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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
- 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 31:50We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.”
- Job 34:19Who doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respects the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.
- Lev 17:11For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.
- Exod 30:12“When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you count them; that there be no plague among them when you count them.
- Eph 6:9You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.
- 2 Sam 21:3and David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And with what should I make atonement, that you may bless Yahweh’s inheritance?”
- Col 3:25But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
- Prov 22:2The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the 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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