“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the Lord, according to your valuation, if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels" vv.2-4
Read chapter 27.
How much are you worth? According to this chapter I'm worth 30 shekels (possibly 900 gold coins but weight and value of a shekel isn't exact or certain). Now that's not really what this chapter is talking about of what we're worth in money, but the redemption price of a person vowing themselves or dedicating their children to the Lord for service to God. Samuel is an example of this that we see in scripture in 1 Samuel 1 of his mother Hannah giving him to serve in the temple all his life so probably paid the valuation of 5 shekels of silver (v.6). While people could dedicate themselves to serve God only Levites could serve as priests. How was this value set? A lot probably had to do with the heavy labor and therefore men between the ages of 20-60 is the highest value, as women, young children or the elderly aren't naturally as strong as men in this age range. We know that women are worth far more than rubies (Proverbs 31:10). How do you understand your worth to the Lord?
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