Bible Strands
Leviticus 27:25
Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Moses, establishing a uniform standard for calculating redemption prices and vowed offerings within the Levitical legal code. This clause appears amid regulations governing land returns in the Jubilee and the consecration of firstborn livestock.
The words — בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ (be./She.kel ha./Ko.desh) literally translates to "by the shekel of the holy place," designating the sanctuary as the sole authoritative weight standard.
The thread — The sanctuary shekel measurement recurs in Exodus 30:13 for the census tax, Numbers 3:47 for redemption money, and Numbers 18:16 for child redemption valuations. All three passages fix the exchange rate at twenty gerahs per shekel.
Why it lands — The text mandates a single, fixed weight for all religious valuations, explicitly rejecting local or arbitrary pricing. Readers must apply this standard objectively when calculating any consecrated offering or redemption payment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.
Cross-references
- Exodus 30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
- Numbers 3:47 you are to collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel of twenty gerahs.
- Numbers 18:16 You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.
- Ezekiel 45:12 The shekel will consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels will equal one mina.
- Leviticus 27:3 if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.