“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.
12. When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel. The tribute which God here demands at the taking of the census, is very fitly annexed to the First Commandment; for God, in making them tributary to Himself, shews that they were under His jurisdiction and power; and because He had purchased them to Himself, He willed that this voluntary gift of acknowledgment should be paid to Him.
God did not pour all these precepts out at once on the mountain, but gave them in intervals, as Moses could receive and record them. This half-shekel tax shows that rich and poor are equally precious to the Lord: neither more nor less demanded, because souls have no price distinction before Him.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 30:11-16
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...