Exodus 30:13

13 `This they do give, every one passing over unto those numbered, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel [is] twenty gerahs); half a shekel [is] the heave-offering to Jehovah;

Exodus 30:13 Meaning and Commentary

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 everyone gave the half shekel, and by counting them the number was known, as follows:

half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary;
that is, after the standard of a shekel kept in the sanctuary as a rule for all; and so Jarchi paraphrases it,

``according to the weight of a shekel, which I have fixed for thee to weigh, the shekel of the sanctuary.''

It was about fourteen pence: a shekel is twenty gerahs; a gerah being the twentieth part of a shekel, it was not quite three halfpence of our money:

an half shekel [shall be] the offering of the Lord;
which was to be offered to him for the ransom of souls, whose lives were forfeited by sin; and of the redemption of which this was an acknowledgment; and was typical of the ransom price of souls by Christ, which is not silver or gold, but his precious blood, his life, himself, which is given as an offering and sacrifice to God, in the room and stead of his people; and which is given to God, against whom sin is committed, the lawgiver, whose law is broken, the Judge, whose justice must be satisfied, and the creditor, to whom the price must be paid.

Exodus 30:13 In-Context

11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

12 `When thou takest up the sum of the sons of Israel for their numbers, then they have given each an atonement [for] his soul to Jehovah in their being numbered, and there is no plague among them in their being numbered.

13 `This they do give, every one passing over unto those numbered, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel [is] twenty gerahs); half a shekel [is] the heave-offering to Jehovah;

14 every one passing over unto those numbered, from a son of twenty years and upwards, doth give the heave-offering of Jehovah;

15 the rich doth not multiply, and the poor doth not diminish from the half-shekel, to give the heave-offering of Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls.