Exodus 25:2

25:2 “Tell the Israelites to take ¹  an offering ²  for me; from every person motivated by a willing ³  heart you ⁴  are to receive my offering.

Exodus 30:13

30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered ⁵  is to pay this: a half shekel ⁶  according to the shekel of the sanctuary ⁷  (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering ⁸  to the Lord.

Exodus 35:5

35:5 ‘Take ⁹  an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart ¹⁰  bring ¹¹  an offering to the Lord: ¹²  gold, silver, bronze,

[25:2]  ¹ tn The verb is וְיִקְחוּ (vÿyiqkhu), the Qal imperfect or jussive with vav; after the imperative “speak” this verb indicates the purpose or result: “speak…that they may take” and continues with the force of a command.

[25:2]  ² tn The “offering” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah) is perhaps better understood as a contribution since it was a freewill offering. There is some question about the etymology of the word. The traditional meaning of “heave-offering” derives from the idea of “elevation,” a root meaning “to be high” lying behind the word. B. Jacob says it is something sorted out of a mass of material and designated for a higher purpose (Exodus, 765). S. R. Driver (Exodus, 263) corrects the idea of “heave-offering” by relating the root to the Hiphil form of that root, herim, “to lift” or “take off.” He suggests the noun means “what is taken off” from a larger mass and so designated for sacred purposes. The LXX has “something taken off.”

[25:2]  ³ tn The verb יִדְּבֶנּוּ (yiddÿvennu) is related to the word for the “freewill offering” (נְדָבָה, nÿdavah). The verb is used of volunteering for military campaigns (Judg 5:2, 9) and the willing offerings for both the first and second temples (see 1 Chr 29:5, 6, 9, 14, 17).

[25:2]  ⁴ tn The pronoun is plural.

[30:13]  ⁵ sn Each man was to pass in front of the counting officer and join those already counted on the other side.

[30:13]  ⁶ sn The half shekel weight of silver would be about one-fifth of an ounce (6 grams).

[30:13]  ⁷ sn It appears that some standard is in view for the amount of a shekel weight. The sanctuary shekel is sometimes considered to be twice the value of the ordinary shekel. The “gerah,” also of uncertain meaning, was mentioned as a reference point for the ancient reader to understand the value of the required payment. It may also be that the expression meant “a sacred shekel” and looked at the purpose more – a shekel for sanctuary dues. This would mean that the standard of the shekel weight was set because it was the traditional amount of sacred dues (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 333). “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams…Whether an official standard is meant [by ‘sanctuary shekel’] or whether the sanctuary shekel had a different weight than the ‘ordinary’ shekel is not known” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181).

[30:13]  ⁸ tn Or “contribution” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah).

[35:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “from with you.”

[35:5]  ¹⁰ tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.

[35:5]  ¹¹ tn The verb has a suffix that is the direct object, but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.”

[35:5]  ¹² tn The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate.