Exodus 30:12

When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
takest	תִשָּׂ֞א ti.Sa'	H5375	to lift · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
sum	רֹ֥אשׁ rosh	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct
children	בְּנֵֽי be.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֘ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
number	לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ lif.ku.dei.Hem	H6485	to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · preposition + verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
give	וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ ve.Na.te.Nu	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
man	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
ransom	כֹּ֧פֶר Ko.fer	H3724	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
soul	נַפְשׁ֛וֹ naf.Sho	H5315	properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD	לַיהוָ֖ה la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
numberest	בִּפְקֹ֣ד bif.Kod	H6485	to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
plague	נֶ֖גֶף Ne.gef	H5063	a trip (of the foot) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
numberest	בִּפְקֹ֥ד bif.Kod	H6485	to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 31:50 We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, a…
Exodus 38:25-26 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fiftee…
1 Chronicles 27:24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in…
1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by traditio…
Psalms 49:7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Numbers 1:2-5 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of t…
Numbers 26:2-4 Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 30:11-16

Some observe that the repetition of those words, The Lord spoke unto Moses, here and afterwards (Exo 30:17, Exo 30:22, Exo 30:34), intimates that God did not deliver these precepts to Moses in the mount, in a continued discourse, but with many intermissions, giving him time either to write what was said to him or at least to charge his memory with it. Christ gave instructions to his disciples as they were able to hear them. Moses is here ordered to levy money upon the people by way of poll, so much a head, for the service of the tabernacle. This he must do when he numbered the people. Some think that it refers only to the first numbering of them, now when the tabernacle was set up; and that…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 30:11

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 (Num 1:42, Num 1:45), and the Levites (Num 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, but a ransom for the soul or lives of the people. It was required from all classes alike, and a refusal to pay implied a wilful exclusion from the privileges of the sanctuary, as well as exposure to divine judgments. It was probably the sam…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 30:12

Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul - This was a very important ordinance, and should be seriously considered. See Exo 30:13 (note).

John Gill on Exodus 30:12

When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, after their number,.... An account of them, how many they are; which was sometimes done, and was proper to be done, especially in time of war; though the present case seems to be for the sake of raising money for the tabernacle and the service of it: then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; which was not done yearly, nor was it perpetual; we have but two instances of it after this until the times of David, Numbers 1:2 yet it seems to have been a yearly tax or tribute, in the times of Christ; see Gill on Matthew 17:24, Matthew 21:12; and in the Misnah is a whole treatise called "Shekalim"…

The Church Fathers

What do the words mean: If you took the account of the children of Israel in their visit, but God commands that they will be visited and counted, that is, counted? Thus, we can think that God punished David for this action, since God had not ordered it to him (Cf 2R 24).
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON EXODUS, Q. 134 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Spices — Aromatic substances, of which several are named in Ex. 30. They were used in the sacred anointing oil (Ex. 25:6; 35:8; 1 Chr. 9:29), and in embalming the dead (2 Chr. 16:14; Luke 23:56; 24:1; John…
Taxes — First mentioned in the command (Ex. 30:11-16) that every Jew from twenty years and upward should pay an annual tax of “half a shekel for an offering to the Lord.” This enactment was faithfully…
Tribute — A tax imposed by a king on his subjects (2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; Rom. 13:6). In Matt. 17:24-27 the word denotes the temple rate (the “didrachma,” the “half-shekel,” as rendered by the R.V.) which…
Atonement · By money — By money
Census · A poll tax to be levied at each — A poll tax to be levied at each
Money · Atonement — Atonement
Ransom · Of a man’ s life — Of a man’ s life
Redemption · Typified: Atonement-money — Typified: Atonement-money
Religion · .Supported by taxes — .Supported by taxes
Tax · Poll — Poll

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 30:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 30:11-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 30:11

Adam Clarke on Exodus 30:12

John Gill on Exodus 30:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 30:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 30:11-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 30:11

Adam Clarke on Exodus 30:12

John Gill on Exodus 30:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 30:11-16

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 30:11-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 30:12

Rashi on Exodus 30:12