Exodus 38

(Exodus 27:9–19)

9–20 See Exodus 27:9–19 and comment.

The Materials Used (38:21–31

21–31 The weight of the precious metals used in the construction of the tabernacle was very great: one ton of gold, over three tons of silver and over two tons of bronze.

But of additional interest is the fact that the silver came from the half-shekel redemption price (atonement money) that all Israelite males over twenty years of age had to pay (see Exodus 30:11–16 and comment). According to verse 25, the silver collected from all males over twenty was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. Since there were 3,000 shekels in a talent, that made a total of 301,775 shekels of silver. Since each man over twenty gave half a shekel—a beka—the total number of men over twenty was 603,550 (see Numbers 1:46). This suggests, then, that the total Israelite population at that time was approximately two million.