What Does Numbers 3:47 Mean in the King James?

Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)

Numbers 3:47 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The shekel keeps weight inside the price: five sanctuary shekels make exactly one hundred gerahs for each counted head.

THE MEANING

Each person in the counted remainder is assigned the same amount: five shekels measured by the sanctuary’s standard. Since each shekel is twenty gerahs, the amount resolves to one hundred gerahs per head.

THE ROOT

שֶׁקֶל

sheqel

GROWS FROM

ש־ק־ל

sh-q-l

to weigh

“shekel, a measured unit of weight and value” in this verse is sheqel. The English word “shekel” can sound like money alone, while its root keeps the act of weighing inside it. Here, the sanctuary standard makes the price a defined measure, and the twenty-gerah equivalence makes that measure visible.

ALSO GROWS

shaqal: to weigh

שָׁקַל

The verb names the action carried in the shekel’s root: assigning the amount begins with weighing.

mishqal: weight; a measured quantity

מִשְׁקָל

This related noun echoes the verse’s emphasis on a fixed, shared quantity rather than an unspecified price.

THE PATTERN

Redemption and belonging are expressed through an explicit price or standard of measure.

This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.

Exodus 30:13 · KJVThe counted person’s contribution is stated in shekels, with the sanctuary standard defined as twenty gerahs.

And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.

Leviticus 27:25 · KJVEvery estimation is anchored to the same named sanctuary measure.

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 6:20 · KJVBelonging to God is described through a price, making the cost part of the statement.

THE THREAD

This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.

Exodus 30:13 · KJV

Exodus uses the same shekel, ⁨שֶׁקֶל⁩ (sheqel, a weight-unit), from ⁨ש־ק־ל⁩ (sh-q-l, to weigh), and defines it as twenty gerahs. The amount differs, but the sanctuary’s measure stays fixed.

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