29 July 2014

How much are you worth to God?

Since I'm working on Leviticus 27 in the Every Jot and Tittle Project, I'm updating this post using the current price of silver.

Not much, I'm afraid.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying ... thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old ... fifty shekels of silver....

And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.

And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. Leviticus 27:1-7

Here's a table to make it a little easier to see.

The Value of Human Life (in shekels of silver)
Age Sex Value (in Shekels of Silver)
less than one month
(Newborn babies and fetuses)
male 0
female 0
one month to 5 years male 5
female 3
5 to 20 years male 20
female 10
20 to 60 years male 50
female 30
over 60 years male 15
female 10

And here's a graph, showing the same information.

So now you know how much you're worth in shekels of silver. But what would that be in U.S. dollars?

Well a shekel is about 11 grams and a kilogram of silver sells today for about $661.50. So here's the true value of every human life in dollars and cents.

The Value of Human Life (in U.S. dollars)
Age Sex Value (in U.S. dollars)
less than one month
(Newborn babies and fetuses)
male 0
female 0
one month to 5 years male 36.40
female 21.84
5 to 20 years male 145.60
female 72.80
20 to 60 years male 364.00
female 218.40
over 60 years male 109.20
female 72.80

From the graph, a few things are obvious.

  1. People aren't worth much to God.
  2. Males are worth more than females.
    (A female is worth one-half to two-thirds a male depending on age.)
  3. Newborn babies (less than 1 month old) and fetuses are worth nothing at all.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Newborn babies (less than 1 month old) and fetuses are worth nothing at all."
New argument for pro-choice?

busterggi said...

All values are based on estimated ability to kill Amalekites.

skanksta said...

Steve ! I love you man.

What you're doing is both important AND hilarious. This stuff SHOULD defo be in the pro-choice debate ! Your blog is becoming an important resource for humanity. Sorry to lay it on with a trowel, but I love you man!

Busteregg - I really did (literally) lol @ your comment too.

Matthew Blanchette said...

I wonder what the price would be today, adjusted for inflation over four thousand years...

Clint Burky said...

haha nice visuals mate. Keep up the good work. Your inputs are valuable and a unique edition.

Carolyn Hyppolite said...

I am worth $19,845. Well, at least it's more than my net worth.

Carolyn

http://stillsmallvoices.net/

Steve Wells said...

You're worth $19,845? According to Lev 27:1-7 no one is worth more than 50 shekels of silver, which would be about $364 U.S. today. Did God make an exception for you, or what?

Carolyn Hyppolite said...

Oh, looks like I misunderstood. $364. Pretty sad. :(

Life is Beautiful said...

Really people rely a lot on their faith upon God. In Church they together pray for the welfare to God. Here people can innovate them ple can innovate their inner connection with Jesus Christ.http://woodlawnchurch.net/presbyterian-churches-st-pete/

Anonymous said...

Man, I am stoked by all the work you have done. I need to seed you a check for this, not a big check, because this week, only my "side-income" check came in, about $138, but it's something, at 10% tithe, that's about $13.80, which is almost 27hrs worth of work I would do when I lived near Mexico, working with the mexicans.

Of the seven months I spent traveling the U.s. with nothing but a bike and a backpack, I did learn one thing. I liked Christians better.

Not all Christians, but those who loved Christ, kinda like a person doesnt like all baseball players but those who love the game and devote their life to it.

I met staunch Jews, wild Muslims, strict Presbyterians, etc, but the common thread I found whether with 7 = Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons, regardless of what parts they misunderstood or not about God, those who Loved Christ, that loved the example of carrying others burdens but not compromising on "right" living, those were the best to be around.

I met this guy much like me, very intellectual, don't know if as smart as you though, but did research, deep research into everything, science, religions, spirituality, etc, and in the end, found that the bais rock solid foundation of every line of thought was "faith".

Just in my science as a biochemist, so many things we cannot prove, and of the things we have been able to prove, nothing disproves the Word of God. I am not saying the bible, because the bible is a 1,000 different translations of the Word of God. However, if you go back to the original text like you have, we cannot prove it wrong, but in so many ways, we cannot prove it right.

It's like with dating, estimated the age of things. When you light something on fire, the carbon footprint changes DRAMATICALLY. So, let's say things started in a big bang. Well, that first second, it aged about 1,000,000,000 years, meaning it changed more in that first second than carbon atoms will change today, at their current rate of change, in 1,000,000,000 years. What people do not understand is that carbon dating is talking about relative change based on current rate of change. Near volcano sights, carbon decay and change really throws things off. All carbon dating system is based on carbon changing for ALL TIME at the rate it is changing right now, but of course, that is impossible. There has been some major changes, shifting of the oceans and land masses, volcanoes, etc.

All our carbon dating can show, is that when comparing to substances, close in proximity, barring and high energy influence, they died about the same time.

All this to say, I study the Word of God like I study the Body and life on earth, one big mystery, of which we dispel 1/1,000,000,000,000 of those mysteries each day. And we have a long way to go...

Stephen said...

@ Latham Reunion:
"He (God) figured things out, every single piece, before he set himself to MAKE anything...."

Google "recurrent laryngeal nerve" to see how well things were figured out. :-)
Steve Weeks

Cloud Hermit said...

Is there a reference to how much people are worth in heaven; is there a system of worth for heaven inhabitants? What I mean is that is there a citizenship level in heaven, like the caste system, prince-hoods, aristocrats, warrior-ship, merchants, slaves? I mean, after-all, God endorses black slavery on Earth. Is there slaves in heaven? I mean, why do we care about how much we worth on Earth. It doesn't seem to matter. Heaven is the most important place final home. We should be hedonist and go to whores and do drugs during this lifetime, and then repent to Jesus out of fear of hell. Amen. Facebook: Victor Kwok: https://www.facebook.com/kai.kuo/media_set?set=a.10154400992400065.1073741847.690015064&type=1

Unknown said...

You all have completely misunderstood the passage of Levitucus 27:1-8 which was a vow to be fulfilled by dedication to the temple, classic example is 1 Samuel 1 with Hannah and her son, Samuel. The passage was never about the value because it was thrown out if the person was too poor to pay. Why? Because God is always concerned about the heart's motives. The value was practically worthless for a number of reasons. 1) It's symbolic, referencing that Christ bought us. 2) It's encouraging us to serve God but at the same time we have a buy back policy in place to redeem it. 3) It's encouraging us to trust in God to fulfill his part of the vow in providing us with whatever we're asking for.

Also, God created man and woman equal right in the opening of Genesis. So why the difference in monetary value? It was an agrarian society where physical strength was valued. But it doesn't mean women are less valuable than men in God's eyes.

God has hidden the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom, in other words understanding, from you. Go read Matthew 13 to find out why some understand God and some remain blind. The Torah is also written in parables, signs and symbols telling us something else, usually prophetic or spiritual. The Jews were tasked with performing it literal while us Gentiles had to just understand them. And since you don't have God's spirit, you're not a child of his, therefore you lack insight. Why should God give you insight if you reject and mock him?

Baggs said...

sadly he missed the context and based it on american values rather than how high those prices were at the time before they had machines mining resources and everything was mass produced in china.
50 shekels for example would approx 400 dollars in one approximation, while historically many men back then could not get married due to how steep it was that the could not even raise that much by the time they were eligible for marriage. thus the rabbis had to create a delayed payment method. and in context, since none of you seem to be capable of googling it, dowry and similar prices were not equal to the value of the person, but rather an insurance policy EX when the husband dies the bride price would be used by the woman to support herself financially and continue to live. it was also used to establish their own independent home apart from their parents,. this would include the house the land and the family business etc. nowadays a similar tradition exists in america without much of you even realizing it. where the husband presents a gift to the bride, something of great value. today we call it the wedding ring. now imagine if they followed a similar scale as today. the bride price would be. A farmland and a house. how many of you can give that to your bride on your wedding day? most americans can't even afford a house on their wedding day and have to settle for a payment plan that gets paid off by the time they retire.

Baggs said...

remember what you learned in anthropology class, not to be ethnocentric and understand what you learned about literature. To understand the complexities of society and the difference of language, culture, economy.

And as for the values. I would question it.. It says zero,
But read the text.

Exodus 21:22-23 states: “And if two men strive together and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, accordingly as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, though shalt give life for life.”

Not to mention that the lot of you are pro abortion.

Baggs said...

2-8. When a man shall make a singular vow, &c.--Persons have, at all times and in all places, been accustomed to present votive offerings, either from gratitude for benefits received, or in the event of deliverance from apprehended evil. And Moses was empowered, by divine authority, to prescribe the conditions of this voluntary duty.
the persons shall be for the Lord, &c.--better rendered thus:--"According to thy estimation, the persons shall be for the Lord." Persons might consecrate themselves or their children to the divine service, in some inferior or servile kind of work about the sanctuary ( 1 Samuel 3:1 ). In the event of any change, the persons so devoted had the privilege in their power of redeeming themselves; and this chapter specifies the amount of the redemption money, which the priest had the discretionary power of reducing, as circumstances might seem to require. Those of mature age, between twenty and sixty, being capable of the greatest service, were rated highest; young people, from five till twenty, less, because not so serviceable; infants, though devotable by their parents before birth ( 1 Samuel 1:11 ), could not be offered nor redeemed till a month after birth; old people were valued below the young, but above children; and the poor--in no case freed from payment, in order to prevent the rash formation of vows--were rated according to their means.

Baggs said...

Basically it's like BAIL payment for people who make vows to serve in the temple doing menial tasks.
But smart atheists already knew that didn't they? Oh' they didn't? Why not? Couldn't do a simple google search to verify something? If they couldn't do it for this one, what else do you think they don't bother verifying? Oh boy!

Baggs said...

As for the women and children. The text actually makes a generous allowance for them to get out of their vows for cheaper than men of ripe age. If anything it showed care and understanding that if a woman finds that she doesn't want to keep doing menial tasks in the temple and complete her vow, she can get out of it CHEAPER, than a man who is held more accountable for his vows. The elderly in case they find that they cannot handle the workload.
and also, these things are VOLUNTEER positions. not the price of slavery. goodness. this is why no matter how appealing hedonism is, i can't bring myself to align with atheism when people like these professing intelligence fall for such simple texts. (THAT YOU CAN EASILY GOOGLE!)

collegereactionary said...

This fails to account for differences in productivity, or the amount of labor it takes to create a given amount of capital. 50 shekels was 200 days wages, but you can produce a lot more today than you could then. This is a different phenomenon than inflation because it refers to the actual structure of production instead of to relative valuations of capital and goods, which is why estimations tend to vary so widely.

Post a Comment