Numbers 3:47

Num 3:47. Five shekels — Which was the price paid for the redemption of a firstborn a month old.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(47) Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll.—It is not stated in what manner the 273 families of whom the redemption money was exacted were determined. Inasmuch, however, as the law of the redemption of the firstborn by the payment of five shekels came into operation from this time (Num_18:16), it seems probable that the money was exacted in the case of those who had been most recently born; or it may be that the matter was decided by lot.

After the shekel of the sanctuary.—See Exo_30:13, where the expression occurs for the first time, and the value of the shekel is stated, as in this verse.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

47. the shekel of the sanctuary] Perhaps better the sacred shekel. This was the ancient Hebrew-Phoenician shekel. At the time of the writer the official coinage for secular purposes was the Persian-Babylonian, in which the shekel was some 28 grs. heavier. The Hebrew silver shekel used for sacred purposes weighed about 224.6 grs. Its actual value can be roughly estimated from the fact that in our Lord’s time the denarius paid to a labourer for a day’s work (Mat_20:2) weighed 60 grs.

the shekel is twenty gerahs] The parenthetical explanation was needful to distinguish between the sacred and the official coinage. The gçrâh was equivalent to the Greek obolus (which is the rendering in the LXX.), and weighed 11.23 grs. A good account of the Hebrew coinage will be found in Hastings’ DB. iii., art. ‘Money.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed,.... Or the superfluous number, the number of them that exceeded the Levites, namely, two hundred seventy three; the price of their redemption is ordered to be given

unto Aaron, and to his sons; since the Levites were taken in lieu of the firstborn, whose redemption money belonged to the priests; and seeing the Levites were given to Aaron and his sons on that consideration, and there being a deficiency of them to answer to the firstborn, it was but right and just that the redemption price of the superfluous number should be paid to them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Five shekels apiece was the price to be paid for the redemption of a first-born a month old, Num 18:15,16; but this money, though paid for these 273 persons, was probably paid out of the common stock of all, except lots were cast who should pay, which is not probable in so small a concern accompanied with so much trouble.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

47. Shekel of the sanctuary — Or, sacred shekel. Shekel signifies, in the Hebrew, weight in the abstract. But weights soon pass over into a designation of coins, as the English pound. There are in the Old Testament three shekels mentioned — the ordinary shekel, the shekel of the sanctuary, and the shekel after the king’s weight. 2Sa_14:26. It is impossible to show the exact difference between these. According to the best authorities, the shekel was equal to three English shillings, or seventy-four cents. But if we follow the Septuagint, which translates it by διδραχμον, it equals in English currency one shilling seven pence half penny, or thirty-nine cents. In such case all our estimates of weight and value must be proportionally decreased. The latest conclusions, in Smith’s Dictionary, make the silver shekel equal to two hundred and twenty grains, or 220/417 of the Federal dollar, about fifty-three cents. In the sanctuary were kept the standard weights and measures; hence, “the balances of the sanctuary.”

The Jew’s religion touched his ordinary life at every point, as Christianity should its professors.

Twenty gerahs — Gerah is Hebrew, meaning berry, or grain, possibly the seed of the carob-tree. The Mosaic gerah, which is equal to thirteen and seven tenths Paris grains, is equal to four or five beans of the carob, and, according to the Rabbies, to sixteen grains of barley.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Five shekels apiece. This amount had already been fixed Lev_27:6, if indeed this chapter does not belong to a later period as the commutation value of a male child under five years old who had been vowed unto the Lord. If the redeeming of the first-born by the Levites began with the eldest, those that were left over would all be within this age. A shekel. See Exo_30:13.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Five shekels - Which was the price paid for the redemption of a first-born a month old.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.