Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 30:11
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
The Ransom of Souls. – Exo 38:25-28. On comparing these words with those of Num 1:1-3, we may perhaps infer that the first passage relates to a mere counting of the adult Israelites at the time when the money was taken from each, and that what the latter passage enjoins was a formal enrolment of them according to their genealogies and their order of military service.
A ransom for his soul – What the sincere worshipper thus paid was at once the fruit and the sign of his faith in the goodness of Yahweh, who had redeemed him and brought him into the covenant. Hence, the payment is rightly called a ransom inasmuch as it involved a personal appropriation of the fact of his redemption. On the word soul, see Lev 17:11.
That there be no plague – i. e. that they might not incur punishment for the neglect and contempt of spiritual privileges. Compare Exo 28:35; 1Co 11:27-30; and the exhortation in our communion Service.
Exo 30:13
Half a shekel – The probable weight of silver in the half-shekel would now be worth about 1 shilling, 3 1/2d. (Compare Gen 23:16. See Exo 38:24 note.) Gerah is, literally, a bean, probably the bean of the carob or locust-tree. It was used as the name of a small weight, as our word grain came into use from a grain of wheat.
Exo 30:15
Every Israelite stood in one and the same relation to Yahweh. See Exo 30:11-12.
Exo 30:16
tabernacle of the congregation – tent of meeting, here and in Exo 30:18, Exo 30:20,
A memorial unto the children of Israel – The silver used in the tabernacle was a memorial to remind each man of his position before the Lord, as one of the covenanted people.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
11-16. When thou takest the sum ofthe children of Israel, c.Moses did so twice, and doubtlessobserved the law here prescribed. The tax was not levied from women,minors, old men (Num 1:42 Num 1:45),and the Levites (Nu 1:47), theybeing not numbered. Assuming the shekel of the sanctuary to be abouthalf an ounce troy, though nothing certain is known about it, the sumpayable by each individual was two and four pence. This was not avoluntary contribution, but a ransom for the soul or lives of thepeople. It was required from all classes alike, and a refusal to payimplied a wilful exclusion from the privileges of the sanctuary, aswell as exposure to divine judgments. It was probably the same impostthat was exacted from our Lord (Mt17:24-27), and it was usually devoted to repairs and otherpurposes connected with the services of the sanctuary.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord spake unto Moses,…. Continued his discourse; or, there being some intermission, reassumed it:
saying; as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Atonement-Money, which every Israelite had to pay at the numbering of the people, has the first place among the supplementary instructions concerning the erection and furnishing of the sanctuary, and serves to complete the demand for freewill-offerings for the sanctuary (Exo 25:1-9).
Exo 30:12-15 “ When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel according to them that are numbered, they shall give every one an expiation for his soul to the Lord at their numbering, that a plague may not strike them (happen to them) at their numbering.” , lit., adspexit, then inspexit explorandi causa, hence to review, or number an army or a nation, for the purpose of enrolling for military service. with reference to the numbered, qui in censum veniunt . (expiation, expiation-money, from to expiate) is to be traced to the idea that the object for which expiation was made was thereby withdrawn from the view of the person to be won or reconciled. It is applied in two ways: (1) on the supposition that the face of the person to be won was covered by the gift (Gen 32:21; 1Sa 12:3); and (2) on the supposition that the guilt itself was covered up (Psa 32:1), or wiped away (Jer 18:23), so far as the eye of God was concerned, as though it had no longer any existence, and that the sinful man was protected from the punishment of the judge in consequence of this covering. In this way has acquired the meaning , a payment by which the guilty are redeemed (Exo 21:30; Num 35:31); and this is the meaning which it has in the passage before us, where the soul is said to be protected by the copher, so as to be able to come without danger into the presence of the holy God (Num 8:19. See Oehler in Herzog’s Cycl.). Such an approach to God took place at the numbering of the people for the purpose of enrolling them in the army of Jehovah (Num 1:3, cf. Exo 7:4; Exo 12:41). Hence “every one who passed over to those that were numbered,” who was enrolled among them, i.e., in the army of Jehovah, – that is to say, every male Israelite of 20 years old and upwards (Exo 30:14), – was to pay half a shekel of the sanctuary as atonement-money; the rich no more, the poor no less (Exo 30:15), because all were equal in the sight of Jehovah; and this payment was to be a “heave” ( terumah, see Exo 25:2) for Jehovah for the expiation of the souls. The shekel of the sanctuary, which contained 20 gerahs, was no doubt the original shekel of full weight, as distinguished from the lighter shekel which was current in ordinary use. In Exo 38:26 the half shekel is called , lit., the split, i.e., half, from to split; and we find it mentioned as early as the time of the patriarchs as a weight in common use for valuing gold (Gen 24:22), so that, no doubt, even at that time there were distinct silver pieces of this weight, which were probably called shekels when employed for purposes of trade, since the word shekel itself does not denote any particular weight, as we may perceive at once form a comparison of 1Ki 10:17 and 2Ch 9:16, at least so far as later times are concerned. The sacred shekel, to judge from the weight of Maccabean shekels, which are in existence still, and vary from 256 to 272 Parisian grains, weighed 274 grains, and therefore, according to present valuation, would be worth 26 groschen (about 2s. 7d.), so that the half-shekel of bekah would be 13 groschen (1s. 3 1/2d.).
Exo 30:16 This atonement-money Moses was to appropriate to the work of the sanctuary (cf. Exo 38:25-28, where the amount and appropriation are reported). Through this appropriation it became “ a memorial to the children of Israel before the Lord to expiate their souls, ” i.e., a permanent reminder of their expiation before the Lord, who would henceforth treat them as reconciled because of this payment. It was no ordinary tribute, therefore, which Israel was to pay to Jehovah as its King, but an act demanded by the holiness of the theocratic covenant. As an expiation for souls, it pointed to the unholiness of Israel’s nature, and reminded the people continually, that by nature it was alienated from God, and could only remain in covenant with the Lord and live in His kingdom on the ground of His grace, which covered its sin. It was not till this sinful nature had been sanctified by a perfect atonement, and servitude under the law had been glorified and fully transformed into that sonship to which Israel was called as the first-born son of Jehovah, that as children of the kingdom they had no longer to pay this atonement-money for their souls (Mat 17:25-26). – According to Num 1:1, Num 1:18, as compared with Exo 40:17, the census of the nation was not taken till a month after the building of the tabernacle was completed, and yet the atonement-money to be paid at the taking of the census was to be appropriated to the purpose of the building, and must therefore have been paid before. This apparent discrepancy may be reconciled by the simple assumption, that immediately after the command of God had been issued respecting the building of the tabernacle and the contributions which the people were to make for the purpose, the numbering of the males was commenced and the atonement-money collected from the different individuals, that the tabernacle was then built and the whole ceremonial instituted, and that, after all this had been done, the whole nation was enrolled according to its tribes, fathers’ houses, and families, on the basis of this provisional numbering, and thus the census was completed. For this reason the census gave exactly the same number of males as the numbering (cf. Exo 38:26 and Num 1:46), although the one had been carried out nine months before the other.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 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. 14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 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. 16 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.
Some observe that the repetition of those words, The Lord spoke unto Moses, here and afterwards (Exo 30:17; Exo 30:22; Exo 30:34), intimates that God did not deliver these precepts to Moses in the mount, in a continued discourse, but with many intermissions, giving him time either to write what was said to him or at least to charge his memory with it. Christ gave instructions to his disciples as they were able to hear them. Moses is here ordered to levy money upon the people by way of poll, so much a head, for the service of the tabernacle. This he must do when he numbered the people. Some think that it refers only to the first numbering of them, now when the tabernacle was set up; and that this tax was to make up what was deficient in the voluntary contributions for the finishing of the work, or rather for the beginning of the service in the tabernacle. Others think that it was afterwards repeated upon any emergency and always when the people were numbered, and that David offended in not demanding it when he numbered the people. But many of the Jewish writers, and others from them, are of opinion that it was to be an annual tribute, only it was begun when Moses first numbered the people. This was that tribute-money which Christ paid, for fear of offending his adversaries (Matt. xvii. 27), when yet he showed good reason why he should have been excused. Men were appointed in every city to receive this payment yearly. Now, 1. The tribute to be paid was half a shekel, about fifteen pence of our money. The rich were not to give more, nor the poor less (v. 15), to intimate that the souls of the rich and poor are alike precious, and that God is no respecter of persons,Act 10:34; Job 34:19. In other offerings men were to give according to their ability; but this, which was the ransom of the soul, must be alike for all; for the rich have as much need of Christ as the poor, and the poor are as welcome to him as the rich. They both alike contributed to the maintenance of the temple-service, because both were to have a like interest in it and benefit by it. In Christ and his ordinances rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker, the Lord Christ is the Redeemer of them both, Prov. xxii. 2. The Jews say, “If a man refused to pay this tribute, he was not comprehended in the expiation.” 2. this tribute was to be paid as a ransom of the soul, that there might be no plague among them. Hereby they acknowledged that they received their lives from God, that they had forfeited their lives to him, and that they depended upon his power and patience for the continuance of them; and thus they did homage to the God of their lives, and deprecated those plagues which their sins had deserved. 3. This money that was raised was to be employed in the service of the tabernacle (v. 16); with it they bought sacrifices, flour, incense, wine, oil, fuel, salt, priests’ garments, and all other things which the whole congregation was interested in. Note, Those that have the benefit of God’s tabernacle among them must be willing to defray the expenses of it, and not grudge the necessary charges of God’s public worship. Thus we must honour the Lord with our substance, and reckon that best laid out which is laid out in the service of God. Money indeed cannot make an atonement for the soul, but it may be used for the honour of him who has made the atonement, and for the maintenance of the gospel by which the atonement is applied.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 11-16:
Considerable expense was involved in the building of the tabernacle and its furnishings. In Ex 25:2-7, God instructed that the people give freewill offerings for this purpose. Now He adds another source of revenue: a “ransom” (expiation, atonement) payment, to be collected from every male twenty years old and above.
Israeli males were eligible for military service at age twenty (2Ch 25:5).
God instructed Moses to take a census of Israel. At that time, every male was to give a “ransom” payment of one half shekel, to show he was conscious of his own sin.
The monetary value of this payment was small. The shekel was likely riot a coin but a weight of about .35 oz.; a half-shekel was about .175 oz. The term “gerah” is literally “bean,” and was likely a weight of about eleven grains troy weight.
Though this was a small amount of silver for each man to give, the total offering from all those counted in the census was about 80Crpounds (Ex 38:25). At today’s price of silver, this amounted to over $80,000.
Economic status was no factor in the “ransom” payment. The rich was not to give more, the poor was not to give less. This teaches the importance of each individual in the sight of God.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 30:11-16
EQUALITY BEFORE GOD
We are reminded here
I. That all men are equally recognised by the eye of God. Moses was to take the sum of the children of Israel after their number. This taking of the census of Israel reminds us of Gods all-comprehending and individualising knowledge of man. He knows all. Every living soul is written in His book. He knows each. Each tribe, each family, each person. There is not a living being outside Gods knowledge, there is not one who can drop out of that knowledge. With all the apparent confusion of the world, and the cheapness of life, God knows the sum; and He knows each race, each dwelling, each person which go to the making up of that sum.
II. That all men are equally guilty before the law of God. They were to give a ransom for their souls. What is the ground idea of this ransom but guilt? Israel was sinful before God, and it was necessary that they should bring atonement-money in their hands as expressive of their sin and penitence. It was to make an atonement for their souls. We are guilty before God, and it is necessary that we have somewhat to offer. In our hands no price we bring. Christ has paid all, and rendered it possible for Eternal love to show grace unto all who seek for it (Joh. 1:29; Mat. 26:28; Rom. 5:11; Rev. 1:5). In Christs death we have the grand recognition that we are sold under sin, but that God has provided for our emancipation and life. All were to give their ransom. No exemptions. All are guilty. Every mouth is stopped. And that all were equally guilty before God is expressed in all having to bring the same atonement-money. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel. This fixed amount indicates two great truths: the equal preciousness of all souls in the sight of God; and the equal guiltiness of all souls in the sight of God. There is no difference (Rom. 3:22).
III. That all men are equally redeemable through the mercy of God. The atonement-money was to be accepted from every hand. The half shekel in the hand of every member of Israel spoke of universal reconciliation as clearly as it did of universal sin. So all men are recoverable in Christ (Joh. 3:16). The Apostle in declaring there is no difference, intends to show there is no difference in regard to mens restoration, as there is no difference in regard to their sinfulness and condemnation (Rom. 3:9-31).
1. We see here the need of atonement. We cannot go to God as innocent creatures. A merely natural religion will not do for us fallen and guilty men.
2. We see the preciousness of the atonement of Christ. It saves those who trust in it from wrath and death. Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them. And so Christs merit saves us from the last plagues of Gods wrath against sin and sinners. And it saves all who trust in it, The worst, the poorest. (Heb. 7:25.)
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Sacrificial Speech! Exo. 30:1-38.
(1.) No student of the Bible needs to be reminded that by the complicated and long protracted series of events which preceded, accompanied, and followed the Exodus from Egypt, the essential doctrine of Gospel truth and grace are distinctly made known. By a stupendous array of symbolic acts and facts they are most emphatically confirmed and illustrated.
(2.) Thomson remarks that what is more pertinent, if possible, is that the record of them is so guided as to suggest and evolve the very best words, figures, and phrases by which these fundamental doctrines can be set forth. This is equally true of the words and ideas in this chapter of Exodus, as of the paschal lamb in Egypt, or the smiting of the rock in Horeb.
(3.) The symbolic acts and facts, it has been wisely asserted, in connection with the typical institutions, rites, and ceremonies of the Mosaic economy, were designed to permeate, and did permeate, the entire religious consciousness of the Hebrews. They thus gave birth to spiritual ideas and emotions wholly peculiar, and to corresponding formulas by which to give expression to them.
I saw a Moslem work upon his shroud alone,
With earnest care, even as the silkworms weave their own,
When with that sacred Script it was filled from side to side,
He wrapt it round his body, and in calmness died.
Oriental.
Soul-Ransom! Exo. 30:11-16.
(1.) The payment, says Trower, was an acknowledgment to God that all souls are His (Eze. 18:4); that all lives are due to Him for sins committd against Him; and that all owe Him thanks for the mercy by which we have been enrolled in the census of His people, and for the privileges we thus enjoy.
(2.) We should regard ourselves as Gods coin, stamped with Christs image. And as the coin of the realm, stamped with the image of our earthly sovereign, reminds us of the claims of our rulers for what is their due; so we should remember that, as bearing Christs stamp, we are in the highest sense due to Him. Having been bought with His blood, we should ever offer ourselves to Him who is the Lord of heaven and earth.
He gave me back the bond
The seal was torn away;
And as He gave, He smiled, and said,
Think thou of ME alway.
That bond I still will keep,
Although it cancelled be;
It tells me what I owe to Him
Who paid the debt for me.
Soul-Redemption! Exo. 30:16.
(1.) A gentleman visiting a slave market was deeply moved by the agony of a slave girl. He inquired her price, paid the ransom to the slave trader, and placed the bill of sale in her own hands, telling her that she was now free, and could go where she pleased. At first she could not realise the change; but when the whole truth flashed upon her, she sprang forward, and kneeling before him cried: Let me be thy servant, for thou hast redeemed me.
(2.) The Lord Jesus has purchased our freedom from sin-serfdom and Satan-savagedom with a great price: Ye are not bought with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus; therefore, we should glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are His. It is for every one to pay the half shekel of voluntary surrender to His service, whose are our souls, since He paid the ransom
Thy ransomed servant, I
Restore to Thee Thine own;
And from this moment live or die
To serve my God alone.
Wesley.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
RANSOM OF SOULS, Exo 30:11-16.
The fundamental idea in this ransoming of souls by a tax of atonement money was, that thereby every Israelite of twenty-five years old and upward would be obligated to contribute somewhat to the erection of the sanctuary. With this exception all the offerings for the tabernacle were given as willing contributions of the heart, (Exo 25:2. ) The silver thus contributed was used for the sockets of the sanctuary, (Exo 38:27.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Regulation In Respect of the Numbering of the Servants of Yahweh ( Exo 30:11-16 ).
That this regulation was placed between the consecration of the altar of incense and the bronze laver brings out that the mature males of the nation were seen to be Yahweh’s and thus their numbering directly affected Him. And this is confirmed by the fact that when they are numbered for some purpose (usually in preparation for war) they will need to be ransomed. Compensation must be paid to Yahweh for their being used by the nation, especially when it was in its own defence and they being put at risk of their lives. How serious such numbering was seen to be comes out in 2 Samuel 24 were David appears to have done it simply for self-aggrandisement.
It is probable from the inclusion of this regulation here as a general principle that we are to see the expectancy of a regular numbering being taken of the children of Israel, a numbering of the servants of Yahweh (i.e. of the mature males). Note the mention of numbering three times in Exo 30:12. It was clearly seen as a serious business. The purpose of such ‘numbering’ at this stage would seem to be for the purpose of war (compare how in Numbers they were numbered in readiness for the march on Canaan and again when that march on Canaan was renewed).
Taking a ‘numbering’ was probably seen as drawing God’s attention to those involved. It was a counting of His servants with a view to their use by the nation, and as such, if no ransom was paid, it could result in Yahweh taking them to Himself by plague lest they be lost to Him without recompense. It was an indication that they were His. And when their silver half shekel went into the service of the Sanctuary it meant that they knew that they were represented before Yahweh, and that Yahweh would take account of them. By counting them they came to God’s attention as His servants.
Among other nations there were fears for a similar reason. In their case it was often that they were seen as servants of ‘the gods’, and a compensation for them was seen as necessary as a result of their being taken over from the gods by the king.
But here it was seen as numbering those who had become partakers in the covenant. Thus they were God’s servants in covenant with Him and it was necessary that a ransom be paid and an atonement made so that the numbering would have no evil consequences and so that they might be legitimately freed from the obligations of direct divine service in order to live mundane lives and in order to hazard their lives. But it went further than that, for the tribute was for use in the Sanctuary where each man was therefore represented before Yahweh even while he lived and fought.
The first counting seems to have been taken in order to obtain silver for the building of the dwellingplace (Exo 38:25-26).
The time prior to moving on from Mount Sinai was seen as a suitable time for a further numbering, partly in order to enable Moses to plan the march, and partly as preparation and mustering for future warfare. There had not been time or opportunity to organise things since leaving Egypt as a fleeing host, but now they probably at last felt safe. The details are given in Numbers 1-2.
a When Israel are ‘numbered’ (being set apart for some task for Yahweh) each must give a ransom for himself so that there is no plague among them (Exo 30:11-12).
b Each one as he passes over to be numbered will give half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh (Exo 30:13).
c Every one who passes over who are those from twenty years old and upwards will give the offering to Yahweh (Exo 30:14).
c Each will give the same, the rich not more and the poor not less, when they give the offering of Yahweh to make atonement for their persons (Exo 30:15).
b The atonement money for the children of Israel will be appointed for the service of the Tent of Meeting (Exo 30:16 a).
a It is to be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh to make atonement for their persons (Exo 30:16 b).
In ‘a’ when the male adults of Israel are numbered each is to give a ransom for himself, and in the parallel it is a memorial before Yahweh to make atonement for their persons. In ‘b’ each one gives his half shekel as he ‘passes over’ (possibly from one group to another) while in the parallel the money is appointed for the service of the Tent of Meeting. In ‘c’ everyone over twenty years old is to give the offering to Yahweh, while in the parallel they must all give the same as an offering of Yahweh to make atonement for their persons.
Exo 30:11-12
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “When you take the sum of the children of Israel according to those who are numbered of them, then shall they give every man a ransom for his person to Yahweh when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them.” ’
So the census was to be a time when each member of the covenant paid his ransom so as to be relieved from the continual holy service of Yahweh (as with the firstborn in Exo 13:13). It was necessary because they were all holy to Yahweh (Exo 19:5-6). Later we learn that the Levites would not be numbered in the ordinary census because they were not to be relieved from such service (Num 1:47; Num 2:33). However, numbering them as the servants of Yahweh was clearly allowed (Num 3:15).
So had the ransom not been paid God would have claimed back His own through plague (compare 2 Samuel 24). It is a serious thing to be marked off as a servant of God. This brings out that all mature males were seen as direct servants of Yahweh. The firstborn had been redeemed because they belonged to Yahweh as the firstfruits (Exo 13:2). These have to be redeemed because they are His by covenant.
Exo 30:13-15
“This shall they give, every one who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the Sanctuary. (The shekel is twenty gerahs). Half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. Every one who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering of 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 their persons.”
The ransom to be paid was half a shekel. It was atonement money to cover the fact that they were relieved from Yahweh’s direct service. The Sanctuary received it instead of their service. It was a way by which the Sanctuary could be provided for. It appears that the census was taken by the people moving from one spot to another as they were numbered. Thus as they passed over they had to pay their ransom. All had to pay the same because the service of all was seen as of equal value. None was superior to anyone else in the eyes of God.
This need for a ransom brings out how much God saw His people as His own. It was precisely because He loved them that a ransom had to be paid for His foregoing having their personal service, and in order that He might have in His Sanctuary a reminder of them.
Payment was to be made for all males of twenty years old and upwards. At that age they became theoretically eligible for service in the Sanctuary (1Ch 23:24; 1Ch 23:27; 2Ch 31:17: Ezr 3:8), and available for war service (2Ch 25:5).
The ‘half shekel’ (about 5 grams or just under a quarter of an ounce) was not a piece of money (money was unknown) but a weight of silver. It was not a heavy price to pay. The shekel of the Sanctuary was a standard weight. Quite possibly an example was kept in the Sanctuary so that it could be used as a measure where necessary to ensure fair measurement. A gerah was a smaller weight, one tenth of half a shekel, put in, possibly later, to define which shekel is being used.
“ To make atonement for their persons.” That is to atone for their failure to provide service to Yahweh. Others see it as signifying their atoning for their unworthiness for the service of Yahweh. Possibly we may include both.
Exo 30:16
“And 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 persons.”
The atonement money would make up for their lack of service in the Sanctuary, and would provide for the Sanctuary. Yahweh would, as it were, see it and accept it in place of their service. Thus there would be no failure in the fulfilling of their service. It was fulfilled by substitute silver which would itself become part of the Sanctuary (Exo 38:25-28).
This reminds us that we too are committed to total service to God, and when we give we are substituting our money for that direct service for God that we have been unable to perform while earning that money. We are debtors to God for all the time when we are not performing direct service. That was what this ransom and the tithe expressed. But as Christians we are to give even more. We are to give ‘hilariously’ (2Co 9:7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Ransom Money Exo 30:11-16 describes the requirement of ransom, or atonement, money for each Israelite as a means of financing the service of the Tabernacle. Everyone gave a ransom that was older than twenty years old. The price for each person was equal, regardless of whether they were rich or poor. This shows that everyone was equally a sinner. It is interesting that at the age of twenty-one, the Lord dealt with both my older brother and myself about our sins. It was as if it was time to become accountable for our lives. We had become responsible adults in God’s eyes. Here in this passage, it was at this age that a person has to account for his sins, symbolized in the ransom money.
Exo 30:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 30:12 Exo 30:12
1Pe 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know 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.”
2Sa 24:1, “And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.”
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.
Exo 30:14 Exo 30:15 Exo 30:15
Exo 30:16 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.
The Church Tax
v. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 12. When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, v. 13. This they shall give, everyone that passeth among them that are numbered, v. 14. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord.
v. 15. The rich shall not give more, v. 16. 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, EXPOSITION
THE RANSOM OF SOULS. The various commands given with respect to the tabernacle and its furniture would necessarily involve a very considerable outlay; and it was important that Moses should receive directions as to the source, or sources, whence this expenditure was to come. In Exo 25:2-7, one source had been indicated, viz; the voluntary contributions of the people. To this is now added a second source. On occasion of rite numbering of the peoplean event which is spoken of as impending (Exo 25:12)Moses was told to exact from each of them, as atonement money, the sum of half a shekel of silver. The produce of this tax was to be applied to the work of the sanctuary (Exo 25:16), and it is found to have formed an important clement in the provision for the cost, since the total amount was above a hundred talents, or, more exactly, 301,775 shekels (Exo 38:25). The requirement of atonement money seems to have been based on the idea, that formal enrolment in the number of God’s faithful people necessarily brought home to every man his unworthiness to belong to that holy company, and so made him feel the need of making atonement in some way or other. The payment of the half-shekel was appointed as the legal mode under those circumstances. It was an acknowledgment of sin, equally binding upon all, and so made equal for all; and it saved from God’s vengeance those who, if they had boon too proud to make it, would have been punished by some “plague” or other (Exo 25:12).
Exo 30:12
When thou takest the sum. The sum had been taken roughly at the time of the exodus (Exo 12:37). Moses was now, it would seem, about to take it again, more accurately. No command had ever been given that the people should riot be numbered; and the Egyptian habit of compiling exact statistics naturally clung to one who had had an Egyptian training. A ransom. Rather “an expiation,” “an atonement”(as in Exo 29:33, Exo 29:36)something to show that he was conscious of sin, and of his not deserving to be numbered among God’s people. That there was no plague. “That they be not punished for undue pride and presumption. There is no thought of such a plague as was provoked by David’s numbering (2Sa 24:15).
Exo 30:13
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).
Exo 30:14
From twenty years old and upward. Twenty was the age at which an Israelite was reckoned a man; at twenty he became liable to serve in the wars (2Ch 25:5), and entered otherwise on the duties of citizenship. At twenty the Levites began their service in the temple (1Ch 23:24, 1Ch 23:27; 2Ch 31:17; Ezr 3:8).
Exo 30:15
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” (Exo 30:12)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 allit was fitting that the same exact sum should be paid in every case.
Exo 30:16
The application of the “atonement money” is stated more distinctly in Exo 38:27, Exo 38:28. It was employed for the silver sockets that supported the boards of the tabernacle, and for the hooks, capitals, and connecting rods of the pillars which surrounded the court. Thus employed, it was a continual “memorial” in the eyes of the people, reminding each man of his privileges and duties
HOMILETICS
Exo 30:12-16
The atonement money.
Remark three things:
I. THE ATONEMENT MONEY WAS REQUIRED OF ALL. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jn 1:8). There was to be no exemption. Moses and Aaron were to bring their half-shekel no less than the others; the priests had to make the offering, just the same as the laity; the rulers, as much as the common people. The lesson taught was, that every soul was guilty before Godall unclean in his sight, who “is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity”all in need of pardon and cleansing. So far there was certainly “no difference” (Rom 3:22). “Every mouth was stopped” (Rom 3:19). Boasting was excludedthe right attitude of the soul towards God shown to be one of humility, deprecation, penitence.
II. THE SAME ATONEMENT MONEY WAS REQUIRED OF EACH. It is true to say, that all men equally are guilty in God’s sight; but it would not be true to say that all are equally guilty. Yet the same atonement was required of all. “The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less.” This marks that one and the same atonement is required, whatever be the degree of a man’s guilt, whether he be (so far as is possible) “a just man needing no repentance,” or “the chief of sinners.” On the man’s part is required in every case “repentance and faith;” these, however, cannot atone. The true “atonement money,” the true “redemption,” the real “ransom of souls,” is the death of Christone and the same for allnecessary for allnot too much for the least, not too little for the most guilty; but “a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.” it saves all that trust in itsaves them from wrath and deathsaves them from sinatones for themputs them “at one” with the Father.
III. THE ATONEMENT WAS TO BE KEPT IN MEND, TO BE FOR A PERPETUAL MEMORIAL. There are those who are content to acknowledge that Christ has died for them, and has saved them, who yet object to giving the fact, what they call, undue prominency. They would acknowledge it once for all, and then have done with it. But this is not the general teaching of the Bible, nor is it that of the present passage. The “atonement money” was to be so employed as to be “a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord” perpetually. They were to have the shapes of silver, into which it had been cast, ever before their eyes. And assuredly there is nothing in the whole range of spiritual facts which deserves such continual remembrance, such constant dwelling upon in thought, as the atonement made for us by Christ. Herein alone have we hope, trust, confidence. Hereby alone are we saved. The cross of Christ should be ever before the Christian’s eye, mind, heart. He should not for a moment forget it, much less be ashamed of it.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
Exo 30:11-16
The numbering of Israel and their ransom.
I. THE NUMBERING OF THE PEOPLE, AN EMBLEM OF THE JUDGMENT. God’s claims were brought home to them; their unworthiness was contrasted with the place assigned to them as the people whom God had visited with his light and salvation. When we remember that we are the Lord’s, and the light of that just claim is shed upon our life, it is to our shame and confusion. But life will be read at last in this very light!
II. THE ATONEMENT WHICH SHIELDS US.
1. It is a ransom for the life: “that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them.” God’s wrath will not smite if this be provided.
2. it must be given from one’s own in that judgment day. Christ to avail us then must have been made ours by faith. It must be Christ in us.
3. It is required from all. None are guiltless.
4. The same is demanded from each. All alike are in themselves lost and under God’s wrath.
5. The atonement is for the service of the tabernacle. The changed life of God’s people through the indwelling of Christ is for God’s service now, and the manifestation of his glory hereafter.U.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 30:11-17
The atonement money.
It pertained to the full admission of Israel to theocratic privilege, that, the nation as a whole having been admitted into covenant, a formal registration should be made of at least the grown part of the community. Directions were accordingly issued for the taking of a census, which had also in view a more complete military organisation of the nation than as yet existed. The males of the tribes from twenty years old and upwards were to be made to pass before Jehovah, and were to be regularly counted and enrolled as members of the holy commonwealth. This act, however, which involved a near approach to Jehovah, and was on the part of the individual an entrance into the full rights of his citizenship, called for some new recognition of the principle of atonement on which the covenant was built. Hence the ordinance that each individual of those who were numbered should make an offering of half a shekel of silver, as a ransom or atonement for his soul (Exo 30:15). The silver thus obtained was to go for the service of the tabernacle (Exo 30:16). On which observe
1. The money was money of atonement. It was paid in ransom for life. If we seek the principle on which the ransoming proceeds, we must view the half shekel in the light of the practice of commutation. In strictness, atonement could be made only by blood. Here, as in other cases, the animal sacrifice is commuted for money, and the money, in virtue of that for which it is commuted, is admitted as atonement. The purpose to which the silver was to be applied required that the ransom should take this form.
2. All were to be taxed alike. “The rich shall not give more, nor the poor less” (Exo 30:15). This intimates that, as respects his need of atonement, no man has any advantage over his neighbours. “There is no difference” (Rom 3:22). It intimates, too, the essential equality of men in the eyes of God.
3. The money was to be applied to the work of the tabernacle. The greater part of it was used in making the silver sockets for the dwelling-place (Exo 38:27). Thus
(1) the tabernaclesymbol of God’s kingdom in Israelwas founded on the silver of atonement. This, surely, was a profound testimony to the fact that only on the basis of atonement can communion exist between heaven and earth.
(2) Each Israelite was individually represented in Jehovah’s sanctuary. His tribute money formed part of it. He had a stake and interest in it. The honour was great: not less so the responsibility.J.O.
How sweet that scripture! 1Ti 2:6 .
the LORD spake. See note on Exo 6:10 with Exo 3:7.
the Atonement Money and the Laver
Exo 30:11-21
The atonement money was paid by all alike, to remind them that they were a redeemed race, and that so far as their value was concerned, neither rank, nor age, nor money made any difference. See Rom 3:22-24; Rom 10:12-13. The rich might not give more, lest he be made proud; the poor must not give less, so that he might be leveled up by the common mercy of God.
The laver reminds us of our need of daily washing. See Joh 13:1-38. It is very necessary to our peace and strength to repair constantly to Christ with confession and prayer. See 1Jn 1:6-7. The laver was made out of the looking-glasses of the women. See Exo 38:8. It was a good use for them, and was altogether appropriate, for the Word of God is compared to a mirror for its revealing qualities, and to water for cleansing. See Jam 1:23; Eph 5:26.
Reciprocal: Neh 10:32 – the third part
Exo 30:11. The Lord spake unto Moses Perhaps the repetition of those words here and afterward, (Exo 30:17; Exo 30:22; Exo 30:34,) intimates, that God did not deliver these precepts to Moses in a continued discourse, but with many intermissions, giving him time either to write what was said to him, or at least to charge his memory with it.
The atonement money 30:11-16
The directions regarding the tabernacle opened with instructions concerning contributions for its construction (Exo 25:1-9). They close with this directive that every Israelite 20 years or older was to pay a flat fee of half a shekel during Israel’s census for the tabernacle’s maintenance (Num 1:2; Num 26:2). Everyone was to pay the same amount because the cost of everyone’s atonement was the same in the Lord’s sight.
"It was no ordinary tribute, therefore, which Israel was to pay to Jehovah as its King, but an act demanded by the holiness of the theocratic covenant. As an expiation for souls, it pointed to the unholiness of Israel’s nature, and reminded the people continually, that by nature it was alienated from God, and could only remain in covenant with the Lord and live in His kingdom on the ground of His grace, which covered its sin." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 2:212.]
Israel’s leaders collected this money whenever they took a census. In time it became a yearly "temple tax" (Mat 17:24). A half shekel weighed .2 ounces (6 grams), and it was silver. "Money" in Exo 30:16 is literally "silver." In our Lord’s day it amounted to two days wages (Mat 17:24). Evidently the taking of a census incurred some guilt (Exo 30:12). Perhaps it reflected lack of complete trust in God to multiply the nation as He had promised (cf. 2 Samuel 24).
"Do you recognize that you belong to a redeemed world? Even if all do not avail themselves of the Redemption which has been achieved, yet it is available for all; and more benefits than we can ever estimate are always accruing since God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." [Note: Meyer, p. 391.]
THE CENSUS.
Exo 30:11-16.
Moses by Divine command was soon to number Israel, and thus to lay the foundation for its organisation upon the march. A census was not, therefore, supposed to be presumptuous or sinful in itself; it was the vain-glory of David’s census which was culpable.
But the honour of being numbered among the people of God should awaken a sense of unworthiness. Men had reason to fear lest the enrolment of such as they were in the host of God should produce a pestilence to sweep out the unclean from among the righteous. At least they must make some practical admission of their demerit. And therefore every man of twenty years who passed over unto them that were numbered (it is a picturesque glimpse that is here given into the method of enrolment) should offer for his soul a ransom of half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary. And because it was a ransom, the tribute was the same for all; the poor might not bring less, nor the rich more. Here was a grand assertion of the equality of all souls in the eyes of God–a seed which long ages might overlook, but which was sure to fructify in its appointed time.
For indeed the madness of modern levelling systems is only their attempt to level down instead of up, their dream that absolute equality can be obtained, or being obtained can be made a blessing, by the envious demolition of all that is lofty, and not by all together claiming the supreme elevation, the measure of the stature of manhood in Jesus Christ.
It is not in any phalanstere of Fourier or Harmony Hall of Owen, that mankind will ever learn to break a common bread and drink of a common cup; it is at the table of a common Lord.
And so this first assertion of the equality of man was given to those who all ate the same spiritual meat and drank the same spiritual drink.
This half-shekel gradually became an annual impost, levied for the great expenses of the Temple. “Thus Joash made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses, the servant of God, laid upon Israel in the wilderness” (2Ch 24:9).
And it was the claim for this impost, too rashly conceded by Peter with regard to his Master, which led Jesus to distinguish clearly between His own relation to God and that of others, even of the chosen race.
He paid no ransom for His soul. He was a Son, in a sense in which no other, even of the Jews, could claim to be so. Now, the kings of the earth did not levy tribute from their sons; so that, if Christ paid, it was not to fulfil a duty, but to avoid being an offence. And God Himself would provide, directly and miraculously, what He did not demand from Jesus. Therefore it was that, on this one occasion and no other, Christ Who sought figs when hungry, and when athirst asked water at alien hands, met His own personal requirement by a miracle, as if to protest in deed, as in word, against any burden from such an obligation as Peter’s rashness had conceded.
And yet, with that marvellous condescension which shone most brightly when He most asserted His prerogative, He admitted Peter also to a share in this miraculous redemption-money, as He admits us all to a share in His glory in the skies. Is it not He only Who can redeem His brother, and give to God a ransom for him?
It is the silver thus levied which was used in the construction of the sanctuary. All the other materials were free-will offerings; but even as the entire tabernacle was based upon the ponderous sockets into which the boards were fitted, made of the silver of this tax, so do all our glad and willing services depend upon this fundamental truth, that we are unworthy even to be reckoned His, that we owe before we can bestow, that we are only allowed to offer any gift because He is so merciful in His demand. Israel gladly brought much more than was needed of all things precious. But first, as an absolutely imperative ransom, God demanded from each soul the half of three shillings and seven pence.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary