The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary: 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, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.
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Exodus 38:25-26 sits inside this longer paragraph.
All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary: 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, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men. The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil: one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, one talent per socket. From the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them. The bronze of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels. With this he made the sockets to the door of the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, all the vessels of the altar, the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins around the court.
Parallel Translations
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The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary:
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, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.
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And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
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And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and three-score and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that passed over to them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
Cross-references (5)
- Numbers 1:46 (v26) all those who were counted were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty.
- Exodus 30:13 (v26) 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…
- Exodus 12:37 (v26) The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, in addition to children.
- Exodus 30:15-16 (v26) 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…
- Exodus 30:12 (v25) “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…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v26 Or, half a shekel.
Or, half a shekel.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv25–26 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast…
And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail,.... The sockets for the boards of the tabernacle, into which they were put; and the sockets for the vail, which divided between the holy and the most holy place, in which the pillars were set the vail was hung upon, and which was the silver foundation of the whole fabric:
one hundred sockets of the one hundred talents, a talent for a socket; there were ninety six sockets for the sanctuary or tabernacle, and four for the vail; and on each of these a talent of silver was expended; which, according to Dr. Cumberland, was three hundred and fifty three pounds, eleven shillings, and some odd pence; so much every socket cost.
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 v26 Verse 26. A bekah for every man] The Hebrew…
Verse 26. A bekah for every man] The Hebrew word בקי beka, from בקי baka, to divide, separate into two, seems to signify, not a particular coin, but a shekel broken or cut in two; so, anciently, our farthing was a penny divided in the midst and then subdivided, so that each division contained the fourth part of the penny; hence its name fourthing or fourthling, since corrupted into farthing.
THERE appear to be three particular reasons why much riches should be employed in the construction of the tabernacle, c.
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1. To impress the people's minds with the glory and dignity of the Divine Majesty, and the importance of his service.
2. To take out of their hands the occasion of covetousness for as they brought much spoils out of Egypt, and could have little if any use for gold and silver in the wilderness, where it does not appear that they had much intercourse with any other people, and were miraculously supported, so that they did not need their riches, it was right to employ that in the worship of God which otherwise might have engendered that love which is the root of all evil.
3. To prevent pride and vainglory, by leading them to give up to the Divine service even the ornaments of their persons, which would have had too direct a tendency to divert their minds from better things. Thus God's worship was rendered august and respectable, incitements to sin and low desires removed, and the people instructed to consider nothing valuable, but as far as it might be employed to the glory and in the service of God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v26 A bekah - Literally, “a half”: the words “half…
A bekah - Literally, “a half”: the words “half a shekel,” etc. appear to be inserted only for emphasis, to enforce the accuracy to be observed in the payment. See Exo 30:13. Respecting the capitation and the numbering of the people, see Exo 30:12.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v25 And it, &c. Hebrew is rather more express, "And…
And it, &c. Hebrew is rather more express, "And the silver given by those who were numbered, was a hundred talents, 1775 sicles of the weight of the sanctuary, ver. 26. They gave each half a sicle, paid by all those who were 20 years old and upwards, amounting to 603,550 men." Hence the talent would weigh exactly 3000 sicles, (Calmet) or 12,000 drachmas. Some say that the common talent weighed 100 pounds, and that of the sanctuary 120, each pound containing 25 sicles. (Du Hamel)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v25 the silver of them that were numbered--603,550 men at…
the silver of them that were numbered--603,550 men at half a shekel each would contribute 301,775 shekels; which at 2s. 4d. each, amounts to £35,207 sterling. It may seem difficult to imagine how the Israelites should be possessed of so much wealth in the desert; but it should be remembered that they were enriched first by the spoils of the Egyptians, and afterwards by those of the Amalekites. Besides, it is highly probable that during their sojourn they traded with the neighboring nations who bordered on the wilderness [HEWLETT].
Next: Exodus Chapter 39
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv25–26 25–28. The silver, with particulars of the purposes for…
25–28. The silver, with particulars of the purposes for which it was used. This amounted to 100 talents and 1775 shekels, i.e. 301,775 shekels (c. Exo 140,828 oz.), being half a shekel a head, exacted (according to Exo_30:13 f.) from the 603,550 male Israelites, of 20 years old and upwards, of the census described in Numbers 1 (see v. 46). No account is taken of the silver offered voluntarily (Exo_25:3, Exo_35:5 f., 24).
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 vv25–26 (25) The silver . . . was an hundred…
(25) The silver . . . was an hundred talents.—The silver talent contained 3,000 shekels, as all allow, and as appears from the present passage. If the “shekel of the sanctuary” weighed, as is generally supposed, about 220 grains troy, the value of the silver contributed would have been £40,000, or a little under. It was contributed by “them that were numbered of the congregation,” each of whom paid a bekah, or half a shekel. (See above, Exo_30:12-16.)
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 vv25–26 The silver. The silver seems to have amounted to…
The silver. The silver seems to have amounted to about four times the weight of the gold; but the value of it was very much less, not exceeding of our money (Cook). It may seem surprising that this should have been so; but there are grounds for believing that both in Africa and in Asia gold was more plentiful than silver in the early ages. And it is certainly much more suitable for ornaments. Of them that were numbered. See above, Exo_30:12-16. The silver for the sanctuary was collected by a compulsory tax, of the nature of a church-rate. This produced the amount here given, No estimate is made of the weight of the silver freewill offerings, (Exo_35:24) nor is any account given of their application. It has been suggested that they were returned to the donors as superfluous, which is certainly possible,
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v26 38:26 For the earlier discussion of this tax, see…
38:26 For the earlier discussion of this tax, see 30:11-16. The sanctuary shekel was evidently the standard against which other weights were measured for accuracy. • 603,550: See study note on 12:37.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.