Exodus 30:12

12 "When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered.

Exodus 30:12 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 30:12

When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, after
their number
An account of them, how many they are; which was sometimes done, and was proper to be done, especially in time of war; though the present case seems to be for the sake of raising money for the tabernacle and the service of it:

then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord,
when thou numberest them;
which was not done yearly, nor was it perpetual; we have but two instances of it after this until the times of David, ( Numbers 1:2 ) ( 26:2 ) yet it seems to have been a yearly tax or tribute, in the times of Christ, (See Gill on Matthew 17:24) (See Gill on Matthew 21:12); and in the Misnah is a whole treatise called "Shekalim", in which an account is given of the time and manner of collecting this ransom money, and for what uses, and who were obliged to pay it, and who not; on the first of Adar (or February) they proclaimed concerning the payment of it, on the fifteenth the tables were set for that purpose, and on the twenty fifth the proper persons sat in the sanctuary to receive it F23: this was typical of the ransom of souls by Christ, who are not all the world, for they are ransomed out of it, but Israelites, the whole mystical Israel of God, and are a numbered people; their names are written in the book of life, they are told into the hands of Christ, are exactly known by God and Christ; and these are many and even numberless to men:

that there be no plague amongst them when thou numberest them;
as there was when David numbered them; which some have thought was owing to the non-payment of the ransom money after mentioned; the Septuagint version is, "no fall", the ransom of souls by Christ preserves them from a total and final fall by sin into everlasting ruin and destruction; or, "no death" as the Targum of Onkelos, for redemption by Christ secures from the second death, and even from a corporeal death as a penal evil.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Misn. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 1, 3.

Exodus 30:12 In-Context

10 "Once a year Aaron is to perform the purification rite on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he is to perform the purification rite for it once a year, with the blood of the sin offering for atonement. The altar is especially holy to the Lord."
11 The Lord spoke to Moses:
12 "When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered.
13 Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel/ 5 of an ounce of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (20 gerahs to the shekel). This half shekel is a contribution to the Lord.
14 Each man who is registered, 20 years old or more, must give this contribution to the Lord.
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