<b>When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel … then shall they give every man a ransom (Exod. 30:12).</b> When Moses heard this, he said: <i>Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath he will give for his life</i> (Job 2:4). R. Judah the son of Ilai stated: When Moses heard this he began to reflect upon it, and said to himself: Since we find that the soul of a man may be redeemed with a talent of silver, as is said: <i>Then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shall pay a talent of silver</i> (I Kings 20:39), let each Israelite give a talent of silver. R. Johanan posed the query: From what source do we learn the penalty for debasing the reputation of a person? He explained: From the fact that Scripture states: <i>And they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he has brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel</i> (Deut. 22:19). Similarly, we brought an evil name (upon God) when we said of the golden calf: <i>This is thy God, O Israel</i>; therefore let each Israelite give a silver piece.
R. Simeon the son of Levi said: Moses learned it from the law concerning (a woman) who has been violated, as it is stated: <i>Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver</i> (ibid., v. 29). Since we have violated the word that the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to us: <i>Thou shalt have no other gods before Me</i> (Exod. 20:3), and erected the calf, let each of us give fifty pieces of silver. Others say he learned it from the law of enticement, as it is said: <i>And if a man entice a virgin that is not betrothed, he shall surely pay dowry for her</i> (Deut. 22:15). The dowry one pays for a virgin (who has been enticed) is fifty pieces of silver. Hence, since they enticed Him with their mouths and deceived Him with their tongues, <i>For their heart was not steadfast with Him, neither were they faithful in His covenant</i> (Ps. 78:37), let each one give fifty shekels of silver.
R. Judah the son of Simon contended that he learned it from the law concerning the ox that gored. It is said: <i>If the ox gore a bondman or a bondwoman, he shall give thirty shekels of silver</i> (Exod. 21:32), and since we replaced Him with an ox (i.e the golden calf), as is said: <i>Thus they exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox that eateth grain</i> (Ps. 106:20), each one shall give thirty shekels of silver. The Holy One, blessed be He, knew what was in Moses’ heart, and so He showed him with His finger, as is said: <i>Moses, this they shall give</i>, that is, this amount they shall give.