Exodus 30:16

16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall ¹give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to ²remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives."

Exodus 30:16 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 30:16

And thou shall take the atonement money of the children of
Israel
The half shekel, the ransom of their souls:

and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the
congregation;
for the building of the tabernacle, for the repairs of it, and for the sacrifices offered in it; particularly we find that this first collection this way was appropriated to the silver sockets of the sanctuary, and the vail, for the silver hooks, and for the pillars, ( Exodus 38:27 Exodus 38:28 ) :

that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the
Lord, to make an atonement for your souls;
to put them in mind that they were sinners, that their lives were forfeited, that a ransom price was given and accepted of God, that hereby atonement, in a typical sense, was made for them; and this was before the Lord, as a token of their gratitude to him, and of their acknowledgment of the favour.

Exodus 30:16 In-Context

14 Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD's offering.

15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the LORD's offering to make atonement for your lives.

16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives."

17 The LORD said to Moses,

18 "You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it,

Cross References

• 1. See Exodus 38:25-31
• 2. [Exodus 28:12; Exodus 39:7; Numbers 16:40]