In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.
Parallel translations
- WEB The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.
- 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.
- 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.
- NASB The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less, than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.
- 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Rich and poor alike gave the same half shekel to make atonement. Before God, every soul is equally valuable and equally in need of redemption.
Overview
The equal payment leveled all social distinctions at the point of atonement. No one could buy greater standing, and no one was too poor to be redeemed. This pictures the gospel truth that salvation comes to all on the same terms, not by works or wealth but by grace through the one ransom of Christ (Romans 2:11; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Num 31:50So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”
- Job 34:19who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.
- Lev 17:11For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
- Exod 30:12“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.
- Eph 6:9And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.
- 2 Sam 21:3So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?”
- Col 3:25Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
- Prov 22:2The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 30:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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