Exodus 30:24

24 also of cassia five hundred shekels, in the weight of [the] saintuary; the oil of olives trees, the measure of hin; (and of cassia, the weight of five hundred shekels, all by the measure of the sanctuary; and the oil of olives trees, the measure of a hin, that is, two pounds;)

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


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 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
23 Take to thee sweet smelling spiceries, of the first and chosen myrrh, (equal to the weight of) five hundred shekels; and of canel the half (and half as much canel), that is, (the weight of) two hundred and fifty shekels; [and] in like manner of calamus, that is, a sweet smelling tree, small and full of knots, (the weight of) two hundred and fifty shekels;
24 also of cassia five hundred shekels, in the weight of [the] saintuary; the oil of olives trees, the measure of hin; (and of cassia, the weight of five hundred shekels, all by the measure of the sanctuary; and the oil of olives trees, the measure of a hin, that is, two pounds;)
25 and thou shalt make the holy oil of anointing, an ointment made by the craft of an ointment maker.
26 And thou shalt anoint thereof the tabernacle of witnessing, and the ark of the testament, (And thou shalt anoint with it the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, and the Ark of the Witnessing,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.