Exodus 30:13

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

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest ... Moses did so twice, and doubtless observed the law here prescribed.

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 . Add to this, that it was a part of the priest’ s office to look to the weights and measures, as plainly appears from . 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.

Exodus 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.

(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 (Leviticus 27:25). 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.

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. 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, Exodus 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.; 1 Peter 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.

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) Leviticus 27:32, Jeremiah 33:13; and in 2 Samuel 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 Exodus 30:15; Exodus 30:23, Exodus 38:26. the shekel of the sanctuary] Exodus 38:24-26, Leviticus 5:15; Leviticus 27:3; Leviticus 27:25, Numbers 3:47; Numbers 3:50; Numbers 3:7 (14 times), Exodus 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. σίκλοςὁἅγιος), and as moreover the Mishnah (Bekhτrτth 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 Leviticus 27:25, Numbers 3:47; Numbers 18:16; and in Ezekiel 45:12 (of his shekel, though not called ‘sacred’). The gηrβh (only in these passages) is rendered ὀβολὸς by LXX., and by Onk. mβ‘βh, 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 gηrβhs) c. 224.2 grs. The later institution of an annual Temple-tax of a half-shekel (Matthew 17:24 RV.: Gk. τὰδίδραχμα, ‘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. terϋmβh (see on Exodus 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.

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.