Numbers 3:47

47 you shall take ¹five shekels^[a] per head; you shall take them according to ²the shekel of the sanctuary (the 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 instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.

46 And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites,

47 you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs),

48 and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over."

49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 18:16; Leviticus 27:6
• 2. See Exodus 30:13

Footnotes

• [a]. A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
• [b]. A gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram