Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 38:24

All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy [place], even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

24. The gold. This amounted to 29 talents, and 730 shekels, or (as the talent contained Exo 3000 shekels) 87,730 shekels, i.e. if the ‘sacred’ shekel (p. 333) weighed 224 grs., c. 40,940 oz. troy, which, even at the present value of gold, would be worth nearly 160,000.

the offering ] properly, the wave-offering; see on Exo 35:22. So v. 29.

the sacred shekel ] See on Exo 30:13; and cf. DB. iv. 906 a .

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Of the holy place – Rather, of the sanctuary. The gold was employed not only in the holy place, but in the most holy place and in the entrance to the tent Exo 36:38.

The gold of the offering – The gold of the wave offering.

Talents … the shekel of the sanctuary – The shekel was the common standard of weight and value with the Hebrews: and is probably to be estimated at 220 English grains (just over half an ounce avoirdupois) and its value in silver as 2s. 7d. The shekel of the sanctuary (or, the holy shekel) would seem to denote no more than an exact shekel, after the kings weight 2Sa 14:26, current money with the merchant Gen 23:16.

In the reign of Joash, a collection similar to that here mentioned, apparently at the same rate of capitation, was made for the repairs of the temple 2Ch 24:9. The tax of later times, called didrachma, stater, Mat 17:27, was not, like this and that of Joash, a collection for a special occasion, but a yearly tax, for the support of the temple, of a whole shekel. See also Exo 30:13.

The talent contained 3,000 shekels, as may be gathered from Exo 38:25-26. According to the computation here adopted, the Hebrew talent was 94 2/7 lbs. avoirdupois. The Greek (Aeginetan) talent, from which the Septuagint and most succeeding versions have taken the name talent, was 82 1/4 lbs. The original Hebrew word, kkar, would denote a circular mass, and nearly the same word, kerker, was in use among the Egyptians for a mass of metal cast in the form of a massive ring with its weight stamped upon it.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 24. All the gold that was occupied for the work, c.] To be able to ascertain the quantum and value of the gold, silver, and brass, which were employed in the tabernacle, and its different utensils, altars, c., it will be necessary to enter into the subject in considerable detail.

In the course of my notes on this and the preceding book, I have had frequent occasion to speak of the shekel in use among the ancient Hebrews, which, following Dean Prideaux, I have always computed at 3s. English. As some value it at 2s. 6d., and others at 2s. 4d., I think it necessary to lay before the reader the learned dean’s mode of computation as a proper introduction to the calculations which immediately follow.

“Among the ancients, the way of reckoning their money was by talents. So the Hebrews, so the Babylonians, and so the Romans did reckon. And of these talents they had subdivisions which were usually in minas and drachms i.e., of their talents into minas, and their minas into drachms. The Hebrews had, besides these, their shekels and half-shekels, or bekas and the Romans their denarii, which last were very nearly of the same value with the drachms of the Greeks. What was the value of a Hebrew talent appears from Ex 38:25-26, for there 603,550 persons being taxed at half a shekel a head, they must have paid in the whole 301,775 shekels; and that sum is there said to amount to one hundred talents, and 1775 shekels over: if therefore we deduct the 1775 shekels from the number 301,775, and divide the remaining sum, i.e., 300,000, by a hundred, this will prove each of those talents to contain three thousand shekels. Each of these shekels weighed about three shillings of our money; and sixty of them, Ezekiel tells us, Eze 45:12, made a mina; and therefore fifty of those minas made a talent. And as to their drachms, it appears by the Gospel of St. Matthew that it was the fourth part of a shekel, that is, nine-pence of our money. For there (Mt 17:24) the tribute money annually paid to the temple, by every Jew, (Talmud in shekalim,) which was half a shekel, is called (i.e., the two drachm piece;) and therefore, if half a shekel contained two drachms, a drachm must have been the quarter part of a shekel, and every shekel must have contained four of them: and so Josephus tells us it did; for he says, Antiq., lib. iii., c. 9, that a shekel contained four Attic drachms, which is not exactly to be understood according to the weight, but according to the valuation in the currency of common payments. For according to the weight, the heaviest Attic drachms did not exceed eight-pence farthing half-farthing, of our money; and a Hebrew drachm, as I have said, was nine-pence; but what the Attic drachm fell short of the Hebrew in weight might be made up in the fineness, and its ready currency in all countries, (which last the Hebrew drachm could not have,) and so might be made equivalent in common estimation among the Jews. Allowing therefore a drachm, as well Attic as Jewish, as valued in Judea, to be equivalent to nine-pence of our money, a BEKA or half-shekel will be one shilling and six-pence; a SHEKEL, three shillings; a MINA, nine pounds; and a TALENT, four hundred and fifty pounds. So it was in the time of Moses and Ezekiel; and so was it in the time of Josephus among that people, for he tells us, Antiq., lib. xiv., c. 12, that a Hebrew mina contained two LITRAS and a half, which comes exactly to nine pounds of our money: for a litra, being the same with a Roman libra, contained twelve ounces troy weight, that is, ninety-six drachms; and therefore two litras and a half must contain two hundred and forty drachms, which being estimated at nine-pence a drachm, according to the Jewish valuation, comes exactly to sixty shekels, or nine pounds of our money. And this account agrees exactly with that of Alexandria. For the Alexandrian talent contained 12,000 Attic drachms; and 12,000 Attic drachms, according to the Jewish valuation, being 12,000 of our nine-pences, they amount to 450 pounds of sterling money, which is the same in value as the Mosaic talent. But here it is to be observed, that though the Alexandrian talent amounted to 12,000 Attic drachms, yet they themselves reckoned it but at 6000 drachms, because every Alexandrian drachm contained two Attic drachms; and therefore the Septuagint version being made by the Alexandrian Jews, they there render the Hebrew word shekel, by the Greek , which signifies two drachms, because two Alexandrian drachms make a shekel, two of them amounting to as much as four Attic drachms. And therefore computing the Alexandrian money according to the same method in which we have computed the Jewish, it will be as follows: One drachm of Alexandria will be of our money eighteen pence; one didrachm or shekel, consisting of two drachms of Alexandria, or four of Attica, will be three shillings; one mina, consisting of sixty didrachms or shekels, will be nine pounds; and one talent, consisting of fifty minas, will be four hundred and fifty pounds, which is the talent of Moses, Ex 38:25-26: and so also is it the talent of Josephus, Antiq., lib. iii., c. 7; for he tells us that a Hebrew talent contained one hundred Greek (i.e., Attic) minas. For those fifty minas, which here make an Alexandrian talent, would be one hundred Attic minas in the like method of valuation; the Alexandrian talent containing double as much as the Attic talent, both in the whole, and also in all its parts, in whatever method both shall be equally distributed. Among the Greeks the established rule was, Jul. Pollux, Onomast., lib. x., c. 6, that one hundred drachms made a mina, and sixty minas a talent. But in some different states their drachms being different, accordingly their minas and talents were within the same proportion different also. But the money of Attica was the standard by which all the rest were valued, according as they more or less differed from it. And therefore, it being of most note, wherever any Greek historian speaks of talents, minas, or drachms, if they be simply mentioned, it is to be always understood of talents, minas, or drachms of Attica, and never of the talents, minas, or drachms of any other place, unless it be expressed. Mr. Brerewood, going by the goldsmith’s weights, reckons an Attic drachm to be the same with a drachm now in use in their shops, that is, the eighth part of an ounce; and therefore lays it at the value of seven-pence halfpenny of our money, or the eighth part of a crown, which is or ought to be an ounce weight. But Dr. Bernard, going more accurately to work, lays the middle sort of Attic drachms at eight-pence farthing of our money, and the minas and talents accordingly, in the proportions above mentioned. The Babylonish talent, according to Pollux, Onomast., lib. x., c. 6, contained seven thousand of those drachms. The Roman talent (see Festus Pompeius) contained seventy-two Italic minas, which were the same with the Roman libras; and ninety-six Roman denariuses, each being of the value of seven-pence halfpenny of our money, made a Roman libra. But all the valuations I have hitherto mentioned must be understood only of silver money, and not of gold; for that was much higher. The proportion of gold to silver was among the ancients commonly as ten to one; sometimes it was raised to be as eleven to one, sometimes as twelve, and sometimes as thirteen to one. In the time of King Edward the First it was here, in England, at the value of ten to one; but it is now gotten at sixteen to one; and so I value it in all the reductions which I make in this history of ancient sums to the present value. But to make the whole of this matter the easier to the reader, I will lay all of it before him for his clear view in this following table of valuations: –

HEBREW money		s.	d.
A Hebrew drachm…………………	9
Two drachms made a beka or half-shekel, which was the tribute money paid by every Jew to the temple…………….		1	6
Two bekas made a shekel………….		3	0
Sixty shekels made a mina………..	9	0	0
Fifty minas made a talent………..	450	0	0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one….	7200	0	0
ATTIC money, according to Mr. BREREWOOD
An Attic drachm………………..			7
A hundred drachms made a mina……	3	2	6
Sixty minas made a talent……….	187	10	0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one…	3000	0	0
ATTIC money, according to Dr. BERNARD
An Attic drachm………………..			8
A hundred drachms made a mina……	3	8	9
Sixty minas made a talent……….	206	5	0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one…	3300	0	0
BABYLONISH money, according to Mr. BREREWOOD
A Babylonish talent of silver containing seven thousand Attic drachms………………………	218	15	0
A Babylonish talent in gold, sixteen to one………………..	3500	0	0
BABYLONISH money, according to Dr. BERNARD
A Babylonish talent in silver……	240	12	6
A Babylonish talent in gold, sixteen to one……………….	3850	0	0
ALEXANDRIAN money		s.	d.
A drachm of Alexandria, containing two Attic drachms, as valued by the Jews………………………		1	6
A didrachm of Alexandria, containing two Alexandrian drachms, which was a Hebrew shekel………………….		3	0
Sixty didrachms or Hebrew shekels made a mina…………	9	0	0
Fifty minas made a talent……….	450	0	0
A talent of gold, sixteen to one…	7200	0	0
ROMAN money
Four sesterciuses made a Roman denarius…………………			7
Ninety-six Roman denariuses made an Italic mina, which was the same with a Roman libra……….	3	0	0
Seventy-two Roman libras made a talent……………………	216	0	0
See the Old and New Testament connected, c. Vol. 1., preface, pp. xx-xxvii.

There were twenty-nine talents seven hundred and thirty shekels of GOLD one hundred talents one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels of SILVER; and seventy talents two thousand four hundred shekels of BRASS.

If with Dean Prideaux we estimate the value of the silver shekel at three shillings English, we shall obtain the weight of the shekel by making use of the following proportion. As sixty-two shillings, the value of a pound weight of silver as settled by the British laws, is to two hundred and forty, the number of penny-weights in a pound troy, so is three shillings, the value of a shekel of silver, to 11 dwts. 14 22/31 grains, the weight of the shekel required.

In the next place, to find the value of a shekel of gold we must make use of the proportion following: As one ounce troy is to 3. 17s. 10d., the legal value of an ounce of gold, so is 11 dwts. 14 22/31 grains, the weight of the shekel as found by the last proportion, to 2. 5s. 2 42/93d., the value of the shekel of gold required. From this datum we shall soon be able to ascertain the value of all the gold employed in the work of this holy place, by the following arithmetical process: Reduce 2. 5s. 2 42/93d. to the lowest term mentioned, which is 201,852 ninety-third parts of a farthing. Multiply this last number by 3000, the number of shekels in a talent, and the product by 29, the number of talents; and add in 730 times 201,852, on account of the 730 shekels which were above the 29 talents employed in the work, and we shall have for the last product 17,708,475,960, which, divided successively by 93, 4, 12, and 20, will give 198,347. 12s. 6d. for the total value of the gold employed in the tabernacle, &c.

The value of the silver contributed by 603,550 Israelites, at half a shekel or eighteen pence per man, may be found by an easy arithmetical calculation to amount to 45,266. 5s.

The value of the brass at 1s. per pound will amount to 513. 17s.

The GOLD of the holy place weighed 4245 pounds.

The SILVER of the tabernacle 14,602 pounds.

The BRASS 10,277 pounds troy weight,

The total value of all the gold, silver, and brass of the tabernacle will consequently amount to 244,127. 14s. 6d. And the total weight of all these three metals amounts to 29,124 pounds troy, which, reduced to avoirdupois weight, is nearly ten tons and a half. When all this is considered, besides the quantity of gold which was employed in the golden calf, and which was all destroyed, it is no wonder that the sacred text should say the Hebrews spoiled the Egyptians, particularly as in those early times the precious metals were probably not very plentiful in Egypt.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Every talent contained three thousand shekels. See Gen 23:15; Exo 30:13. It is not said that all this gold and following silver were used about the building of the tabernacle, for the people brought much more than enough, Exo 36:5. And these remains, it is probable, were put into the sacred treasury, to be used as occasion should require.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

24. twenty and nine talents, andseven hundred and thirty shekelsequivalent to 150,00sterling.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

All the gold that was occupied for the work, in all the work of the [place],…. That was expended in making the mercy seat and cherubim, and the candlestick, which were all of pure gold; besides other things belonging to the ark and shewbread table; and the plates, with which the ark and many other things were covered or glided:

even the gold of the offering; which the people brought and offered freely; as their bracelets, earrings, and jewels of gold, Ex 35:22

was twenty nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: now as it is clear from

Ex 38:25 that a talent is of the value of 3000 shekels, which, according to Brerewood, amount to three hundred and seventy five pounds of our money; and reckoning as he does the value of gold to be twelve times that of silver, a talent of gold, with him, is, of our money, 4500 pounds; so that twenty nine talents, seven hundred and thirty shekels, are reckoned by him at 131,595 pounds m; but according to Dr. Cumberland n, who is more exact in his calculation, and who reckons a talent of silver at three hundred and fifty three pounds, eleven shillings, and ten pence halfpenny, and the value of gold to be fourteen times that of silver; so that a talent of gold is, with him, 5067 pounds, three shillings, and ten pence; wherefore this whole sum of gold expended in the tabernacle, according to him, amounted to 148,719 pounds sterling: and, according to Waserus o, the amount of the whole is 350,920 Hungarian ducats, which make three tons and a half of gold, and nine hundred and twenty ducats: when one considers the distressed case of the Israelites in Egypt, their late deliverance from thence, and the desert in which they were, it may be wondered how they came by these riches, here and after mentioned; but when it is observed, the riches of their ancestors, particularly what Joseph got in Egypt, which descended to their posterity; the repayment of the labour of the Israelites at their departure, with what they borrowed of the Egyptians, and what they found upon their carcasses when cast up by the Red sea, it will in a good measure be accounted for; to which may be added, that, according to Jerom p, there were, eleven miles from Mount Horeb in the wilderness, fruitful mountains of gold; called Catachrysea.

m De Ponder. & pretiis. Vet. Num. c. 4, 5. n Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 4. p. 120, 121. o De Antiqu. Numis. l. 2. c. 18. p De locis Heb. fol. 90. A.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 24-31:

The quantity of the precious- metals used in the construction of the tabernacle is awesome. It is impossible to determine with precise accuracy the exact total, due to the variation of weights of that time. However, the following standard of weights is generally accepted:

Talent: about 75.5 pounds.

Shekel (of the sanctuary): about .35 ounces.

Using these figures, the quantity of gold is calculated to be about 2,241.25 pounds, or 26,895.25 troy weight (12 oz. per pound). Calculating at the current (1984) average price of gold at roughly $390 per oz., today’s value of the gold alone would be more than $10.5 million dollars. This tremendous quantity of gold was necessary, in that the huge boards for the walls were to be overlaid with gold, and all the furniture for the tabernacle was to be covered with gold as well. The cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat were to be of beaten gold. The lampstand was to be of one talent of gold.

The silver used in the tabernacle was to be collected as a “ransom” from Israel’s males, Ex 30:11-16. One hundred talents of silver were used to make the one hundred sockets for the tabernacle boards and pillars. This was a total of roughly 755 pounds, or 9,060 troy oz. At the modern (1984) figure of $9.00 per ounce, the monetary value of these sockets alone was roughly $80,634.

The hooks used to fasten the various curtains and hangings weighed 1775 shekels. At .35 oz. per shekel, this calculates at 621.25 troy oz., a monetary value of almost $5,600.00.

In addition to the gold and silver, a considerable quantity of “brass” or copper was used in the tabernacle. The total troy weight of copper was almost 5,300 pounds. Copper was used in the overlay for the altar of burnt offering, for the laver, for the sockets for the pillars of the outer courtyard, and the pins for the curtains of the court.

Israel secured this wealth when they left Egypt, see Ex 3:21, 22; 11:2; 12:35, 36.

The great quantity of materials, and their total value, teaches an important principle: God is deserving of the very best His people have, in their worship and service of Him.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(24) All the gold that was occupied for the Work.Rather, that was made use of for the work.

The gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents.The gold talent is estimated by Poole as = 10,000 shekels, and the gold shekel as worth about 1 2s. of our money. In this case the gold employed in the Tabernacle would have been worth nearly 320,000. Some, however, reduce the estimate to 175,000 (Cook), and others to 132,000 (Thenius). In any case the amount was remarkable, and indicated at once the liberal spirit which animated the people and the general feeling that a lavish expenditure was required by the occasion. There is no difficulty in supposing that the Israelites possessed at the time gold to the (highest) value estimated, since they had carried with them out of Egypt, besides their ancestral wealth, a vast amount of gold and silver ornaments, freely given to them by the Egyptians (Exo. 3:22; Exo. 12:35-36).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Exo 38:24. All the goldwas twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels Allowing 5250. to a talent of gold, and thirty-five shillings to a shekel of gold, this sum will be found to amount to upwards of 150,000. English. See Cumberland’s Scripture-weights, ch. 4. See also note on ch. Exo 25:39.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

offering wave offering. Hebrew. tenuphah. See Exo 29:27, and App-43.

talents. See App-51.

shekel. See App-51.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

All the gold: If we follow the estimation of the learned Dean Prideaux, the value of the twenty-nine talents, and 730 shekels of gold, will be 198,347. 12s. 6d. The value of the silver contributed by 603,550; Israelites, at half a shekel, or 1s. 6d. per man, will amount to 45,266. 5s. The value of the 70 talents, 2,400 shekels of brass, will be 513. 17s. The gold weighed 4,245 pounds; the silver, 14,603 pounds; and the brass, 10,277 pounds, troy weight. The total value of all the gold, silver, and brass, will consequently amount to 244,127. 14s. 6d.; and the total weight of these three metals will amount to 29,124 pounds troy, which reduced to avoirdupois weight, is equal to fourteen tons, 226 pounds! – It may, perhaps, seem difficult to imagine how the Israelites should be possessed of so much wealth in the desert; but it should be remembered, that their ancestors were opulent men before they came into Egypt; that they were further enriched by the spoils of the Egyptians and Amalekites; and that it is probable, they traded with the neighbouring nations who bordered on the wilderness. There appear to be three reasons why so much riches should have been employed in the construction of the tabernacle, etc.

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.

3. To prevent pride and vain glory, by leading them to give up to the divine service even the ornaments of their persons. 1Ch 22:14-16, 1Ch 29:2-7, Hag 2:8

offering: Exo 25:2, Exo 29:24, Exo 35:22

the shekel: Exo 30:13, Exo 30:14, Exo 30:24, Lev 5:15, Lev 27:3, Lev 27:25, Num 3:47, Num 18:16

Reciprocal: Num 3:25 – the charge 2Ki 5:22 – a talent

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge