Atonement Money (Exo 30)
13 This is what they shall give [the Lord showed Moses a coin of fire whose weight was half a shekel and said to him: “Let them give a coin like this”], everyone who crosses among the counted, half a shekel according to the [sanctuary] shekel [weight] for consecration, twenty gerah the shekel. [Let them give] half of such a shekel as an offering to the Lord.
Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 10:1
This is what they shall give, everyone who crosses among the counted, half a shekel—Because they had sinned at the sixth hour, which is the middle of the day, they shall give half a shekel, which is six grammata. R. Johanan declared: Because they had violated the Ten Commandments each one had to give ten gerah, which totals half a shekel. R. Simeon the son of Levi said: Because they sold Rachel’s firstborn for twenty pieces of silver and each one took a coin for himself, each one had to give one coin.
Rashi’s Commentary
This is what they shall give—He (God) showed him (Moses) a kind of fiery coin the weight of which was half a shekel and said to him, “Like this they shall give” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 9).
Twenty gerah the shekel—For a full shekel is four zuzim and a zuz was originally five ma’oth (consequently a shekel was twenty ma’oth); only that they increased it (the zuz) by one sixth and so raised its value to six ma’oth of silver. Now half of this (the original) shekel of which I have spoken to you, they shall give as an offering to the Lord.
Twenty gerah the shekel—Having stated that it must be a holy shekel it now tells you exactly how much it is.
19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet from it [at one and the same time, placing the right hand on the right foot and the left hand on the left foot].
Rashi’s Commentary
Their hands and feet—The priest washed his hands and feet simultaneously. Thus we learn in Zevachim 19b: How was the procedure in washing hands and feet? He placed his right hand upon his right foot (knee) and his left hand upon his left foot (knee) and thus washed both simultaneously.
1Co 6:9-11
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Tit 3:5
He saved us, not on the basis of things which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
Heb 9:10
since they relate only to food and drink and various washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reformation.
Heb 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Rev 1:5-6
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and he has made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power forever and ever! Amen.
23 Take also for yourself fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels, of fragrant cinnamon—half of it (two hundred and fifty shekels) [it was weighed twice to amount to five hundred and a little more (a small amount being added each time to tip the scale above 250)], of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty shekels,
Rashi’s Commentary
Fine spices—i. e. excellent ones.
Fragrant cinnamon—Because cinnamon is the bark of a tree there is some of good quality, having fragrance and a pleasant taste and there is some which is merely like wood; Scripture therefore felt itself compelled to state, “fragrant cinnamon,” meaning that the incense was to be made of the good species.
Half of it (two hundred and fifty shekels)—The half of what is to be brought shall be 250 shekels; consequently the whole weight of this species was 500 shekels exactly the same as that of the myrrh. But if this be so, why is it (the quantity to be brought) expressed in halves? It is the ordinance of Scripture that it should be brought in halves only, so that the quantity may be increased by two overweights, for there was no exact balancing of the scales in weighing the spices, but a little was always added. Thus it is stated in Keritot 5a.
Fragrant cane—i. e. cane of sweet spices. Because there are canes which do not bear sweet spices Scripture had to state (add the word) בֹשֶׂם
Two hundred and fifty shekels was the amount of its entire weight (not of the half of it as in the case of the preceding ingredient).
31 And to the children of Israel shall you speak, saying, ‘This shall be a sacred anointing oil to me [the gematria of זֶה is twelve; there were twelve logs of anointing oil] for your generations [all of it remains for future generations].
Horayot 11b:8
Rabbi Yehuda said to him: And was it merely one miracle that was performed with regard to the anointing oil? But wasn’t it initially only twelve log, and from it the tabernacle, and its vessels, Aaron, and his sons were anointed for the entire seven days of inauguration, and all of it remains in existence for the future, as it is stated: “This shall be a sacred anointing oil to me for your generations” (Exo 30:31)? Since the entire existence of the anointing oil is predicated on miracles, it is no wonder that its preparation also involved a miracle.
Rashi’s Commentary
זֶה has the numerical value of 12, alluding to the 12 “logs” (Horayot 11b; cf. Rashi v. 24).
For your generations—From here our Rabbis derived that it (the anointing oil) was miraculously preserved in its entirety for the time to come (for the Messianic days) (Horayot 11b).
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself
[two] spices [and] balsam sap, onycha and galbanum [a foul-smelling spice, included in the incense to teach us not to belittle inclusion of sinners in our fasts and prayers], [and an additional five] spices, and pure frankincense. They [the gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense] shall be equal [in weight] to one another.
Rashi’s Commentary
נָטָף is balsam. Because it is merely the sap which drips from the wood of the balsam tree it is called נָטָף, “dripping” (Keritot 6a). In old French it is called gomme; English gum. The balm itself, however, is called triaca [in Old Provencal], theriac.
Onycha—This is a root of a fragrant herb, smooth and transparent like a fingernail, In the language of the Mishna it is called צִפֹּרֶן, a nail (cf. Keritot 6a). This is exactly how Onkelos renders it: וְטוּפְרָא. Both צִפֹּרֶן and טוּפְרָא mean “fingernail.”
And galbanum—A spice with a vile odor, called galbane [in Old French], galbanum. Scripture enumerates it among the spices of the incense to teach us that we should not regard as a light thing the duty of associating with ourselves when we band together for fasts and prayers Israelites who are transgressors—that they should be counted as ourselves (Keritot 6b).
סַמִּים means other spices also.
They shall be equal to one another—These four ingredients mentioned here shall be equal, weight for weight—as the weight of one so shall be the weight of another. Thus indeed we learn (Keritot 6a): the balsam, the onycha, the galbanum and the frankincense shall each have the weight of seventy manehs. The term בַּד seems to me to mean a single article; each one i. e., the weight shall be the one the same as the other.
35 And you shall make it into incense, a blend, the work of a perfumer, salted [and it shall be], pure, [and] sacred.
Rashi’s Commentary
Salted, pure, sacred—i. e. salted shall it (the compound) be, pure shall it be, and sacred shall it be.
Joh 12:3
Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
2 “See, I have called by name [to do my work] Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
Rashi’s Commentary
I have called by name—To accomplish my work—Bezalel.
6 And I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan. And in the heart of all the wise hearted [who are among you] I have given ability, and they shall make all that I have commanded you:
Rashi’s Commentary
And in the heart of all the wise hearted I have given ability—And there are still other wise-hearted men among you (beside Bezalel and Oholiab) and all these in whom I have given ability shall make all that I have commanded you.
Mat 10:2-4
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Luk 10:1
Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of him to every town and place where he himself was going to come.
Act 13:2
While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Jas 1:5, 16-17
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
16 Do not be deceived , my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
17 Between me and the children of Israel it is a sign forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and [his spirit] was refreshed’ ” [God using human terms that can be “assimilated by the ear” (of flesh and blood)].
Beitzah 16a:12
As Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: The Holy One, blessed be he, gives a person an additional soul on the eve of the Sabbath, and at the conclusion of the Sabbath removes it from him, as it is stated: “He rested and was refreshed” (Exo 31:17). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish expounds the verse as follows: Since he rested, and now the Sabbath has concluded and his additional soul is removed from him, woe for the additional soul that is lost.
Heb 4:3-4, 10
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as he has said,
“As I swore in my anger,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ”
although his works were finished from the creation of
the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere concerning the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works”;
10 For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.
3 Speak [today, on the first of the month] to the whole community of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month [the “taking” of the Passover sacrifice of Egypt was on the tenth, but not that of future generations] each man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father [and, in the event that the family is large and one lamb will not suffice for it], a lamb for each household [i.e., for each household within that family].
Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:3:2
Speak to the whole community of Israel—R. Achai b. R. Yoshiyah says: Now did they both speak? Is it not written (Ibid. 7:2) “You (Moses) shall speak all that I command you?” Moses accorded honor to Aaron and said “Teach me,” and Aaron did likewise with Moses, and the speech emanated from both as if both were speaking.
Pesachim 96a:7
The Gemara discusses the meaning of this difficult phrase, as obviously, the Passover sacrifice is slaughtered on the fourteenth and eaten on the evening of the fifteenth. GEMARA: The Gemara asks: From where do we conclude that the requirements of the Passover sacrifice sacrificed in Egypt do not apply to later generations? As it is written: “Speak to the whole community of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month each man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for each household” (Exo 12:3); and we derive from the superfluous word “this” that this Passover sacrifice offered in Egypt had to be taken from the tenth of Nisan, and the Passover sacrifice of later generations is not taken from the tenth of Nisan.
Rashi’s Commentary
Speak to the whole community—But did Aaron speak? Has it not already been stated, “You shall speak” (Exo 7:2)? But the explanation is: they paid respect one to the other, saying to each other, “Instruct me what to say” and the divine communication in question issued
from both of them, so that it was as though they were both speaking (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:3:2).
This work "Atonement Money" is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0