How Old Were the Disciples?
In this short essay, we will attempt to connect the Torah portion Ki Tisa, “When you take” (Exodus 30:11-34:35) to a peculiar episode in the Gospel according to Mathew, in which Yeshua paid the due Temple tax for himself and his disciple. But how would this episode help us find the age of the disciples? We will explain in the following.
The common perception is that Yeshua’s disciples were young adults as Shimon Kefa (Peter) being in his early forties while the rest of them were in their thirties. Yochanan (John) is believed to be the youngest among them. This perception is received mainly from the popular Bible movies where the disciples are portrayed more or less as such. But how old were they? In the account of Matthew, we read:
And when they came into Kephar Nachum, those who received the tax came to Kepha and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Yeshua spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Shimon? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tax, from their own sons or from the strangers?” Kepha then said to Him, “From the strangers.” Yeshua said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. But lest we cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you shall find a coin. Take that and give it to them for Me and you.” (Mat 17:24-27)
In order to answer this question, we need to refer to the Torah for more insight. In the Torah, every Israelite, rich or poor, who had reached the age of twenty was obligated to pay a half shekel as an offering to YHVH into the treasury. In our story, we see that Yeshua found the way to pay the Temple tax for himself and Shimon Kefa, according to Exo 30:13-15:
Everyone among those who are registered is to give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the set-apart place, twenty gerahs being a shekel. The half-shekel is the contribution to Yehovah. Everyone passing over to be registered, from twenty years old and above, gives a contribution to Yehovah. (Exo 30:13-15)
Mosheh designed a coin called “shekel” [from the word משקל, weight] minted from pure silver, without any dross. Thus, shekel became the standard for the redeeming of the firstborn, all of whom were redeemed by giving a shekel. This silver coin was also called “sacred shekel”, because it was used to redeem something sacred. For this offering in our Torah portion, everyone gave a half-shekel, the total of which was set aside. The rich and poor gave equally, and thus they became equal in the half-shekel they all gave.
Nahum M. Sarna writes in The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, Nahum M. Sarna, Jewish Publication Society, Pg. 195:
The present poll tax is a one-time imposition for the building of the Tabernacle and not an annual obligation. In later times, however, the injunction was treated as a precedent, and the text came to be interpreted as such. In Second Temple times Jews contributed the half shekel annually from all the lands of their dispersal. The money was used to maintain the communal offerings and for other public projects.
Rabbi Bachya ben Asher ibn Halawa (1255 – 1340 CE), aka Rabbeinu Bachya, was a Spanish rabbi, scholar, and biblical commentator. In his commentary on Exodus 30:13, he sees the law in our Torah portion regarding taking a census of the children of Israel in the desert from a different angle. He notes that the reason the Torah legislated that the males in order to be counted were to contribute “half” a shekel, instead of a whole one, is because when the Israelites made the golden calf to lead them in the desert in the place of Mosheh, they had violated the Ten Commandments, and the half shekel weighs ten gerahs. This is why every male Israelite who had reached the age of accountability (the age of 20), had to pay the ten gerahs as a symbol of the sin of which he had been found guilty. And indeed, the root of the sin at the golden calf episode was the undermining the Unity of the Creator. This sin was so a grievous error on their side that they were required to give this sacred half-shekel to the One against whom they sinned in atonement for their souls.
Now, how could that help us determine the age of the disciples? In our story, we see, the contribution was a half shekel per person. Since Kefa found a shekel in the fish, he had enough money to pay for himself and Yeshua, while the rest of the accompanying disciples did not pay anything. This comes to tell us that Kefa was at least twenty years old while the others were young enough (under 20) not to pay the required Temple tax. And indeed, the disciples were seen young enough by the Messiah so that He often called them “children” as seen in Joh 21:5, “babes” as in Mat 11:25, and “little children” as in Joh 13:33.
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