New International Version
Exodus 30:15
15The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives.
Exodus 30:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.
- New Living Translation (NLT)When this offering is given to the Lord to purify your lives, making you right with him, the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less.
Context of Exodus 30:15
13Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. 14All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. 16Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.” 17Then the Lord said to Moses,
Read all of Exodus 30Exodus 30:15 word by word
הֶֽעָשִׁ֣יר לֹֽא־יַרְבֶּ֗ה וְהַדַּל֙ לֹ֣א יַמְעִ֔יט מִֽמַּחֲצִ֖ית הַשָּׁ֑קֶל לָתֵת֙ אֶת־תְּרוּמַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The richעָשִׁיר‛âshîyr · richH6223
- shall not give moreרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
- and the poorדַּלdal · poorH1800
- shall not give lessמָעַטmâ‛aţ · to diminishH4591
- than halfמַחֲצִיתmachătsîyth · halfH4276
- a shekelשֶׁ֫קֶלsheqel · shekelH8255
- giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- an offeringתְּרוּמָהterûmâh terûmâh · contributionH8641
- unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- to make an atonementכִּפֶּרkâphar · to atoneH3722
- for your soulsנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
Cross-references for Exodus 30:15
- Job 34:19who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?
- Proverbs 22:2Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.
- Ephesians 6:9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
- Colossians 3:25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
- Exodus 30:12“When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.
- Leviticus 17:11For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
- Numbers 31:50So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
- 2 Samuel 21:3David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”
Commentaries on Exodus 30:15
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11-16Verses 11-16 The Ransom of Souls. - Exodus 38:25-28. On comparing these words with those of Numbers 1:1-3, we may perhaps infer that the first passage relates to a mere counting of the adult Israelites at the time when the money was taken from each, and that what the latter passage enjoins was a formal enrolment of them according to their genealogies and their order of military service. A ransom for his soul - What the sincere worshipper thus paid was at…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-16Verses 11-16 The tribute was half a shekel, about fifteen pence of our money. The rich were not to give more, nor the poor less; the souls of the rich and poor are alike precious, and God is no respecter of persons, Ac 10:34; Job 34:19. In other offerings men were to give according to their wordly ability; but this, which was the ransom of the soul, must be alike for all. The souls of all are of equal value, equally in danger, and all equally need a…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 11-1611-16. When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, &c.--Moses did so twice, and doubtless observed the law here prescribed. The tax was not levied from women, minors, old men (Nu 1:42, 45), and the Levites (Nu 1:47), they being not numbered. Assuming the shekel of the sanctuary to be about half an ounce troy, though nothing certain is known about it, the sum payable by each individual was two and four pence. This was not a voluntary contribution…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 30:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 30
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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