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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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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.
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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.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Exodus 30:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 31:50 We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.”
- Exodus 30:12 “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.
- Leviticus 17:11 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 makes atonement by reason of the life.
- Job 34:19 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.
- Ephesians 6:9 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 there is no partiality with him.
- 2 Samuel 21:3 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 inheritance?”
- Proverbs 22:2 The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
- Colossians 3:25 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 verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That God should be merciful unto you.
That God should be merciful unto you.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 30:15 The rich shall not give more, and…
Exo 30:15 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.
Ver. 15. The rich shall not give more.] They are both of a price, because in spirituals they are equal. {2Pe 1:1}
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 This was partly to teach them that all souls…
This was partly to teach them that all souls are of equal worth in themselves and price with God; that there is no respect of persons with God, and in God’s worship and service, but gospel graces, ordinances, and privileges are common and equal to all, Exo 12; 16:18; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11; that all persons are alike obnoxious to Divine justice, and are redeemed by one and the same price: partly to check the arrogance and vanity of the rich, who are very apt to despise the poor; and partly that by this means the number of the people might be exactly known when occasion required it.
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 The rich shall not give more, and the poor…
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel,.... Which shows that the Israelites were alike in the esteem of God, their worldly circumstances making no difference; their souls being alike, the same ransom price was given for them; and that they were all to have an equal share in the service and sanctuary of God, and the price was set so low, that the poorest man might be able to pay it: and even Maimonides (y) says, if he lived on alms, he was to beg it of others, or sell his clothes from off his back to pay it. This shows the equality of the redeemed and ransomed of the Lord; for though some sins and sinners are greater than others, and some are redeemed from more sins than others, yet all sins being infinite, as committed against an infinite God, but one price is paid for all, and that is the precious blood of Christ, the Son of God, an infinite and divine Person; hence all the ransomed ones have the same faith, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life:
when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make atonement for your souls; which have sinned, are liable to death for it, are the more excellent part of men, and require a great price for the redemption and ransom of them; and hence it is so great a blessing to be ransomed, because it is the ransom of the soul: and such is the efficacy of Christ's ransom, that it is a full atonement for the souls of men, and their sins, and completely delivers from sin, Satan, the law, death, and hell.
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(y) Hilchot Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Rich. The life of every man is equal in…
Rich. The life of every man is equal in the sight of God, and He will not give the rich occasion to despise his poor neighbour. Thus also the number of people would be ascertained. (Menochius)
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 15. The rich shall not give more — This…
15. The rich shall not give more — This apportioning the same amount to rich and poor showed that in the meeting of Jehovah at the sanctuary all stood upon the same level. It is well to have some forms of offering which will impress this lesson. In making an atonement for souls the rich have no advantage over the poor.
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 15. Rich and poor are to contribute alike, for…
15. Rich and poor are to contribute alike, for both stand in the same relation towards Jehovah.
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 (15) The rich shall not give more, and the…
(15) The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less.—See Note 2 on Exo_30:12.
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 The rich shall not give more, and the poor…
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less. This is very emphatic testimony to the equal value of souls in God"s sight. The payment was "the ransom of a soul" (ver. 12) an acknowledgment of God"s mercy in sparing those whose life was justly forfeit. As each soul that he has created is equally precious in his sight, and as he designs equally the salvation of all it was fitting that the same exact sum should be paid in every case.
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
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 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.