Exodus 30:24

24 and of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive one hin;

Exodus 30:24 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 30:24

And of cassia five hundred [shekels]
Or two hundred and fifty ounces:

after the shekel of the sanctuary;
according to the standard weight kept there. This "cassia" was not the "cassia solutiva", which is of a purgative nature, and now in use in physic, but the "cassia odorata", or the sweet smelling "cassia": which, Pancirollus ^F19 says, some take to be the nard, out of which a most sweet oil is pressed; and Servius

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 says, that cassia is an herb of a most sweet smell. Pliny ^F21 speaks of it along with cinnamon; and Galen says, when cinnamon was wanting, it was usual to put in its stead a double quantity of cassia {w}; Leo Africanus speaks of trees in Africa bearing cassia, and which chiefly grew in Egypt ^F24;

and of oil olive an hin;
containing twelve logs: according to Godwin ^F25, it was of our measure three quarts; but, as Bishop Cumberland has more exactly calculated it, it held a wine gallon, a quart, and a little more: this was the purest and best of oil, and most fit and proper to be a part of this holy anointing oil.

F19 Ut supra, (Rer. Memorab. sive Deperd. par. 1.) tit. 11. p. 30.
F20 In Virgil. Bucol. Eclog. 2.
F21 Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 12.) c. 19.
F23 Apud Dalechamp in Plin. ib.
F24 Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.
F25 Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.

Exodus 30:24 In-Context

22 The LORD spoke further unto Moses, saying,

23 Thou must take unto thee of the principal spices: of excellent myrrh five hundred shekels and of aromatic cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of aromatic calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,

24 and of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive one hin;

25 and thou shalt make of it the oil of the holy anointing, a superior ointment, after the art of the apothecary, which shall be the oil of the holy anointing.

26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the testimony with it and the ark of the testimony