Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD’s offering.
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
Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above,.... Even Levites, Israelites, proselytes, and servants freed, but not women, bond servants, or children (x): shall give an offering to the Lord; the half shekel before mentioned. (x) Misn. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 1, 3.
The ransom-money protects the soul of each man enrolled in the army of the Lord, withdrawing it from divine judgment and covering guilt so it has no existence before God's eye. To be numbered among His people required this expiation lest plague strike at the counting.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 30:12-15