Exodus 38:25

And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) The silver . . . was an hundred talents.—The silver talent contained 3,000 shekels, as all allow, and as appears from the present passage. If the “shekel of the sanctuary” weighed, as is generally supposed, about 220 grains troy, the value of the silver contributed would have been £40,000, or a little under. It was contributed by “them that were numbered of the congregation,” each of whom paid a bekah, or half a shekel. (See above, Exodus 30:12-16.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

38:21-31 The foundation of massy pieces of silver showed the solidity and purity of the truth upon which the church is founded. Let us regard the Lord Jesus Christ while reading of the furniture of the tabernacle. While looking at the altar of burnt-offering, let us see Jesus. In him, his righteousness, and salvation, is a full and sufficient offering for sin. In the laver of regeneration, by his Holy Spirit, let our souls be washed, and they shall be clean; and as the people offered willingly, so may our souls be made willing. Let us be ready to part with any thing, and count all but loss to win Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Of the holy place - Rather, of the sanctuary. The gold was employed not only in the holy place, but in the most holy place and in the entrance to the tent Exodus 36:38.

The gold of the offering - The gold of the wave offering.

Talents ... the shekel of the sanctuary - The shekel was the common standard of weight and value with the Hebrews: and is probably to be estimated at 220 English grains (just over half an ounce avoirdupois) and its value in silver as 2 Samuel 7d. The shekel of the sanctuary (or, the holy shekel) would seem to denote no more than an exact shekel, "after the king's weight" 2 Samuel 14:26, "current money with the merchant" Genesis 23:16.

In the reign of Joash, a collection similar to that here mentioned, apparently at the same rate of capitation, was made for the repairs of the temple 2 Chronicles 24:9. The tax of later times, called didrachma, στατήρ statēr, Matthew 17:27, was not, like this and that of Joash, a collection for a special occasion, but a yearly tax, for the support of the temple, of a whole shekel. See also Exodus 30:13.

The talent contained 3,000 shekels, as may be gathered from Exodus 38:25-26. According to the computation here adopted, the Hebrew talent was 94 2/7 lbs. avoirdupois. The Greek (Aeginetan) talent, from which the Septuagint and most succeeding versions have taken the name "talent," was 82 1/4 lbs. The original Hebrew word, ככר kı̂kār, would denote a circular mass, and nearly the same word, kerker, was in use among the Egyptians for a mass of metal cast in the form of a massive ring with its weight stamped upon it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25. the silver of them that were numbered—603,550 men at half a shekel each would contribute 301,775 shekels; which at 2s. 4d. each, amounts to £35,207 sterling. It may seem difficult to imagine how the Israelites should be possessed of so much wealth in the desert; but it should be remembered that they were enriched first by the spoils of the Egyptians, and afterwards by those of the Amalekites. Besides, it is highly probable that during their sojourn they traded with the neighboring nations who bordered on the wilderness [Hewlett].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation,.... This was not the offering of silver, Exodus 35:24 but what was collected in numbering the people, where everyone of twenty years old and upwards paid half a shekel, Exodus 30:12 the sum

was an hundred talents, one thousand seven hundred and threescore fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; which, according to Brerewood (q), make of our money, 37,721 pounds, seventeen shillings, and six pence; according to Waserus (r), the whole amounted to 150,887 dollars and a half: and so, according to Lundius (s), the sum is so many imperials, and forty five creutzers or cross pennies.

(q) Ut supra. (De Ponder & pretiis Vet. Num. c. 4, 5.) (r) Ut supra. (De Antiqu. Numis. l. 2. c. 18.) (s) Apud Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 253.

Geneva Study Bible

And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25–28. The silver, with particulars of the purposes for which it was used. This amounted to 100 talents and 1775 shekels, i.e. 301,775 shekels (c. Exo 140,828 oz.), being half a shekel a head, exacted (according to Exodus 30:13 f.) from the 603,550 male Israelites, of 20 years old and upwards, of the census described in Numbers 1 (see v. 46). No account is taken of the silver offered voluntarily (Exodus 25:3, Exodus 35:5 f., 24).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 25. - The silver. The silver seems to have amounted to about four times the weight of the gold; but the value of it was very much less, not exceeding £40,000 of our money (Cook). It may seem surprising that this should have been so; but there are grounds for believing that both in Africa and in Asia gold was more plentiful than silver in the early ages. And it is certainly much more suitable for ornaments. Of them that were numbered. See above, Exodus 30:12-16. The silver for the sanctuary was collected by a compulsory tax, of the nature of a church-rate. This produced the amount here given, No estimate is made of the weight of the silver freewill offerings (Exodus 35:24), nor is any account given of their application. It has been suggested that they were returned to the donors as superfluous, which is certainly possible, Exodus 38:25

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Of the silver, all that is mentioned is the amount of atonement-money raised from those who were numbered (see at Exodus 30:12.) at the rate of half a shekel for every male, without including the freewill-offerings of silver (Exodus 35:24, cf. Exodus 25:3), whether it was that they were too insignificant, or that they were not used for the work, but were placed with the excess mentioned in Exodus 36:7. The result of the numbering gave 603,550 men, every one of whom paid half a shekel. This would yield 301,775 shekels, or 100 talents and 1775 shekels, which proves by the way that a talent contained 3000 shekels. A hundred talents of this were used for casting 96 sockets for the 48 boards, and 4 sockets for the 4 pillars of the inner court, - one talent therefore for each socket, - and the 1775 shekels for the hooks of the pillars that sustained the curtains, for silvering their capitals, and "for binding the pillars," i.e., for making the silver connecting rods for the pillars of the court (Exodus 27:10-11; Exodus 38:10.).