The Half Shekel

Introduction

Welcome to Torah Today Ministries in our continuing series The Hebrew Key. And in this series we take a look at things that reveal themselves only through the Hebrew scriptures. And if you’ve listened to any of these in the past, you know how excited I get about the insights that emerge from the scriptures but only in the Hebrew.

And in this episode we want to look at this mysterious half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) that is discussed in Exodus chapter 30.

Monetary Values

Now before we get into the text, I want to share with you some monetary values that are used in the Hebrew scriptures. And so let’s review these for a moment. We have the shekel (שֶׁקֶל), which we hear of many times in the scriptures. And we’re told that a shekel (שֶׁקֶל) is equal to 20 gerahs. 20 gerahs will equal one shekel (שֶׁקֶל). So that would mean a half of a shekel (שֶׁקֶל) would be 10 gerahs (גֵּרָה).

But there was a 10-gerah coin called a beka (בֶּקַע). So a beka (בֶּקַע) equals 10 gerahs. 20 gerahs (גֵּרָה), or two beka (בֶּקַע), would equal one shekel (שֶׁקֶל). Okay, so with that in mind — and come back and review this if you get lost as we go through the text — but keep that in mind as we read the text.

Exodus 30:11–16 – Ki Tisa (כִּי תִשָּׂא)

So our text begins in Exodus chapter 30 and verse 11. Now this is the opening of Torah (תּוֹרָה) portion Ki Tisa (כִּי תִשָּׂא). Ki Tisa (כִּי תִשָּׂא) means “when you lift up.” And God is commanding Moses — says:

When you take the census of the people of Israel… — Exodus 30:12

Except that is not what it says in the Hebrew. It says: ki tisa et rosh Bnei Yisrael (כִּי תִשָּׂא אֶת רֹאשׁ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל) — “when you lift up the head of the sons of Israel.” That is how they took a census. It’s a matter of lifting up the head. You know, here in our country when we take a census we just count human beings. But when God takes a census, it’s like he takes you by the chin, lifts your head, and wants to see you — look you in the eye and tell you, “I see you.”

So what it really says — “when you lift up the heads of the sons of Israel”:

Then each shall give an atonement for his soul. — Exodus 30:12

Now, “atonement” has become this religious word that it shouldn’t be religious. And I do a series called Pardon My Jargon, and in that series I have an episode about the word atonement. But when we see the word atonement in the scriptures, we should just put in the word “cover.” Kippur (כִּפּוּר) just means “to cover.” A kippah (כִּפָּה) is a hat that Jewish men wear, and kippur (כִּפּוּר) simply means “to cover.” It is not a religious word. It’s just part of the street vernacular.

And so basically what God is telling Moses to do is this: God frowns on counting people. He just doesn’t like it when we count people. And if you don’t believe me, just read the story of how David decided to count the people of Israel, and God sent a plague, and many died.

So what God does is he counts things that people give. So think of this atonement, this kippur (כִּפּוּר), as like a cover charge. Some places when you go in you have to pay a cover charge. And let’s say that cover charge is a dollar. So at the end of the night, the people who own the event or are running the event, all they have to do is count how much money came in. And if they make $500, they know 500 people came.

And so God is telling Moses, “What I want the people to do — I want the men to each bring a certain coin, a certain amount of money, and we’ll count those instead of counting the people.”

So they shall each give an atonement, a cover, for his soul to Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this — half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל), according to the shekel of the sanctuary. — Exodus 30:12–13

And then we’re told the shekel (שֶׁקֶל) is 20 gerahs (גֵּרָה), as I just mentioned at the opening. But he says:

Half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) as an offering to Adonai (אֲדֹנָי). Everyone who is numbered in the census, from 20 years old and upward, shall give Adonai’s offering. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל), when you give Adonai’s offering to make atonement, to make a covering for your souls. You shall take the atonement money, or the cover charge, from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting. — Exodus 30:13–16

So this silver in the shekel (שֶׁקֶל) was for the upkeep of the Tabernacle. And I mention this here because later on, this half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) annual tax was imposed upon Jewish men and it was used for the upkeep of the Temple. And we’ll encounter an example of this in the Gospels in just a moment.

…that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), so as to make a covering for your souls. — Exodus 30:16

The Mystery of the Half

Now here is the mystery. Why — three times in this passage — is it the half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) that’s mentioned? Why not just say “bring 10 gerahs (גֵּרָה)”? Or, “Why not bring a beka (בֶּקַע)”? These are nice round numbers — 10 gerahs (גֵּרָה), or one whole beka (בֶּקַע). But it’s this “half” that God insists on repeating: half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל), half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל), half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) per person.

And the rabbis have pondered this, as have I, and I want you — I invite you to ponder this with me.

Human Beings – A Study in Contrast

You know, we as human beings are a study in contrast. Some of us may be morons, but we are all oxymorons — because we are a study in opposites.

For example, here I am. I am a soul, and my essence — my spirit — is something that comes directly from God, from his Spirit, as God breathed into the pile of dust he had formed into Adam’s body and man became a living soul. So our essence, our spirits, come directly from God. Yet we have this body of flesh, which is basically just dirt and water. So this other part is completely physical. We have a part that comes from outside this world and a part that is made of the stuff of this world. And here we are. And so we have things that pull us towards the physical and things that attract us towards the spiritual. But I’m in the middle. I have to decide.

In our Messiah, he was called the Lion of the tribe of Judah, but he’s also called the Lamb of God. And we too need to learn how to operate in boldness like a lion at times and then to be meek as a lamb at others. Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) did this perfectly. I struggle with this. Sometimes I want to be bold when I should be meek. I want to be meek when God wants me to be bold. And learning how to navigate this — learning how to navigate these opposites and these contrasts that are inherent in being human — this is the whole story of spiritual growth. This is the entire purpose of spiritual growth.

And so there’s a part of me that wants to be a one. I want to be one beka (בֶּקַע), or better yet, I want to be a 10 — so have me bring 10 gerahs (גֵּרָה). But God says, “No. Half of a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל).”

And this is the crux of the issue that I think God is trying to teach. On the one hand, I am to be a whole person. And I need to learn to stand on my own two feet. I need to learn to make decisions independent of what others may say. There are times I have to exercise the courage to be a man and to be independent.

But on the other hand, I’m part of a body. I’m part of a group. I’m part of the body of Messiah. And I must be part of a community. And anyone who tries to live out the commandments of Torah (תּוֹרָה) in isolation — well, they’re just destined for failure. It can’t be done. The commandments of Torah (תּוֹרָה) can only be lived out in a community, with a group of other people, whether it’s a large or small group. It has to be done that way.

And so I need to be independent, but I also need to be a part. And so I see here as God tells Moses, “I want each man to bring not a beka (בֶּקַע) or 10 gerahs (גֵּרָה), but half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל), half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל), half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל).”

Nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ) and Shekel (שֶׁקֶל) – Gematria of 430

Now what’s interesting is that if we take the word for “soul” that is used here — soul is nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ). Nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ): nun (נ), peh (פ), shin (שׁ) — has a numerical value of 430. Which happens to be the exact same numerical value of the word shekel (שֶׁקֶל): shin (שׁ), qof (ק), lamed (ל) — which also equals 430.

So it only seems logical that a covering for a soul — which equals 430 — should be a shekel (שֶׁקֶל), whose numerical value is 430. But God says, “No. I want you to bring half of a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל).”

Well, half of 430 is 215. And interestingly enough, if we look into the Torah (תּוֹרָה), the first word in the Torah (תּוֹרָה) that has a numerical value of 215 is found in Genesis 3:24. And it’s the word “the sword” (הַחֶרֶב). And what is the purpose of the sword? To cut in half.

So though we are to be a whole soul, God says there’s also a half to you that can only be completed by being in relationship with another half. And between the two, we become one.

Of course, when I talk in this way, the first thing that comes to mind is that though I must be independent and I need to be my own man, I need to learn to stand on my own two feet — it is not good for a man, including this one, to be alone. So God has provided me my bashert (בָּשֶׁרֶת), my lovely bride Robin. I don’t know what I’d do without her. And by being in covenant relationship with her, being married to her, there is a wholeness I experience I can never experience just on my own.

And of course, though I’m to be a whole person and learn to stand on my own two feet, I must be part of a community. I’m just like one small part, one small member of the body of Messiah, one small part of the community I meet with on every Sabbath. And without them I’m not complete. Without them I cannot fulfill all the commandments.

And of course, the other individual who truly makes me complete is Messiah himself. And without being joined to him and in covenant relationship with him, I can never be the man — and you can never be the man or the woman you should be — without that.

Matthew 17:24–27 – The Shekel in the Fish’s Mouth

And that is illustrated in this wonderful story that we find in Matthew chapter 17. Now here, let’s just dive right in and we’ll discuss it as we go. Matthew 17:24–27:

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” — Matthew 17:24–25a

And when he came into the house, Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tax — from their sons, or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) said to him, “Then the sons are free.” — Matthew 17:25–26

Now this mysterious little dialogue between Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) and Simon Peter is interesting. It’s kind of puzzling. And as you ponder it and camp out here for a while, you begin to realize that when the collectors of the half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) tax asked Peter, “Does your master pay the tax?” and Peter said, “Yes” — we learn from Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) that Peter did give the right answer, but it wasn’t for the reasons Peter thought.

On the one hand, Peter thought, “Well, we fulfill the Torah (תּוֹרָה) and we submit to authority, and the tax collectors need this half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) annual tax to help upkeep the Temple. And so I’m sure my master pays it.” And Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) says, “Yes, we pay it. But not for the reasons you think. We are sons of the King. And the Temple is God’s house, and therefore, as being his children, it is our house as well. Yet we still pay the half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) tax — but not for the reasons you think, Peter.” And I’ll leave it there. You can think about it more on your own. I really want us to get to the next part of the story.

So then he went on to say:

“However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. And when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel (שֶׁקֶל).” — Matthew 17:27a

A whole shekel (שֶׁקֶל).

“Take that and give it to them for me and for you.” — Matthew 17:27b

Half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) for me, half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) for you.

A Whole Shekel – United with Messiah

Now this is an amazing story — probably about the oddest miracle we find in the Gospels, maybe in the entire Bible. Go cast a hook in the sea, pull up a fish, there’ll be a shekel (שֶׁקֶל) coin inside, and go pay it for me and for you.

A whole shekel (שֶׁקֶל) — not half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) for me and half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) for you, but a whole shekel (שֶׁקֶל) for me and you.

This tells me that my spiritual completion, my half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל), is matched by Yeshua’s (יֵשׁוּעַ). And they are no longer a half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) but one whole shekel (שֶׁקֶל). He didn’t find two half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) coins in the fish’s mouth. He found one whole shekel (שֶׁקֶל) in the fish’s mouth. Because the two halves are united. As I and Messiah must be united. As you and Messiah must be united. We must be one whole.

Nafsho (נַפְשׁוֹ) – Fish, Mouth, Shekel, Hook

But there’s something spectacular that happens in the Hebrew when we go back to Exodus 30:11. Remember it said:

And Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) said to Moses, “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give an atonement for his soul.” — Exodus 30:12

Now the word “his soul” in Hebrew is one word — it’s nafsho (נַפְשׁוֹ). Nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ) is “soul,” but when you add the vav (ו) on the end, it becomes a third person singular masculine possessive: nafsho (נַפְשׁוֹ) — “his soul.”

So “his soul” is nafsho (נַפְשׁוֹ). And if we take these four letters in order, look at the picture they paint:

The first letter, nun (נ), it means fish.

The next letter, peh (פ), means mouth.

The third letter, shin (שׁ), is the first letter of the word shekel (שֶׁקֶל), as you can see there.

So the fish is caught, the mouth is open, inside is a shekel (שֶׁקֶל). And the last letter, vav (ו), means hook.

Conclusion

So I want you to think about something for a moment. Way back in Exodus — about how many thousands of years? A couple, 3,000 years before Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) was born — God gave the scriptures about a half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) for nafsho (נַפְשׁוֹ), for “his soul.” And built into that word he placed there in Exodus, with every jot and tittle involved, he foresaw the day that Messiah would come and tell Simon Peter, “Go cast a hook into the sea, pull up a fish, in his mouth you’ll find a shekel (שֶׁקֶל) — for me and for you.”

Or maybe it was that Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) simply knew the scripture so well that when he contemplated this half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) tax, he contemplated the word nafsho (נַפְשׁוֹ) and thought, “Well, there’s a fish and a mouth and a shin (שׁ) for shekel (שֶׁקֶל) and a hook. So maybe this is how we get the shekel (שֶׁקֶל).”

I don’t know which came first — the chicken or the egg. Which came first — the fish or the shekel (שֶׁקֶל)? But all I know is our God is so amazing. He is so incredible. And just as these two scriptures at each end of the Bible — Exodus, then over in Matthew — are intimately integrated, I know that somehow you and Messiah, that I and Messiah, can be intimately integrated into a whole. The husband and wife should be intimately integrated into a whole unit. And you and your community that you meet with needs to be intimately integrated into a whole.

And when all of this comes together — every husband, every wife, every godly community, and our relationship with the Messiah — we become the body of Messiah, with him as the head and we as the body. And we become one.

His ways are so amazing and so past finding out. His ways are so wonderful. So anyways, I’m just going to leave it there for you to contemplate and review and go over. And again, just to — in this Hebrew Key episode — open your eyes to something amazing that reveals itself only in the Hebrew scriptures. So until next time, I wish you shalom (שָׁלוֹם) and may God bless.

Teaching Material

Hebrew Word Studies

• Shekel (שֶׁקֶל) — “A unit of weight and currency”; equal to 20 gerahs (גֵּרָה). The numerical value (gematria) of shekel (שׁ=300 + ק=100 + ל=30) is 430 — the same as nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ), “soul.” One whole shekel (שֶׁקֶל) was found in the fish’s mouth for both Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) and Peter — two halves united as one. — Strong’s H8255
• Nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ) — “Soul, life, being”; numerical value of 430, matching shekel (שֶׁקֶל). With the possessive suffix, nafsho (נַפְשׁוֹ) — “his soul” — the four letters picture the Matthew 17 miracle: nun (נ) = fish, peh (פ) = mouth, shin (שׁ) = shekel, vav (ו) = hook. — Strong’s H5315
• Beka (בֶּקַע) — “Half shekel, a split”; a 10-gerah coin. God could have asked for a beka (בֶּקַע) — a nice round number — but insisted on “half a shekel” to emphasize the incompleteness of the individual apart from relationship. — Strong’s H1235
• Gerah (גֵּרָה) — “A small unit of weight”; one-twentieth of a shekel (שֶׁקֶל). Ten gerahs (גֵּרָה) equal one beka (בֶּקַע) or half a shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל). — Strong’s H1626
• Ki Tisa (כִּי תִשָּׂא) — “When you lift up”; the name of the Torah (תּוֹרָה) portion beginning in Exodus 30:11. The census was not a mere head count — God lifts each person’s head and looks them in the eye. — Sefaria: Ki Tisa
• Kippur (כִּפּוּר) — “Covering, atonement”; not a religious word but street vernacular — from the same root as kippah (כִּפָּה), the head covering. In this passage, the half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) serves as a kippur (כִּפּוּר) — a “cover charge” — for each soul. — Strong’s H3725
• Cherev (חֶרֶב) — “Sword”; the first word in the Torah (תּוֹרָה) with a numerical value of 215 — half of 430. Found in Genesis 3:24. The purpose of the sword is to cut in half, reinforcing the half-shekel theme: we are whole souls, yet incomplete without relationship. — Strong’s H2719
• Bashert (בָּשֶׁרֶת) — “Destined one, soulmate”; Yiddish term from Hebrew. Grant refers to Robin as his bashert (בָּשֶׁרֶת) — his other half that makes him whole.
• Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) — “Salvation”; in this teaching, the one whose half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) completes ours. One whole shekel (שֶׁקֶל) in the fish’s mouth — not two halves, but one coin for two people united. — Strong’s H3442
• Torah (תּוֹרָה) — “Instruction, teaching, law”; the commandments of Torah (תּוֹרָה) can only be lived out in community — never in isolation. — Strong’s H8451
• Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) — “Lord, Master”; the one who commands the census and the half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) offering. — Strong’s H136
• Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) — “Peace, wholeness, completeness.” — Strong’s H7965

Scripture References

Open All Scripture in Bible Gateway

• Exodus 30:11–16 — The half shekel (חֲצִי שֶׁקֶל) census offering: “each shall give an atonement for his soul (nafsho)” — repeated three times
• Genesis 3:24 — “The sword” (הַחֶרֶב) — the first Torah word with a gematria of 215 (half of 430), whose purpose is to cut in half
• Genesis 2:7 — God breathed into the dust and man became a living soul (nephesh chayyah) — our essence comes directly from God
• Genesis 2:18 — “It is not good for man to be alone” — the half needs its other half
• 2 Samuel 24:1–15 — David’s census and the plague that followed — why God frowns on counting people directly
• Matthew 17:24–27 — The shekel (שֶׁקֶל) in the fish’s mouth: “Take that and give it to them for me and for you” — one whole coin for two united halves

External References & Further Study

• Exodus 30: The Half Shekel — Sefaria — Hebrew and English text of the census offering with the three-fold repetition of “half a shekel”
• The Hebrew Letters: Pictographic Meanings — Hebrew4Christians 
• Pardon My Jargon: Atonement — Torah Today Ministries — Grant’s teaching on Atonement as “covering,” not a religious term
• Torah Today Ministries — Home of The Hebrew Key and other Torah-centered teachings