Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.

EXODUS 30:14KJV
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Exodus 30:14 (KJV)

What does Exodus 30:14 mean?

Exodus 30:14 says that every man in Israel who is twenty years old or older, and who is counted in a census, must give an offering to the LORD. This offering is a required contribution connected to being counted among the people.

In this verse, God is speaking to Moses, giving instructions for the census of the Israelites. The context is about a special offering each person must give as part of being officially numbered in the community. The age of twenty marks the point when a man is considered an adult for these responsibilities, and the offering is a way of acknowledging their place among God's people.

The Hebrew behind Exodus 30:14

  • "passeth" (עָבַר, avar): This word means to pass over or through, and here it refers to those who "pass among" or are included in the counting. It highlights the act of being officially recognized in the census.
  • "numbered" (פָּקַד, paqad): This word means to be counted, appointed, or enrolled. It emphasizes that the offering is tied directly to being listed as part of the community.
  • "offering" (תְּרוּמָה, terumah): This word means a contribution or offering, often something set apart for a special purpose. In this context, it is a required gift to the LORD, not a voluntary one.

Why Exodus 30:14 matters

  • Exodus 30:14 clarifies that the census offering is not optional but required from every adult male who is counted, showing the seriousness of belonging to the community.
  • The verse sets the age of twenty as the threshold for this responsibility, which helps explain later passages where twenty is the age for military or civic duties.
  • This instruction connects personal identity with communal responsibility, showing that being counted among God's people comes with obligations, not just privileges.

Where else these words appear

“offering” Hebrew H8641 · used in 63 verses

  • Exodus 25:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
  • Numbers 15:20 Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it.
  • Nehemiah 10:37 And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

“above” Hebrew H4605 · used in 134 verses

  • Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
  • Numbers 4:35 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:
  • 2 Chronicles 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.