Numbers 18:16

16 Their redemption price, reckoned from one month of age, you shall fix at five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (that is, twenty gerahs).

Numbers 18:16 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 18:16

And those that are to be redeemed
Which is to be understood not of unclean beasts last mentioned, for they were redeemed with lambs and not with money; and after they were eight days and not a month old, as follows, ( Exodus 13:13 ) ( 22:30 ) ; but of the firstborn of men:

from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation:
that is, take the redemption money next mentioned; and though both time and price are fixed, yet said to be according to the estimation of the priest; see ( Leviticus 27:5 Leviticus 27:6 ) ;

for the money of five shekels;
which was about eleven or twelve shillings of our money, and is the price given for the redemption of the firstborn, when the Levites were taken in their stead, ( Numbers 3:47 ) ;

after the shekel of the sanctuary, which [is] twenty gerahs,
(See Gill on Numbers 3:47); of the manner of redeeming the firstborn, (See Gill on Exodus 13:15).

Numbers 18:16 In-Context

14 Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.

15 The first issue of the womb of all creatures, human and animal, which is offered to the Lord, shall be yours; but the firstborn of human beings you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

16 Their redemption price, reckoned from one month of age, you shall fix at five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (that is, twenty gerahs).

17 But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall dash their blood on the altar, and shall turn their fat into smoke as an offering by fire for a pleasing odor to the Lord;

18 but their flesh shall be yours, just as the breast that is elevated and as the right thigh are yours.