Exodus 30:15
הֶֽעָשִׁיר לֹֽא־יַרְבֶּה וְהַדַּל לֹא יַמְעִיט מִֽמַּחֲצִית הַשָּׁקֶל לָתֵת אֶת־תְּרוּמַת יְהוָה לְכַפֵּר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶֽם׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
הֶֽעָשִׁ֣יר לֹֽא־יַרְבֶּ֗ה וְהַדַּל֙ לֹ֣א יַמְעִ֔יט מִֽמַּחֲצִ֖ית הַשָּׁ֑קֶל לָתֵת֙ אֶת־תְּרוּמַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶֽם׃
ὁ πλουτῶν οὐ προσθήσει καὶ ὁ πενόμενος οὐκ ἐλαττονήσει ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡμίσους τοῦ διδράχμου ἐν τῷ διδόναι τὴν εἰσφορὰν Τυρίῳ, ἐξιλάσασθαι περὶ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Dives non addet ad medium sicli, et pauper nihil minuet.
Cuando entreguen esta ofrenda a Yehová para pagar el rescate por sus vidas, el rico no dará más de medio siclo, ni el pobre dará menos.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Ni el rico aumentará, ni el pobre disminuirá de medio siclo, cuando dieren la ofrenda á Jehová para hacer expiación por vuestras personas.
In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Exodus 30:15 sets a fixed rule for a payment made to Yehovah: the rich person must not give more than half a shekel, and the poor person must not give less, when this contribution is offered to atone for the lives of the people involved.
Key words
- 'a.Shir ("rich [person]", H6223) — masculine singular adjective functioning as a substantive, paired with the definite article he. (H9009) to mean "the rich [one]," setting up a contrast with Dal.
- yar.Beh ("he will make much", H7235A) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, meaning the rich person is not to "cause an increase" beyond the set amount; the causative stem indicates an intentional action of adding to the sum.
- yam.'It ("he will make little", H4591) — hiphil imperfect, the causative counterpart to yar.Beh, meaning the poor person is not to "cause a decrease" below the set amount.
- ma.cha.Tzit ("[the] half of", H4276) — feminine singular noun in construct state, linking directly to Sha.kel ("shekel", H8255) to form "half of the shekel," the fixed reference amount.
- te.ru.Mat ("[the] contribution of", H8641) — feminine singular construct noun, linked to Yah.weh (H3068G), forming "contribution of Yehovah," the technical term for this offering.
What the text says
The verse is built on a symmetrical structure contrasting two figures: he.'a.Shir ("the rich") and ve.ha.Dal ("and the poor"), each paired with a negated hiphil imperfect verb — lo'-yar.Beh ("he will not make much") and lo' yam.'It ("he will not make little"). Both verbs share the same causative (hiphil) stem, which frames the prohibition not as passively having more or less wealth, but as actively causing the payment to exceed or fall short of the fixed measure, mi.mma.cha.Tzit ha.Sha.kel ("more than half of the shekel").
The phrase la.Tet ("by paying", H5414G, qal infinitive) introduces the purpose clause explaining when this rule applies: at the moment of giving te.ru.Mat Yah.weh ("the contribution of Yehovah"). The construct chain te.ru.Mat...Yah.weh directly ties the payment to the divine name rather than to a general fund. The final infinitive kha.Per ("make atonement", H3722A, piel) states the purpose of the payment — action 'al naf.sho.tei.Khem ("on your selves/lives"), using the plural construct noun naf.sho.tei ("selves") with the second-person plural suffix.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders te.ru.Mat Yah.weh ("contribution of Yehovah") as τὴν εἰσφορὰν Τυρίῳ ("the contribution to Tyrian [coinage/measure]"), naming a monetary standard rather than the divine name found in the Hebrew. The Vulgate (VULCLEM) omits the purpose clause about atonement and the divine name entirely, stating only the prohibition regarding the half-shekel measure, condensing the verse compared to the fuller Hebrew and Greek structures.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.