Exodus 30:13-14

30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered ¹  is to pay this: a half shekel ²  according to the shekel of the sanctuary ³  (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering ⁴  to the Lord. 30:14 Everyone who crosses over to those numbered, from twenty years old and up, is to pay an offering to the Lord.

Exodus 30:24

30:24 and twelve and a half pounds of cassia, all weighed ⁵  according to the sanctuary shekel, and four quarts ⁶  of olive oil.

Leviticus 5:15

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ⁷  and sins by straying unintentionally ⁸  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ⁹  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ¹⁰  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ¹¹  for a guilt offering. ¹² 

Leviticus 27:3

27:3 the conversion value of the male ¹³  from twenty years old up to sixty years old ¹⁴  is fifty shekels by the standard of the sanctuary shekel. ¹⁵ 

Leviticus 27:25

27:25 Every conversion value must be calculated by the standard of the sanctuary shekel; ¹⁶  twenty gerahs to the shekel.

Numbers 3:47

3:47 collect ¹⁷  five shekels for each ¹⁸  one individually; you are to collect ¹⁹  this amount ²⁰  in the currency of the sanctuary shekel (this shekel is twenty gerahs). ²¹ 

Numbers 18:16

18:16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs).

[30:13]  ¹ sn Each man was to pass in front of the counting officer and join those already counted on the other side.

[30:13]  ² sn The half shekel weight of silver would be about one-fifth of an ounce (6 grams).

[30:13]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “contribution” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah).

[30:24]  ⁵ tn The words “all weighed” are added for clarity in English.

[30:24]  ⁶ tn Or “a hin.” A hin of oil is estimated at around one gallon (J. Durham, Exodus [WBC], 3:406).

[5:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root, מַעַל, ma’al); cf. NIV “commits a violation.” The word refers to some kind of overstepping of the boundary between that which is common (i.e., available for common use by common people) and that which is holy (i.e., to be used only for holy purposes because it has been consecrated to the Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.

[5:15]  ⁸ tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ⁹ sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).

[5:15]  ¹⁰ tn Here the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential use of אָשָׁם (’asham; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303).

[5:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in your valuation, silver of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary.” The translation offered here suggests that, instead of a ram, the guilt offering could be presented in the form of money (see, e.g., NRSV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:326-27). Others still maintain the view that it refers to the value of the ram that was offered (see, e.g., NIV “of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel”; also NAB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 72-73, 81).

[5:15]  ¹² tn The word for “guilt offering” (sometimes translated “reparation offering”) is the same as “guilt” earlier in the verse (rendered there “[penalty for] guilt”). One can tell which is intended only by the context.

[27:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “your conversion value shall be [for] the male.”

[27:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from a son of twenty years and until a son of sixty years.”

[27:3]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on Lev 5:15.

[27:25]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on Lev 5:15.

[3:47]  ¹⁷ tn The verb again is the perfect tense in sequence; the meaning of “take” may be interpreted here with the sense of “collect.”

[3:47]  ¹⁸ tn The idea is expressed simply by repetition: “take five, five, shekels according to the skull.” They were to collect five shekels for each individual.

[3:47]  ¹⁹ tn The verb form now is the imperfect of instruction or legislation.

[3:47]  ²⁰ tn Heb “them,” referring to the five shekels.

[3:47]  ²¹ sn The sanctuary shekel was first mentioned in Exod 30:13. The half-shekel of Exod 38:26 would then be 10 gerahs. Consequently, the calculations would indicate that five shekels was about two ounces of silver for each person. See R. B. Y. Scott, “Weights and Measures of the Bible,” BA 22 (1951): 22-40, and “The Scale-Weights from Ophel, 1963-1964,” PEQ 97 (1965): 128-39.