Exodus 30:13 NIV

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Exodus 30:1-16

Altar of incense; tabernacle tax (30:1-16)The altar of incense was made of wood overlaid with gold. It was much smaller than the altar of burnt offering, was located in a different place and was designed for a different purpose. It was not used for sacrifices, but only for the burning of incense, offered each morning and evening. Incense was a substance produced by grinding and blending certain spices (see v. 34-38 below), and when burnt gave off thick white smoke and a strong smell. Its... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Exodus 30:13

shekel of the sanctuary . See App-51 . Compare Matthew 17:24 . gerah , a measure of weight. See App-51 . offering . Hebrew. terurnah. See App-43 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Exodus 30:11-16

THE HALF-SHEKEL TAX"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, according to those that are numbered of them, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto Jehovah, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them. This they shall give, every one that passeth over unto them that are numbered; half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel for an offering unto Jehovah. Every one... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Exodus 30:13

Exodus 30:13. Half a shekel— i.e. according to some commentators, nearly fourteen-pence. This tax, every man was bound to pay, from twenty years and upwards, Exodus 30:14. And neither more nor less was to be paid by rich or poor, Exo 30:15 evidently to signify, that every soul is equally valuable in the sight of God, with whom there is no respect of persons; and that the ransom of one cost the same price with the ransom of the other; see 1 Pet. 18-20. This half shekel is said to be after the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 30:11-16

The atonement money 30:11-16The directions regarding the tabernacle opened with instructions concerning contributions for its construction (Exodus 25:1-9). They close with this directive that every Israelite 20 years or older was to pay a flat fee of half a shekel during Israel’s census for the tabernacle’s maintenance (Numbers 1:2; Numbers 26:2). Everyone was to pay the same amount because the cost of everyone’s atonement was the same in the Lord’s sight."It was no ordinary tribute, therefore,... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 30:1-38

The Altar of Incense. The Ransom Money. The Laver. The Anointing Oil. The Incense1-10. The Altar of Incense. The use of incense in worship was probably due to the worshipper’s desire to honour God by offering to Him what he enjoys himself. ’Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart’ (Proverbs 27:9). It served also to counteract the strong smell of burning flesh, and was therefore usually presented as an accompaniment of sacrifice, and offered either in censers (Leviticus 10:1; Leviticus 16:12;... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 30:13

(13) Half a shekel.—When shekels came to be coined, they were round pieces of silver, about the circumference of a shilling, but considerably thicker, and worth about 2s. 7 d. Of our money. Their average weight was about 220 grains troy. In Moses’s time coins were unknown, and a half-shekel was a small lump of silver, unstamped, weighing probably about 110 grains. The ransom of a soul was doubtless made thus light in order that the payment might not be felt practically as a burthen by any.After... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Exodus 30:1-38

The Census and Its Religious Aspect Exodus 30:12 I. This first census of which we have any recorded history took place more than three thousand years ago. It was taken in the wilderness, and in a very different way from that in which our census is taken. From the grouped tribes every man of twenty years of age and upwards was called out, and afterwards passed over to the crowd of the 'numbered'. No women or children were numbered. Women and children owe even more than men to the influence of... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 30:11-16

THE CENSUS.Exodus 30:11-16.Moses by Divine command was soon to number Israel, and thus to lay the foundation for its organisation upon the march. A census was not, therefore, supposed to be presumptuous or sinful in itself; it was the vain-glory of David’s census which was culpable.But the honour of being numbered among the people of God should awaken a sense of unworthiness. Men had reason to fear lest the enrolment of such as they were in the host of God should produce a pestilence to sweep... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Exodus 30:1-38

CHAPTER 30 The Altar of Incense and the Worshippers 1. The altar (Exodus 30:1-10 ) 2. The atonement money (Exodus 30:11-16 ) 3. The brazen laver and the unction of the Spirit (Exodus 30:22-33 ) 4. The incense (Exodus 30:34-38 ) This is a beautiful chapter, filled with blessed lessons. We have before us instructions concerning true, priestly worship. The brazen altar was of shittim wood, but this altar is of shittim wood covered with pure gold. The altar of brass tells of the work of... read more