Exodus 30

You are also to make an altar for burning incense on. Make it out of acacia wood.

1And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

NoteIncense is a mixture of fragrant gums and resins burned to produce sweet-smelling smoke; the recipe for this one is given in verses 34–38. The King James "shittim wood" is acacia, a hard, dense desert wood.

2It is to be square: a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns are to be made from one piece with it.

2A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.

NoteA cubit was roughly eighteen inches, about the length of a forearm, so the altar was about a foot and a half square and three feet high. The "horns" were four upward projections, one at each top corner, shaped like animal horns; blood was smeared on them in certain rituals (verse 10), and a person seeking protection could grab hold of them.

3Cover it with pure gold (the top, all the sides around it, and the horns) and make a gold rim around it.

3And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.

4Make two gold rings for it under the rim, on two opposite sides. They will hold the poles used to carry it.

4And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.

5Make the poles out of acacia wood and cover them with gold.

5And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

6Put the altar in front of the curtain that hangs by the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.

6And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

NoteThe curtain (King James "vail") separated the innermost room of the tent from the outer room. The "ark of the testimony" was the gold-covered chest holding the stone tablets of the covenant, which are what "the testimony" refers to. The "mercy seat" was its lid, a slab of gold with two winged figures on it; the Hebrew word means a covering or a place where wrongdoing is wiped away.

7Aaron is to burn sweet-smelling incense on it every morning. He is to burn incense on it when he tends the lamps.

7And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

NoteThe lamps are those of the seven-branched gold lampstand that stood in the same room. "Dresseth the lamps" in the King James means servicing them, trimming the wicks and topping up the oil.

8And when Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he is to burn incense on it. This incense is to burn before the LORD without fail, for all your generations to come.

8And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

9You must not offer any other kind of incense on this altar, and no burnt sacrifice and no grain offering. You must not pour a drink offering on it either.

9Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.

NoteThree standard kinds of offering are ruled out here. A burnt sacrifice was an animal burned up entirely. A grain offering (King James "meat offering", "meat" in 1611 meant food of any kind, not flesh) was flour, oil and incense. A drink offering was wine poured out at the altar. "Strange incense" means incense of any recipe other than the one prescribed.

10Once a year Aaron is to make atonement on the horns of the altar. He is to use the blood of the sin offering of atonement. Once a year he is to make atonement on it, for all your generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD.

10And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

Note"Atonement" translates a Hebrew word meaning to wipe clean or cover over, canceling the effect of wrongdoing. A sin offering was an animal killed to remove ritual impurity. The once-a-year occasion is the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16.

11Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

11And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

12When you take a count of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must give the LORD a ransom for his life. Do this so that no plague will come on them when you count them.

12When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

NoteA census in this setting was chiefly a military muster, counting the men able to fight. A "ransom" is a payment made to release a life that is otherwise forfeit. The warning about plague reflects a widespread ancient sense that counting people put them at risk.

13This is what each man who crosses over to those being counted must give: half a shekel, measured by the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. That half shekel is an offering to the LORD.

13This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.

NoteThe shekel here is a unit of weight, not a coin, coined money did not yet exist. The "sanctuary shekel" was the standard weight kept at the sanctuary, about eleven or twelve grams of silver, so half a shekel is roughly a fifth of an ounce. A gerah was one-twentieth of that, the smallest weight in the system. "Crosses over to those being counted" is the Hebrew idiom for passing in front of the officials and being registered.

14Everyone who crosses over to those being counted, from twenty years old and up, is to give this offering to the LORD.

14Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.

15When you give this offering to the LORD to make atonement for your lives, the rich are not to give more than half a shekel, and the poor are not to give less.

15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

16Take this atonement money from the people of Israel and set it aside for the work of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a reminder for the people of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for your lives.

16And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

NoteThe "Tent of Meeting" (King James "tabernacle of the congregation") is the portable sanctuary, a tent that could be dismantled and carried, so called because it was the place where God and Moses met.

17Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

17And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

18You are also to make a bronze basin for washing, with a bronze stand for it. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

18Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.

NoteThe King James "laver" is a large basin. "Brass" in 1611 English covered copper alloys generally; the metal meant here is bronze. The altar mentioned is the large one for burnt offerings, which stood in the open courtyard outside the tent.

19Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and their feet at it.

19For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:

20When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they are to wash with water, so that they will not die. They must also wash when they come near the altar to serve, to burn an offering made by fire to the LORD.

20When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:

21So they are to wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting rule for them, for Aaron and for his descendants, for all their generations to come.

21So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

22The LORD also spoke to Moses. He said:

22Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

23Take the finest spices: five hundred shekels of pure myrrh, half as much sweet cinnamon (that is, two hundred and fifty shekels), and two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant cane,

23Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,

NoteThe shekels here are weights, not coins: five hundred shekels is roughly twelve to fifteen pounds. Myrrh and cassia are aromatic gums and bark from trees; "sweet calamus" (fragrant cane) is a scented reed. All were expensive imported goods.

24and five hundred shekels of cassia, all measured by the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil.

24And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:

NoteA hin was a liquid measure of about six quarts, roughly a gallon and a half.

25Out of these you are to make a holy anointing oil, a mixture blended the way a perfumer blends it. It will be a holy anointing oil.

25And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

NoteAnointing means pouring or smearing oil on a person or object to mark it out for a particular use. "After the art of the apothecary" in the King James means made the way a professional perfumer would make it.

26With it you are to anoint the Tent of Meeting and the ark of the testimony,

26And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,

27the table and all its dishes and tools, the lampstand and its tools, the altar of incense,

27And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,

NoteThe table is the one that held the bread set out before God; "his vessels" in the King James means its vessels, the plates, dishes and jugs used with it. The "candlestick" is the seven-branched lampstand, which burned oil, not candles.

28the altar of burnt offering and all its tools, and the basin with its stand.

28And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.

29You are to set them apart as holy, so that they will be most holy. Whatever touches them will be holy.

29And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

Note"Sanctify" means to set apart from ordinary use. The last clause is deliberately open in the Hebrew and has been read two ways: that whatever touches these objects becomes holy itself, or that only what is already holy may touch them.

30Anoint Aaron and his sons and set them apart, so that they may serve me as priests.

30And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

Note"Consecrate" translates a Hebrew phrase that literally means "fill the hand", the standard expression for installing someone in priestly office.

31And you are to say to the people of Israel: This will be my holy anointing oil for all your generations to come.

31And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

32It must not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you must not make any other oil like it, using its formula. It is holy, and you are to treat it as holy.

32Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.

33Anyone who mixes a blend like it, or puts any of it on an outsider, is to be cut off from his people.

33Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.

NoteA "stranger" in the King James means an outsider, here, anyone not authorised to handle the oil. "Cut off from his people" is a set legal phrase whose exact force is disputed even among ancient interpreters: it may mean banishment from the community, death, or the ending of a person's family line.

34Then the LORD said to Moses: Take sweet spices (stacte, onycha, and galbanum) together with pure frankincense. Use an equal weight of each.

34And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:

NoteThese are aromatic gums and resins. Stacte is a fragrant gum, probably myrrh in its liquid form. Onycha is thought to be the burned shell-covering of a shellfish, which gives off a strong scent. Galbanum is a pungent, sharp-smelling resin. Frankincense is a pale resin that burns with a sweet smell; it was traded over long distances and was costly.

35Make them into a fragrant incense, a mixture blended the way a perfumer blends it, mixed together, pure and holy.

35And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:

NoteThe King James "tempered together" and the modern "seasoned with salt" render one Hebrew word that can mean either mixed thoroughly or salted; translators are divided over which sense is meant.

36Grind some of it into a fine powder and put it in front of the testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It is to be most holy to you.

36And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.

37As for the incense you make, you must not make any for yourselves using its formula. You are to treat it as holy to the LORD.

37And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.

38Anyone who makes incense like it, to enjoy its smell, is to be cut off from his people.

38Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

Note"To smell thereto" means for the pleasure of its scent: that is, for ordinary private use. On "cut off from his people," see the note at verse 33.