Exodus 30:22-38

The Anointing Oil and Incense

22 The LORD said to Moses,

23 "Take the ¹finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of ²aromatic cane,

24 and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a ³hin^[a] of olive oil.

25 And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the ⁴perfumer; it shall be a ⁵holy anointing oil.

26 ⁶With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony,

27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,

28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the ⁷basin and its stand.

29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. ⁸Whatever touches them will become holy.

30 ⁹You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.

31 And you shall say to the people of Israel, 'This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.

32 It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. ¹⁰It is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

33 ¹¹Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.'"

34 The LORD said to Moses, ¹²"Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part),

35 and make an ¹³incense blended as by the ¹⁴perfumer, ¹⁵seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

36 You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting ¹⁶where I shall meet with you. ¹⁷It shall be most holy for you.

37 And the incense that you shall make ¹⁸according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD.

38 ¹⁹Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people."

Exodus 30:22-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 30

This chapter treats of the altar of incense, its form and use, Ex 30:1-10 of the ransom of the Israelites, with the half shekel when numbered, Ex 30:11-16 of the laver for the priests to wash their hands and feet at before service, Ex 30:17-21 of the anointing oil, the ingredients of it, and what was to be done with it, Ex 30:22-33, and of the perfume, the composition and use of it, Ex 30:34-38.

Cross References

• 1. Song of Songs 4:14; Ezekiel 27:22
• 2. Ezekiel 27:19
• 3. Exodus 29:40
• 4. Exodus 37:29
• 5. Exodus 37:29; Numbers 35:25; Psalms 89:20; Psalms 133:2
• 6. Exodus 40:9; Leviticus 8:10; Numbers 7:1
• 7. Exodus 40:11
• 8. Exodus 29:37
• 9. See Exodus 29:7
• 10. ver. 25, 37
• 11. ver. 38
• 12. ver. 7; Exodus 25:6; Exodus 37:29
• 13. ver. 25
• 14. See ver. 25
• 15. [Leviticus 2:13]
• 16. See Exodus 25:22
• 17. [Exodus 40:10]
• 18. ver. 32
• 19. ver. 33

Footnotes

• [a]. A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters