English Standard Version
Numbers 3:47
47you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs),
Numbers 3:47 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)
- New International Version (NIV)collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.
- New King James Version (NKJV)you shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs.
- New Living Translation (NLT)collect five pieces of silver for each of them (each piece weighing the same as the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs).
Context of Numbers 3:47
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. 46And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs), 48and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over." 49So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites.
Read all of Numbers 3Numbers 3:47 word by word
וְלָקַחְתָּ֗ חֲמֵ֧שֶׁת חֲמֵ֛שֶׁת שְׁקָלִ֖ים לַגֻּלְגֹּ֑לֶת בְּשֶׁ֤קֶל הַקֹּ֙דֶשׁ֙ תִּקָּ֔ח עֶשְׂרִ֥ים גֵּרָ֖ה הַשָּֽׁקֶל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 3:47
- Numbers 18:16And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
- Leviticus 27:6If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver.
- Numbers 3:50From the firstborn of the people of Israel he took the money, 1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
- Exodus 30:13Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.
- Leviticus 27:25Every valuation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall make a shekel.
- Ezekiel 45:12The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
Commentaries on Numbers 3:47
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 44-51Verses 44-51 This redemption money (see the marginal references) would perhaps be exacted from the parents of the “youngest” children of the 22,273 Numbers 3:43. The cattle of the Levites was doubtless taken in the gross as an equivalent for the first-born cattle of the other tribes, which of course, no less than the first-born of men, belonged to the Lord; and in future would have to be redeemed Numbers 18:15; Deuteronomy 15:19.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 40-51Verses 40-51 The number of the first-born, and that of the Levites, came near to each other. Known unto God are all his works beforehand; there is an exact proportion between them, and so it will appear, when they are compared together. The small number of first-born, over and above the number of the Levites, were to be redeemed, and the redemption-money given to Aaron. The church is called the church of the first-born, which is redeemed, not as they…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 40-51There were 273 more firstborn sons in Israel from the non-Levite tribes than there were Levite males (compare Leviticus 3:39). The Levites acted as substitutes for Israel's firstborn sons (3:41; see study note on 3:11–13). The law required a redemption price of five pieces of silver for each extra firstborn son (Numbers 3:46–48; compare Leviticus 27:6). It is unclear who paid this cost. This arrangement for special substitutes points to Christ’s role as a…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 40-5140-51. Number all the first-born of the males of the children of Israel, &c.--The principle on which the enumeration of the Levites had been made was now to be applied to the other tribes. The number of their male children, from a month old and upward, was to be reckoned, in order that a comparison might be instituted with that of the Levites, for the formal adoption of the latter as substitutes for the first-born. The Levites, amounting to twenty-two…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 3:47
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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