◄ Exodus 30:15 ►
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.
Study Bible
In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives
This phrase refers to the atonement money required from each Israelite as a ransom for their life. The concept of atonement in the Old Testament often involves a substitutionary sacrifice or payment to reconcile with God. This offering was a reminder of God's ownership over Israel and their dependence on Him for life and redemption. Theologically, it prefigures the ultimate atonement made by Jesus Christ, who paid the ransom for humanity's sins (Mark 10:45).

the rich shall not give more than a half shekel
The half shekel was a standard unit of currency in ancient Israel, approximately equivalent to a day's wage. This stipulation ensured equality before God, emphasizing that wealth does not influence one's standing with Him. It reflects the biblical principle that all are equal in the eyes of God, as seen in passages like James 2:1-9, which warns against favoritism based on wealth.

nor shall the poor give less
This requirement underscores the idea that every individual, regardless of economic status, is equally responsible for their spiritual obligations. It highlights the communal aspect of worship and atonement, where each person contributes to the collective well-being of the nation. This principle is echoed in the New Testament, where believers are encouraged to give according to their means (2 Corinthians 8:12-15), reinforcing the idea of equality and shared responsibility within the body of Christ.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The leader of the Israelites who received the laws and instructions from God, including the commandment regarding the atonement money.

2. The Israelites
The people of God who were commanded to give the atonement money as a part of their covenant relationship with God.

3. The Tabernacle
The place where the Israelites worshiped God and where the atonement money was used for its maintenance and service.

4. Atonement Money
A specific offering required from every Israelite, symbolizing the ransom for their lives and their equality before God.

5. Half a Shekel
The specific amount required from each person, regardless of their economic status, emphasizing equality and unity in the community.
Teaching Points
Equality Before God
The requirement for both rich and poor to give the same amount underscores the equality of all people before God. In God's eyes, every soul is of equal value, and this principle should guide our interactions and relationships within the church and community.

Symbolic Atonement
The atonement money serves as a reminder of the need for redemption and the cost of sin. It points forward to the ultimate atonement made by Christ, encouraging believers to live in gratitude for His sacrifice.

Community Responsibility
The collective giving for the maintenance of the Tabernacle highlights the responsibility of each member of the community to contribute to the work of God. This principle applies today in supporting the church and its mission.

Generosity and Sacrifice
While the amount was fixed, the act of giving was a form of worship and sacrifice. Believers are called to give generously and sacrificially, reflecting their trust in God's provision.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the principle of equality in giving, as seen in Exodus 30:15, challenge our modern views on wealth and status within the church?

2. In what ways does the concept of atonement money in Exodus 30:15 foreshadow the ultimate atonement made by Jesus Christ?

3. How can we apply the principle of community responsibility in our local church or Christian community today?

4. Reflect on a time when you gave sacrificially. How did that experience impact your faith and understanding of God's provision?

5. How do the teachings in 2 Corinthians 8:12-15 about equality in giving relate to the commandment in Exodus 30:15, and how can they be applied in our personal financial stewardship?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Leviticus 17:11
This verse explains the significance of blood in making atonement, which parallels the concept of atonement money as a symbolic act of redemption.

Matthew 17:24-27
Jesus discusses the temple tax, which is reminiscent of the atonement money, highlighting the continuity of the principle of giving for the service of God.

2 Corinthians 8:12-15
Paul speaks about equality in giving, which echoes the principle in Exodus 30:15 that both the rich and the poor give the same amount.
Sermons
Ransom for Souls -- IiAlexander MaclarenExodus 30:15
The Golden Altar and the PerfumeJ. Orr Exodus 30:1-11, 34-38
The Numbering of Israel and Their RansomJ. Urquhart Exodus 30:11-16
The Atonement MoneyJ. Orr Exodus 30:11-17
People
Aaron, Israelites, Moses
Places
Mount Sinai
Topics
Atone, Atonement, Contribution, Diminish, Half, Half-shekel, Heave-offering, Less, Lord's, Multiply, Offering, Pay, Poor, Price, Rich, Shekel, Silver, Souls, Wealth, Yourselves
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 30:15

     5260   coinage

Exodus 30:11-16

     5415   money, uses of

Exodus 30:12-16

     6721   redemption, in life

Exodus 30:13-15

     5615   weights

Library
The Altar of Incense
'Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon.' --EXODUS xxx. 1. Ceremonies are embodied thoughts. Religious ceremonies are moulded by, and seek to express, the worshipper's conception of his God, and his own relation to Him; his aspirations and his need. Of late years scholars have been busy studying the religions of the more backward races, and explaining rude and repulsive rites by pointing to the often profound and sometimes beautiful ideas underlying them. When that process is applied to Australian …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ransom for Souls --I.
Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul.' --EXODUS xxx. 12. This remarkable provision had a religious intention. Connect it with the tax-money which Peter found in the fish's mouth. I. Its meaning. Try to realise an Israelite's thoughts at the census. 'I am enrolled among the people and army of God: am I worthy? What am I, to serve so holy a God?' The payment was meant-- (a) To excite the sense of sin. This should be present in all approach to God, in all service; accompanying the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ransom for Souls --ii.
'The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel....'--EXODUS xxx. 15. This tax was exacted on numbering the people. It was a very small amount, about fifteen pence, so it was clearly symbolical in its significance. Notice-- I. The broad principle of equality of all souls in the sight of God. Contrast the reign of caste and class in heathendom with the democracy of Judaism and of Christianity. II. The universal sinfulness. Payment of the tax was a confession that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"Whereby we Cry, Abba, Father. "
Rom. viii. 15.--"Whereby we cry, Abba, Father." As there is a light of grace in bestowing such incomparably high dignities and excellent gifts on poor sinners, such as, to make them the sons of God who were the children of the devil, and heirs of a kingdom who were heirs of wrath; so there is a depth of wisdom in the Lord's allowance and manner of dispensing his love and grace in this life. For though the love be wonderful, that we should be called the sons of God; yet, as that apostle speaks, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jesus Pays the Tribute Money.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29) ^A Matt. XVII. 24-27. ^a 24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the half-shekel? [The law of Moses required from every male of twenty years and upward the payment of a tax of half a shekel for the support of the temple (Ex. xxx. 12-16; II. Chron. xxiv. 5, 6). This tax was collected annually. We are told that a dispute existed between the Pharisees and Sadducees as to whether the payment …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

How a Private Man must Begin the Morning with Piety.
As soon as ever thou awakest in the morning, keep the door of thy heart fast shut, that no earthly thought may enter, before that God come in first; and let him, before all others, have the first place there. So all evil thoughts either will not dare to come in, or shall the easier be kept out; and the heart will more savour of piety and godliness all the day after; but if thy heart be not, at thy first waking, filled with some meditations of God and his word, and dressed, like the lamp in the tabernacle …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Copies of Things in the Heavens
'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5. And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision A. Jesus Cleanses the Temple. ^D John II. 13-25. ^d 13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand [We get our information as to the length of our Lord's ministry from John's Gospel. He groups his narrative around six Jewish festivals: 1, He here mentions the first passover; 2, another feast, which we take to have been also a passover (v. 1); 3, another passover (vi. 4); 4, the feast of tabernacles (vii. 2); 5, dedication (x. 22); 6, passover (xi. 55). This …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Last Events in Galilee - the Tribute-Money, the Dispute by the Way, the Forbidding of Him who could not Follow with the Disciples, and The
Now that the Lord's retreat in the utmost borders of the land, at Cæsarea Philippi, was known to the Scribes, and that He was again surrounded and followed by the multitude, there could be no further object in His retirement. Indeed, the time was coming that He should meet that for which He had been, and was still, preparing the minds of His disciples - His Decease at Jerusalem. Accordingly, we find Him once more with His disciples in Galilee - not to abide there, [3743] nor to traverse it …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought. …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Exodus 30:15 NIV
Exodus 30:15 NLT
Exodus 30:15 ESV
Exodus 30:15 NASB
Exodus 30:15 KJV

Exodus 30:15 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Exodus 30:14
Top of Page
Top of Page