Exodus 30:36

36 Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony ^[a] in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

Exodus 30:36 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 30:36

And thou shall beat some of it very small
Or every one of the spices; for this does not seem to respect any different usage of some part of the incense from the rest; but it was all to be beat very small, that it might mix together the better, and be easier spread upon the coals, and the smoke thereof go up the sooner:

and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the
congregation;
that is, upon the altar of incense, which was placed there, ( Exodus 30:6 ) and here it was to be put in order to be burnt, not to be kept, either to be looked at, or smelled to:

where I will meet with thee; (See Gill on Exodus 30:6)

it shall be unto you most holy;
reckoned by them most sacred, and not to be put to any private or profane uses.

Exodus 30:36 In-Context

34 The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,

35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

36 Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

37 You are never to use this formula to make incense for yourselves; you shall regard it as holy to the LORD.

38 Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”

Footnotes

• [a]. The Testimony refers to the stone tablets in the ark of the covenant inscribed with the Ten Commandments.