Numbers 3:47

47 you are to collect five shekels ^[a] for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel of twenty gerahs. ^[b]

Numbers 3:47 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 3:47

Thou shall even take five shekels apiece the poll
Or head; every firstborn, or his parent for him, was bound to pay five shekels, which were about eleven or twelve shillings of our money, and which was afterwards settled as the price of such a redemption, ( Numbers 18:16 ) ;

after the shekel of the sanctuary shall thou take [them];
being full weight according to the standard there kept:

the shekel [is] twenty gerahs; (See Gill on Leviticus 27:25).

Numbers 3:47 In-Context

45 “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites belong to Me; I am the LORD.

46 To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites,

47 you are to collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel of twenty gerahs.

48 Give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for the excess among the Israelites.”

49 So Moses collected the redemption money from those in excess of the number redeemed by the Levites.

Footnotes

• [a]. 5 shekels is approximately 2 ounces or 57 grams.
• [b]. 20 gerahs is equivalent to one shekel (approximately 0.4 ounces or 11.4 grams).