Value of Five Shekels in Numbers 3

Numbers 3:47 specifies the redemption price for the firstborn male as five shekels: "Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs)" ^[1]. This passage is part of a larger narrative in Numbers 3 concerning the census of the Levites and the redemption of the firstborn of Israel.

The context of Numbers 3 involves the Lord's command to Moses to number the Levites by their families and to assign them specific duties in the tabernacle ^[1]. The Levites were to be taken in place of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, from a month old and upward ^[1]. However, there was a discrepancy in numbers: there were 22,000 Levites, but 22,273 firstborn males among the other tribes ^[1]. To account for the 273 firstborn males who exceeded the number of Levites, a redemption price was instituted ^[1]. Each of these 273 individuals was to be redeemed for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary ^[1]. Moses then collected this money and gave it to Aaron and his sons ^[1].

The "shekel of the sanctuary" is a key term in this passage. It refers to a standard weight used in the tabernacle, ensuring accuracy and consistency in transactions related to sacred matters ^[2]. The shekel itself was a common unit of weight and value among the Hebrews ^[2]. It is estimated to be about 220 English grains, or slightly more than half an ounce avoirdupois ^[2]. One shekel was equivalent to twenty gerahs ^{[1, 2]}. While the shekel was primarily a weight, it later became a coined piece of money ^[2]. Coined money, however, was not known in Palestine until the Persian period ^[3]. Before coinage, transactions often involved weighing out silver or gold ^[4].

The value of five shekels in modern currency is estimated by John Gill to be around eleven or twelve shillings ^[6]. Other sources suggest a shekel was approximately two shillings and six pence, making five shekels around twelve shillings and six pence ^{[7, 12]}. Bishop Cumberland more precisely calculated a shekel at two shillings and four pence farthing ^[12].

Rabbinic tradition connects this five-shekel redemption price to an earlier event in Israelite history. The Midrash Rabbah states that the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "You sold Rachel’s firstborn, that is, Joseph, for twenty silver pieces, which are five shekels; therefore, each and every one of you will redeem his firstborn son for five sela" ^[5]. This interpretation suggests a divine connection between the sale of Joseph and the redemption of the firstborn. The Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud further clarify that these five sela coins (shekels) were to be calculated using a Tyrian maneh, indicating that the silver content of Tyrian coinage was significantly higher than provincial coinage ^{[8, 9, 10, 11]}. This detail highlights the importance of a precise and valuable standard for sacred transactions.

The redemption of the firstborn for five shekels became a settled price for such redemptions, as indicated in Numbers 18:16 ^[6]. This practice underscores the sanctity of the firstborn and the divine claim on them, which could be commuted through a monetary payment. The money collected from this redemption was given to Aaron and his sons, the priests, for their service ^[1].

Sources

Numbers “Numbers 3:47 (BBE) — Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs);”
Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Shekel — Weight, the common standard both of weight and value among the Hebrews. It is estimated at 220 English grains, or a little more than half an ounce avoirdupois. The "shekel of the sanctuary" (Ex. 30:13; Num. 3:47) was equal to twenty gerahs (Ezek. 45:12). There were shekels of gold (1 Chr. 21:25), of silver (1 Sam. 9:8), of brass (17:5), and of iron (7). When it became a coined piece of money, the shekel of gold was equivalent to about 2 pound of our money. Six gold shekels, according to the later Jewish system, were equal in value to fifty silver ones. The t”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Piece Of Gold — The rendering "pieces of gold," as in (2 Kings 5:5) is very doubtful; and "shekels of gold") as designating the value of the whole quantity, not individual pieces is preferable. Coined money was unknown in Palestine till the Persian period.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Piece Of Silver — I. In the Old Testament the word "pieces" is used in the Authorized Version for a word understood in the Hebrew (if we except) (Psalms 68:30) The phrase is always "a thousand," or the like, "of silver." (Genesis 20:16; 37:28; 45:28; Judges 9:4; 16:5; 2 Kings 6:25; Hosea 3:2; Zechariah 11:12,13) In similar passages the word "shekels" occurs in the Hebrew. There are other passages in which the Authorized Version supplies the word "shekels" instead of "pieces," (22:19,29; Judges 17:2,3,4,10; 2 Samuel 18:11,12) and of these the first two require this to ”
Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bamidbar Rabbah 4:10: “You shall take five shekels each by head count; in the sacred shekel you shall take, twenty gera is the shekel” (Numbers 3:47). “You shall take five shekels each…” – the Holy One blessed be He said: You sold Rachel’s firstborn, that is, Joseph, for twenty silver pieces, which are five shekels; therefore, each and every one of you will redeem his firstborn son for five sela according to the Tyrian maneh . 12 In that system of currency, each shekel, or sela, is worth four dinars. “You shall give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, the redemptions of those ”
Numbers (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Numbers 3:46: Thou shall even take five shekels apiece the poll,.... Or head; every firstborn, or his parent for him, was bound to pay five shekels, which were about eleven or twelve shillings of our money, and which was afterwards settled as the price of such a redemption, Num 18:16, after the shekel of the sanctuary shall thou take them; being full weight according to the standard there kept: the shekel is twenty gerahs; See Gill on Lev 27:25.”
Hosea (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hosea 3:2: So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver,.... Or, "fifteen shekels", which was about one pound seventeen shillings and six pence of our money, reckoning a shekel at two shillings and six pence; though some make it to be but two shillings and four pence; this was but half the price of a servant, Exo 21:32, and alludes to the dowry which men used to give to women at their marriage; see Sa1 18:25. The word here used has the signification of digging; hence the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "I dug her"; and the abettors and defenders of it think it refers to th”
Mishnah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishnah, Mishnah Bekhorot 8:7: The five sela coins of the redemption of the firstborn son, with regard to which it is written: “Five shekels of silver, after the shekel of the Sanctuary” (Numbers 18:16), are calculated using a Tyrian maneh . The silver content of the Tyrian coinage is significantly higher than that of provincial coinage, which is worth one-eighth its value. With regard to the thirty shekels paid to the owner of a Canaanite slave who is killed by an ox (see Exodus 21:32), and the fifty shekels paid by a rapist (see Deuteronomy 22:29) and by a seducer (see Exodus 22:16) of a you”
Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Bekhorot 122b.98:10: MISHNA: The five sela coins of the redemption of the firstborn son, with regard to which it is written: “Five shekels of silver, after the shekel of the Sanctuary” (Numbers 18:16), are calculated using a Tyrian maneh . The silver content of the Tyrian coinage is significantly higher than that of provincial coinage, which is worth one-eighth its value.”
Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Bekhorot 122a.98:10: MISHNA: The five sela coins of the redemption of the firstborn son, with regard to which it is written: “Five shekels of silver, after the shekel of the Sanctuary” (Numbers 18:16), are calculated using a Tyrian maneh . The silver content of the Tyrian coinage is significantly higher than that of provincial coinage, which is worth one-eighth its value.”
Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Bekhorot 49b.10: MISHNA: The five sela coins of the redemption of the firstborn son, with regard to which it is written: “Five shekels of silver, after the shekel of the Sanctuary” (Numbers 18:16), are calculated using a Tyrian maneh . The silver content of the Tyrian coinage is significantly higher than that of provincial coinage, which is worth one-eighth its value.”
Ezekiel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ezekiel 45:12: And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs,.... This is a rule for money or coin; the shekel was a silver coin, and is generally reckoned about the value of two shillings and six pence of our money, so a gerah about three half pennies: Bishop Cumberland reckons the shekel more exactly at two shillings and four pence farthing, and a little more, and the gerah at eleven grains of silver; see Lev 27:25, twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh; these were several pieces of money; one was a twenty shekel piece, which according to the co”

Ask Your Own Question