Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 38:26/אבן עזרא על שמות ל״ח:כ״ו
אבקע. חצי שקל, וטעמו כאשר יבוקע השקל הנה חציו:
1A BEKA. Half a shekel. Its meaning is: when the shekel will be broken, behold its half.39 is related to the verb baka. Baka means to break. When the shekel is broken, i.e., divided, we have half a shekel.
בלכל העובר. שעברו עליו עשרים שנה שלימות, וכבר הזכרתי טעם זה:
2FOR EVERY ONE THAT PASSED. All those that passed twenty complete years. I have already explained the reason for this.40