224 grs., it may (Kennedy, DB. iv. 422; G. F. Hill, EB. Shekel, § 5) denote the ancient Hebrew silver shekel (which had the same weight as the Phoenician silver shekel), called ‘sacred’ because it was the traditional standard by which sacred dues were paid (see further ll.cc.). A silver shekel of 224 grains would weigh just 6 grains more than an English half-crown: at the present value of silver (2 Samuel 3 d. an oz.) it would be worth about 1 Samuel 1 d.
the shekel is twenty gerahs] The same definition recurs Lev_27:25, Num_3:47; Num_18:16; and in Eze_45:12 (of his shekel, though not called ‘sacred’). The gçrâh (only in these passages) is rendered ὀβολὸς by LXX., and by Onk. mâ‘âh, also = an obol, the weight of which in 4–3 cent. b.c. was c. 11.21 grs.: this would make the ‘sacred’ shekel (=20 gçrâhs) c. 224.2 grs.
The later institution of an annual Temple-tax of a half-shekel (Mat_17:24 RV.: Gk. τὰ δίδραχμα, ‘the double drachm’) is based ultimately on this passage. The drachm was worth 6 obols: and the double drachm (= 12 obols) was taken as the equivalent of a half-shekel (= 10 obols): cf. DB. iii. 422b, 428b; EB. iv. 4446, 4786.
an offering] a contribution, Heb. terûmâh (see on Exo_25:2); here of a contribution levied on,—or, to preserve the figure of the original, taken off,—the whole of a man’s property for sacred purposes. So vv. 14, 15.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–16 (13) Half a shekel.—When shekels came to be coined,…
(13) Half a shekel.—When shekels came to be coined, they were round pieces of silver, about the circumference of a shilling, but considerably thicker, and worth about 2s. 7 d. Of our money. Their average weight was about 220 grains troy. In Moses’s time coins were unknown, and a half-shekel was a small lump of silver, unstamped, weighing probably about 110 grains. The ransom of a soul was doubtless made thus light in order that the payment might not be felt practically as a burthen by any.
After the shekel of the sanctuary.—Without a standard laid up somewhere, weights and measures will always fluctuate largely. Even with a standard, they will practically vary considerably. The “shekel of the sanctuary” probably designates a standard weight kept carefully by the priests with the vessels of the sanctuary. All offerings were to be estimated by this shekel (Lev_27:25).
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A shekel is twenty gerahs.—Rather, the shekel, i.e.; the shekel of the sanctuary is of this weight. A “gerah” was, literally, a bean, probably the bean of the carob or locust tree (Ceratonia siliqua), but became the name of a weight, just as our own “grain” did. It must have equalled about eleven grains troy.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Half a shekel. The shekel of later times was…
Half a shekel. The shekel of later times was a silver coin, about the size round of our shilling, but considerably thicker, and worth about one shilling and eightpence. But at the date of the exodus coins were unknown, and the "shekel" meant a certain weight. The burthen imposed by the tax was evidently a light one. The shekel of the sanctuary. A standard weight in the possession of the priests, equal probably to about 220 grains troy. Twenty gerahs. The word "gerah "means" a bean;" and the gerah must bare been a weight equal to about eleven grains troy, It remained in use to the time of the captivity. (Eze_45:12)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v15
Exodus
RANSOM FOR SOULS-II.
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Exo 30:15.
This tax was exacted on numbering the people. It was a very small amount, about fifteen pence, so it was clearly symbolical in its significance. Notice-
I. The broad principle of equality of all souls in the sight of God. Contrast the reign of caste and class in heathendom with the democracy of Judaism and of Christianity.
II. The universal sinfulness. Payment of the tax was a confession that all were alike in this: not that all were equally sinful, but all were sinful, whatever variations of degree might exist.
‘There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’
III. The one ransom. It was a prophecy of which we know the meaning. Recall the incident of the ‘stater’ in the fish’s mouth.
Christ declares His exemption from the tax. Yet He voluntarily comes under it, and He provides the payment of it for Himself and for Peter.
He does so by a miracle.
The Apostle has to ‘take and give it’; so faith is called into exercise.
Thus there is but one Sacrifice for all; and the poorest can exercise faith and the richest can do no more. ‘None other name.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v13 This they shall give
This they shall give
Cf. Exo 38:25-27. Silver thus becomes a type of redemption. (See Scofield "Exo 26:19").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues to tell Moses what the people must do.
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the people
Only the men made this offering.
the half shekel
Translators may use a unit of measure that people understand and a round number: "the 5.5 grams of silver" or "the 6 grams of silver." See how you translated this in Exodus 3:13. (See: Biblical Money and Biblical Weight and Fractions)
It must be a reminder to the Israelites before me, to make atonement for your lives
Possible meanings are 1) "It will remind the Israelites to make atonement for their lives" or 2) "It will remind the Israelites that they have made atonement for their lives."
translationWords
sacrifice
atonement
receive
Israel
tent of meeting
sign
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.