Exodus 30:13

13 And this is what they shall give, as many as pass the survey, half a didrachm which is according to the didrachm of the sanctuary: twenty oboli the didrachm, but the half of the didrachm is the offering to the Lord.

Exodus 30:13 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 30:13

This they shall give, everyone that passeth among them
that are numbered
And their number, according to Jarchi, was known by what was paid; for he says the sum was taken not by heads, but everyone gave the half shekel, and by counting them the number was known, as follows:

half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary;
that is, after the standard of a shekel kept in the sanctuary as a rule for all; and so Jarchi paraphrases it,

``according to the weight of a shekel, which I have fixed for thee to weigh, the shekel of the sanctuary.''

It was about fourteen pence: a shekel is twenty gerahs; a gerah being the twentieth part of a shekel, it was not quite three halfpence of our money:

an half shekel [shall be] the offering of the Lord;
which was to be offered to him for the ransom of souls, whose lives were forfeited by sin; and of the redemption of which this was an acknowledgment; and was typical of the ransom price of souls by Christ, which is not silver or gold, but his precious blood, his life, himself, which is given as an offering and sacrifice to God, in the room and stead of his people; and which is given to God, against whom sin is committed, the lawgiver, whose law is broken, the Judge, whose justice must be satisfied, and the creditor, to whom the price must be paid.

Exodus 30:13 In-Context

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

12 If thou take account of the children of Israel in the surveying of them, and they shall give every one a ransom for his soul to the Lord, then there shall not be among them a destruction in the visiting of them.

13 And this is what they shall give, as many as pass the survey, half a didrachm which is according to the didrachm of the sanctuary: twenty oboli the didrachm, but the half of the didrachm is the offering to the Lord.

14 Every one that passes the survey from twenty years old and upwards shall give the offering to the Lord.

15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half didrachm in giving the offering to the Lord, to make atonement for your souls.