Numbers 18:16

16 You will pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver by the standard sanctuary shekel, which is 20 gerahs.[a]

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 "Everything in Israel that is permanently dedicated [to the Lord] belongs to you.
15 The firstborn of every living thing, man or animal, presented to the Lord belongs to you. But you must certainly redeem the firstborn of man, and redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal.
16 You will pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver by the standard sanctuary shekel, which is 20 gerahs.
17 "However, you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a fire offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
18 But their meat belongs to you. It belongs to you like the breast of the presentation offering and the right thigh.

Footnotes 1

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